Villain Raiders

Chapter3

Karl swallowed hard. "I don't think I can complete the antagonist tasks."

He'd be dead before he even started.

Arthur wouldn't even need to hit him.

Karl was such a weakling, he'd crumple with just a pinch.

[System: Young man, don't be discouraged by appearances. Have confidence in yourself. Trust me, you can do it.]

Karl: "Alexa."

[System: Yes?]

Karl: "I need confidence."

[System: Uh-huh.]

Karl: "Not blind overconfidence."

[...]

After this small interlude, Karl entered the school with his backpack. Following his memories, he arrived at the second-year teaching

building. For some reason, he felt nervous. Taking a deep breath, he walked in.

He went to the third floor, where the first classroom was his Class 2-1.

Karl nervously tugged at his sleeve. This environment, strange to him, was also a new beginning.

He tried to enter as inconspicuously as possible. The originally noisy classroom fell silent for a moment but quickly returned to its

usual state.

Karl secretly sighed in relief, but the next moment he heard whispers around him.

"Why is he here?"

"I thought he'd dropped out. Why'd he come back? So annoying."

"Our class was better without him. Who knows what trouble he'll cause now."

"We have monthly exams this Friday. Is he back to lower the class average?"

Karl's body involuntarily stiffened. He quickly found his seat and sat down.

As soon as he sat, he noticed the student in front of him scooting their chair forward, the legs scraping against the floor. It was as if

Karl was some kind of contagious disease they wanted to avoid.

[System: Young man, the situation doesn't look very optimistic.]

Karl: "I had imagined being disliked, but..."

[System: But what?]

Karl: "I didn't expect to be hated this much."

Original Karl! What on earth did you do to be so universally despised?

Karl was already timid by nature. Even if people talked about him, he wouldn't dare to talk back. But this week of absence had not

only earned him his classmates' annoyance but also a pile of test papers on his desk.

Looking at the small mountain of papers, he swallowed hard. His academic performance wasn't great, just slightly above average.

Gathering the papers on the desk, there were at least eleven or twelve. He could barely finish one during a self-study period. Then he

looked in his desk and found it crammed full of textbooks. No wonder his backpack was empty, and so was his head.

Karl randomly pulled out a math book and found it brand new. Skimming through it, he realized the content wasn't much different

from what he'd studied in his previous life.

Indeed, even in death, odd functions change sign, even functions don't, and you still need to check the quadrant for trigonometric

functions.

Just as he was about to start on the test papers, he realized he didn't have a pen.

"Alexa."

[System: I'm here.]

Karl: "Do you have a pen?"

[System: Yes, fifty dollars each.]

Karl: "What kind of pen is so expensive?"

[System: An electronic pen. But if you do a task now, I can give you a discount.]

Karl: "...I'll pass, thanks."

With only two minutes until self-study began, there wasn't enough time to go to the school store.

Just then, the student in front of him dropped an eraser. The round eraser rolled to Karl's feet.

Karl looked down, picked it up, and said hesitantly, "H-Hey, you dropped your eraser."

Unexpectedly, the student in front whirled around, snatched the eraser back, and said irritably, "I didn't need you to tell me!"

Karl withdrew his hand, swallowing the words he was about to say about borrowing a pen.

His seat was by the window in the last row, jutting out with no desk mate. He had no one to talk to.

Karl had to change his strategy. During self-study, he decided to review some key points visually. However, just as he managed to

endure until the end of self-study, the homeroom teacher came in for an impromptu class meeting, leaving no time to buy a pen.

When the homeroom teacher saw Karl, her previously smiling face instantly fell.

If Karl had come back next week, the teacher wouldn't have reacted this way. Their class had been firmly at the bottom of the grade

for a long time. Without Karl, they might have had a chance to climb up a rank or two, but with his return, they were back to last

place.

After a hurried morning meeting, it was time for math class. The math teacher, Mr. Lee, was in his forties. Due to his rugged

appearance and tall stature, his nickname was "Kong" (as in King Kong).

He was very serious and strict during class, and generally, no student dared to cause trouble.

Mr. Lee entered the classroom and, seeing Karl, showed no change in expression. He began the class as usual, covering geometry.

Five minutes later, Mr. Lee said, "Now, students, count how many parallel lines there are in this diagram."

As the students lowered their heads to study, Mr. Lee walked around to inspect. When he reached Karl's desk, he stopped with a

frown. "Karl, why aren't you counting?"

The teacher's tall figure loomed over him, and Karl was so scared he fumbled with his textbook.

Seeing no response, Mr. Lee asked again sternly, "Why aren't you counting?"

Karl, frightened, blurted out, "No p-pen to count with."

Mr. Lee: ...

Surrounding classmates: ...

For a moment, the classroom fell into a deathly silence.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Karl suddenly felt like he was dead...

Pfft...

Some classmates who couldn't hold it in let out suppressed laughs before quickly stifling them.

Karl, red-faced, hurriedly tried to apologize, but the next moment, a pen was placed on his desk.

Mr. Lee gave him another stern look before walking away.

Karl was stunned, looking at the pen on his desk, his eyes full of gratitude.

After class, Karl hurried to the school store to buy some stationery, but with limited funds, he could only afford the cheapest options.

[System: Antagonist task: Provoke the protagonist. Reward: 10 dollars. Antagonist value increase: 1. Penalty for failure: 20 dollars

deducted.]

Karl was shocked. "Didn't you say the first task wouldn't deduct money?"

[System: Are you trying to exploit a loophole here?]

Karl smiled shyly. "Is that allowed?"

[System: No.]

Karl's face fell instantly. What had to come would come.

The original Karl was asking for trouble, but he didn't want to cause trouble and had no choice. He wasn't going to provoke; he was

going to get beaten up.

Remembering Arthur's muscular forearms, Karl's legs began to tremble.

[System: Young man!]

Karl: "What is it?"

[System: Target spotted.]

Karl's fluffy head shook at the news. He looked around furtively, and sure enough, the next moment Arthur walked into the store.

The young man stood tall, his appearance superior, surrounded by people as he entered, standing out like a crane among chickens.

[System: Here's your chance.]

What chance?

A chance to meet his maker?

Without thinking, Karl hurriedly paid and fled the store.

[System: Young man, you're making me lose respect for you!]

Karl, still shaken, said, "Did you see how many people were with him?"

[System: What does the number of people have to do with anything?]

Karl: "Even if Arthur doesn't lift a finger, if each of them gives me one punch, I'll be leaving this beautiful world."

[...]

Karl returned to the classroom with his stationery. It seemed he'd have to find another opportunity to complete the task.

"D*mn, did I just see things? I thought I saw that annoying pest!" Jason exclaimed in surprise.

A nearby male classmate laughed, "Maybe you're hallucinating because he's been gone so long."

Jason instantly got goosebumps. "Get lost, that's disgusting."

"Hey Arthur, did you see him?"

Arthur, holding a sports drink, glanced at him. "You're into that now?"

Jason: ...

Old dog.

Fine, so he was the only one who saw him.

Jason: "I swear I saw him come back. Just wait, he'll be bothering you soon enough."

Arthur listened halfheartedly, the words going in one ear and out the other, not caring at all.

Although the task had been issued, they were in different classes. All morning, Karl had no time to do anything other than attend

classes and organize notes.

It wasn't until the afternoon break that he found an opportunity.

"Hey, Arthur's playing basketball on the court. Want to go watch?"

A female classmate stood up with Karl.

Female classmate: "Sure, let's go."

Karl (internally): "Sure, let's go."

Soon, he was mingling with the crowd at the basketball court. There were quite a few spectators, and while the boys were sweating it

out on the court, Arthur was the one who really caught everyone's eye.

This guy was the type you couldn't help but notice.

On the court, Arthur wore the summer school uniform. Unlike some boys still in their growth phase, he wasn't skinny. His shoulders

were broad, his back impressive, and when he dribbled, the veins in his arms slightly protruded.

The summer heat was intense. He raised his hand to sweep his hair back, and every time he scored, cheers erupted.

"Let's go to the bench. Arthur's water is there. He'll definitely come to drink when he takes a break."

Emma felt a bit embarrassed. "Is that okay?"

"Of course it is! Come on, let's go."

Karl, overhearing this, quietly followed them.

When they reached the spot, the girl pulling Emma turned around and saw Karl. Her eyes widened instantly. "W-What are you

following us for?!"

Karl was taken aback. "To... to watch basketball."

The girl pulled Emma slightly behind her. "Bull****! Don't think I don't know you're here to stalk Emma."

Karl found the name familiar but couldn't remember who it was.

[System: The popular girl.]

Hearing this, Karl hurriedly tried to explain, "N-No, I'm here to watch..."

In his panic, he blurted out, "I'm here to watch Arthur!"

His voice was so loud that many people turned to look at them.

Just as Karl finished speaking, Arthur happened to score a three-pointer on the court.

The girl was about to say "Who would believe that?" when she saw Arthur coming over to drink water during the break. She

instantly forgot about Karl.

Arthur was immediately surrounded as he approached.

"That last shot was amazing."

"Senior, you look so cool playing basketball."

"Arthur, do you have time to teach me how to play?"

Emma shyly said, "Arthur, that three-pointer just now was really impressive."

Arthur walked over, not really caring what they were saying, just politely smiling and saying "Thank you." Then he reached for the

water on the bench, and as he raised his eyes, he happened to make eye contact with Karl.

Karl froze instantly.

Was Arthur looking at him?

Should he say something?

Then, his mouth opened, and he said, "Is that all you've got?"

Arthur's hand, holding the water, paused.

[System: Ding! Task completed. Antagonist value +1. Reward: 10 dollars.]

Karl: !!