Taeyang stood at the edge of the junkyard, staring down at the wreckage below.
Shallow. Too shallow.
It didn't matter how many times he knocked Giseok down, how many times his fists sank into his body… none of it was sticking. None of it mattered.
Because Giseok didn't care. Not about pain. Not about his own body. Not about anything except revenge.
He exhaled, rolling out his shoulders before crouching low and leaping over the wall.
The air changed the moment he landed.
Rust. Oil. Smoke. It clung to his skin like a heavy smog.
Twisted metal and broken cars littered the ground, stacks of wreckage casting long, jagged shadows. The whole place felt dead.
A graveyard for things no longer functioning.
And right in the middle of it was Giseok.
He was hunched over, his arms hanging at his sides, his fingers twitching like they were itching to rip something apart.
His head lifted slightly, breath uneven. "You…" His lips curled, recognition flashing across his face. "It's you again."
Taeyang's hand brushed over his left shoulder, where the wound still ached beneath his skin.
"I stabbed you," Giseok muttered, his voice lower this time, almost disbelieving.
Taeyang scoffed. "Yeah." He rolled his neck, shaking out his hands. "Bitch."
Giseok's whole body tensed…
And then Taeyang rushed forward.
Giseok shifted back before snapping his arms forward—
"I'VE ALREADY BEATEN YOU!"
The words tore through the junkyard, echoing against rusted steel.
And Taeyang bared his teeth, lunging and grinning...
"Then do it again!"
Despite Taeyang rushing first… Giseok's fist was faster.
Days ago, Taeyang would've met it head on, tanking or just about ducking to launch a kick or a fist into Giseok's depressed face.
Instead, he twisted, letting the fist graze his cheek, his body dipping low. Giseok's momentum carried him forward just enough… just enough.
Taeyang snapped up a knee, but it wasn't aimed at Giseok's gut.
It stopped short.
Never fight where they expect you to.
Then, with a flick of his heel, Taeyang launched a wave of glass shards into Giseok's face.
It didn't matter how much damage you could take, if a horde of sharp objects were sent flying into your eyes… anyone would flinch.
It was simply a reflex.
Giseok had jumped back, head tilted to avoid the shards.
But Taeyang rushed forward.
Don't waste a single moment. Hit them before they think. Railroad them.
He slammed his palm against Giseok's groin, sending him staggering a step back. Not much, but enough space for Taeyang to move.
No pattern. No rhythm.
He rushed forward again, but instead of throwing a punch—he dropped.
One hand caught the dirt, his legs swinging up into a handstand.
Giseok braced, expecting a launch… expecting Taeyang to spring off.
But instead…
His body suddenly collapsed, one leg folding as the other whipped out in a low, snapping kick.
They can't stop what they can't see.
*CRACK*
The hard surface of his shin slammed into Giseok's head.
The impact was deafening as he crushed into the ground, sending dust flying up as he shattered the rocky floor.
Taeyang flipped back onto his feet, rolling his good shoulder.
Again.
He wasn't stronger than Giseok. He wasn't faster.
But he didn't need to be.
Unpredictability.
Giseok punched the floor as he pushed himself up, rock shards falling from his hair as he got back into standing position.
And then he exhaled, steam escaping his mouth.
The air got heavier around them both.
"WHY?!" He screamed. "WHY DO YOU KEEP GETTING IN MY WAY?!"
Taeyang didn't answer and instead crouched to the floor, his fingers curled into claws.
It was that hot, suffocating pressure from before… when Giseok's vibe had completely changed and he'd gone from tumbling around to mopping the floor with him.
The last fight where he'd lost.
"You can't win this," Giseok said, his voice calmer but still cutting. "Not now. Not ever."
He reached out, gripping the edge of a loose pipe which was already nearly broken out of its rocky cage and ripped it free.
The moment Giseok lunged, Taeyang swung.
The pipe slammed into Taeyang's shin, the momentum flipping him forwards as he lunged his head forward like he was going in a headbutt.
But Taeyang never headbutted him.
Instead… he bit.
His teeth sank into Giseok's eye.
A sickening, wet crunch echoed through the air.
Giseok roared.
Blood smeared Taeyang's lips, dripping down his chin as he twisted mid-air, landing light on his feet.
Giseok staggered, clutching his face.
"You… you bit me!"
His voice was ragged, torn between rage and anguish and disbelief.
Taeyang grinned, wiping his mouth with his thumb.
"I'm an animal aren't I?"
Giseok's foot shot forward in a brutal front kick, but Taeyang ducked under it, sliding on his knees.
His fingers scraped against the ground, grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it into Giseok's remaining eye
Giseok snarled, twisting away just in time to avoid a low sweep to the knee.
But Taeyang had more
He shot forward, leaping onto Giseok's back with his fingers finding Giseok's nose.
The weakest parts on every animal.
And he yanked it back.
A sharp, cruel tug, bending his head at a painful angle.
Giseok roared.
His elbow slammed backward into Taeyang's ribs.
Once.
Twice.
*CRACK*
Pain exploded through Taeyang's side. His vision blurred.
But he didn't let go.
He sank his fingers into Giseok's ear and twisted viciously.
Giseok screamed.
His entire body lurched forward, slamming both of them into a rusted car.
The impact crushed Taeyang against the metal, forcing the air from his lungs.
And in the next second Giseok grabbed him by the hair and flung him to the ground.
Taeyang hit the rock hard, but he didn't even have time to breathe before Giseok's foot came stomping down.
He rolled.
The ground shook as the kick smashed into the rock instead, cratering the ground.
Taeyang kicked off the floor, flipping himself onto a fallen metal table.
Giseok turned, eye burning, fists clenched as his skin reddened, both from bruises and from the heat.
The blood from his right eye dripped down his face, tears dripping down from his left. Symmetry in all but colour.
Taeyang jumped onto a broken arcade machine and then used it as a springboard to leap over Giseok's head.
Giseok's fist shot up—
Taeyang caught his wrist mid-air.
And then, with all his weight he swung himself forward, planting both feet into Giseok's face.
*BANG*
The impact sent Giseok staggering back.
Taeyang landed in a crouch, gripping a discarded microphone stand from the rubble.
Giseok barely had time to reset his footing before—
*SWOOSH*
The stand swung for his head.
Giseok dodged, but Taeyang didn't stop swinging.
Left. Right. Downward strike.
Giseok blocked the last one with his forearm, snapping the metal stand in half.
But Taeyang had already thrown the broken half at his face.
Giseok swatted it aside but that half-second distraction was enough.
Taeyang grabbed a fire extinguisher from the floor, twisted the handle—
*BLAST*
White foam exploded straight into Giseok's face.
His remaining vision was gone.
And Taeyang rushed forward.
His fists hammered into Giseok's ribs.
Left.
Right.
Left again—this time with an open palm, digging into the pressure point beneath the ribs.
Giseok grunted, stepping back.
Taeyang didn't let him go.
He grabbed Giseok's collar, twisting it around his neck—
—choking him with his own clothes.
Giseok struggled, slamming his elbow into Taeyang's stomach.
But Taeyang held on.
He wrapped his legs around Giseok's torso, squeezing tighter.
Choke. Choke. Choke.
Until—
*CRASH*
Giseok ran backwards into a wall, crushing Taeyang between brick and muscle.
The impact rattled his brain. His grip loosened for just a second—
And that was all Giseok needed.
He grabbed Taeyang by the throat.
Lifted him into the air.
And then—
*SLAM*
Taeyang's back hit the ground so hard his vision flashed white.
Taeyang tried to move.
But Giseok's foot pressed into his chest, keeping him down.
Blood dripped from his nose, from his lips, from the cut above his brow.
He gasped, trying to suck in air, but Giseok's weight crushed his lungs.
"See?" Giseok breathed, his voice low and hoarse. "This is the difference between us."
Taeyang gritted his teeth.
Giseok crouched, his grip tightening around Taeyang's collar.
"You don't have a reason to fight." His voice was calmer now. Less sad. "You're just some rabid animal throwing everything you can because you're scared. Because you don't want to lose."
Giseok's grip tightened.
"But I'm not scared."
A beat of silence.
"I lost my brother. I know exactly why I'm here."
Taeyang clawed at Giseok's hand, but it wouldn't budge.
"I'll tear your city apart if I have to," Giseok whispered, his breath hot against Taeyang's face. "I have that conviction. You don't."
The words dug into his skull.
Was that it?
Was that why he was about to lose?
Because he didn't have a reason to fight?
Because he wasn't like Giseok, fueled by vengeance, by loss, by some deep, all-consuming fire that made him stronger?
Bullshit.
He wasn't from this world.
But he'd still found his way here.
A world built for fighting, a world that revolved around monsters tearing each other apart.
And he couldn't even win one fight?
A fight against some random bitch who didn't even exist in the original story?
Disgust filled him.
So much disgust it drowned out the pain, burned hotter than Giseok's fists, hotter than the blood pooling in his mouth.
It boiled up inside him like magma, thick and black, bubbling over until it seared into his bones.
Pathetic.
Was he just supposed to roll over and accept it?
To be some nameless extra, a footnote in someone else's story?
Like hell.
Like fucking hell.
Taeyang's breath hitched. Then, he started laughing.
It wasn't controlled. It wasn't forced.
It just burst out of him, spilling from his lungs like shattered glass, sharp and jagged, cutting through the battlefield.
It was hysteria.
Pure, raw, unfiltered insanity.
His entire body felt lighter. Faster.
Stronger.
Every wound, every bruise, every bone-deep ache…it didn't matter.
Nothing mattered.
All that mattered was this fight.
The moment. The instinct. The thrill of tearing into something, of devouring it whole.
Giseok wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. "You think this is funny?"
Taeyang spread his arms wide, grinning like a madman. "I think it's fucking hilarious."
He exhaled sharply through his nose, chest heaving, lungs burning…
And it felt amazing.
It was perfect.
Giseok's lips curled. "That's what makes you weak."
"Yeah?" Taeyang cocked his head. "And what makes you so strong? Crying over your brother? Newsflash, man… he's dead!"
Giseok lunged.
Taeyang's teeth sunk into his shoulder.
*CRUNCH*
Blood splattered across Taeyang's cheek. He licked it off with a grin, already leaping away from the wall and spitting out flesh.
Giseok staggered back, snarling… but Taeyang was already on him.
There was no rhythm. No pattern. No strategy.
Just pure, unfettered carnage.
His vision blurred at the edges, his body shaking.
Giseok pulled his fist back…
And Taeyang laughed.
A real laugh. A deep, belly-shaking howl of amusement.
"Conviction, huh?" He tilted his head, eyes wild. "You think that's what makes you better than me?"
Giseok's brow twitched.
"I don't need some stupid, sad little story to make me fight."
Taeyang dug his fingers into Giseok's wrist, twisting it in a way it shouldn't bend.
"I don't need a reason to win."
His breath came in short, uneven bursts, his heart pounding, his body burning.
This was what he was made for.
This was why he was here.
To win.
Giseok roared in anguish and Taeyang's laugh raised in volume to match.
"LET'S KILL EACH OTHER!"
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You can't tell me you didn't see this coming. Animal instinct and heat mode combined is just too much of a meal to pass up.
Taeyang's lowkey turning into a villain but... oh wells.
If this was Questism then this would basically be where he awakens. And the thing I saw in the actual Lookism manhwa was that there were different heatmodes that different people had.
Zack's depressed heatmode is basically what Giseok has and the hysterical heatmode that Samuel and Daniel have is what Taeyang got.
Except his isn't because of the fact he's losing despite all his fighting and training, it's more because he thinks he should be special or stronger since he woke up in this world. Just being super entitled I suppose. A superiority complex that only appears when he's close to losing.
Brother needs therapy.
Anyways thanks for reading.
Goatsoo Ma vs Boy of Liberation coming up next.