Bruce Waylen, a man lying on a hospital bed opened his eyes. Bruce saw the flicker of lights and smelled the strong cent around him. Bruce tried to understand his situation as he felt dizziness.
"What happened? Why am I ended up here?" Bruce said as his eyes looking around.
Flashes of memory seemed to shine back in his blinking eyes. Bruce was at a Halloween party. He came because he heard the news that his girlfriend, Valerie Brown, was dancing with a famous guy who had just joined their Officer Military School.
Bruce had heard the rumours about their relationship lately, but he decided to close his eyes and believe Valerie's words, even though his girlfriend was treating him so coldly.
"Why didn't Valerie invite me? Why did she have to lie to me too?"
Bruce realised that the gap between Valerie and him in their relationship was getting wider. She often made excuses whenever Bruce wanted to spend time with her.
While thinking about his life, Bruce took the medicine he bought online. The pill is helpful as an immune booster so the condition can continue to be fit. The medicine seller said that it was not just any pill. It contained an efficacy effect in it. Bruce didn't care; as long as his body felt fit after drinking it, he didn't have a problem, even though sometimes he felt like he was getting electrocuted.
Amid the guidance Bruce was feeling, his mobile phone rang. He quickly checked it—a message from an anonymous sender, sending Bruce a photo of a crowded party scene. The picture showed Valerie dancing intimately with a man.
RING! RING! RING!
Bruce's mobile phone kept ringing, and the school's gossip group account started discussing the same. This time there were more messages and pictures. They complimented her appearance, but at the same time, they pitied her.
"Poor Valerie, she said her boyfriend just dumped her."
"Yes, even though it's unfortunate that a beautiful and popular girl seems to want to be with a guy like that."
"Her boyfriend is quite handsome but too bad he's just a poor and weak man."
Bruce was then surprised to see such a statement from another student in the group gossip account. He couldn't believe what he had just read.
The other messages kept coming, and some started talking about how foolish Bruce was when he decided to leave Valerie. The students sympathised and supported Valerie, and they even vilified Bruce.
"What the fuck? I can't believe this!"
Bruce felt that they messed everything up and needed to clarify the situation. He knew that this was just a misunderstanding.
Bruce decided to head to the party immediately because everything was so chaotic. He knew where they were holding it. It's just that Bruce didn't get an invitation at all.
After getting ready and about to leave the house, Bruce suddenly felt a shock effect like an electric shock when he opened the door. It didn't stop there, he also heard a voice he didn't know where it was.
"System activated. Adjusted to the user. Installation process started."
But Bruce ignored it, thinking that he might have heard wrong or it was coming from a neighbour who also happened to be having a movie show together in the yard. He was hurrying to the Halloween party.
When he arrived, Bruce immediately went inside the building. The sound of music echoed clearly. The glow of the dance lights also made Bruce's vision blurry.
"Valerie, Valerie," Bruce tried to call out his girlfriend's name.
The people who began to realise Bruce's presence in the middle of the party started to stare at him and sneer at him. They weren't even ashamed to address Bruce directly.
But Bruce didn't care about them; he focused on finding Valerie's whereabouts. Bruce felt it was vital for him to clear up all the misunderstandings.
In the middle of the crowd dancing, a woman came closer and deliberately threw the drink she was drinking into Bruce's face.
"Oops, sorry, not sorry. That's for what you did to Valerie."
Several other girls, angrily looking at him, doused Bruce with the drinks in their hands. Bruce knew them, as the girls were among the most popular students at Officer Military School.
But Bruce still didn't respond to them, even though he felt humiliated by the girls in his heart, whereas he had done nothing wrong.
Glancing at the end of the room, Bruce found the silhouette of Valerie making out with another man. Bruce, who was hurt, became even more emotional at sight. He continued to walk in that direction.
"What are you doing, Valerie?" Bruce shouted when he got there.
"I really didn't expect you to get this low," he continued.
Valerie caught off guard, was shocked that Bruce had met her there. As a few glances turned towards them, Valerie quickly played her act.
"Bruce... you still dare to come here after what you did to me."
"Well, I admit I lied when I said you had dumped me. But it's all because I still love you. The retaliation you gave me was unnatural. I'm tired of you assaulting me and treating me with contempt. Yet you still dared to appear before me after I reluctantly broke up with you."
Bruce couldn't believe that Valerie had completely twisted the situation. The girl had had an actual affair, but she accused Bruce of being responsible.
She ruined Bruce's reputation in front of his schoolmates. He had no idea that Valerie would behave this ridiculously in front of everyone. Bruce came with good intentions, but instead, Valerie treated him unpleasantly.
Amid the tense situation, a voice rang out in Bruce's mind. "Synchronisation complete. The Mission launched, avenging Valerie's deeds right now. If not, punishment will follow."
But Bruce, who was still in a daze, ignored the notification. He thought it was just the moaning sound of his heart screaming because it hurt. But Bruce's love still clouded his vision.
In a chaotic condition, some students from the basketball club came up to Bruce and took him away. They were not Bruce's friends, but they were all so friendly.
"Never mind, mate, don't be too sad. You can persuade your girlfriend later. Now enjoy the party."
"Have these pills; you'll be much happier," he said, putting some pills into Bruce's mouth.
System: "Mission declared a failure. The user will receive punishment. Body protection will be deactivated."
Bruce, who was in turmoil, followed whatever they did. Bruce's mind could have been clearer, so he ended up on the dance floor. He even forgot that he didn't recognise the people around him.
On the other hand, the basketball club lads didn't stop to give him pills and drinks that they had mixed with a special liquid. They were playing a prank on Bruce because he had ruined Valerie's mood, so the girl would no longer dance with their boss. The students played around with Bruce before they finally sent him away.
"What liquid did you mix into the drink?"
"I don't know; I just bought it online."
Bruce started to feel restless, hot, and sick from drinking too much. He then disappeared into the toilet. But not long after, the basketball club kid immediately followed him and was about to ask Bruce to leave. The students in the basketball club were friends of Valerie's mistress.
"Where are you guys taking me?" asked Bruce.
"To a place that's more fun than here, mate," they replied, then carried Bruce out of there.
"As military lads, we won't let you off easy. After what you've done, you should be punished, my friend. Let us show you the real war situation," muttered one of them.
They then took Bruce to a building opposite where they hosted the party. It was a modern mausoleum where rich people were usually buried.One of them managed to trick the security guard, and the other students continued bringing Bruce into the building. In a high state, they put Bruce into one of the empty lockers where the organisers would usually keep corpses before the funeral process. After that, they all left Bruce alone without feeling guilty.Running out of energy, Bruce eventually passed out inside the locker. But strangely, something seemed to glow in Bruce's body. An hour later, he managed to wake up.System: "The user's body condition is detected to be weak. Immediately exit to get an energy boost."Bruce, who felt claustrophobic, immediately shouted for help. Luckily, a security guard patrolled the building, so he heard Bruce scream.Despite feeling anxious and scared, the security man ventured to open the locker, where he kept hearing the screams for help. And what was th
As a result of the attack, he lost consciousness to the point where he didn't know which kind of person had taken him to the hospital. The last thing he remembered was that there were police sirens on patrol. But Bruce was too weak to know what happened. Remembering everything that happened last night made Bruce's anger flare up. Aside from his failed love affair and ruined reputation, he was also intentionally harmed on the same night. Bruce recognised who they were during the attack, thanks to specific traits. He concluded that they were servants of the Waylen family. Bruce was born as part of the Waylen family from Jericho City, his mother was one of the Waylen's housemaids. There was an affair between Mr Waylen and Bruce's mother and their love cost a healthy lad named Bruce. Bruce became the bastard son of the Waylen family, a powerful and wealthy clan that ruled over the city. He had no status or respect in the family, as his mother was always sick because of the stress and h
Bruce is a student at the Officer Military School in Carthage. He only stayed in school because of his mother wanted him to have a decent degree. Bruce decided to fulfill his mother's only hope. Hence, after leaving the Waylen family, Bruce decided to go to another city named Carthage and start his life as an ordinary person. Bruce had hoped to start his day peacefully, but he was greeted by an unpleasant sight as he reached the school gate. There stood a couple who had betrayed him and broken his heart. The same couple he had seen at the party. The boy sneered at him and said, “Oh, look who’s late again. Do you think you can get into university with this attitude?” “Bruce, leave me alone. We’re over. Don’t you get it?” The girl said with a cold voice. She thought Bruce was still clinging to her. Bruce ignored them; he felt nothing but disgust for them. They were Mateo Kovacic and Valerie Brown. Valerie was Bruce’s former girlfriend. They used to be happy together, or so Bruce tho
Having said all that, Bruce walked in. Hearing his words, the security guards just looked at each other without stopping him. Classes had already started, so only a few people were walking around the school area. As he walked, Bruce flashed a satisfied smile. System: "You have completed your mission to teach Mateo Kovacic a lesson and received one Expertise Point." "Create a list of abilities that can be exchanged for one Expertise Point." SWOOSH! In an instant, a list of skills appeared before Bruce's eyes. The list consisted of Academics, Communication, and Gait. The details of the three skills were straightforward. Academic Expertise would make Bruce highly knowledgeable, his Gait would improve his walking, and Communication would enhance his speaking ability. "It seems like one Expertise Point can't give me much. Well, I'll choose Academics first. It will be helpful to help me in the university entrance exam later. Bruce considered his desire to go to university before choos
Bruce turned his head and looked at Martha, seeing his teacher's expression growing angry.Trying to contain her anger, Martha said, "You are fortunate to have mastered the concept of strategy according to General Nathan correctly. Now, try to explain the process of war strategy."Bruce started talking, "Determining national security objectives as the basis of the strategy process. Formulate a grand strategy, better known as a policy. Develop a military strategy. Devise an operations strategy. Formulate battlefield strategy, better known as tactics."A moment later, Bruce finished his explanation. But still, Martha refused to give up. "Types of strategies?"Bruce spoke, "Military strategy, operations strategy, and battlefield strategy.""Who are the theorists of war?""Carl von Clausewitz (1780 - 1831), Antoine-Henri, baron Jomini (1779 - 1869), Sun Tzu (544 - 496 BC), Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840 - 1914), Giulio Douhet (1869 - 1930)."Every time Martha asked a question, Bruce answered i
A female teacher stood beside them; she wore a black dress and black stockings, making her curves visible. All eyes of the opposite sex would always be on her. The female teacher wore black-rimmed glasses that almost covered half of her face and carried books in her hands. She pushed up her glasses and said, "Mrs Tilaar, is there a misunderstanding between you and Bruce? From what I see, it seems like Bruce is quite well-behaved." "Behaved well enough? Huh, Miss Christine, you are still too young to understand this. Some students may seem well-behaved in front of the teacher, but they will show their true colours outside. A good student is a student with good academic grades," Martha said. There was a glimmer of jealousy as Martha looked at the young teacher. Meanwhile, Bradford couldn't stop stealing glances at the young teacher. Her name was Zara Christine, and she was the Applied Mathematics teacher in the Defence Administration class. Although she was new to education, she had
But amidst the turmoil of their debate, gunshots were suddenly heard erupting in the air. The students immediately who listened to this screamed frantically. Instantly, Bruce could hear screams everywhere. Outside the room, Bruce, Zara, Martha and Bradford immediately stepped back to hide and protect themselves. The reflex movements of their bodies, especially Zara and Bradford, were terrific. They moved with the agility of soldiers on the battlefield. The teachers exchanged glances as if giving code signals and signals. On the other hand, Bruce was also practising what he had learnt. Although his reflexes were not as good as Zara's or Bradford's, he still put out all his energy. But for some reason, after that, Bruce seemed to daydream; he appeared to be stuck in a trance. The sound of gunfire and the screams of people made him remember his condition that night. Bruce felt weak, as if he was helpless. The condition where he was stabbed several times replayed in his head. Bruce sta
Bruce and his friends were shocked by this. While preparing an immature plan, they all immediately rushed out of the classroom. Panicked students screamed as they again heard gunshots with increasing clarity.Then they all ducked and took refuge in a small park close to the class."Don't panic, all of you. Form up immediately," shouted Bruce, who was trying to organise his friends.Donna, who was also there, was also trying to help Bruce's plan succeed. They both tried to calm their friends down. Then quickly, they all formed a formation."You follow my signal. If I tell you to move forward, then you walk immediately. If I give the code to stop, you immediately look for the nearest hiding place to cover your body from bullets," Bruce said firmly.Bruce realised that Donna didn't want to lose to him either, so he quickly gave the girl directions. Because controlling their panicked friends in large numbers is difficult. So, Bruce decided to assign Donna to help him. But he ensured she u