It was midday at Riverland High School, at the back of one of the lonely buildings, and five students were seen throwing heavy punches and delivering sharp, lethal kicks to Alister, who lay on the ground helplessly, enduring the immense pain from the brutal beating.
Alister was on his way to the library to spend his lunchtime peacefully as he did every other day when the short, contentious student he had an altercation with in the morning arrived with a group of guys to drag him away violently to the quiet corner.
While Alister tried to put up a fight, he was no match for the combined strength of the five, and he was immediately sent crashing to the ground, forced to endure their relentless assault.
THWACK
The one he had clashed with earlier—known among the others as young master Leo—landed a precise kick to Alister's stomach, causing him to flinch and groan in sharp anguish.
"Where's all your cool now? Huh? Where's that pathetic confidence of yours? Answer me!" Leo barked as he unleashed another vicious kick.
"Just because we were in public, you thought your so-called cool would protect you from the fallout of your disrespect," Leo continued, each kick punctuating his words, "now use that same lousy, aloof attitude to get the hell away from me!"
The other four boys showed no restraint as they savored every moment of kicking and punching Alister without mercy.
Alister bled from several parts of his body.
Beyond the visible bruises and wounds, his insides burned with unbearable pain as he silently shed tears.
This torture continued for the next five minutes. At this point, Alister's groans had faded almost to a whisper and his reactions were minimal, as though he were drifting toward unconsciousness.
But such wasn't enough to move their hardened hearts, they continued, deepening Alister's wounds and reducing every single chance he had of overcoming the pain.
"That's enough for now," Leo declared abruptly after noticing Alister's diminishing responses. "This will teach him never to mess with me again."
The others nodded in agreement and halted their attack, staring at Alister as he involuntarily flinched while the pain intensified further. Leo lingered a few seconds longer before spitting on him and leaving with the rest.
'Fuck!'
Alister cursed inwardly.
'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!'
His internal monologue was filled with nothing but anger and anguish.
Not just from the brutal beating and the humiliation he had just suffered, but from the harsh reality that he would have to continue living like this, enduring unjust treatment without the right to speak out or seek justice.
Is Alister weaker than Leo?
Certainly not—he could easily take on Leo one-on-one, but what would be the outcome?
Leo was the son of a popular TV show host and the grandson of a feared business mogul.
If Alister were to exact his revenge on someone like that, his life would be shattered even further. He would be tormented both mentally and physically until he finally lost the will to live.
Students like Alister could only endure such treatment from these people. Why? It was simple: because they were poor, and in today's society the poor are seen as worthless—treated like animals and pawns by the rich, only useful for carrying out the orders of the higher-ups.
'What have I done to deserve such a fate? What sin have my parents committed to condemn me to this lifelong ridicule?'
Alister had never really known his parent, he was an orphan since he was capable to remember and think for himself. He had never met anyone who had any information about them—whether they were alive or dead remained a mystery.
All he had was the surname Ashworth.
He had done extensive research online and in real life about his surname, but he never uncovered any tangible clue. It was as though his surname had never graced the internet at all, or as if it had been completely erased.
"Ahhhh!"
Summoning the last bit of strength he possessed, Alister let out a frustrated groan, laced with raw anguish.
He was in so much pain that, if no one attended to him soon, he might pass out—or even die—given his seemingly endless streak of bad luck that always turned the simplest situation into the harshest, nastiest ordeal.
Unfortunately, he was hidden at the back of an empty building in the rarely visited part of the school; no matter how much he yelled, no one could hear him.
'Fuck!'
Alister cursed his misfortune once again.
He repeated the curse over and over as though it might somehow lessen the overwhelming hatred and anger that churned in his heart or even ease the relentless pain he was enduring.
Seconds slipped into minutes, and gradually more than half an hour passed.
In that time, no one arrived, and Alister was slowly succumbing to pain—his eyes closed and only flickering open briefly at the sound of insects buzzing past him or birds chirping as they drifted through the vast sky.
And then, as if time itself were mocking him, yet another hour slipped away!
The school had fallen eerily silent, and Alister understood why—the school session for the day had ended and everyone had retreated to their homes, leaving him alone on the premises in a deafening stillness.
Not only that—it was the weekend!
No one would be at Riverland High School for the next two days!
"Fine, I give up!"
Alister let out a defeated sigh as he relaxed on the ground, feeling his last vestiges of consciousness slowly seeping away.
His vision blurred, his body numbed by pain, and his heart began to lose strength.
At this point, Alister had accepted his fate—whatever happened, would happen, he thought resignedly.
But at the final moment, an unfamiliar robotic voice cut through the silence building up in his head.
[ Conditions fulfilled ]
'Huh?' Alister muttered, struggling to comprehend the voice and its intent.
[ Successfully turned eighteen — Check ]
'What is that voice?'
As his hearing weakened further, the voice grew increasingly muffled and indistinct with every passing second!
[ Given up on living and accepted harsh reality of doom — Check ]
[ Bloodline legacy — Check ]
... — Check ]
... — Check ]
[ Loading.... ]
[ Loading.... ]
At this moment, Alister had already lost his final strand of consciousness, yet the voice continued.
As well as the holographic window, which Alister, unfortunately, could not see as he was unconscious. It contained every spoken word of the robotic voice invading his head.
[ Bloodline Legacy Contract #307 loaded successfully ]
[ Contract has already been pre signed. Proceeding... ]
[ System unlocked ]
[ Loading first inter-dimensional mission loading ]
[ First mission loaded ]
[ GOOD LUCK ]