The Academy's Terminally Ill Side Character - Chapter 169: Penalty [3]

Ren has never known kindness. He grew up alone in the slums, learning to survive by staying out of sight and trusting no one. One night, he stumbles into a strange tunnel and finds a hidden shrine forgotten by time.There, he sees a black cat with golden eyes and hears a voice inside his head.The shrine is more than it seems. So is the cat.As Ren is pulled into something ancient and mysterious, he must decide if he's willing to take a different step in life or keep running from the world that hurt him.Because the city doesn't care if he lives or dies, but something in the dark might.(No system, no isekai, no reincarnation, no regression, no harem. The story focuses on mystery and character development.)

The spiritual energy recovers, others practice, and Xu Bai upgrades.

After getting the game system, because I haven’t received the main mission, I frantically spent 22 years of experience points.

Then……

Xu Bai suddenly discovered that he was already invincible.

Practice exercises.

Full skill.

Everyone: “Why don’t you have a bottleneck.”

Xu Bai spread his hands: “What’s the bottleneck, click to upgrade, isn’t it enough?”

- Description from novelbuddy

He hated everything I was, but I searched for affection in every cruel glance he gave me.“There were so many things I wanted to say to you, but even writing them feels impossible. Because I know that if I were to put down the words I keep in my heart, you'd only say it's natural, after all, I’m just a stupid, self-centered person, like you often said.But I'm not. And that’s why I won’t bare my heart to someone who never truly knew me. Because... you wouldn’t trust the sincerity of a stranger. Right?But I did.You were the stranger whose sincerity I believed in.So I’m stepping away from being the person who embodies everything you hate—because I hate those things too.Maybe in another life, I’ll get to tell you who I really am.”

Kellen Woods grew up never knowing a normal world. By the time he could walk, his mother and father had already sealed several serious gates that threatened the safety of his hometown. By the time his sister was born, they were famous worldwide.So the world held their breath for when Kellen and his sister came of age, waiting to see what kind of power they would awaken.His sister was just like his mom, same power, same class, while Kellen, woke up one day to find out what it meant to be special in a family the world watched. But in the worst way.Awakening weaker then your powerful parents wasn’t unheard of, but when your younger sister awakened at the same class as your parent, anyone would feel inferior. And Kellen, never one to ask for hand outs, left the comfort and safety of his hometown to become better than the weak brat everyone thought he was.Kellen went to the front lines, to where the gates normally broke out. From there, Kellen worked hard, and then worked some more until no one could doubt that he was good at his job. He got so good that even with his lower class, people would still hire him to help. But Kellen never took it to heart. He had learned a valuable lesson on the front lines. Classification only meant shit if you walked back out of the gate. Otherwise, shut your mouth and listen to those with more experience. They determined who made it out alive or not.But Kellen was tired now. He had gotten everything out of his system, and the fast paced life on the front lines didn’t suit him anymore. Now, he wanted to go home, buy a house, maybe find a nice man to settle down with, and live a normal life.All the while, the yellow eyes he’d met on the front lines haunted him, no matter how much he tried to forget about them.Especially since the Esper they were attached to refused to let him go.