The Life-Changing Event

*****

"What an ungrateful old geezer!" Carrying a compact package in his grasp, Logan Black, a strikingly handsome, tall, slender, and seemingly harmless young man in his early 20s, clad in a slightly faded navy T-shirt and worn-out jeans—attire that clearly indicated he wasn't well-off—suddenly muttered to himself under his breath.

His eyes burned with displeasure and sheer fury, resembling someone who had just suffered a grave humiliation as he did so.

"I aided him when everyone else abandoned him to perish, yet instead of him expressing his gratitude—which I didn't even need to begin with—he had the gall to claim that the woman I cherished more than life itself would betray me! What an overbearing and unappreciative old tyrant," he continued grumbling, growing increasingly agitated and incensed as he relived the memory.

His mood had initially been cheerful since he awoke that morning, as it was none other than his girlfriend's long-awaited birthday. Never in his wildest imagination had he anticipated that his joy would be shattered so swiftly, merely because he chose to extend a helping hand to someone in distress.

"Hmph! I've been advised countless times to always mind my goddamn business, but I never listen! Have I gotten what I've been looking for now or not?!"

He snorted and continued ranting to himself as he strolled along.

This went on for a while before he abruptly halted.

In the next instant, Logan's expression shifted dramatically, and in place of his previous displeasure and rage, love, adoration, and tenderness took over as he gazed at the beautiful angel, the love of his life, standing in their favorite spot, looking like a goddess ready to capture the heart of all men.

Logan quickly forgot his earlier irritation and his face lit up with happiness, then unable to think straight again, let alone remember the old man who had angered him, and his warning, he hurried forward, eager to surprise his girlfriend with the meticulously chosen gift he had spent weeks working tirelessly to acquire.

Various images flashed through Logan's mind and an intense surge of adrenaline coursed through him as he envisioned how excited his girlfriend would be once she received the item she had been yearning for months.

Just as he was about to reach his beloved, however, Logan's gaze landed on a charming young man, dressed in a sleek, custom-made Louis Vuitton suit, abruptly kneeling before her with an extravagant bouquet crafted entirely from hundred-dollar bills in his hands.

"Please be my girlfriend," the man professed tenderly.

Logan instantly recognized him at a glance. He was a notorious second-generation playboy and campus tyrant at Cee University, infamous for changing his girlfriends every week and tormenting those from modest backgrounds.

Logan's complexion drained in an instant, and he froze in place before quickly regaining his composure, his expression darkening with fury.

"How dare this scoundrel pursue my woman?!" He seethed, preparing to intervene and rescue Alice, only for his anger to morph into profound shock when suddenly, to his utter disbelief, Alice—whom he had assumed to be caught in a difficult predicament—accepted the bouquet with a flushed face, appearing so elated that Logan almost swore he had never seen her so radiant in all the years he had known her.

"I—I agree to be your girlfriend from now on," she declared blushingly.

Logan stood motionless, utterly paralyzed, as though time itself had come to a standstill.

He could react for what felt like an eternity, staring in a trance until finally…

Pak!

Pak!!

Pak!!!

The sound of applause and cheers echoed around him, forcefully jolting him back to reality.

His eyes darkened in the next instant and he began to seethe with rage.

With heavy footsteps, he approached Alice, but she remained unaware of his presence, her face still flushed with a mix of excitement and embarrassment.

"Did you really just agree to be that Playboy's girlfriend?" He growled

….

A hush instantly fell over the entire area beneath the peach tree, and every bystander turned their attention to the striking yet impoverished young man who had just stormed over, exuding an air of impending confrontation as though preparing to launch an all-out attack.

"Wait, I recall him now. Isn't he that girl's boyfriend?" someone in the crowd quickly identified Logan, causing the spectators' eyes to widen in surprise.

"This—this is going to be interesting," another person mumbled, discreetly pulling out their cell phone to record the unfolding drama, their eyes bright with anticipation.

Meanwhile, Alice, utterly unprepared for Logan's sudden appearance, was momentarily dumbfounded before quickly returning to her senses, her expression shifting to one of distress and unease.

"What—what are you doing here? Didn't—didn't you say you would be too busy at work to see me today?" she blurted before she could stop herself.

Upon hearing her question, Logan let out a bitter laugh, feeling as if he were losing his mind, and then his eyes flashed with deep-seethed fury as he pointed accusingly at her.

"Was that why you were pressing me yesterday to reveal my schedule?" he roared like a beast on the brink of a rampage.

"To think I actually believed you were upset because I wouldn't be able to make it for your birthday, hahaha!" He was so wounded that he erupted into hysterical laughter.

Everyone watched him and then sighed, their expressions shifting to sympathy as they watched Logan's devastation.

Just then, Steven, who had been silently observing from the start, looked at Logan with a scornful and playful smirk.

He was one of Logan's bullies in school, in fact, his worst, so he naturally knew him well, yet he feigned ignorance before glancing back at Alice.

"Who is this stray mutt?" he sneered, and silence fell over the crowd.

Logan was momentarily dumbfounded, staring at Steven in a daze.

Just as he was about to explode in fury, however, Alice abruptly collected herself, and her anxious expression faded.

Fearful that she would lose the wealthy second-generation suitor she had just secured due to a misunderstanding, she quickly moved closer to Steven and intertwined their fingers, causing Logan to feel a jolt of shock.

"That's the useless piece of trash I told you I broke up with a few days ago."

"Oh… he's the loser you always spoke about, who couldn't afford even basic necessities, the one you recently dumped into the trash?" Steven asked, deliberately stressing each word.

Logan trembled from head to toe upon hearing their conversation.

Refusing to accept this betrayal, he pointed at Alice with an unsteady hand. "You—you have been ridiculing and calling me a useless piece of trash behind my back to another man after everything I've done for you?" he asked incredulously.

Alice, upon hearing this, finally lost her temper, and every pent-up emotion she had suppressed came pouring out.

"What shitty things have you done for me, huh?" she snapped ferociously. "Was it the garbage you always got me whenever I wanted something nice?"

"Was it how it always took you forever to get me the simplest items that even my friends' boyfriends would be too ashamed to give their girls?" She fired a series of scathing remarks at him, her gaze filled with resentment, revulsion, and hatred.

"I—" Logan faltered, at a loss for words. He couldn't believe this, no, he couldn't accept it.

"You—"

"Enough of your nonsense," Alice cut him off sharply. "I want to live in luxury and wealth. I want to own exclusive, limited-edition products and flaunt my boyfriend and the gifts he showers me with. But you? You can't provide any of that, so let's end this right here and now. I'm done with you and your miserable, useless existence!"

"This…"

"This…"

"This…"

Logan's ears buzzed as his mind spiraled into chaos, but then his gaze caught a glimpse of Steven's smug grin, and realization struck.

In the next moment, Steven's threat from a few days ago suddenly resurfaced—his vow to make Logan a public laughingstock.

"Is this because I refused to clean your shoes with my tongue?" Logan spat venomously, his jaw clenched in raw fury.

He was ready to lash out, but before he could, Alice spat at his feet, her glare colder than he had ever seen before.

"You—you… please don't be blinded by material things," he implored, his voice desperate. "This scoundrel is just trying to exploit you, and I'm sure you know this!"

Alice remained indifferent, her expression turning sinister.

"You still dare to talk nonsense?!" She snapped before chuckling condescendingly. "My love here adores me and has promised to marry me in the future!" She declared, shattering the last remnants of Logan's strength.

He felt weak, but before he could find a way to further persuade Alice, he saw Steven pulling her toward his luxurious Audi A6, a car worth $200k, and Alice eagerly followed, jumping into the front seat.

Logan was left dumbfounded by this, watching the love of his life leave with another man.

"He looks so pitiful," a lady suddenly murmured, her eyes filled with tears as she looked at Logan, but then a snort was heard.

"Does he look pitiful or pathetic? Shouldn't he have considered his own worth before choosing a girlfriend?" The friend of the woman who pitied Logan asked, then she excitedly saved the video she had just filmed and shared it on the school platform, as did most of the onlookers, before they began to disperse.

Logan failed to notice any of this. Instead, he was struggling to process everything that had just occurred.

'Is she still the naive Alice I met in my sophomore year?'

'Is she still the innocent Alice who confessed her love to me, crying when I didn't reciprocate?'

'Is she still the one who would rush to my dorm every day, despite the ridicule she faced?'

The more Logan thought, the weaker he felt, until finally, he broke down.

His eyes filled with tears as he recalled the events, and he was about to sob when a loud ding echoed in his mind, followed by a feminine voice: [Supreme Quest System Activated.]