"Well, well, well," Quinn chuckled, flipping the knife casually in his hand. "It seems my new good lads lack basic manners. Don’t you know it’s rude to throw things at people who are just asking for directions?"

The leader’s eyes widened in pure shock as he realized his underling’s attack had been stopped so easily. He could feel a mountain of raw, overwhelming power radiating from the young man in front of them. The sheer weight of Quinn’s presence made their knees tremble, instantly shattering their confidence. They realized too late that they weren’t dealing with a harmless traveler, but a monster.

Quinn then pivoted his body and raised his left leg... delivering a devastating kick straight toward his "good lad"!

Bamm!!!

The extra goon was hurled like a rocket into a nearby tree, his head twisting into a despicable display. The sheer force of the kick was enough to instantly cripple any man! The massive tree trunk cracked loudly from the impact, and the leaves rained down like confetti over the broken body.

"W-what?!! Use your long-range weapons and get some distance from this bastard!!!" the leader roared, pulling out an orb filled with some kind of explosive material. His face was pale, and sweat poured down his cheeks as he tried to back away.

"Man... I was just asking for directions. I’m a good lad, you know?" Quinn smiled wickedly. Who would have thought these men would willingly ask to die by his hands? It was truly a pity they had chosen violence over simple conversation.

"Blink..."

Quinn didn’t want to play around anymore. Channeling just 25% of his strength into his bare hands, he struck out with blinding speed.

Boomm!!!

Another goon’s head exploded into smithereens like a shattered watermelon. Red fluid and bone fragments sprayed across the bushes. As for keeping them alive, Quinn couldn’t care less. If he had been weaker and approached them for help, he would have literally died or worse, they would have tortured him slowly until he expired.

He had learned his lesson well in the harsh environment of the Crucible; it was deeply engraved in his mind that a life of weakness was a terrible thing...a sin, even. In this world, might made right, and the weak were always trampled.

Fwosshh...

Boomm!! Boomm!!!

The remaining two underlings died the exact same way, suffering a dog’s death all in the pursuit of easy money. They didn’t even have time to scream or register the fact that their lives were ending. The man Quinn had kicked earlier turned to mush right along with the tree; truly, nothing remained to prove his existence. The ground was painted completely red.

"Now... how about you start talking? I hate waiting." His cold voice drove into their brains like a hammered nail. Only the bulky leader and a rat-like man remained standing. Well, since the rat-like man’s skill was tracking by scent, it made sense that his face followed the ugly rules of the universe. He was twitching in absolute terror.

"B-boss!!!!! T-the... sme—" The disgusting tracker didn’t even get to finish his sentence before he was brutally killed too. The resulting blast razed everything, sparing neither the dirt ground nor the nearby trees. Quinn didn’t want to hear some cliché dialogue about something so insignificant; he wanted results, not loud shouting.

"Blink..." Quinn blinked again, this time grabbing the head of the bulky leader. Though the man was broad and muscular, he looked rather small compared to the 6’5" Quinn. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Bamm!!...

Quinn used a tiny fraction of his strength to shatter the man’s limbs, breaking them apart without blinking an eye. Bones snapped like dry twigs.

"ARGHH!!!!! Pl-please s-sto... I’m begging you!!..." the leader shouted in pure desperation, his mouth completely bloodied. He could barely speak properly now, as the agonizing pain of losing his limbs was entirely overwhelming. He writhed on the dirt like a helpless worm.

"Why should I spare you?" Quinn asked coldly, leaning in close to stare directly into the man’s terrified eyes.

"I-I didn’t mean to a-attack you!.. It’s just... pure instinct!!!.." Snot and blood flowed freely from his nose while his eyes turned bloodshot, his desperation reaching an absolute peak. The massive rush of adrenaline was transforming him into a completely panicked beast.

"How many people have you killed and r*ped just to live like the man you are now?" The question cut through the leader like a brutal blade to the gut, leaving him utterly unable to utter a single word.

His guilty conscience kept him silent.

"Silence, then, for a dog like you. Why should I spare you if you can’t even answer that?" Quinn had no desire to listen to his annoying voice anymore and casually squashed his head like a grape.

Although he acted soft and cringey around his beautiful women, that didn’t mean he would maintain that demeanor with his enemies. He had already tasted the bitter truth of this world, and that was more than enough to change a man.

"Tch... I didn’t even get to ask where the nearest village is." Quinn sighed and slowly walked over to the headless body. He reached into the dead leader’s pocket, searching for anything useful. As the boss of the group, he was bound to be the wealthiest, so it was only natural to check for loot.

Clink... Clink...

The faint clinking sound of valuables echoed from a small leather pouch, instantly elevating his mood a bit.

’Hmm... what is this?’

What he found inside surprised him. Tucked away securely in the pouch was a strange, marble-sized ball. It strongly resembled a monster core, but its overall density was so incredibly low that it felt as though it might crumble under his tight grip at any moment.. it’s definitely a trash core at the very first glance!

"Hmm... so the currency of this world consists of cores." Quinn finally understood how the local society and economy functioned. It was a simple system of how the human and society works...