002 - The Massive Change

But at least, the girl is kind enough to persuade Jay to leave. So the man declines his intention to cut Dean’s hand.

  

However, he takes the chance to kick Dean’s chin from below as he walks toward his men. It knocks Dean’s head to the back, even shaking his brain which makes him unable to move for a moment.

  

Dean's brain keeps questioning why life treats him so cruelly like this. He believes he never did anything wrong to anyone so far. He only intends to protect Monica's feelings, not wanting her to be hurt by this womanizer.

  

On the other hand, Jay only becomes even more amused with Dean's predicament. Seeing the weak struggling only emphasizes his status as a man with power and authority.

  

“Peels off his tattoo,” says Jay, whispering to one of his bodyguards before leaving.

  

He walks away by wrapping his arm around Monica’s hips. He laughs so wild like a champion has just won his prize. Monica just looks back at Dean with a bit of sympathy, but no more than that.

  

One of the big dudes sits on Dean’s body, pinning him down with his more than 100 Kg weight. He holds Dean’s left hand with his foot, and then starts peeling his skin, the tattooed part with Monica’s name.

  

Dean screams in his agony. He pleads, but no one responds to him but the big dudes’ laughter. So many people are around, but they only watch from afar. All they can do is murmur by restraining their voices.

  

“Someone! Stop them.”

  

“Why would I risk my life to save a stranger?”

  

“They are Maverick Watson’s men. No one can oppose them.”

  

“You better turn a blind eye on this.”

  

It’s only the other paupers who show some concern. But those ignorant nobles push the paupers away, preventing them from making a conflict with Maverick Watson.

  

“Don’t you dare meddle into their issue! This town will be obliterated if you anger them.”

  

Dean is no longer able to bear the pain and the desperation. His screaming is dying out. At least, the heaven isn’t turning a blind eye on him, and starts crying with its drizzling.

  

“Bozo, that’s enough! We leave!”

  

Dean has lost consciousness after that torture. This is the first time he experienced this much pain, both mentally and physically.

  

Somehow, the unique gemstone in his bracelet is cracking after some of his blood touches it. Some kind of white, thin plasma is leaking out, and then seeps into his wounded hand.

  

Suddenly, all the people around him feel a weird chilling aura. It’s as if all the heat and energy around that place just suddenly disappears, being sucked into Dean’s body.

  

Deg!!!

  

They just look confused. But then...

  

Crash!!!

  

Some branches of thunder crack the night sky. And then, the rain disperses those people, leaving Dean alone, laying wasted on the ground.

  

Meanwhile, hazes start coming out of Dean's wounds. His peeled skin is healed by itself at a high rate.

  

Some paupers come to him. But then, Dean wakes up, and he starts coughing some blood.

  

“Hey, are you okay?”

  

“Can you get up?”

  

He rises with a lifeless face, looking so numb as if he no longer cares if he is still alive or not. Neglecting with what is happening to his wounded hand, he walks away staggered like a living zombie, while holding his broken ribs.

  

“In the end, the universe is still turning a blind eye on me,” he mumbles in desperation, without knowing what the universe has done to his body.

  

He gets back home by foot in the middle of rainstorm. To be exact, getting back to Monica’s house where he has been living in these past three years. As he opens the massive front door, he is welcomed by a middle-aged lady with a sour face.

  

“Where have you been? Where is Monica?”

  

She is Evie Lawson, Monica’s biological mother. She is so strict. But at least, she never treats Dean unfairly. She is simply strict and mean to everyone, to all her children, including Dean the freeloader.

  

“Getting drenched like this, look at what you have done to our house! You make the floor wet.”

  

She comes closer. As she touches Dean’s shoulder, there she feels Dean’s body so hot, which makes her so awry. She even sees some haze around his body.

  

“You? Better get back to your room and take a hot bath. You might get a fever because of this. I don't want to have to take care of another sick people in this house. Go!”

  

Dean just walks away, still with his lifeless expression.

  

“Don’t forget! You have to wake up early! Our garden is definitely damaged by this storm.”

  

“Yes, Mam!”

  

Despite the fact he is being treated like a slave in this house, he still gets a decent room like any other family member. There’s a hot bath inside his room, and he sinks his body there according to the orders of the old lady. Not long, he is fallen asleep there.

  

Oddly, the hot water suddenly turns colder much faster than it should be. There’s even some thin ice on the surface. That oddity shakes him, and that thin ice is just melted.

  

“What’s going on? How come the water getting cool down this fast?”

  

He is still not able to think straight. His head is still dizzy due to a high fever. He gets out, takes a towel, and then walks toward his bed. And there, he suddenly falls to the bed like a falling tree, naked.

  

During the night, the temperature inside his room is dropping to below 0 degree Celsius. Yet his body is hot as hell. He is even drenched by sweat like he is sleeping in a sauna.

  

At last, he wakes up early in the morning so fresh. He even stretches his arms, and there he realizes all the pain in his ribs has magically gone.

  

“Eh? How?”

  

He leaves the bed, and looks in the mirror, finding the drastic change in his body. He looks so ripped and fit unlike what he remembers. Even the wound in his hand is gone, the same with Monica’s name in it, no longer there.

  

“What happened? I believe they peeled off my skin last night. Was it just a dream?”

  

Suddenly, a girl enters his room. “Hey, Dean! Get your ass off of your bed now! My mom is calling you!”

  

Dean turns to her, and that girl’s face suddenly turns so red. She is Eliza, Monica’s older sister. And just like her mom, she usually acted so mean toward Dean, but not this time.

  

That girl is blushing red as she finds Dean totally naked. She sees everything, and is just stunned there without taking her gaze away. It’s the first time she learns how ripped and sexy Dean is.

  

“Aw, shiit!” Dean rushes to pick the towel, and immediately covers himself.

  

“What the fuck is that?” the girl shouts. “How dare you show that ugly thing to me?”

  

“It’s your fault to enter my room without knocking the door.”

  

“It’s my house! And you are just a freeloader here! Don’t you dare to talk back at me that way,” argues the girl by taking her gaze away.

  

“Sorry! I’ll put my clothes on now.”

  

As Dean looks for a change of clothes, that girl finds it hard to fight the temptation to take a peek. Until at some point, she accidentally meets eyes with Dean, and she starts blushing again.

  

“Just be quick!” She shouts as she gets out of Dean’s room.

  

And then, she quickly hides by leaning to the wall, holding her chest with heart thumping so crazy like war drums.

  

“Holly shit! What was that I just saw?”