The digital chime in Deku Kwanoh’s mind didn’t ring with the polite, academic tone of a high school bell.
It hummed with a low, predatory vibration that resonated directly through his teeth.
[Bully System]
Host: Deku Kwanoh
Status: Expanding Influence / Sector 9 Sub-Core
Active Quests: [Securing the Water Grid]
Deku stood by the rusted window frame of Miyoku’s workshop, his dark eyes scanning the neon-drenched labyrinth of the slums below.
The tattered high school uniform was still stiff with dried grime, but the aura radiating from his frame had shifted.
He was no longer just an anomaly surviving a dystopian wasteland; he was establishing the bedrock of an empire.
Behind him, the steady, rhythmic click-whir of soldering tools filled the small room.
Kim Miyoku worked with a focused intensity that ignored the chaos outside.
Her grease-stained fingers manipulated microscopic fiber-optic strands with surgical precision, connecting them to a salvaged corporate data-node Deku had extracted from the Sub-Level 3 raid.
”The Iron Syndicate isn’t going to wait for you to knock on their front door,” Miyoku said without looking up, her voice steady over the hum of the soldering iron.
“Barok might be licking his wounds after you crushed his pride, but his superior—District Overseer Gault—controls the regional water pumps. If they cut the supply to the residential rings, thousands of unevolved families will dehydrate within forty-eight hours.”
Deku turned away from the window, adjusting his cuffs with immaculate discipline. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
“Let them try to cut it. A system that relies on withholding basic necessities to maintain control is already bankrupt.”
Miyoku paused, setting the tool down on the workbench and looking up at him.
A ghost of a smile touched her lips.
“You really do talk like a principal handing out detentions to unruly sophomores. But how do you plan to bypass their biometric locks? Gault’s water grid requires high-tier space-time authentication.”
Deku raised his right hand.
He clenched his fist.
The air immediately surrounding his knuckles didn’t just ripple—it fractured into a tiny, absolute void of blackness for a fraction of a second before snapping shut.
His Tier 3 spatial distortion had evolved past mere resistance; it could now mimic, override, and overwrite local frequency signatures.
”I don’t need their authentication,” Deku said softly, his dark eyes burning with cold, absolute confidence.
“I’ll rewrite their permissions.”
Before Miyoku could reply, a sharp, frantic clatter echoed outside the workshop door.
Heavy, hurried footsteps rattled the corrugated metal hallway.
A second later, the door flew open, and a breathless, panic-stricken Pip tumbled into the room, tripping over his own rat-skin cloak before catching himself on the edge of a spare parts crate.
”B-Boss!” Pip gasped, clutching his chest and gulping for air.
“You gotta move! Gault… District Overseer Gault just mobilized the Syndicate’s heavy enforcer squad! They’re heading straight for the central water hub, and they’ve brought a spatial suppressor!”
Deku didn’t flinch.
He slowly straightened his tie, his posture remaining rigidly upright.
”A spatial suppressor?” Deku asked, a dark, dangerous smirk curling the corners of his lips.
”Yeah!” Pip stammered, his eyes wide with terror.
“It’s a corporate-grade device! It locks down spatial-kinetic movement in a fifty-meter radius! If you go out there, your powers—”
”Will be tested,” Deku interrupted smoothly.
He stepped past Pip, his ruined leather shoes clicking sharply against the metal floor.
He paused at the doorway, casting one last glance back at Miyoku, who was already sliding her newly synthesized data-pad into her utility belt.
”Keep working on that bypass, Miyoku,” Deku commanded, his voice cutting through the ambient hum of the room like a razor.
“Class is back in session.”