2025-08-05 20:18:26Max’s heart was blazing as he darted into the burning building, cloth wrapped over his mouth, adrenaline pounding in his chest.
“EMILY!! I’M COMING TO SAVE YOU!” he shouted like a battle cry. Only to pause a few steps in. PSSSSSSHHH. A fire extinguisher hissed. Emily calmly doused the last of the flames. Max stood there, heroic pose frozen, blinking through the steam. Grimm, floating behind a half-charred couch, burst into uncontrollable laughter. “PFFFT—You looked so cool for a solid five seconds!” Max lowered his arms, coughing awkwardly. “Seriously?” Just then, the boy with glasses—the Bully Council’s tactician—walked past, dragging a half-conscious Jacob. “Congratulations, Max,” he said coolly. “You’re now the official representative of Bloomfield High. Try not to die.” Then he left. Outside the building… Max walked quietly alongside Emily. “…Thanks,” he said, glancing down. “For saving me. If I hadn’t known what the Council was planning… I’d be toast.” “You’re welcome,” Emily replied, eyes forward. Max reached into his backpack and pulled out the plush toy he never got to give her. “Here,” he said, holding it out. “For back then. You never got it.” She looked at it, surprised. Then took it with a smile. “Thanks.” Max stared a second too long at the smile. [SYSTEM MESSAGE: Calculating Quest Rewards…] [Quest Chain "A Boy Becoming a Man" COMPLETE.] [REWARD: +50 to All Stats | Skill Slot Unlocked | Passive Title: "Underdog Hero"] “Let’s GOOOO!” Max cheered, fist-pumping the air. The Next Day… Max limped out of the pharmacy again, bandages wrapped tightly around his arms and ribs. His stomach growled loudly. He pulled out his wallet. Just a couple of crumpled bills. “Not enough for real food… and no way I’m calling Aunty again.” He sighed and wandered toward a cheap snack store. Just as he reached for a meat bun, Grimm suddenly yelled: “MAX! The girl! The one who saw the two souls—she’s being kidnapped!” Max dropped the snack. “WHAT?!” He turned and saw her—the mystery girl—being dragged into a bus by a group of men in suits. Max reached for his phone. “I’m calling the police—” [SYSTEM QUEST: “Rescue the Fragile Princess” – Failure will result in painful punishment.] [Punishment: Snip-Snip (illustrated with a gleaming pair of scissors)] “OH, COME ON!” Max screamed. [Stats Check: Agility – 55] His feet exploded into motion. Flashback – Yesterday: "ALL STATS +50" He’d been too distracted to check the numbers—but now they were saving his life. Max reached the intersection just as the kidnappers' bus stopped at a red light. He sprinted forward— CRACK! A metal bat hit him square in the face. Max collapsed. Then the gang piled onto him, kicking him as he groaned on the pavement. He grabbed one of their legs and muttered through gritted teeth: “Soul Link – Muhammad Ali.” BOOM! A shockwave of fists. The gang flew back one by one, struggling to keep up with Max’s evasive footwork and explosive counterpunches. Two kidnappers panicked and got back into the bus, taking off with the girl. Max grabbed one of the groaning thugs by the collar. “WHERE ARE THEY TAKING HER?!” “Th-The warehouse! Across the street!” Max delivered a final boxer’s cross that knocked the man cold. But pain slammed into his muscles like bricks. He collapsed to one knee. His body shaking from the soul strain. “Grimm,” he hissed. “I’m not done yet…” He looked around—and saw a skateboard. “Soul Link – Dylan Rieder.” Max flew across the street, weaving through traffic like a blur. At the warehouse gates… The kidnappers rolled up—only to see Max standing in the road, bruised and bleeding. “GET OUTTA THE WAY!” the driver shouted. CRASH. They ran Max over. The car screeched to a halt. “Check if he’s alive—throw him in the back,” one muttered. A thug approached. WHAM. A fist decked him clean. Max rose, head tilted forward, face in shadow. [Soul Link: Brandon Lee – Activated] “I’m taking the girl,” Max said, his voice low, deadly, and ice-cold. More gangsters rushed him—but Max moved like a phantom. Spin kicks. Fluid strikes. Elbow counters. Every move was beautiful and brutal. The last kidnapper hit the ground hard, groaning. But a massive man in sunglasses and a white blazer stepped out from the shadows inside. He cracked his knuckles. “So. You’re the one messing with our deliveries.” He smirked. “Who are you? Her new bodyguard?” Max stepped forward and took Brandon Lee’s pose, hands loose, stance ready. “…No,” he said. [SYSTEM MESSAGE: Quest Response Confirmed.] “I’m just a guy doing a side quest.”
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
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?”
You may also like
From Rock Bottom to Riches: The Wealth Tap System
Abysalyounglord30.0K viewsGod of System Analysis
NFA77.7K viewsMASON WILLIAMS AND THE CELESTIAL SYSTEM
Bigsnowy 28.7K viewsMy Rich Harem System
NOVEMBRE23.9K viewsMy Journey to Wealth With the Billionaire Endgame System
Burning Coffee183 viewsThe Janitor Who became a God
Grep-pens747 viewsThe Last Witchblood
Daoist Xu10 viewsLEVEL UP
LIGht Pen38.2K views