2025-08-05 20:11:50The glowing "OPEN" sign of the DragonByte PC Café buzzed softly as Max and Craig stepped inside. Rows of PCs hummed with energy, and the faint smell of ramen and cheap cologne filled the air. Craig led Max toward the back, past the common area, toward a private room he’d booked specially.
Max stepped in. Sitting in the room was a massive figure—broad shoulders, huge arms, and a chest so wide it looked like it had its own ZIP code. A tattoo of a dragon coiled around his arm, and his face looked like it had never once smiled in its life. Max raised a trembling hand, trying to be polite. “Uh… hey.” The giant didn’t react. Instead, Craig casually walked up to him and slapped palms in a heavy handshake. “John Kent, this is the guy I told you about—Max.” The huge dude stood up. Max’s soul almost left his body. “You’re Max?” John rumbled, voice deep enough to shake the chairs. He extended a hand. Max gulped, shook it. “Nice to meet you, kid,” John said, grinning slightly. “Sit down.” Max sat—awkwardly—his eyes nervously scanning the room. Three girls were sitting across from him. Stylish, cold, uninterested. Max smiled at them. “Hi.” No response. Not even a blink. Okay... tough crowd, Max thought. Just then, Craig clapped his hands. “Oi, bring him in!” A frail boy shuffled into the room, wearing only his shirt and… boxers. His eyes were blackened, his lip swollen. Max’s heart dropped. “Stand right there!” Craig barked. John picked up an empty soda can. Craig grabbed a bag of chips. Together, they started throwing things at the half-dressed boy like it was some sick carnival game. Max’s fists clenched. He could hear his own heartbeat. Craig suddenly turned to him. “Drink with us, Max.” Max shook his head. “I don’t drink.” Craig’s grin faded. “What? You scared of me?” Max looked away. “No…” But it wasn’t fear of Craig that made his hands sweat. It was the SYSTEM NOTIFICATION glowing faintly in his vision: [QUEST: Show your manhood. Hit Craig with a microphone.] [REWARD: Silver Key] [PENALTY: Loss of manhood (permanently).] [Time remaining: 5:00] Max’s pupils shrank. “Loss of WHAT?!” he screamed internally. Craig got up, turned to John, and said, “I’ll go check on my guys in the other room.” He stepped out casually, leaving the chaos behind. Max stood up too. “Bathroom. Be right back.” He slipped out and leaned against the hallway wall, breathing hard. “I am NOT doing this. That guy's practically a mob boss!” Max whispered to himself. Grim suddenly appeared over his shoulder. “You should do the quest,” Grim said cheerfully. “Are you CRAZY?” Max hissed. “Did you see the size of John?! That dude eats bricks for breakfast!” [Time remaining: 0:30] Grim blinked. “You better hurry. Or say goodbye to the crown jewels.” “Why is this my life…” Max moaned. He peeked into the hallway. Craig was on a call, laughing, back turned. Max’s eyes narrowed. Then he saw it. A mic stand. With a wireless karaoke mic sitting in the holder. The weapon of destiny. The final seconds counted down. [0:10… 0:09… 0:08…] Max whispered, “Screw it.” He yanked the microphone out, sprinted forward— “HEY CRAIG!” Craig turned around mid-laugh. WHAM!! The microphone smashed into his face with a satisfying thunk, sending Craig sprawling like a broken trash bag. [QUEST COMPLETE.] [REWARD: SILVER KEY OBTAINED.] Max grinned in relief. “YES! I keep my preciouses!” He held up the glowing silver key in victory. Then he noticed… the silence. A large shadow loomed over him. He turned. It was John. And he was furious. “Did you just…” John’s voice trembled with rage, “...hit my friend?” Max looked up slowly. [SUDDEN QUEST TRIGGERED:] [DEFEAT THE ANGRY GIANT.] Grim floated beside Max. “Well… now you’ve done it.” Max’s smile vanished. “…Please tell me that silver key unlocks a tank.”
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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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