The 90 Billion Devotion System

Chapter 1: The Forest Stage

Chapter 1: The Forest Stage

Neo-Tide Academy—an institution so large and dazzling it looked like a patch of light had decided to anchor itself on Earth, and in the late afternoon sun, it gleamed like a shrine of ambitions barely held together by protocols and mana-infused reputation shields. Students bustled between hovering lecture halls and rune-lined paths of synthetic wood, the air thick with vaporized spirit incense and the chatter of endless dreams. And in the center of its most serene quadrant—the Windborne Grove—a quiet confrontation brewed beneath the red canopy of imported ember-maples.

Leo Xu stood at the grove's edge, the scarlet leaves framing his face like an ancient portrait unwillingly reanimated by tragedy. His wide eyes blinked slowly, absorbing the scene before him with the stunned disbelief of a man who had trained himself to expect heartbreak, yet still hadn’t mastered the art of surviving it.

Across from him stood Bella Zhao—beautiful in that effortlessly cruel way only first loves and apex predators could manage. Her figure was the kind poets designed temples for: elegant posture, bright eyes touched by artificial sparkle dust, and a voice soft enough to pass through magical silence barriers. Her uniform was pristine, the embroidery subtly infused with protective glyphs only high-tier mana sponsors could afford. She had always looked like she belonged in a world Leo could admire but never touch.

“Leo Xu, I already told you, we’re over. Stop chasing ghosts,” Bella snapped, folding her arms with mechanical grace.

Despite the hurt carved freshly into his features, Leo took a step forward.

Two months. That was how long it had been since she declared their relationship terminated. Two months since she chose the golden staircase of affluence over the uneven path of sincerity. Yet even after she had shut the door with all the cruelty of an executioner, Leo had kept showing up—not because he was weak, but because he still believed kindness could override karma.

To everyone at Neo-Tide, he had become known by one word that echoed louder than any spell: simp. A bootlicker. An embarrassment to male dignity. But Leo never saw himself that way. He thought of it as a kind of honor—the last shred of warmth one owed to a heart that once chose you.

So when Bella messaged him earlier to meet at Windborne Grove, he didn’t hesitate.

She’d arrived early. Tearful. Shivering slightly, though her mana aura kept her warm. She’d told him that her current boyfriend, Zhen Lun, had become cold. Distant. Indifferent. She cried softly, her words trembling with vulnerability, and Leo was just beginning to search for comfort in his vocabulary when footsteps shattered the spell.

"Zhen Lun? What’re you doing here?" she asked, her voice a sudden melody of surprise.

And just like that, the scene reset.

Bella’s mood shifted with the elegance of a script change. She glided past Leo, who might as well have turned invisible, and flung herself into Zhen Lun’s arms with the glee of a perfectly executed betrayal.

Leo turned around slowly, eyes landing on the newcomer—Zhen Lun, draped in a cyber-silk blazer, mana-threaded loafers glowing faintly with passive arrogance. His smile looked sincere, but his gaze was weaponized.

“What’s up, Leo? Bella said you invited her here for a friendly walk,” Zhen Lun said, locking eyes with him.

Bella leaned against Zhen Lun like a prize, nodding with the confidence of someone whose lies had been auto-validated by class privilege. She had, moments ago, cried about Zhen Lun's apathy, and now she was nestled against him like they were soul-bonded.

Leo didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. The truth sat heavy in the grove, red leaves falling like execution warrants.

“Senior Leo,” Zhen Lun continued, “you two have been over for a while, right? Want me to introduce you to some fresh options? I know a few girls who could use a loyal support build.”

Even his mockery came dressed in polite syntax.

Leo smiled weakly, but his eyes were sharpening.

Zhen Lun wasn’t just rich—he was surgically dominant. Neo-Tide’s favorite golden heir, the kind of man who could bribe a professor to alter fate alignment charts. And Bella, clever and opportunistic, had leapt into his world with the grace of a practiced defector.

Their performance continued. Bella pressed closer. Zhen Lun threw one last glance over his shoulder before leading her out of the grove, their laughter trailing behind them like perfume mixed with poison. They entered a crimson Maserati and drove off, the vehicle leaving behind a streak of mana exhaust.

Leo didn’t move. Not for a full minute.

His chest felt hollow. Not broken. Just emptied—the way a vault feels after a long, slow robbery.

Then came a voice.

“Leo! You serious right now?”

Luo Peng burst from the path like a glitch in the simulation—tall, upbeat, and radiating too much sunshine for a campus this fake. His jacket bore the colors of the Student Arena Combat Club, and he still had a practice blade sheathed behind his back.

“Don’t start,” Leo muttered.

“Oh, I’ll finish,” Luo Peng shot back. “I saw everything, man. She called you here just to make that bastard feel threatened. You were the bait, the drama spark. You think she still gives a damn?”

Leo didn’t speak. He didn’t have to.

“It’s time you snapped out of it. Two months of this is two months too long. She chose her climb. Let her fall when it gets steep.”

Silence.

Then Leo looked up, expression shifting as if someone had flipped a switch on his soul’s interface. He smiled—not because he was okay, but because he had finally chosen the direction of his pain.

“I get it. I’m done.”

“Wait, what?” Luo Peng blinked.

“Call Xiao Bai and the others. We’re hitting the Bottomless Pitcher Bar. Drinks on me.”

Luo Peng hesitated, then beamed.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m not dead, am I?” Leo replied.

“Hell yes, let’s go. We should celebrate the rebirth of a simp into a man with spine.”

Leo exhaled slowly, the last remnants of sentimentality bleeding out through clenched teeth. As the sun dipped behind the arcane towers of Neo-Tide, he muttered to himself,

“A fool in love deserves a thousand deaths.”

Luo Peng looked at him, heart swelling with vengeful pride.

“Damn right. A thousand deaths and no resurrection spells allowed.”