Leveling Through Betrayal

Chapter 1 — A Life That Never Chose Me

Brak!

Alex’s body slammed hard onto the campus hallway floor, causing the books in his hands to scatter in every direction.

“Oh, look who just bumped into me.”

The deep voice instantly made Alex’s face turn deathly pale. He knew exactly who it belonged to—Ryan Carter, the man who had turned his life into hell ever since high school.

Alex hurriedly got up while keeping his head lowered, avoiding eye contact. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to.”

However, his apology only triggered mocking laughter that echoed around them.

“How pathetic.”

“He doesn’t even dare to look.”

“Coward.”

Alex clenched his fists tightly at his sides. His chest was boiling, but he held himself back because he just wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible.

But suddenly—

Buk!

A hard kick landed squarely on his stomach.

“Ugh—!”

Alex’s breath was instantly knocked out of him, and his body collapsed back onto the floor. Laughter immediately erupted and reverberated throughout the campus hallway.

Ryan looked down at him with a thin smirk. “Do you really think saying sorry can fix everything?”

While enduring the stabbing pain in his stomach, Alex tried to stand up again. “I really didn’t mean to…”

Bugh!

A raw punch slammed into his face before he could even finish his sentence.

Alex’s head snapped harshly to the side. A moment later, blood trickled from the corner of his lips.

The other students in the hallway only watched from a distance. Not a single one moved or intended to help. For Alex, this cold indifference had become an everyday occurrence. He was used to it.

Ryan grabbed the collar of his shirt and forcibly pulled Alex closer. “Do you know what your problem is?” he whispered in an ice-cold tone. “People like you always make the atmosphere gloomy.”

Ryan’s friends roared with laughter again.

Alex looked at them with trembling eyes. For a brief moment, a dark thought flashed through his mind—he imagined smashing Ryan’s face until the man stopped laughing forever. But as usual, that courage only existed and died inside his head.

Ryan shoved Alex’s body roughly, causing him to fall again. “You really have no self-respect.”

In the midst of that despair, the sound of footsteps approached. Alex slowly lifted his head, and at that exact moment, his entire body froze.

“Emily…” he murmured softly.

The woman stood there elegantly in a long brown coat with neatly styled blonde hair. Beautiful—extremely beautiful. Emily was the only person who had ever made Alex feel valued in this harsh world.

But that hope was shattered in the next second.

Emily casually walked toward Ryan and intimately wrapped her arm around his. Alex’s body suddenly felt as cold as ice, as if all his blood had stopped flowing.

Ryan smiled with satisfaction before pulling Emily by the waist and kissing her right in front of Alex. Alex’s heart felt like it was being crushed.

Emily then looked at Alex with a faint smile—a smile that suddenly felt so foreign to him.

“Don’t tell me you still don’t understand, Alex,” she said. Her voice remained soft. “I never liked someone like you.”

Alex was stunned.

Emily crossed her arms over her chest without the slightest guilt. “You were just useful. Lecture assignments, research projects, presentations… you always did them perfectly.”

Ryan chuckled at his girlfriend’s words. “And the idiot did it all for free.”

Laughter echoed around them once more. Alex’s head buzzed loudly. His memories spun through all the nights he had spent helping Emily and all the sweet messages that had kept him going. It turned out everything was fake.

“Why…?” Alex’s voice was barely audible.

But instead of lamenting his fate as usual, for the first time in his life, something inside Alex broke. His logical mind was torn apart by overwhelming pain.

Rage.

His hands trembled violently as he slowly forced his body to stand. His breathing was ragged, while his eyes stared at Ryan with deep hatred.

“I… never did anything to any of you…” Alex hissed.

Ryan merely looked at him with a condescending expression, treating the threat as nothing more than a joke. But this time, Alex didn’t back down.

Driven by all his accumulated frustration, Alex swung his fist straight toward Ryan’s face. He wanted to destroy that smirk.

However—

Buk!

Ryan’s kick was much faster and landed squarely on his stomach first.

“Ghah—!”

Alex’s body was thrown backward and slammed hard onto the floor again.

Even louder laughter instantly filled the campus hallway, deafening the ears.

“Hahaha! He actually tried to fight back!”

“Look at that weak punch! Like a little kid!”

“So stupid!”

Ryan stood tall, looking down at Alex from his superior position with utter contempt. “You don’t even know how to throw a punch.”

Alex coughed violently on the floor, curling up while clutching his excruciatingly painful stomach. His entire body trembled. But this time, it wasn’t from the usual fear—it was from overwhelming shame.

Even after gathering every last bit of courage he had in his entire life… the result was the same. He still ended up tragically under their feet.

Emily tilted her head slightly, looking at Alex without a trace of pity. “You’re too quick to hope, Alex.”

That sentence struck Alex’s heart far harder than any physical blow he had just received. Before he could catch his breath, Ryan kicked his leg again, causing Alex to fall for the umpteenth time.

“Did you really think a woman like Emily would choose you?” Ryan looked at him coldly. “Just look at yourself.”

Alex could only stay silent, letting himself become their living punching bag.

“Weak.”

“No friends.”

“No courage.”

“And no one actually wants you here.”

Every insulting word pierced deep into his soul. And the most painful part was that Alex knew they were right.

Emily looked at him one last time with a disdainful gaze. “Don’t ever approach me again.”

After that, they simply walked away together, laughing as they left Alex alone on the cold hallway floor.

Alex lowered his head as low as possible. His hands trembled lightly on the floor while his chest felt suffocatingly empty.

*If only I were stronger. If only I weren’t this weak. If only my life weren’t this pathetic.*

With the last of his nearly depleted strength, Alex slowly forced himself to stand. With his body still trembling violently, he staggered out of the cursed campus hallway.

Heavy rain poured down as Alex exited the building, as if mourning his fate with him. People hurried along the sidewalk without paying the slightest attention to Alex, who was soaked to the bone.

Alex continued walking aimlessly, following his heavy steps until he finally reached the rooftop of the campus building. The heavy rain immediately drenched his entire body and bruised face. Below, the city lights appeared faint through the curtain of rain.

Suddenly, the phone in his pocket vibrated. Alex slowly took it out and stared at the glowing screen in the darkness. A new message appeared.

[Alex, have you finished revising the report?]

Alex let out a small, bitter laugh. Even at a moment like this, no one was looking for him out of worry or care. They only needed him as a tool. That was all.

Alex stepped closer to the edge of the rooftop. His eyes stared blankly at the street far below, which looked so distant and dark.

“I’m tired…” he whispered resignedly to the wind.

There was no answer. Only the sound of pouring rain and the night wind replied to his final words.

Alex slowly closed his eyes.

“If there really is another life…” His breath trembled. “I will never live for anyone else again.”

His hands clenched tightly at his sides until his knuckles turned white. “I will never trust anyone again. Especially… beautiful women who only know how to use others.”

“I will choose myself.”

And for the first time in his miserable life, Alex made a major decision without any fear.

He took one small step forward. His body instantly fell freely from the rooftop.

The night wind roared loudly in his ears as his body plummeted through the darkness. The city lights that were once clear gradually faded, replaced by an increasingly dark and silent view, until finally—

Bruk!

An excruciatingly intense pain slammed into every joint of his body, as if his bones had shattered into pieces.

But… something was strange.

Alex slowly opened his heavy eyelids. “Huh…?”

It wasn’t the city asphalt that his vision caught, but a pitch-black sky above an extremely steep cliff.

Alex tried to move his body and realized he was lying on wet ground, covered in wounds, dried blood, and overwhelming pain. His gaze scanned the surroundings—dense trees, creeping roots, and a very eerie atmosphere.

Alex’s breathing quickened in panic. “What… what happened? Where is this…? Shouldn’t I be dead already?”

“Hell?” Alex whispered in his heart.

Suddenly, a cold, bodiless mechanical voice echoed directly inside his head.

[Conditions fulfilled.]

[Egoist System successfully activated.]

Alex’s eyes widened completely, and at that moment, he fully realized that the world around him was no longer the same as before.