Ryan sighed and leaned against his desk. The air in the classroom was thick with mockery and the sll of sweat.
But now the lunch bell had finally rung, students ran out of their respective classes in a flurry of chairs scraping,
But he didn’t move.
His notebook lay open on his desk, half of it was filled with random scribbles and drawings, none of which made any type of sense. He was trying to stay invisible.
His plan to stay hidden didn’t work as he wanted it to.
A shadow lood beside him — short, nervous, twitchy. A boy with thick glasses, in an oversized uniform, and blackheads under his eyes like he hadn’t gotten any sleep in days.
He looked like a rabbit who’d wandered into a den of wolves.
"Ryan..." the boy muttered out of his mouth, voice low and cold.
Ryan blinked and looked up at the boy slowly. "...Yeah?"
"Uh...um..." he kept playing with his fingers. "How should I say this... But, can you co with ? Sowhere. Just for a while?"
Ryan narrowed his eyes. The kid looked like he was going to shit himself any second. He looked pathetic, even more than Ryan.
But he felt familiar.
He sighed. "Yeah, sure... Where do we have to go?"
The kid didn’t answer his question. He just turned and walked off, his shoulders were a little hunched like he was carrying a boulder on his back.
Ryan hesitated for a second, then stood up and followed him.
They both exited the building, cutting around the side of the gym, and then went behind the storage sheds where no teacher ever patrolled.
The place reeked of piss, cheap cigarettes. Torn posters were fluttered on the broken fence by the small ergency exit. Rusty beer cans clinked under their feet.
Ryan’s gut twisted a bit. ’This isn’t good... Not good at all.’
The kid finally turned to face Ryan.
"I’m so... so sorry Ryan.." He whispered under his breath.
Ryan blinked a few tis. "Wha- What do you an?"
And then he dropped to his knees, tears started to pour out from behind his foggy lenses. "They told that they’d leave alone if I brought you here. I swear, Ryan, I— I didn’t want to do this—but they said they’d break my ribs this ti... I—I just want peace. I just want to be left alone."
His head dropped down a bit, he paused for a while and then started laughing.
But it wasn’t because of joy, it was broken. The kind that stung deeper into the chest.
"I sold you off for my own peace. Oh God... I’m such a piece of shit..."
Ryan stared at him for a while, silently. He didn’t show any type of emotions, there wasn’t even rage—just numbness in his body which was slowly traveling inside of his muscles.
A slow clap echoed from behind the shed.
"Beautiful." A voice ca out of nowhere.
Amit stepped forward from behind the trash bin, clapping his hands in slow motion—cigarette in his mouth.
Smoke curled around his head like a devil’s halo. "That’s so Academy Award level betrayal. Damn man, I fucking got chills."
"Fuck off from here, Amit." Ryan muttered under his breath.
Amit just simply smiled and looped one of his arms around Ryan’s shoulders like they both were old pals. "Aww don’t be like that, lil champ. We’re just getting started."
Ryan shrugged him off of him. "Don’t you dare touch , you bastard."
Footsteps crunched on top of gravel.
After a while Josh appeared next, dragging a broken baseball bat behind him. A long creepy grin was on his face.
He leaned in close to Ryan, putting both of them at eye to eye level now—though Josh had to crouch a little to do it.
Ryan stepped back a little bit.
"Awww, is this little fatty baby gonna cry again? What’s wrong, scared without your mommy or what."
Josh simply just laughed.
Behind them, soone lit a lighter. A sharp snap, then a long and deep exhale.
It was Sophia.
She leaned against the wall, arms folded, cigarette between her two fingers, completely detached from this situation.
Her eyes flicked over to Ryan, an emotion of disgust started to appear on her face slowly.
"This little fatass again?" she said, purely disgusted.
Ryan’s breath hitched. ’Even now... even after all that had happened to ...’ so part of him had hoped she might look at him differently.
That she might care about him even a little bit.
But her face was stone, cold and sharp just as a shattered glass.
He turned away slowly, didn’t want to look at her face anymore. Didn’t want her mories.
Josh raised the bat up and poked Ryan’s gut with it. "You still eating, fatty boy? That belly’s not going anywhere soon, huh?"
Amit sighed and pushed Ryan forward towards the bat.
Josh didn’t waste any second—his fist then smashed him in his gut.
Ryan choked, saliva started coming out of his mouth in foggy solubility. He stumbled a bit, legs started wobbling, vision going white around the edges.
He collapsed to the ground, coughing, groaning.
[DING!]
[Quest Objective Triggered: Survival Instinct Engaged]
[Host, it’s your ti to shine.]
[Show them your newly obtained power. Use Boxing Jab and prevent further bullying.]
Ryan gasped for breath, clutching to his side. His eyes started to overflow with tears—but not from the pain. From fury.
He saw the sudden pop up of quest notification, slowly blinking in front of his eyes. His rewards, his purpose.
’If I let them walk all over once again... then what the hell would be the point of this new life of mine?’
He pulled himself up from the ground slowly.
Josh blinked in surprise. "You’re still moving? Even after that hit?"
Ryan wiped his mouth with his torn sleeve and forced himself to stand back up, his body was screaming in pain. On verge to collapse again, but he still kept moving.
He clenched his fists hard.
[Boxing Jab.]
He could feel it, like sothing which suddenly started surging in his bones. A rhythm, a pull, a drive.
His weight suddenly shifted slightly to his back foot—just like in those tutorial videos he’d binged after getting the skill.
Josh smirked and raised the bat back up. "You seriously wanna have a go huh?"
Ryan launched himself forward. Fist tight, elbow slightly in.
He threw the jab, straight to Josh’s nose.
CRACK
Josh suddenly staggered back a bit, hands flying to his face.
"What the—?"
BLOOD
Amit’s jaw dropped, Sophia’s eyes actually widened in shock for the first ti.
Ryan stood there, panting, adrenaline started roaring in his veins.
The system then dinged once again.
[DING! Quest Complete: Fight Back Those Bullies]
[ 4 kg fat burned]
[ 1 Strength Pill Received]
[Skill Progression: Boxing Jab (20% Mastery)]A wicked grin started to form on Ryan’s face.
’Okay, one down... one more to go.’
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