[SUPREME BULLY SYSTEM: ONLINE
REPUTATION POINTS: 5
ABILITIES: VERBAL ABUSE (LVL.1)
WARNING: HAVING NEGATIVE POINTS WOULD LEAD TO TERMINATION OF THE HOST.
WARNING: PLOT DEVIATION WOULD LEAD TO TERMINATION OF THE HOST.
PLEASE GATHER POINTS AND COMPLETE THE PLOT!]
Good fucking morning.
It's really not pleasant to wake up to the electronic voice of this useless system casually throwing death threats inside my head as if mocking me from my imminent death at the hands of the protagonist.
The bad hangover isn't helping much either.
The sun blared through the windows. I groaned, burying my face deeper into the pillow.
Don't get me started on whatever the hell verbal abuse ability even is. What am I supposed to do with it?
With another groan, I dragged myself out of bed.
I pulled my denim pants off, followed by the shirt and letterman jacket I'd completely forgotten to take off yesterday. They landed on the floor, smelling faintly of sweat and cheap party cologne.
I'm in my own house and no one else but my brother would see me anyway. I had no qualms about just staying in my boxers.
I pushed open my bedroom door and padded silently down the wide staircase, my bare feet cool against the polished wood. Turning the corner into the kitchen, I reached for the refrigerator door. As I pulled it open, grabbing a pitcher of water, my gaze casually drifted to the kitchen island.
And there, perched on a stool, was someone.
This guy had a brownish bowl cut, soft and a little messy, framing a surprisingly delicate face. Wide, startled eyes stared back at me. His cheeks were faintly flushed, and his small mouth was slightly agape, frozen mid-chew with a spoonful of cereal halfway to his mouth.
A cute someone.
My hand froze on the pitcher. Was he one of Theo's friends? I remember now that he told me his friends would be sleeping over last night.
I looked down at my half-naked self, standing here in just my boxers.
Great... just the perfect first impression I'd want to show a guy who's potentially my type. I felt the heat creeping up to my cheeks from my neck.
The silence in the kitchen stretched, heavy with the weight of our unexpected, half-dressed encounter.
The guy, still holding his cereal spoon, swallowed hard. His look was a mixture of bewilderment and apprehension.
Just when I was about to apologize for my rude appearance, the obnoxious voice of the system blared in my head, cutting off any chance of a graceful first interaction.
[SUPREME BULLY SYSTEM ALERT: NEW MISSION – ASSERT SUPERIORITY. REWARD: +10 REPUTATION POINTS, UNLOCK 'ALPHA STARE' ABILITY. FAILURE: -20 REPUTATION POINTS]
What the fuck is alpha stare ability? And assert superiority? To a guy who looked like he could be adopted by a cottagecore TikTok account? This system truly had no chill.
And no sense of timing.
My gaze flickered down to my boxers, then back to his wide eyes. This was truly mortifying. What would be Shawn Carter's move here? What would the school's meanest bully do when confronted with a nerd (a cute one) in his kitchen, while he himself was barely dressed?
I cleared my throat, "What are you doing in my kitchen, creep?"
The System, of course, chose that exact moment to chime in, practically singing with digital glee.
[SUPREME BULLY SYSTEM ALERT: MISSION COMPLETE – ASSERT SUPERIORITY. REWARD: +10 REPUTATION POINTS, 'ALPHA STARE' ABILITY UNLOCKED! CURRENT REPUTATION POINTS: 15]
The guy quickly lowered his spoon to the bowl, a blush creeping up his neck.
"I..." He stammered, his voice barely a whisper. "I was just getting breakfast. Theo said it was okay." He gestured vaguely towards the living room, where the muffled sounds of snoring indicated Theo and his friends were still out cold.
Oh... Even his voice is cute.
"Who are you?" I demanded, pushing the words out with more force than intended, mimicking Shawn's typical condescending attitude.
His face paled slightly. "I'm... Daniel," he said, his voice dropping even lower. He looked away, focusing intently on his cereal.
Daniel.
The name clicked into place.
Daniel Reynolds.
The protagonist.
The quiet, artistic, bullied kid who, in the original novel, would eventually snap and set Westmont High ablaze in a fit of desperate, fiery revenge.
And I, Shawn Carter, the legendary bully, was standing in front of him in my underwear, demanding to know who he was, and probably making him even more determined to commit arson.
This is not how I wanted to meet the protagonist. And this is definitely not the kind of "first impression" I needed to make.
My head throbbed. This isn't going to be easy. My very first interaction with the key to my survival had gone catastrophically wrong. I'm toast. Literally and soon.