Chapter 12: The S of SufferingThe cafeteria smelled like warm bread, synthetic spices, and cold hierarchy.Zack stood in line, alone as usual, his tray trembling slightly in his hands — not from fear, but from the fatigue soaking deep into his bones. His back still ached from the 3km sprint, and his stomach was chewing on its own emptiness.When it was finally his turn at the counter, the lunch lady didn’t even look at him. She simply reached behind and, with the same mechanical motion she used every day, dropped two thin slices of dry bread onto the tray. Then she pushed forward a disposable cup filled with lukewarm water — no ice, no smile, no eye contact.That was the school’s version of a free meal.Just enough to survive. Not enough to forget.No one else ever took it. Not a single other student in this entire building would dare touch the poor kid’s rations — not even for a joke. The free meal was radioactive. And Zack?He was the walking fallout.As he turned around with the t

Chapter 14:She hadn’t moved her feet.Not once.“You learn fast,” she said quietly.Zack stood there, panting.The class was silent.“Still weak. But not hopeless.”Then she turned to the rest.“None of you landed a blow. None of you even made me blink. But he forced a correction.”Murmurs.Eyes shifted.And for the first time in months—they weren’t mocking him.They were curious.Miss Aimee looked down at Zack.“Rest. We’ll begin weapon training drills after lunch.”He nodded.But in his mind, the system pulsed with quiet hunger.[Challenge Failed: No Reward Granted][Combat Data Recorded]No reward.No scratch.But something had changed.He wasn’t the same boy who had stumbled into class hours ago.And the others had seen it.They just didn’t understand it yet.---This surprised Zack Tennyson.His breath hitched.Ten mod points?That was insane.His first system quest — the one that left him trembling in the dark with sore limbs and a pounding heart — had only offered a single poi

Chapter 16 – Home Is Not FarZack Tennyson walked with a limp.Each step dragged a ghost of pain through his side, but he kept going — hoodie up, head down, boots scuffing against cracked pavement as dusk spread across the slums like spilled ink.This part of the city had no streetlights.No patrol drones, no Guardian posts. Just rusted sheet metal, boarded windows, and whispers that followed you like hungry shadows.He knew the way home by heart. Left at the burned-out hovercar. Through the collapsed overpass. Past the wall tagged with blood-gang markings. Same route. Every day.He didn’t need to think.Which was good — because thinking hurt.[Daily Quest Progress: 3/10 Completed.]The system’s reminder pulsed faintly in his peripheral vision, but he ignored it.Not now.His ribs still throbbed with every breath. The memory of Moses Rad’s fists was written into his bones. That humiliation… that helplessness... it hadn't faded. Not in the hours that followed. Not even with Miss Aimee’

Chapter 18 — Quiet Kitchens, Louder Lies Super Guardian---The kitchen was dimly lit, but warm. A little pocket of peace inside a crumbling apartment barely holding itself together.Laura moved between the chipped counter and the dented stove, quietly throwing together something simple — a couple of eggs, old bread turned into toast, some diced root vegetables that looked like they'd been grown on a budget and forgotten in the fridge. It wasn’t much. But it smelled like home.Zack sat at the table, arms folded over the surface, watching her work.His body still ached. His skin felt like one big bruise wrapped in clothes. But here, with her humming some off-tune melody and pretending life wasn't trying to drown them — the pain blurred into the background.“You ever think you could be a five-star chef?” he asked, a weak grin forming on his face.Laura scoffed. “Yeah, totally. Michelin-star fry-ups with expired eggs and broken dreams.”He chuckled. Even that hurt.“Don’t knock it. This

Chapter 20 — Midnight Protocol Super Guardian---The streets outside were long drowned in shadows by the time Zack stumbled into the crumbling shelter he called home.The door creaked shut behind him with a weary groan, matching the stiffness in his bones. He didn’t turn on the light — there was nothing left to see. Just the same cracked walls, the same peeling floor, the same silence that welcomed him like a bruise.He let his body fall onto the bed like a dropped stone.His limbs were sore. His gut twisted from hunger. His eyes fluttered shut. Tomorrow was another battle — school, quests, bullies... and still the long countdown to the weekend, when he'd finally sneak into the Holy Domain and test the one thing that gave him a sliver of hope — the Carbee Armor.If he could last that long.Sleep wrapped around him like a heavy chain. He drifted, slowly, the ache in his muscles melting into the void.Then, the silence shattered.A sharp tick echoed from the old wall clock as it struc