Rain hissed against the fire.

  Wood cracked and snapped as flames devoured the small dojo. The paper walls turned to ash, and black smoke curled into the night sky.

  Ryo Takeda lay on the floor, barely breathing.

  His ribs were shattered. His jaw hung loose. His fists—once weapons—were now broken things, bloodied and useless.

  But none of it hurt more than what hung before him.

  Grandpa.

  Suspended from the ceiling by thick wire. Tortured. Burned. His lifeless eyes stared down at Ryo, empty and silent.

  The smell of death mixed with smoke.

  “G-Grandpa…” Ryo croaked, coughing blood. His fingers clawed at the floor, nails splitting as he tried to drag himself forward. But it was too late.

  Everything was gone.

  Until the voice came.

  > "Do you want revenge?"

  It wasn’t real. Couldn’t be. But it was in his head, as clear as a whisper in the ear.

  > "You are broken, dying. But I can give you power."

  Ryo grit his teeth, every nerve in his body screaming.

  > "Say the word."

  “I want… revenge,” Ryo whispered.

  > "Then I am yours. I am the Combat System. I will give you strength, but the price… is blood. Kill to grow. Fight to evolve. Feed me experience."

  > [Combat System Activated.]

  [Skill Tree Unlocked: Martial Arts – Base Style: Kudo]

  [New Skill Learned: Kudo Lv. 1 – 0/100 EXP]

  [Status: Critical]

  [Adrenal Surge Boost: Engaged]

  A heat spread through Ryo's limbs—not the fire, but something inside him. His muscles tensed. His heart kicked like a war drum. Breathing sharpened.

  He stood up.

  The bones creaked, but he rose anyway. The pain dulled. His stance came back—left foot forward, guard up.

  Kudo.

  Striking. Grappling. Headbutts. Elbow smashes. The kind of martial art made for real fights.

  Outside, footsteps approached. Laughter. Voices.

  > “Yo, check if the brat’s dead yet.”

  Three men. Black jackets. Syndicate tattoos.

  Ryo’s fists clenched.

  > [Target Acquired: Syndicate Grunt – Threat Level: Low]

  [Tip: Counter-strike with Seiken-tsuki. Target’s guard is weak.]

  He didn’t hesitate.

  The first thug stepped into the dojo—and Ryo exploded forward like a bullet.

  “WHAT THE—”

  CRACK!

  A perfect straight punch to the solar plexus. The man flew backward, crashing into the wall with a strangled grunt.

  The second raised his knife, but Ryo grabbed his wrist, twisted, and slammed an elbow into his throat. The knife dropped. So did he.

  Third one ran.

  Ryo chased. Grappled him by the collar, slammed a knee into his ribs, then twisted into a brutal hip throw.

  SLAM.

  > [+40 EXP – Kudo Lv. 1 Progress: 40/100]

  [System Feedback: Your movements are inefficient. Refining muscle memory…]

  [New Passive Unlocked: Iron Focus Lv. 1 – Slight damage resistance under 25% health.]

  Ryo stood in the burning dojo, chest heaving, blood dripping from his hands.

  Three men. One breath. All down.

  His eyes lifted to his grandfather again.

  “I’ll kill every last one of them,” he swore.

  > "Then fight. Climb. Kill. Master your art. And remember…"

  "The system gives nothing for free. You want power?"

  > "Earn it in blood."

  “I... I can't believe it,” Ryo muttered, chest rising with each breath. “The Kudo basics... etched into my mind like I’ve trained for years.”

  Then the system echoed coldly in his head:

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  > [Notice: 10 hostile signatures remain. 2 approaching to investigate. Threat Level: Moderate.]

  Ryo wiped the blood from his lips and smirked.

  “Too bad for them…”

  His fists clenched, body lowering into a ready stance.

  “I’m gonna kill them too.”

  The first thug stepped into the dojo, his boots crunching on the debris. He looked around, eyes narrowing as the smoke clouded his vision. He froze when he saw Ryo standing, blood dripping from his hands, his chest heaving with rage.

  Before the thug could react, Ryo was on him.

  With a single, fluid motion, Ryo grabbed the thug by the collar and yanked him forward. The man’s breath caught, and before he could even raise his fists, Ryo’s knee smashed into his ribs with bone-shattering force.

  Kumi-Knee.

  Ryo’s knee drove in again, and then again. The thug gasped, unable to catch his breath as Ryo’s knee hammered into his torso like a battering ram. The sound of breaking ribs echoed in the smoke-filled room.

  Ryo didn’t stop. He yanked the man in closer, delivering knee strike after knee strike, until the thug’s body went limp in his grasp.

  CRACK.

  The thug’s ribs collapsed under the brutal assault, his body falling like a ragdoll when Ryo released him. He hit the floor with a sickening thud, not moving, not breathing.

  Ryo stood over the body, his breath ragged, blood dripping from his knuckles.

  Kudo Lv. 1 Progress: 90/100.

  He wiped his bloodied hands on his pants, his eyes scanning the room.

  The second thug, realizing what had just happened, hesitated, eyes wide with fear. But Ryo was already moving again, fury and vengeance guiding his every step.

  The second thug had no idea what was coming.

  The second thug barely had time to react. His eyes were wide with fear, but Ryo didn’t give him the luxury of hesitation.

  Without warning, Ryo’s foot shot forward like a piston, slamming into the thug’s stomach with devastating precision.

  Mae Geri.

  The thug’s body jerked back as the air was violently ripped from him. He doubled over, gasping for breath, saliva spitting from his mouth.

  Ryo didn’t give him a second to recover. In a seamless motion, he followed through, his leg snapping around in a blur.

  Mawashi Geri.

  His shin connected with the thug’s side with a sickening thud, like a baseball bat crashing into soft wood. The impact was brutal—bone and flesh giving way to the force of the kick.

  The thug’s body crumpled to the ground, a violent wheeze escaping his throat as his ribs cracked under the sheer force.

  Ryo moved in, not wasting a second. He grabbed the thug by the collar, lifted him up slightly, and then slammed his knee into the man’s face.

  The sound of bone breaking was drowned out by the thug’s final, ragged breath as he went limp in Ryo’s hands. His lifeless body fell to the floor with a wet thud, blood pooling beneath him.

  Kudo Lv. 1 Progress: 100/100

  > Kudo Lv. 2 Unlocked

  [New Skill: Seiken-Tsuki – Fist Strike]

  Ryo stood over the body, chest heaving with rage and adrenaline, his heart pounding. His body ached, but the thrill of battle burned within him.

  The system’s cold voice echoed in his mind.

  > “Skill unlocked: Seiken-Tsuki. Master the art of powerful, precise strikes to crush your enemies.”

  But Ryo didn’t need words to know what came next.

  The dojo was his arena, and anyone who stepped into it would fall, just like these two.

  Ryo stepped over the corpses, the heat of the burning house licking at his back as he pushed the door open. Smoke trailed behind him like a cloak of death.

  That’s when the third enemy appeared.

  This one was different—stance tight, fists up, movements sharp. A boxer.

  The thug didn’t waste time. He snapped forward with a jab—quick, fast.

  Ryo weaved under it, eyes locked.

  Then came the right straight—fast, hard. It slammed into Ryo’s cheek with a brutal thud. His head snapped to the side.

  The boxer grinned. “Got yo—”

  But Ryo's hand shot up like a viper, clamping down on the man’s shoulder.

  Click.

  He twisted—hard.

  The joint popped with a sickening crack as the thug screamed. Ryo didn’t stop. He drove his leg into the thug’s feet, sweeping them clean from under him.

  The boxer stumbled—off balance, mid-yell.

  Ryo twisted his own body with him, using the man’s momentum—and then slammed his jaw straight down onto the concrete with explosive force.

  CRACK.

  The skull split like brittle stone. Blood spread in a dark halo as the body twitched once... then stopped.

  > [+50 EXP – Kudo Lv. 2 Progress: 50/200]

  [System Note: Adaptive technique bonus granted. Execution Efficiency: High.]

  Ryo stood, blood dripping from his fists, cheek bruised, grin forming.

  “One down. Seven more to go.”

  Before Ryo could catch his breath, arms wrapped around him from behind—tight, crushing. Another thug.

  Then—

  WHAM!

  A fist slammed into his stomach from the front. The air shot from Ryo’s lungs as pain jolted through his core.

  "You persistent bastard!" the thug snarled, spitting in his face. "Why don't you just die like your old man?"

  That snapped something in Ryo.

  His eyes went blood-red with fury.

  He lunged forward, smashing his forehead into the man in front. The thug screamed as his nose shattered, blood spraying in the air.

  Then—Ryo threw his head backward just as hard.

  CRACK!

  The back of his skull slammed into the nose of the bastard holding him. The grip loosened. A grunt of pain—perfect.

  Ryo spun, now face-to-face with the one who tried restraining him. No space. No time. Just violence.

  Empi Uchi — Elbow Strike.

  He drove his elbow upward like a piston, straight into the thug’s nose. A sickening crunch echoed out. The man’s head jerked back violently, blood misting from the shattered bone.

  Before the body could slump—

  Seoi Nage — Shoulder Throw.

  Ryo ducked under the thug’s limp arm, gripped the back of his shirt and pants, and twisted.

  The man flew over his shoulder and crashed head-first into the pavement with a brutal, spine-shattering THUD.

  The skull cracked open like a dropped watermelon, blood and brain smeared across the ground.

  Silence.

  Only the sound of fire crackling in the distance... and Ryo’s ragged breath.

  > [+75 EXP – Kudo Lv. 2 Progress: 125/200]

  [System Bonus: Brutal Execution – Increased Fear Resistance in enemies nearby.]

  Ryo’s eyes burned with hate. “How dare you say that infront of me.”

  Ryo locked eyes with the next one. The bastard who just watched.

  The coward tried to backpedal, but Ryo was already moving—a blur of rage and muscle.

  The man swung a wild left hook out of panic—fast, but not fast enough.

  Ryo ducked under it, slid behind him like a shadow, and snatched his left arm.

  He stepped in, twisted his hips, and slammed his fist into the back of the thug’s shoulder.

  CRACK.

  The socket popped out, tendons tearing. The thug screamed.

  Ryo wasn’t done.

  He raised his leg and kicked the back of the man’s knee—a brutal stomp that made the bone snap like dry wood.

  The thug collapsed forward with a shriek.

  Ryo grabbed his right shoulder, wrenched him up, then drove his knee into the thug’s ribs with a sickening thud.

  CRACK. CRACK.

  The sound of ribs shattering. Blood spilled from the man’s mouth as his lungs failed.

  And then—

  With a savage snarl, Ryo lifted him just enough—and slammed his skull into the ground.

  BOOM.

  The man’s head hit the pavement like a hammer to fruit. Skull caved in. Twitching stopped.

  > [+75 EXP – Kudo Lv. 2 Progress: 200/200]

  Kudo Level Up! Lv. 3 Unlocked

  [New Skill Acquired: Gedan Barai – Low Sweep]

  “Sweep the legs. Cripple the balance. Finish the fight.”

  Ryo stood over the corpse, drenched in blood, chest rising like a beast unleashed.

  “Four down,” he muttered. “I’m just getting started.”