From Zero To Stardom: My Superstar System

Chapter Eleven: Hand-to-Hand Combat

The tallest gangster's eyes widened briefly, but then he sneered, a malevolent grin spreading across his face.

Suddenly, without a word, the tall gangster lunged forward towards Marcus with predatory grace. His movements are swift and calculated.

He closed the distance between them in a heartbeat, and Marcus, despite his instincts screaming at him, barely had time to react.

With a horrifying impact, the gangster swung a hefty steel pipe, aiming it straight at Marcus's head.

Marcus' reaction was too slow, and he couldn't react quickly. The steel pipe had struck him in the head with brutal force.

Pain exploded in Marcus's head, and he felt a hot, sticky liquid trickle down his face.

"Ugh!"

Marcus yelled as pain shot through his head like a searing bolt, making every heartbeat feel like a relentless hammer.

Dizzy and disoriented, Marcus collapsed, his trembling hand coming into contact with the hard ground.

Marcus touched his bloody head and winced in pain.

He let his guard down!

The tall gangster casually bent down and heaved up the hefty steel pipe that had fallen on the ground. His eyes sparkled as he inspected the now blood-soaked steel pipe.

He then turned to Marcus and flashed a sinister grin.

"Y'know, if you hadn't pissed off the Boss, we wouldn't be here to school ya," the gangster hissed, slinging the steel pipe over his shoulder as if it were a usual part of his sinister job.

His tone dripped with arrogance, and his bald head gleamed under the dim rooftop lights.

He has a dragon tattoo that curls from his neck to his bicep.

'Bullshit!' Marcus seethed internally.

He knew that no matter what happened, Eric would come after him regardless of the outcome of the audition.

There was no escape from that fate.

"Haha! Don’t hold a grudge against us in the afterlife. We are only doing what they paid us for, but don't worry, we won't kill you. We will just make it so that you won't appear in front of our Boss tomorrow," The slightly shorter but equally menacing gangster taunted, curling his lip with a wicked grin.

Like the rest of them, he also had a terrifying-looking tattoo, a snarling wolf on his forearm.

"But why does the boss have to send me too? I'm sure one of us is enough to cripple that guy," the third man grumbled.

The irritation in his voice is obvious. He is the stockist of the group and has a spider web tattoo on his neck.

"Haha! You're right! Look at him quivering in pain!" the gangster with a snarling tattoo jeered.

Marcus listened as the gangster laughed.

Gritting his teeth, Marcus's eyes blazed with anger.

Despite the searing pain in his head, Marcus forced himself to stand, facing the gangsters with a grotesque grin smeared across his face.

The crimson fluid continued to flow from his head, trickled from the wound, seeping into his eyes, causing his vision to blur.

In the dim, eerie alley, Marcus looked nothing short of terrifying.

"You can still stand, huh?" the tall gangster sneered, readying his weapon once more.

The other gangsters wore smug expressions, regarding Marcus with the disdain one might reserve for an insignificant insect.

But Marcus's grin only widened.

This was going to be his second taste of revenge, and he intended to savor it to the fullest.

"Ding!"

[Mission Triggered! ]

[Mission: The Beginning of Your Revenge ]

[Objective: Fight the Gangsters In front of You]

[Reward: Wheel of Stardom]

[Warning:]

[Failure to complete the mission will result in \[Penalty: Death\].

[Attention:]

Please note that declining the mission is not advisable and will also result in \[Penalty: Death\].

\[Accept\] \[Decline\]

Marcus' grin widened once more as he stared at the translucent screen before him.

It was just getting more exciting.

"System, how do I activate the skill?" Marcus mumbled, making the gangsters furrow their foreheads.

"What is this guy mumbling now? Has he lost his mind? Haha! Did I hit him too hard?"

Marcus ignored the gangster's taunt, his eyes focused on a translucent screen that materialized before him, blocking the gangster from his sight.

[The skill 'Hand-to-Hand Combat" is a passive skill and therefore does not need to be activated. The Host can utilize it freely without cooldown. However, due to the Host's currently limited stamina, the skill can be employed for a minimum of two minutes.]

Marcus smiled disappear for a moment ad he furrowed his forehead.

"Just two minutes?"

He looked at the gangster before him and remembered why he desperately wished for his revenge.

That night at the rooftop, left a deep scar not only physically but mentally.

The scar was so deep that every time Marcus closed his eyes, he would be haunted by nightmares of that horrifying night.

"Two minutes are more than enough to get you all down," Marcus said out loud for the gangsters to hear.

The gangsters' faces contorted with anger, and veins pulsated on their foreheads.

"You bastard—"

“I accept the fucking mission!” Marcus shouted, causing the gangsters to pause momentarily.

[Mission Accepted!]

[Congratulations! The system has sensed a determination in the host, and as a result, your skill has leveled up.]

[Hand-to-hand combat (Level 1) ->Hand-to-hand combat (Level 5)]

***

Suddenly, Marcus's once ordinary eyes turned a golden yellow, and it was as if his very gaze was illuminated from within, and within that radiant golden sphere, he found himself transported.

He was no longer in the dim alley but standing in a place that seemed to be untouched by time, and before him, he saw himself, but Marcus knew that it wasn't really him.

It was the veteran soldier, Victor Petrov, executing flawless hand-to-hand combat techniques, and each move was a masterpiece, a symphony of precision, power, and grace.

Every strike, kick, grapple, and defensive maneuver etched themselves into Marcus's mind. He absorbed every detail.

As he watched, he could sense power and knowledge flowing through him. Different kinds of strikes, kicks, grapples, and defensive maneuvers.

Suddenly, Victor stopped moving, and the vision receded.

‘So this is the system's power,’ Marcus pondered in awe, his golden eyes flickering before returning to their normal state.

Marcus turned his attention back to the gangster, cracking a smile and saying, "Let's end this."

Hearing Marcus' remark, the three gangster's faces contorted in anger.

“Have you finally lost your mind, you fucker?''

The gangster with a spider web tattoo spat out at Marcus and raised his foot to kick him.

But before it could hit Marcus' stomach, Marcus had already made his move.

He avoided the gangster's kick with precision and in the same fluid motion, he launched a counterattack.

His fist connected with pinpoint accuracy and struck the shorter gangster in the stomach.

The gangster's eyes widened in shock and pain as the air was forced from his lungs.

"Ugh! You little shit!"

The gangster doubled over while clutching his abdomen, struggling to catch his breath.

On the other hand, the other two gangsters' momentarily forgot to react, their eyes widened as they looked at their comrade in pain.

With the gangster doubled over and gasping for breath, and the other gangster still in shock, Marcus seized the opportunity. He swiftly pivoted on his heel and brought his elbow crashing down onto the side of the gangster's face.

The impact was brutal, and a sickening crunch echoed through the alley as the spider web-tattooed gangster's head snapped to the side.

But Marcus didn't stop there, he wasn't done yet.

He was just starting.