School Begins

When it was time to head to school, Max prepared his backpack, making sure not to carry anything that could get him into trouble during the small incident he was planning. Nowadays, school entrances always had security, and anything metallic on them would be detected.

Afterward, Max enjoyed his ride, this time in his Jeep, to the school. But as soon as he encountered other students heading toward the building, his expression turned neutral.

The smile on his face vanished, his gaze grew cold, and his one good eye stopped focusing on the people around him.

To be honest, he really didn't want to cause any trouble. He had read extensively about bullying and knew that if anyone dared to mess with him, he could easily break a few bones.

However, as someone trained in martial arts, he thought it would be overkill. Still, for the sake of this country, he decided he'd only "educate" them minimally.

As he had researched, this was one of the best high schools in the valley. Despite its innovative programs—which, from Max's perspective, resembled university courses—this school felt utterly ordinary to him, with nothing remarkable to note.

Students, teachers, air conditioning, clubs, a field, and hopefully clean bathrooms—all of that could be found there.

Since this was Max's first day at this school, he had high hopes that things would be different from his previous school.

'I hope no idiot tries to pick on me. I don't want to fight because I need to focus on classes and find people like me. Max thought as he removed his earbuds.

But just as he was thinking that, a tall guy with messy hair slung an arm around Max's shoulders.

Max's mood plummeted as he sensed the intentions of this idiot who smelled like milk.

"Hey, I remember seeing your ugly face the other night... I mean… Anyway, I also play the same game you're on right now on your phone, so it'd help me a lot if you became my miner for my account."

Max sighed in response, which irritated the tall guy.

"You just agreed, didn't you? Whatever, I'll give you my phone at lunch. I still need my own phone for now, so we'll see each other later."

'Get out of my sight, you winged pig.' Max wanted to say, but he chose silence instead.

The tall guy's name was Brucks. If Max remembered correctly, Brucks had gotten beaten up with his friends yesterday by a man who was rusty in physical combat.

"Today's the transfer student intake, and it turns out you're one of them. Isn't it a coincidence? You're the only one here who seems clueless, and anyone around me could easily notice it. Come on, be my miner; you don't have any friends anyway."

"It's not like you have any either," Max replied coldly.

"What did you just say?" The tall guy glared at him, removing his arm from Max's shoulders, and added, "You're probably as lonely as all the losers here—a student doomed to solitude. Now that I think about it, I could use some extra cash too. My parents give me just enough, so be ready at lunch. If you don't show up, you'd better be good at taking hits."

After saying that, the tall guy walked away, leaving Max with some truly criminal thoughts.

'Looks like I'll have to earn some respect, street-style.' Max thought as he refocused on his phone.

But before he could continue walking, he noticed a girl looking at him. She had her hair down and was watching him as she approached.

"Devon, good morning." Max walked up to her, grateful for the girl who had helped him tour the school a week ago.

Devon greeted Max with a smile and asked, "Do you have your schedule yet?"

"Here it is. Do we share any classes?" Max handed his schedule to Devon for her to check.

"Yep, we have the same classes." Devon handed it back and led the way to the classroom.

As they walked, they chatted casually. Then, out of nowhere, Devon asked, "What do you do in your free time?"

"I usually do a bit of everything. Why do you ask?" Max, captivated by the school's atmosphere, responded naturally.

Devon smiled slyly, as though planning to rope Max into activities he wouldn't usually get involved in. "Would you mind being my partner in extracurricular activities?"

"I…" Max couldn't answer properly due to the crowd of students around them.

"Don't worry, it'll be fun," Devon said. She loved anything that provided academic or practical advantages. What she lacked was a partner willing to assist her with many projects she felt obligated to handle in pairs.

She had noticed that Max seemed observant, so she figured he'd be a valuable addition to her various groups.

As they walked, people stared at Max, who displayed no concern about his blind eye surrounded by a scar. He had no prejudice but anticipated people's curiosity.

'My only chance to avoid trouble is to put some of these idiots in their place,' Max thought as he scanned the room and spotted a problem.

"Are you listening to me?" Devon asked as they entered the classroom.

Max turned his attention back to her and nodded slightly. "I don't mind. If you think it's interesting, I'll join those activities."

"Great! By the way, do you have a phone?" Devon didn't wait for Max to answer. She grabbed his phone from his hand and added her number.

"Do you play contact sports?"

Max was surprised. "Why do you ask?"

"Your hands—they look like they've been used a lot." Devon, a fan of action movies, was familiar with the markings on Max's knuckles.

"A little, just for fun." Max didn't lie, but he also didn't admit to being a martial artist.

At that moment, the tall guy from earlier sat down in front of Max's desk.

"A problem…" Max was losing patience. He hadn't mentioned it before, but when he exploded at someone who bothered him, he was relentless.

"Hey, little crap. Looks like we share some classes, huh..."

"And who are you?" Max feigned ignorance as he walked to an empty corner of the classroom and sat down.

"Who am I? Did you forget my name? It's me, Brucks, the guy who'll be spending your lunch money later and leveling up my account with your help." Brucks froze when a girl sat beside Max.

Max smirked slightly, staring coldly at the idiot in front of him.

Devon looked up and asked, "Excuse me, are we talking to you? If not, you can go to hell."

"Hey, I'm just talking to him. If this idiot bothers you, don't forget to let me know," Brucks said before leaving as the teacher entered the classroom.

"Even if someone bothers me, I wouldn't ask anyone for help with my problems, brainless fool," Devon said coldly, clearly dismissing Brucks.