2025-08-05 20:17:18In the center of the top-floor arena of the Bully Council, surrounded by giants and monsters in school uniforms, Max leaned toward Emily and whispered through clenched teeth:
"Do you want to kill me?" Emily smiled sweetly, like someone ordering dessert. The boy with glasses stood from his chair. “Let the vote for Bloomfield High’s representative begin.” Emily raised a hand calmly. “Actually… there’s already someone I nominate to represent our school.” He adjusted his glasses. “And who would that be?” She pointed—directly at Max. Max froze mid-step, halfway to the elevator. “WHAT?!” he screamed. “Are you out of your mind?! She’s lying! She’s crazy! I’m just the janitor—I MEAN STUDENT!” Emily stepped forward told max. “If he doesn’t become Bloomfield’s representative, he’ll be hunted down by the others. This is his only chance.” Max blinked. “Wait, what do you mean hunted?! Then who wants to be the rep?” The elevator behind them dinged. Max turned… and his soul shriveled. Out stepped the same guy who yanked his hair at the café. Jacob Kang. Tall, shredded, and already cracking his neck like a pro wrestler late for dinner. He walked up, grabbed Max by the neck, and lifted him with ease. “This is who you brought, Emily?” Without waiting for an answer, Jacob tossed Max across the room. CRASH. Chairs scattered. Tables flipped. The boy with glasses stepped aside. “Jacob Kang has challenged the candidate. Let the fight decide Bloomfield’s representative.” All the other reps pulled their chairs back, forming a wide circle. It was just Max and Jacob now. Jacob turned his back to Max, facing Emily. “He doesn’t look like much.” Max groaned and staggered to his feet. “FALCON DROP!” Blue lightning sparked around his leg as he jumped— Jacob spun and caught it with one hand. [MP -100 | Skill Failed to Land] “Nice light show,” Jacob smirked. Then slammed Max into the ground. Grimm winced. “Yeesh. Maybe now would be a good time for a soul link?” Max coughed up pain. “Can’t. The aftereffects—I’m still sore from Bruce Lee. I’m not dying again.” Jacob came charging in. Max activated Consecutive Punches—a blur of rapid jabs. But Jacob barely flinched. [HP -6 | HP -7 | HP -5] Grimm facepalmed. “Max, why are you wasting MP on low damage output?” “I’m trying to activate something, okay?!” Max barked. “Then you better find another way—he’s not gonna wait.” Jacob grabbed Max, threw him into metal chairs, then hurled him into a gas-leaking generator. Max gagged as the gas filled his lungs. Jacob approached, grabbing his throat. Choking… gas… pain… something about this felt familiar. Max’s vision blurred. Then—he remembered. Junior high. A chubby kid who always choked him when the teachers weren’t looking. Max, eyes wide, slammed his elbow into Jacob’s ribs and broke free. “Wait a second…” Max gasped. “I remember you…” Jacob blinked. “Huh?” Max narrowed his eyes. “You were the fat kid from junior high who used to choke me!” Jacob raised an eyebrow. “Bro… I’ve never seen you before.” Grimm yelled from above, “Max! Whatever plan you’ve got—do it now!” Max gathered what little strength and MP he had left. He drove his palm forward— CRACK! Jacob was launched backward. [Critical Hit: Instant Knockback Activated – 1% Chance] Grimm’s eyes widened. “So that’s what you used the gold key for… a passive 1% instant crit skill.” Jacob coughed blood as he hit the wall. “You… you pretend to be weak when you’re this strong?” Max grinned. “Nah. I just suck at most things.” He dashed forward, mind racing. On TV, he once saw a documentary: “Sharks retreat when struck on the nose.” Was Jacob a shark? Maybe not. But maybe the logic still worked. Max leapt and punched Jacob square in the nose. No critical hit this time—but the pain was real. Jacob dropped to the floor, blood streaming from his nose. Max approached, grabbed his nose with two fingers, and twisted. “Say it.” “...I FORFEIT!” Max shot up in triumph, throwing his hands in the air. “YEEEEESSS—” BOOOOM! A sudden explosion rocked the room behind him. Flames erupted from the broken generator. The crowd roared with awe. “Yo, was that part of the finale?!” “DID HE PLAN THAT?!” But Max’s smile faded when he saw fire spreading fast. “That… wasn’t supposed to happen.” Everyone panicked and ran toward the stairs and elevators. Max, coughing, limped outside. He turned to look around. “Wait… where’s Emily?” Someone yelled, “She’s still inside!” Max’s heart dropped. “No no no—EMILY!” “GRIMM!” The reaper floated in, alarmed. “What?!” “Soul link—NOW!” “Which one?!” “Red Adair!” [SOUL LINK: Red Adair – Legendary Oil Firefighter Activated.] Max grabbed a cloth, soaked it in water, tied it around his face, and ran back inside. Grimm muttered, “From punching bullies to firefighting… Max, you’re really leveling up.” Max’s silhouette disappeared into the smoke and flame.
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Chapter 30 – The Grind of Madness
The next day, Max woke up with a groan and half a mind to smash his system window with a brick. But the glowing words refused to vanish:[Quest Initiated: Body Enchantment Training.]Mission One: Commute to school in Dragoon Pose. Distance: 49,869m.]Max squinted. “Forty-nine… thousand… meters? That’s like—what, running a marathon? In a crouch?!”The system blinked at him silently, cruel as ever.So, he did it.At seven in the morning, Max shuffled out of his house crouched low, arms spread like some cosplay knight, thighs already burning. His knees trembled as he waddled down the street.By the twentieth meter, his face was red, sweat dripping down his chin. He collapsed against a lamppost, gasping.“Twenty meters down… forty-nine thousand, eight hundred and forty-nine to go,” he wheezed. “I’m gonna die.”Students on their way to Bloomfield High burst into laughter.“Look at Johnson! What is he doing?!”“Bro, is this some new TikTok challenge?”“Nah, he’s cosplaying a crippled kangar
Chapter 29: Rain of Defeat
The rain came heavy, turning the street into rivers of broken light. Streetlamps flickered, their glow hazy through the downpour. The night carried a silence that felt alive, broken only by the steady rhythm of water hitting asphalt.Max stood in the middle of the road, soaked, fists clenched so hard his nails dug into his palms. His swollen eye still burned from the last fight, but his gaze never left the figure across from him.Isaac Holt.The older boy strolled casually beneath the cover of a black umbrella held by one of his bodyguards, his pristine shoes untouched by the water splashing around them. He looked less like a fighter and more like a king surveying a subject.“Give me the flash,” Max demanded, his voice cutting through the storm. “The footage of my mom.”Isaac tilted his head, lips curling into a smirk. “Flash? Ah… so you know.” He chuckled low, the sound mixing with the patter of rain. “But, Max… what makes you think you can take it from me?”The umbrella shifted slig
Chapter 28: Keys of the Past
The cemetery was quiet, the kind of silence that presses against the skin like a weight. Marble headstones stood like sentinels, some polished and new, others cracked with time.Max stood before one in particular, his head lowered, hands tucked into his pockets. The engraved letters—Sarah King—caught the last light of the evening sun. His mother’s name.The flowers he brought were simple, not expensive—wild daisies and lilies tied with a cheap ribbon. Yet when he placed them down, they looked right. His fingers lingered on the stone, tracing her name like he was afraid to let go.“Hey, Mom,” he muttered under his breath. His voice was rough, carrying a tiredness that felt older than him. “Things have been… hard. You’d probably scold me for the fights, for skipping school, for everything I’ve done. But—” He swallowed hard. “I’m trying. I swear I’m trying.”A shuffle of footsteps interrupted him. Max turned.It was Peter.The older boy’s presence was unexpected, his school uniform messy
Chapter 27: The Weight of Justice
The warehouse echoed with the sound of fists slamming into flesh. Max was a storm—his body moved like a man possessed. Every punch, every kick, every elbow strike carried the weight of his fury and the precision of Mas Oyama’s soul link.One by one, the boys dropped. Cries of pain mixed with the thud of collapsing bodies. Max was everywhere—countering, striking, punishing. He was a blur of raw speed and force, and within minutes, the twenty boys who mocked him were scattered across the floor, groaning, broken.At the center of it all, Max stood, chest heaving, eyes burning red with rage.And then he turned to the boy—the ringleader—the one who had lured May and Lois here.The boy tried to crawl backward, but Max grabbed him by the collar and dragged him across the filthy floor like a bag of trash. He dropped him in front of May.Max’s voice was low, almost trembling with the effort of holding back. “Family’s not something you throw away. You killed her sister. So now—your punishment i
Chapter 26: Five Minutes
The wind felt cold that afternoon, brushing across Max’s tired face as he walked beside Lois and May. His body was still recovering from the fight with Kael, but curiosity—and maybe a hint of responsibility—kept his feet moving.He glanced at Lois, brow furrowed. “So tell me again—when you spoke to the spirit of May’s sister… did you ask her how she died?”Lois shook her head. “Some spirits don’t remember. They hold onto pain, regret, anger—but not the details. Sometimes it’s just… fragments. Enough to tug them to the living.”Max exhaled, scratching the back of his neck. “That’s convenient.”Lois gave him a side-eye. “It’s not convenient, Max. It’s tragic.”He didn’t argue. Instead, he looked to May, who had been hugging her arms tightly the whole time. “When was the last time you saw her?”May swallowed hard, her voice fragile but steady. “Three weeks ago. She said she was going to meet a friend from school… but she never came home.”The weight in her tone made Max slow his steps. H
Chapter 25: The Girl Named May
The world felt heavy when Max opened his eyes. His body sank into the mattress as if gravity itself had doubled overnight. Every muscle ached, his ribs throbbed, and his head buzzed with the lingering echoes of Kael’s blows. The system notification about the bronze keys was still faintly burned into his mind, a reminder of the chaos from last night.“Don’t even think about moving,” Grimm’s voice cut into the silence of his room. It wasn’t angry—it was practical, firm. “Your body’s screaming for rest. For once, listen to it.”Max groaned and turned his face into the pillow. “For once, I think I will. Forget school. Forget everything. Just… sleep.”But the universe didn’t care about rest.His phone buzzed on the nightstand. Once. Twice. By the third vibration, Grimm muttered, “Ignore it.”Max reached over anyway, fumbling for the phone. The name flashing on the screen made him sigh.Lois.Of course.He answered with a voice that sounded like it had been dragged across sandpaper. “What?”
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