Chapter 3: Crushed by His Crush
Super Guardian by LittleLYTA
Zack closed the door to his dorm room behind him with a quiet click.
He dropped his bags on the floor and stood there for a moment, just staring at the plain walls. The room was small, empty, and kind of depressing—but it was the only place where he could be alone.
No noise.
No laughs.
No nicknames.
Just silence.
He walked over and sat down on his bed, the springs creaking under his weight. His body wasn't as sore as usual today… but his chest still felt heavy.
The day had been wild—he killed a Platinum spirit beast, somehow hacked the system, and even summoned his first spirit gear. Stuff like that should've made him feel proud. Excited. Like a new chapter was starting.
But instead, his mind kept pulling him backward…
To her.
Samantha.
It felt like only yesterday when everything started falling apart.
She wasn't just some stranger—she was one of his classmates. Still was. They went to the same school, had some of the same classes.
Zack had always been the easy target in school. People teased him for being fat, for sweating too much, for being slow, quiet, weird.
But not Samantha.
She was the only one who didn't treat him like garbage. She spoke to him like a real person. She even smiled at him once or twice.
So… maybe he got the wrong idea.
Maybe he thought she actually liked him.
He could still remember the day he told her. How nervous he was. How his heart wouldn't stop racing. How he couldn't even look her in the eye when he asked if she wanted to be his girlfriend.
And how she reacted.
She didn't laugh.
She got mad.
Really mad.
Right there, in front of everyone, she summoned her spirit gear—a glowing rug made of energy—and slammed him into the ground like a piece of trash.
The students around them had lost it. Phones came out. People pointed and laughed.
One guy shouted:
"He got crushed by his crush!"
And just like that… the nickname Stab-Ass Fatso was born.
From the butt-stabbing incident that happened later…
But this?
This was the beginning of his real downfall.
From that day forward, Samantha wanted nothing to do with him. She even made it public:
"Nobody is allowed to hunt or trade with Zack. If you do, you're against the Military Loners."
And people listened.
Because Prime Hunter, the strongest guy in the shelter—who clearly liked Samantha—backed her up right away.
"Anyone who helps that loser," he'd said, "will answer to me."
So now Zack was alone.
Weak.
Mocked.
And hated by most of the people he had to see every single day.
He leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees, and sighed.
The air in the room was still. Heavy.
Then his eyes drifted to the corner of the room.
There, built into the floor, was the personal portal—a round, glowing ring about two feet wide. Every room had one. It was part of the shelter. You couldn't move it or change it. It was just there.
It was the only way to teleport back to the Human Alliance hub—a place far from the dangers of the Holy Domains. A place that felt more like normal life.
Zack stood up and walked over to it. The glowing rune in the center pulsed faintly, waiting to be used.
He stared at it for a moment.
"Maybe I just need to get out of here for a bit…"
He didn't activate it.
Just looked at it.
Quiet. Still. Thinking.
And for once… he had no idea what to do next.
Zack sat on the floor of his dorm, leaning against the side of his bed, turning the little blue crystal in his fingers.
It looked kind of boring now—just round and smooth, no light, no glow. But earlier today, this tiny thing had changed everything.
He had killed a Platinum-ranked beast.
Him. Zack Tennyson.
And not only that—he got his first spirit gear, and the system was doing… something.
He smiled.
"Best day I've ever had here."
He opened his system with a blink.
[Mod Installation: 54% Complete]
"Still going, huh? Can't wait to see what happens when you're done."
He stood up and walked over to the metal cage in the corner of his room. Inside it was a Bronze-ranked beast about the size of a dog—his Copper-Tooth Rodent.
The rodent wasn't pretty. Its fur was dark brown and scruffy, and its teeth were long and sharp, with a shiny copper color. It always looked like it wanted to bite something—or someone.
Zack held the crystal over the cage.
"Let's see what this thing does to you."
He lifted the top hatch just enough and dropped the crystal in.
The rodent jumped fast, snapping at his fingers. He jerked his hand back, shaking his head.
"Still rude."
The creature grabbed the crystal in its mouth and dragged it into the corner of the cage, curling around it like it was guarding treasure.
Zack locked the cage and yawned.
His body felt heavy now. His arms, his legs—even his brain felt slow.
He walked over to the bed and dropped onto it with a sigh.
Tomorrow, he had school again. Not here—but back in the Alliance, where he lived with his big sister. She wasn't his real sister, but they'd lived together long enough that she might as well be. He called her Onii-chan just to annoy her. It worked every time.
He glanced at the clock.
"Still got time…"
He closed his eyes.
"Just a short nap."
No dreams. No thoughts.
He just slept.
When he finally opened his eyes again, he sat up slowly, stretched his arms, and looked over at the cage without thinking.
Then he blinked.
And blinked again.
The rodent's fur…
Was no longer brown.
Zack blinked hard.
He rubbed his eyes just to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
But it was real.
The Copper-Tooth Rodent in the cage wasn't brown anymore. Its fur was bright, snowy white. Even its sharp copper teeth looked shinier, like they'd been polished.
Zack stared, speechless for a moment.
"That crystal actually worked…"
He didn't waste time. He opened the cage, and when the rodent lunged at him, he was ready. One quick strike with his dagger—and it dropped, dead in a single hit.
Then came the system message:
[Copper-Tooth Rodent killed. No spirit gear obtained.]
[Eat flesh to gain from 0 to 10 silver spirit points randomly.]
Zack looked down at the body and nodded to himself.
"Silver-ranked. Just like I thought."
He didn't want to eat it raw this time. He was tired and a little hungry—not starving. And besides, if he had the time, why not enjoy the meal?
He grabbed his small travel stove from under the bed—a fold-out thing powered by a low-grade spirit stone. He set up a pan, cut a few pieces of meat from the rodent's leg, and tossed them in with a little salt he'd traded for last week.
The meat sizzled, and the smell filled the room.
Not bad. Not great. But way better than raw.
He flipped the pieces a couple of times until the outside was golden brown. Then he slid one off the pan and bit into it.
Chewy. A little dry. But warm and decent.
After a few bites, the system dinged:
[Flesh eaten. +4 silver spirit points gained.]
Zack smiled.
"Four points. Not bad for a half-evolved rat."
He sat back on the bed and stretched his legs out, chewing slowly.
This changed everything.
The blue crystal had evolved the rodent from Bronze to Silver—and it didn't even make it stronger. The beast hadn't gotten faster or tougher. It was just new fur. A new rank.
"What if I had waited longer?" he muttered.
The rodent had looked like it was still changing. Still evolving.
"Could I push something all the way to Gold? Or even… Platinum?"
He didn't know yet.
But he was definitely going to try again.
Just not right now.
Zack cleaned up, packed the leftover meat in a wrap, and walked over to the built-in portal at the corner of the room. It glowed quietly on the floor, just like always—waiting.
He stepped onto it and vanished in a blink.