Underworld Ascension: Martial Arts System

Tae sat slumped, eyes glazed, fixed on the flickering screen hovering before him. His mind barely registered the text floating there, drowning instead in a suffocating fog of loss. He didn't even bother to turn when he heard the light footsteps approaching, softer than Banker's. 

A woman.

Once, that sound would've sent him into high alert, every nerve fired up, ready to fight or flee. But now, he just felt… empty. The will to react, to even care, was gone.

"You're not Banker," Tae muttered as she neared the doorway, his gaze still unfocused, rooted to the spot.

"No, I'm not," came the woman's calm response.

A car sped down the street outside, its headlights sweeping momentarily across the room. For a brief second, her face came into sharp relief—the stark white of her hair standing in contrast to his own dark, blood-matted curls. She glanced toward the ceiling, her gaze catching on the small, lifeless figure hanging there. 

Her eyes flicked back to Tae, taking in the hollow look that had settled in his face.

Tae swallowed, his voice barely a rasp. "My mother… my sister. Where are they?"

"Banker took them long ago," she said quietly.

The words hit like a fresh wound, tearing open the gash in his heart. His mind spun, but the cold reality was undeniable. 

The woman's voice cut through the silence, her tone blunt and unyielding. 

"The Black Brigade isn't like these local gangs, Tae. If they have your family, this situation is far beyond Banker. You can't—"

"I know." His voice was barely audible, the sound a trembling mutter.

Rescue them… 

The thought lingered in his mind, like an echo of some unreachable dream. The movies made it look so simple—the hero storming in, taking down anyone who stood in his way, saving his family against all odds. But this was no movie. 

He would barely make it past the first Brigade thug before he ended up just like his sister—dangling, lifeless, a message to any fool who thought he could challenge them.

Better to end it now, he thought. 

Better to let the bitterness and shame take him, die here with at least a sliver of control left, a last act that meant something, however hollow—symbolic to his own failure as a son, a brother.

"I want to give you a chance, Tae." The woman's voice broke through his thoughts, and he blinked, almost surprised she was still there.

"A chance for what?" he asked, his voice raw.

"Revenge… to get your family back."

For the first time, Tae turned and looked at her, really looked. The woman held his gaze, steady and unflinching.

"But you just said—"

"I know what I said," she interrupted, her voice firm. "Right now, you're powerless. But what if I told you I could change that? What if I told you there was a way to give you strength, wealth, power—the means to make the Black Brigade fear you? To take back what's been stolen, and not just from you, but from everyone they've ever crushed beneath their boots…A chance to rule this evil."

Tae held her gaze, weighing her words, before he finally shook his head and turned away. "I don't need this right now," he muttered, voice hollow. "Just… go."

The woman sighed, her footsteps soft as she walked further into the room. She stopped at the spot where he'd dropped the steel pipe, then bent down and picked it up, turning it in her hands.

"There were… better candidates than you, to be honest," she said, her voice carrying a hint of impatience. "But certain people insisted you were special. Maybe I expected this reluctance, but I didn't come all this way just to hear you say no." Her voice hardened as she moved closer, the pipe resting loosely in her hands. "And I don't plan on giving you a choice."

She was right in front of him now. Tae barely looked up, barely registered her presence—until the sudden blur of motion. Her arm swung back, the pipe slicing through the air, aimed directly at his head.

Without even thinking, Tae's hand shot up, catching the pipe inches from his face. He didn't even look at it, his gaze heavy, dark. Slowly, he turned his head up to meet her stare, his expression one of simmering, quiet rage.

"Don't piss me off," he muttered, his voice a low warning. "I'm not in the mood."

The woman's lips curled in a faint smile. "Oh, shut up."

And then she vanished. Tae blinked, disoriented, panic sparking as he struggled to track her movements. His heart pounded, his senses on high alert, but before he could react, he felt the pipe slam down on the back of his head. Pain exploded, stars bursting in his vision as the ground came up to meet him. His consciousness faded, slipping away like water through his fingers.

The last thing he heard was the woman's voice, low and echoing as his vision went black.

"Come carry him, and the bring the girl down. What a pity."