Part-46

  The school hallways felt strangely charged that day. Despite the exhaustion ging to James like a sed skin, a prickle of unease ran down his spine. Mili kept stealing gnces his way, her gaze lingering for a beat too long each time. Was she still annoyed by his awkward date request? The whole enter repyed in his mind, bringing a fresh wave of self-sciousness.

  He tried to catch her eye, hoping for a friendly smile or a wave, anything to dispel the awkwardness. But Mili quickly averted her gaze each time, leaving James feeling like a social pariah. Deg to avoid the fusing situation altogether, James kept his head down, navigating the hallways like a lone wolf.

  Later, as James rounded a er, he nearly collided with Ryan. Ryan, however, seemed unfazed. A wide grin stretched across his face, a stark trast to the nervous energy James had wit the park.

  James stared at him, incredulous. This was the same guy who'd tormented him for weeks, the one who'd orchestrated the ridiculous Judo challeh Sourov, a challehat could have gotten him seriously hurt. Now, he was ag like some newfound friend? The nerve! James felt a surge of anger, a potent blend of annoyand distrust bubbling within him. He wasn't about tet Ryan's past as, or the way he'd used Mili to manipute James.

  "Don't talk to me," James muttered through gritted teeth, pushing past Ryan without another word.

  Ryan's grin faltered, repced by a look of fusion. He opened his mouth to speak again, but James was already gone, leaving Ryan alone in the eg hallway.

  The library doors loomed before James, a stark trast to the bustling hallways he'd just navigated. Dust motes danced iernoon sunlight filtering through the high windows, a sileament to the time that had passed since his st visit. It felt like a lifetime ago, a time before the System, before the Loop Missions, before the stant pressure and ever-present threat of violence. Back then, the library was a sanctuary, a haven of knowledge where he could lose himself in the pages of a well-worn book. Now, it felt like a fotten realm, a pce he'd subsciously avoided.

  A shiver ran down his spine as he stepped through the doorway, the silence broken only by the soft creak of the aged floorboards beh his feet. He sed the seemingly endless rows of bookshelves, a pang of guilt twisting in his gut. He'd ed this pce, his haven, for far too long.

  Suddenly, the familiar blue window flickered ies message a stark trast to the serenity of the library.

  [Mission 9: Find the martial arts book written by Jihad Mia and read it within 7 days.]

  [Reward: All your stats will increase by +2]

  [Penalty: All of your stats will be sealed under 5 points for 30 days if you failed to read it within 7 days.]

  James' eyes widened. A +2 boost to all his stats? That was a signifit iive. But the penalty – a crippliion in his stats for a month – was terrifying.