Dong Sicheng never considered himself a hero. In principle, he did not particularly suffer from altruism, he simply did not like to interfere in anything dangerous, simply preferring to remain on the sidelines.

Even with people he did not say that he was especially eager to make friends, he did not even like to talk that much, but in a strange way he was liked by many people, which often surprised him.

The only thing Sicheng could rightfully be proud of was his achievements in dance and music. In flexibility, movement to any rhythm, he had no one better than him, but even here the guy believed that he should learn much more.

In general, the guy believed that he was never particularly different from other people. Quite an average resident of China who tried to cope with his problems and live his life with dignity.

But then why is he now standing against three big guys, protecting the girl behind him?

It all started with the fact that he decided to go out late on New Year's Eve to the store, buy some antipyretic: he caught a small cold right in the last days of this year. The nearest pharmacy was already closed and he walked down the street looking for a 24-hour one.

Passing the next street, he noticed that there were not so many people, but it was normal because of the time. He wondered if he should not spend the New Year at all? He was sick anyway, what's the difference. And then he heard a scream.

Startled, he turned towards the noise and saw how the girl was dragged into the alleyway. Fear and panic initially hit the guy in the head, the first thought was: you need to call the police. However, like the last idiot, the guy forgot his phone at home.

In panic, he looked around, but the street was completely empty, even most of the shops were closed. The guy again threw his gaze into the narrow alley, where they dragged the screaming and resisting girl. If he loses even more time, then perhaps the girl could no longer be saved.

Sicheng abruptly ran up to the gateway and peered around the corner. He saw that there were three men standing against the wall, one of whom was holding the girl tightly, and the other two seemed to be trying to pull off her clothes.

A chill ran over his skin. The guy was not a martial artist, he was not particularly strong, and even more so there were three of them. He was not a hero, he was not in some manga or movie where everything went to his benefit. He could die. But there was a defenseless girl...

Sicheng looked at her again and saw that she no longer even screamed: the men squeezed . There was tremendous terror in her eyes, but she still tried to resist. The guy gave himself a small slap in the face, bringing himself to his senses. He cannot just stand there and do nothing.

Gathering all possible courage into a fist, the guy came around the corner and swiftly approached these three. They initially did not pay attention to him, but Sicheng sharply gained strength with adrenaline and grabbed the nearest man by the shoulders, pushing him away. He tripped over his own feet and fell, while the others hesitated in surprise, giving the girl a chance to free herself.

She ran up to the guy in scraps of clothing and hid behind him. The girl pressed against him from behind, and he felt her tremble. No, he had to protect her.

"Boy, are you out of your ing mind? Get lost!" The one that Sicheng was able to throw away now got to his feet and began to approach the guy with an aggressive look. The man was clearly bigger and stronger, so the guy had a better idea: he grabbed the girl by the hand and was about to turn around and run when he was stopped.

Behind them appeared the very two men who blocked the escape route for both of them. Sicheng realized that he was a deadmeat. After examining his opponents, he decided that it was better to fight back, maybe then they would forget about the girl and she could run away.

“Listen here, er, leave for good, until I rip your legs out,” the largest of them said, slowly moving closer to the guy. He gently pulled the girl behind his back, thereby blocking her from everyone. They were pressed against the wall.

"Won’t you leave? Okay, then you asked for it," while the man was threatening him, Sicheng imperceptibly bent down to the girl, quietly whispering, "When they are all distracted by me, run," and the guy immediately straightened up, as the girl looked at him in shock. "No-"

At that moment, the biggest one came very close to the guy, that he already felt the terrible smell of cheap alcohol from him. He did not let Sicheng realize the situation, immediately sending him to his knees with a powerful blow to the solar plexus. The girl screamed while the guy felt an unprecedented pain, from which he couldn’t breath.

He felt such pain only once, when he fell hard from a tree. But now he could not lie down and cry as in childhood, although he wanted to. The guy got to his feet through severe pain, holding onto his stomach tightly. Behind him stood a girl, whom it is better to cover with himself.

He looked at the man in front of him, but his gaze was sharply turned: this brute punched him in the face. The pain was dull, but growing. But this was not the last blow, this man punched him in the head again, and after that the blows simply rained down on him.

One by one, punches and kicks drove Sicheng into the ground. He sometimes managed to punch one man, kick another, but it only made them angrier, and he would never have won by a margin of three on one. He should have gone not to dance classes, but to some kind of martial art.

He no longer saw the girl, but the hope that he saved her and she ran away warmed his soul. The guy had already stopped counting the blows and was just waiting for them to get tired and leave him alone. But so far this has not happened.

Slowly but surely, consciousness began to float away, different lights and images began to fade. He no longer even felt pain, did not even realize the presence of these people nearby. He even began to hallucinate of a siren, different voices, the tear-stained face of that very girl.

And now Sicheng was surrounded by darkness.<