Chapter 1 Roland, Face-Slapping System
H-Grade City University. Near the massive gate full of people leaving and entering the school.
Roland stared at the person who just came out of the blue pick-up truck who 'happened' to stop right in front of him.
The blue pick-up was familiar to him. It was the blue pick-up of Bryan, the son of the fifth councilor of Fore City.
The reason he was familiar with the car was because Bryan was his classmate. Aside from him being one of the wealthiest students in the school, he was also a known bully in the school. However, due to his father being one of the seven councilors of Fore City, everybody who was bullied by him could only suck it up, including Roland.
On a normal day, Roland would just choose to turn around and walk in another direction to avoid Bryan and his crew. However, today was different.
Roland was rooted to the spot as he saw a familiar figure disembark herself from Bryan's blue pick-up. It was his two-year girlfriend, Anna.
Anna came out of the blue pick-up with an unkempt dress and messy hair. Her cheek was rosy as she waved at the person inside the pick-up before closing the door gently.
She tidied herself up, before she turned around. It was only then that she noticed Roland standing not far away from her.
Her smile instantly froze, however, recalling the event earlier, she instantly regained her composure and walked towards Roland with confident strides.
"What are you doing here?" She remarked coldly.
She looked at Roland head to toe, a contemptuous look could not help but appear in her eyes seeing his appearance. She could not help but compare it to Bryan. They were miles apart from their clothes alone.
Roland was a thin young man with unkempt black hair. At this moment, he was wearing a plain white shirt and faded jeans paired with old shoes.
Contrary to her brand-new dress, the two of them were miles apart towards each other.
Recalling the gift that Bryan had given to her earlier- the dress that she was currently wearing, Anna's mood turned for the better.
On the other hand, seeing her acting as if nothing had happened, Roland's heart ached even more.
However, Roland was not blind. He was also not a dumb and dense person. He understood what clearly happened even without her telling anything.
Anna 's brows knitted together seeing that Roland did not answer and only stared at her with a silly expression.
"Listen. From now on, let's end our relationship. I can't stand you anymore. You have been dressing like that every day for two years. Don't you have any shame?"
"I feel pity for myself for accepting you as my boyfriend two years ago. In fact, I'll tell you this. I only accepted your courtship two years ago because you're smart and you're a little handsome. However, in truth, I truly don't love you. In fact, I don't have any feelings towards you at all…" Anna said with contempt. What she said was indeed her true feelings.
She was only putting up with Roland these past two years because he was smart and was a little popular with the other girls due to his handsome face. However, now that Bryan was already here, there was no need for her to stay with Roland anymore.
"Look at how Bryan is treating me. He treats me like a princess. He always buys me food and expensive dresses like this. What about you? Have you ever brought me any dresses in the past two years?"
Each word was like a needle stabbing Roland's heart.
He recalled the memory of both of them together. It was all smiles and happy memories. But hearing Anna's claims today, perhaps, it was only him who felt that way.
Tears slowly formed at the corner of his eyes. He wanted to speak and argue back. However, his words were stuck on his throat, refusing to come out. Also, his reason kept him from arguing back. He was afraid of saying something that might implicate the matter further.
He was also angered by her insults. He was not only angry towards her, but also towards himself. However, he chose not to insult her back. The little bit of respect that he had for Anna as a woman prevented him from doing so, no matter how infuriating her actions were.
"Look at you crying like a baby. That's why I can't stand you. You are very pathetic. Hmmp!" Anna continued with her rant.
Roland not fighting back boosted her confidence even further. She grew bolder as her insult became fiercer.
And then all of a sudden, a thunderous shout came from the blue pick-up truck earlier.
"What's going on?"
Bryan came out of his pick-up with furrowed brows.
He was a tall man with huge muscles gained from hours of working in the gym. He wore expensive and well ironed clothes. Comparing his outfit to Roland, it was like comparing heaven and earth. One look and anyone could tell that he wore branded clothes.
Earlier, Bryan noticed Anna's unusual behavior after she got out of his truck. Seeing that she was speaking to another male, his 'alpha' instincts kicked in as he immediately stormed out of his vehicle.
"What are you doing!?"
Arriving at the scene, Bryan saw that she was speaking with Roland. Recalling that he was Anna's 'ex' based on her story, he thought that Roland causing trouble for her.
His 'prince-charming' genes acted up. He immediately pulled Anna away from Roland.
At the same time, he positioned himself in the middle of the two, and without asking for any explanation, he pushed Roland with all his might, causing the thin and flimsy Roland to fall to the ground with a thud.
Roland was just a scrawny young man. How could he compare to Bryan who always go to the gym?
Roland contorted his face in pain. The fall was quite bad. Fortunately, it was his butt that landed first and not his hand, or else, he might have ended up getting a sprain as a result.
Bryan's actions were quite abrupt. Not to mention Roland, even Anna did not expect that he would suddenly push Roland away.
"Bryan, stop!" Anna tried to pull Bryan away but to no avail.
Bryan spat and pointed his hand towards Roland, "Stop bothering her, you piece of shit!"
He did not hold back as he started hurling insults towards Roland's way. Acting in a domineering manner has always been Bryan's way of acting. With his father as his backing, no one, not even the gangster classmates of his would dare to utter a single word.
At this moment, the commotion has already attracted the attention of quite a lot of people. Seeing that Bryan was even involved, some of them even went closer, not to stop the commotion, but to get a better view of the situation.
"She already broke up with you two months ago, you have nothing to do with her anymore," Bryan continued.
Hearing that, Roland was even more devastated.
Not only did she cheat, but she also even spread that the two of them had already broken up.
He wiped the tears at the corner of his eyes and endured the lingering pain on his butt before he stood up.
Roland's pained voice cracked as he finally uttered some words.
"I-I just want to know, since when did you guys start dating?"
"That has nothing to do with you-" Anna's expression froze as she suddenly interrupted, not intending to divulge any information.
However, the same could not be said to Bryan.
"A week ago. And like she said, it has nothing to do with you anymore!"
"Now, pissed off and stop bothering her, or else…" Bryan said with a threatening gesture.
'So, she's been cheating for a week- no, maybe more, and I was pretty oblivious about it until now…' Roland felt his heart break into pieces.
He clenched his chest, trying to ease the pain he was feeling. This was the first time he experienced something like this.
He could not properly describe the feeling at all. It was a mixture of anger, self-pity, sadness. It was like a mixture of all the negative emotions.
"Look at this cry-baby, crying over something like that," As if it was not enough, Anna who now regained her courage after seeing Bryan protecting her, added some salt to his wounds.
She was aware that she was cheating on Roland. However, was it considered cheating if she was not in love with him on the first place?
In the end, the shame of cheating no longer bothered her.
She thought she had the upper hand with Bryan, why not cherish it?
The people who watched the commotion had mixed reactions to the matter. They did not know the full story and only assumed according to what they saw.
Some of them laughed and even added some insults, currying favor to Byran, while some of them pitied him. However, none of them decided to help. After all, none of them wanted to cross-paths with Bryan.
Their nasty comments left a terrible impression on Roland. Their words were like bee's stabbing him on the back.
In the end, he decided to ignore Bryan's threats and the people's nasty remarks and just silently turned around to leave.
There was no need to argue and fight back when he would get nothing in return.
Try arguing back and get Anna back? What's the point?
In his eyes, the only respect that he had towards her was the fact that she was a woman, and nothing else. A cheater was nothing more than a cheater in his eyes.
And besides, with his weak body, he would not even be able to do it even if he decides to fight back.
He left the jeering crowd behind as he walked forward without any particular direction.
Splash* Splash* Pitter-patter*
After an unknown period of walking, Roland was awakened by the water droplets that were splashing on his face.
He looked around with dead eyes and dropped shoulders.
He was in a wide park. The people around had already run towards the nearest building to shield themselves from the rain. No one paid attention to him who stood at the entrance of the park. Everyone passed by him as if he did not exist.
Instead of going back to follow along with the flow of people, Roland continued to walk forward, towards the center of the park
The scene earlier flashed before his eyes again. And then the memories of him and Anna together. And then the scene earlier and then their memory together. These two pieces of memory kept on flashing over his eyes, as if trying to bring him down even further.
Roland suddenly looked up and saw the gloomy sky.
As if declaring its sympathy towards him, the rain poured even more heavily towards his face.
Each droplet of rain was like the words that Anna had spoken earlier- very hurtful.
Unknowingly, tears have already trickled down Roland cheeks. They merged with the rain as they slid down his face.
Roland clenched his chest again. He felt the sympathy of heaven towards him. The feeling made him cry even more. It was like a mother soothing her child.
Roland looked up again. This time, he gathered all his grievances and screamed at the top of his lungs.
Aaaahhhhhhh!
One time, two times, three times… Roland has lost count on how many screams he let out. He just knew that with each scream, the burden on his heart kept on decreasing.
At the end, Roland knelt on the muddy ground as he cried his heart out.
Those who saw and heard him thought that he was going insane. Nevertheless, none of them went to offer him an umbrella or even just to invite him to a shade to take cover from the rain.
Pitter-patter* Splash* Splash*
All of a sudden, the rain suddenly decided to stop. As if the heavy downpour earlier was just a mere illusion. However, Roland's wet clothes stand as clear evidence of the heavy downpour that occurred earlier.
The dark clouds departed as the sun gradually emerged behind their departing figures. The sun shows its light again, illuminating Roland's pitiful face in the process.
At the same time, Roland's eyes suddenly lost their focus as he stared at the flashing screen in front of him in bewilderment.
[Requirements: Experience a devastating heartbreak(Completed)]
[System bound!]
[Congratulations for unlocking the Face-Slapping System!]
[Sharpen your hands and get ready for face-slapping!]
[System Activation Rewards Granted: Please check as soon as possible!]