Bad Born Blood Chapter 210

210
Sometimes, pride and self-esteem overcome the instinct for survival. Even though you know you will die, you are drawn to the flame like a moth.

It is foolish to go against the survival instinct. No matter how brave the soldier or warrior, he does not ignore the survival instinct.

When we decide that we must ignore our survival instinct after listening to our instincts and senses, we are seriously facing death.

Of course, that’s not what I’m saying. I’ve thrown my life away more than once because of vain pride and emotions.

‘I was lucky.’

I had a talent for violence, and the circumstances surrounding me were such that I could survive without having to beg.

If just one gear of fate had been out of alignment, I wouldn’t be standing here today.

Thud, thud.

The bad boys of the square approached me. Some of them were carrying knives or iron bars.

Ugh!

I grabbed the arm of the human boy who was rushing towards me and broke it. Then I lightly tripped and knocked the boy with the broken arm down.

‘Break it cleanly.’

The younger they are, the more resilient they are. I have no intention of crippling these children.

I just wanted to teach a lesson to the children whose survival instincts had been dulled: if you can’t tell the difference between your opponent and another, you’ll die.

‘These guys… are not children of the bottom of society.’

At first glance, they looked like street thugs, but they all had clean clothes and good skin. They were also well-nourished, and their faces had a youthful glow.

They have never fought for survival, and because they lack wildness, their survival instincts are dulled.

‘The outing of the wealthy.’

In fact, it was unpleasant. I hated seeing the deviance of those who grew up without any lack. If it were me in the past, I would have broken his limbs.

Ugh!

But now it’s over with just breaking limbs.

‘… … I guess it’s because I’ve grown up a little bit.’

Everyone has worries and anxieties. Even those who have lived a life without starving since birth will have their own struggles.

“Yanaka! Give me a free lunch!”

“Yanaka! Yanaka!”

The leader of the delinquents jumped out. Cheers erupted, and the children who had fallen on me called out the name Yanaka while enduring the pain of their fractures.

Tong, tong.

A human girl named Yanaka jumped in place, stretching her body. Her well-defined muscles were revealed between the fluttering hems of her clothes. Her abs were also firm between the fluttering shirts. The circuitry beneath her skin faintly glowed, indicating the number of combat reflex implants she had inserted.

Although she was a girl, she was about the same height as me, and her body had firm, angular lines rather than the curves typical of female hormones. Her arms and legs were long and slender, giving her a unique and androgynous feel. To people her age, she would probably have a mysterious aura.

‘You’ve adjusted your hormones to prepare your body for battle.’

You have to be rich to get such delicate procedures. Neurological and hormonal procedures don’t end with one or two injections. It takes at least years to stabilize.

Creak.

Yanaka took a stance, holding the knife on his thigh. Judging by his stable posture and sharp eyes, he seemed to have quite a bit of combat experience.

“Get out of the way, you know you’re no match for me, right?”

I spoke loosely. Yanaka must have already figured out my skills. And he must have also realized that my limbs are high-performance prosthetics.

There was a subtle trembling in Yanaka’s lower body. Even though he pretended to be expressionless, his lower body showed his emotions.

‘horror.’

Yanaka was afraid of me. He stood before me even though he knew he couldn’t win.

“Sir, we also have something called honor. If we want to continue to be the leader, we have to fight even if our arms and legs are broken.”

“I want to take that crawler kid over there. I’m his guardian after all. I can’t just stand by and watch him run around the streets with punks.”

My gaze turned to Boyan. Boyan flinched and avoided my gaze.

“As a guardian, you can’t back down. We don’t hand over our friends to adults.”

“You go to school and eat meals on adults’ money during the day? It seems like you spend a lot of money on your body. And yet, you treat adults as your enemies. That’s ridiculous.”

“I know it’s a contradiction. So we have no intention of going astray. It’s just a temporary deviation. So just leave it alone. When the time comes, I’ll go back and live according to the tastes of adults.”

Yanaka spoke calmly. He seemed to be well-educated, as he could clearly explain the contradiction.

“Hey, miss. I, haa… … .”

I sighed. Boyan was running away. He knew very well that Yanaka couldn’t stop me.

Kiing!

I also ran, bending my legs. Yanaka moved to stop me.

Whirl!

I tripped over Yanaka’s legs with my feet and reached out to grab her shoulders. Even as my balance collapsed, Yanaka thrust the blade into my neck.

Knock, bang!

I grabbed the blade with my fingers and broke it. The broken blade fell to the floor.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not an adult with much free time. I’m just a kid who’s about to become an adult. I have no intention of making concessions just because you’re young.”

I lightly clenched my fist and hit Yanaka in the stomach. I controlled the force, but the impact was probably enough to make it difficult for him to stand up right away.

“Ugh, ugh.”

Yanaka sat down and vomited out his insides. In the meantime, I ran after Boyan.

‘Damn crawler!’

As a crawler, Boyan’s movements were quick. He climbed buildings with his bare hands and jumped across rooftops without any proper training.

The crawler was born with adaptive three-dimensional maneuverability built into it at the genetic level. It was able to run through complex structures without hesitation, relying solely on instinct.

‘It’s not as easy to close the gap as I thought.’

Even for a crawler, it was strange. As soon as the question arose, my brain started to infer the situation on its own and came up with several conclusions.

‘Boyan is busy running away even though other children are being hurt.’

Boyan is not a cowardly person by nature. He is not the type of person who would run away without stepping forward if his fellow group members were attacked.

‘… … You did something I shouldn’t have found out about.’

And even I can’t close the distance right away.

“This damn kid… … .”

I clenched my teeth. My head felt hot. Suddenly, my vision widened and I could see the road.

Kwajik!

I jumped up, increasing the output of my legs so that the floor of the rooftop was level with the pile. I chased Boyan as if I was flying.

Boyan’s head and back were getting closer. I tried to pounce on him and subdue him.

Whoosh!

Boyan sensed my presence like a trained man and rolled to the side.

thud!

I landed on the floor in vain, frowning. Boyan, who had avoided me, tried to jump to the side in a panic.

Crack!

I reached out and hooked my fingers around Boyan’s nape and grabbed him. The hem of his clothes were hanging so tight that it looked like it was going to tear.

Bam!

I kicked Boyan in the shin. Only then did he fall forward and fall down.

“Boyan, you… … open your eyes right now before I tear you apart.”

I grabbed Boyan by the collar and glared at him fiercely. Boyan avoided my gaze and opened his eyes, trembling.

“Lu, Mr. Luca, I, I… … .”

“Is it a stimulant?”

I bit my lower lip.

Boyan’s pupils were dilated greatly even though it was night. His mouth was dry and gave off a foul odor.

The guy ran away as soon as he saw me, and even though he was a crawler, his escape instincts were surprisingly good.

‘speed.’

Boyan was taking stimulants. I clenched and unclenched my fist repeatedly.

‘What should I do?’

I wanted to beat him to death because I was so angry. But that wasn’t the solution. If Boyan was a guy who would give in to violence, he would have submitted to his father long ago.

“Why did you run away? It’s not like I’ll never see you again in my life.”

I said, letting go of Boyan’s collar.

Boyan’s pupils, which were already dilated, widened even further. Looking at his condition, it was clear that he would suffer from a terrible headache once the effects of the medicine wore off.

“… … If they found out I took stimulants, I think they’d kill me. You’re secretly fiery, Luca. I was going to explain it to you later.”

“Hmm.”

I found it hard to refute. It seems that I was that kind of person in Boyan’s eyes. Well, it wasn’t exactly wrong.

“And… …you’ve been avoiding me lately.”

“I didn’t avoid it. I was just busy. Damn it, what, just sit down. I’ll listen to what you have to say.”

I sat on the rooftop railing, scratching my head. The owner of the building downstairs heard the commotion and came up, but he shut his mouth when I threw him a credit chip.

Boyan’s breathing was ragged. I waited for him to calm down.

“As I continued to go to school, I realized something was strange. When I was taking classes, my body would feel tingly and I couldn’t stand it. My head would spin, and there were more than a few times when I wanted to jump up and run away. When I looked around, I saw that it was just me. No matter how many times I pulled myself together, I had a hard time concentrating.”

I listened to Boyan. It was as Japha and I had expected. Boyan was not adapting to the existing learning system. Even though he put in the same amount of time and effort, he was falling behind.

“But you’ve been reading books and studying on your own all this time.”

“That’s because I only chose the areas I was interested in. At school, I had to study outside of my interests. Do you know what crawlers are worst at? Doing things I don’t want to do. That’s why other races think crawlers are lazy. It’s just that my interests are different, but I couldn’t escape the characteristics of a crawler.”

To be honest, I have a hard time understanding Boyan. In a corner of my heart, I have a hard time getting rid of the thought that it is an excuse.

I learned everything I needed to, absorbing everything. Even in areas like marksmanship, I’m not at the level of a guardsman, but of course I have expert-level skills.

‘If necessary, I will endure and learn even if I don’t like it.’

It seemed that such an obvious thing was difficult for Boyan.

Even people of the same race have difficulty understanding each other. It goes without saying that other races have significant biological differences. If this is the case for most of the Crawler race, then it is a difficult obstacle to overcome with willpower and effort alone.

“So you turned to drugs to overcome your innate bad condition?”

“I know it’s stupid. But I think I can just use it occasionally… until I graduate from school.”

Soldiers and warriors often use drugs. But that is because the environment is extreme. They take drugs without any side effects because lack of skill can lead to death.

“You’re still young. Time… … .”

“Time? I don’t have time. A crawler’s lifespan is shorter than a human’s. About half. I’m behind others, and the time given to me is short. What do you think I can do?”

Boyan responded sharply.

“Stop whining. You chose this path knowing it would be difficult.”

I don’t intend to treat Boyan like a s*ut just because he chose the hard path. It’s not that choosing the hard path itself is important, but walking down that path calmly is what’s great.

“I don’t intend to whine either. That’s why I found my own way. Since the other group is all rich, the drugs they deal with are high-grade and clean. I’ll only take them when I need them and then quit. When I take drugs, my chaotic thoughts are sorted out and I can concentrate better. Just like other races.”

I instinctively felt a sense of rejection. Using drugs for studying? Using only when necessary and quitting later? It was such a naive thought. I could see Boyan’s future as an addict.

‘But is there another way for Boyan?’

I couldn’t just blindly oppose it when there was no other solution.

Do you respect Boyan’s choices and decisions, or do you decide that it will end in misfortune and stop him?

It was a difficult problem for me too.

“But you were just playing in the square and taking stimulants. You weren’t studying, were you? You were taking them to relieve stress?”

Boyan averted his gaze at my remark.

“… … I won’t do it again. I promise I’ll only use it when necessary.”

I closed my eyes. It was clear that Boyan’s life would be ruined by drug addiction.

‘Should I just surrender to reality and live the life of a crawler, or should I walk precariously on an increasingly narrow cliff path?’

There are areas where one cannot keep up with other races through effort alone. No matter how much a natural human trains and works hard throughout their lives, they cannot defeat a crawler or an Equusian through brute force.

So we humans use the power of mechanical engineering and biotechnology to strengthen ourselves while enduring side effects. As a result, it is difficult for me to tell Boyan not to do this.

In this age, not only humans but all species must overcome their innate and biological limitations through artificial means. Only then can they achieve great things.

“Boyan, listen carefully. If I see you losing control of yourself, I’ll… … .”

I stood up and looked back as I spoke.

“Haa, haa… … .”

There was a woman chasing us. It was the leader of the gang, Yanaka. She took a quick breath and drew her pistol.

“… …Let go of Boyan!”

Yanaka aimed the gun at my torso and pulled the trigger. Even though it was my abdomen, he fired without hesitation.

Taang!

I blocked the bullet by covering my abdomen with my palm. The bullet whirled around in my palm and fell to the ground.

“Stop, stop it?”

Yanaka’s eyes widened.

“It’s a basic skill in our neighborhood, Aesong-ah.”

I laughed.