2025-08-05 20:09:02Max woke up on the floor again, clutching his head.
“Ugh… what happened last night?” he groaned, eyes barely adjusting to the morning light. Then his eyes darted to the two things floating in front of him—one a glowing creature with tiny wings and an attitude, the other a hovering blue screen with his name still glowing: WELCOME, MAXIMUS JOHNSON. His jaw dropped. “Wait… wait, WAIT. You’re—you’re Player Armageddon?” he pointed at the smug flying creature. The creature gave a small bow mid-air. “The one and only. Surprised?” “And you’re… Player Holy?” he pointed to the floating blue system with soft blinking text. A mechanical tone responded as words typed across the screen: [AFFIRMATIVE.] Max threw his hands up. “How is this even—?!” He glanced at the time. “OH CRAP I’M LATE!” Without another word, he grabbed his bag, dashed out the house, and left the glowing system and winged Armageddon behind like forgotten homework. Max barely made it to school, breathless and sweaty. He tiptoed into class, only to hear— “That’s rude.” Max jumped and turned. Player Armageddon was floating right beside him in class, arms crossed, invisible to everyone else. Max ignored him. “Hey, Maximus,” sneered Craig from the back. “Did you forget your job?” Before Max could respond, Craig and his crew surrounded him. Fists flew. Desks shifted. The room filled with quiet gasps—but no one stopped it. No one ever did. Then the teacher walked in. “Settle down,” the teacher yawned, sipping coffee. “Open your books.” He stepped over Max, who was lying bruised on the floor, like he was just part of the furniture. At the back of the room, Player Armageddon and the system hovered in silence, watching. Break time. The bullies handed Max a list of snacks and his own money. “Don’t mess it up again, slave boy,” they jeered. Max dragged his legs through the hallway like a half-dead zombie. “So it’s even worse than we thought,” Player Armageddon said, floating beside him. Max nearly dropped his change. “Holy crap, I forgot you two were here!” [WHAT DO YOU WANT, MAXIMUS?] Holy’s system screen pulsed. Max sighed, defeated. “Look. I don’t know what you want with me. You gave power to the wrong guy, alright? I clicked that yes by accident. I’m just… not that guy.” Player Armageddon hovered in front of his face, eyes serious. “Don’t you want to stand up for yourself? For once?” Max laughed bitterly. “Have you not heard the name? Maximus the Slave Boy. That’s me. Get it tattooed somewhere if you want.” He walked off, snacks in hand, eyes empty. School ended. As usual, Max stayed behind to grind games on the bullies’ phones. They shoved them in his lap, giving him one job: Rank them up or get ranked down himself. He quietly tapped away until the door opened. “Max?” Lisa stepped in, her eyes full of worry. She walked over, took the phone from his hands. “You’re not doing this again.” “But—” Before Max could finish, Craig entered the room. “Hey, hey, hey,” Craig grinned darkly. “You touch my phone, princess?” He backhanded Max. Lisa flinched. “That’s enough!” Lisa shouted, standing between them. Craig smirked. “I’ll stop… if you come with me instead.” Max’s eyes snapped open. “No…” he whispered. Then louder. “NO!” He threw himself at Craig—only to get knocked to the floor again. Blood dripped from Max’s lip. He looked at Lisa. Her fists were clenched, eyes wide with fear. Beside him, the floating system hovered. [DO YOU WANT POWER?] Max stared at Lisa. Then back at the screen. And with all the breath in his lungs, he shouted: “YES!” [COMMAND ACCEPTED.] Blue lightning danced around his body—visible only to him. A surge of energy rushed through his veins. Max stood slowly, eyes glowing faintly, the floor beneath him cracking slightly. Craig raised a fist. “You really don’t learn—” He swung. Max didn’t move. The punch landed—and nothing happened. He stood his ground. Craig’s eyes widened. Max clenched his own fist. [SKILL UNLOCKED: CONSECUTIVE PUNCHES] His fists blurred—one, two, five, ten! Lightning cracked with each hit. Craig didn’t stand a chance. The bully hit the floor, groaning in shock, twitching slightly. Max stood over him, panting. “That… felt amazing.” The system pinged. [FREEBIE MODE DEACTIVATED.] [CURRENT STATS:] Strength: 6 Agility: 4 Stamina: 6 HP: 369 MP: 56 Skills: Locked (1/???) Max blinked as the power left his limbs. His knees buckled slightly. “W-What…?” Armageddon floated over, arms crossed. “ it is temporary.” Max stared at his trembling hands. “So… I’m back to being weak?” Holy's system pulsed gently. [But this time, you don’t have to stay that way.]
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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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