"He came sooner than I expected," Hunter muttered, watching Vince charge toward him like a raging bull.
He had assumed Vince would wait until he returned to the garage the day after tomorrow. Confronting him at his home today was a surprise.
It also deepened Hunter's dissatisfaction with Old Parker.
Only Parker knew where Hunter lived. He had already leaked the address to Mia, which Hunter could overlook. But giving it to Vince?
Parker was too slick. He had sold Hunter out to keep the peace with Dom's crew.
"Looks like my time at the garage needs to end soon."
Working for someone else was never going to make him rich anyway.
Parker took the lion's share of the profits from the side jobs. Hunter had tolerated it because he needed the EXP for his Mechanics skill. But now that Parker had betrayed his privacy, the transactional relationship was over.
Hunter made a mental note to cut ties as soon as possible.
Despite the thoughts racing through his mind, Hunter calmly stepped off his motorcycle.
His muscles coiled tight beneath his shirt. He looked relaxed, but he was already prepped for a counterattack.
Why did he spend thousands of dollars learning boxing today?
Because he knew this moment was coming.
Dom and his crew were highway robbers. Sure, in the movies, they were "noble thieves" who never used guns on truck drivers. But in this reality? They were a hardened criminal gang.
Hunter had slept with Mia. He knew retaliation was inevitable.
He had a gun in his Personal Inventory for the worst-case scenario. But he doubted Vince would go that far. Vince wouldn't want to bring heat on the crew by escalating a personal beef into a murder investigation.
Most likely, Vince just wanted to beat him into a pulp.
And that was exactly why Hunter had ground his Boxing skill.
As Vince got closer, Hunter could see the veins bulging on his arms and the twisted rage on his face.
Seeing Hunter standing his ground instead of running only fueled Vince's fury.
"You damn yellow monkey!" Vince roared.
Racism. Classic.
Even though Hunter felt zero loyalty to America, being called a racial slur still pissed him off.
Instantly, any plan to hold back vanished.
"Filthy bug!"
"Piece of shit!"
Vince's vocabulary was as limited as his intelligence. He just cycled through the same few insults as he closed the ten-meter gap between the entrance and the parking lot.
Hunter stood still, a faint, mocking smile playing on his lips.
Vince reached him and lunged, his hand grabbing for Hunter's collar.
In Vince's eyes, Hunter was just a tall, cowardly mechanic. A pretty boy who had tricked Mia with his looks. The thought of Mia—sexy, hot Mia—being with this guy made Vince's blood boil.
"Bastard!"
He missed the grab but didn't stop. He balled his fist and swung a haymaker aimed right at Hunter's handsome face.
Hunter simply took half a step back.
Vince's hand clawed at empty air.
Then, a cold, indifferent voice cut through Vince's roar.
"Are you done barking?"
Smack.
Vince's fist stopped dead.
He looked down, stunned.
The handsome Asian guy—taller than him but much leaner—had caught his punch.
With one hand.
Hunter's palm had enveloped Vince's fist, stopping the full force of the blow cold.
Vince tried to yank his hand back.
It didn't move.
Hunter's fingers clamped down like a hydraulic press.
Crack. Pop.
Vince heard his knuckles grinding together. The pressure was immense, crushing his bones.
"Bastard! Let go!"
Vince had a short fuse and an even shorter attention span. Instead of realizing he was outmatched, he just got angrier.
He swung his free left hand, aiming another wild punch at Hunter's face.
Hunter tilted his head slightly. The punch sailed harmlessly past his ear.
He released Vince's right hand and shoved him back.
"Is that all you've got, you white pig?"
Hunter dropped into a textbook boxing stance, his fists raised, looking down at Vince with pure contempt.
Over the last two days, thanks to his spending spree and his time with Mia, Hunter had leveled up significantly.
He leveled up Swimming and Marksmanship.
He unlocked two new skills.
One was [Reproduction] (unlocked during his intimate time with Mia), which had already hit Lv 1.
The other was [Boxing], unlocked and leveled to Lv 1 after five hours of professional coaching today.
With the 4 Free Attribute Points gained from these upgrades, Hunter had pushed his stats even higher.
Strength, Agility, Constitution, and Endurance were all at 14.
Intelligence was at 16.
Considering the average adult male was a 10, Hunter was physically superior in every metric.
Against Vince, whose only advantage was brute strength (probably around 12 or 13) and aggression?
It wasn't a fight. It was a massacre waiting to happen.
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