Picking Up Girls With My Pickup System-Chapter 16: Aftermath Of Chaos.

"Gilbert. Derek. What the hell do you think you’re doing?"

The voice carried like a thunderclap, commanding silence across the courtyard.

Vice Principal Harrington strode forward, black suit immaculate, polished shoes clicking against the shattered tiles. His sharp eyes swept the destruction—the broken benches, cracked pavement, terrified students—and narrowed with fury.

Derek froze mid-charge, his massive fists still raised. Even he knew better than to keep swinging under Harrington’s glare. Slowly, reluctantly, he lowered his arms, chest heaving as he struggled to rein in the berserk fire in his veins.

Kent wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, forcing himself upright. His legs screamed in protest, but he refused to let himself collapse now—not with everyone watching.

"Both of you," Harrington snapped, his voice cutting sharper than broken glass. "In front of the entire school, you turned this courtyard into a warzone. Do you realize the kind of spectacle you’ve created?"

Murmurs rippled through the students. A few of the braver ones spoke up:

"Sir, Derek started it!"

"He almost killed Kent—didn’t you see?!"

"Someone could’ve died!"

Harrington raised a hand, silencing them with nothing but presence. "Quiet. All of you."

His eyes landed on Derek first. "You. I don’t care who your father is or how much influence your family thinks it has. If you think this school will allow you to endanger students’ lives with this barbaric display, you are gravely mistaken."

Derek clenched his jaw, fists trembling at his sides. He opened his mouth to speak—then thought better of it. For now.

Then Harrington’s gaze turned on Kent. "And you. You may be new here, but don’t think for a second that excuses you from responsibility. You could have walked away. Instead, you chose to escalate. If you’d been killed, your blood would’ve stained this school’s hands. Do you understand the weight of that?"

Kent swallowed, meeting Harrington’s eyes despite the pain. "Yes, sir." His voice was hoarse but steady. He would not bow, not here.

Harrington studied him for a long moment, expression unreadable. Then he gestured sharply to the staff members rushing in behind him. "Clear the courtyard. Get both of these boys to the nurse’s office. And someone start an incident report. I want every angle of this fight documented."

The students hesitated, buzzing with adrenaline and gossip, but the teachers began driving them back toward the halls. The spell was broken. The courtyard emptied, though not without a hundred pairs of eyes burning into Kent and Derek as they stood across from each other, still locked in silent warfare.

The courtyard should have gone quiet after Harrington’s order. But it didn’t.

Even as staff ushered students toward the hallways, whispers cut through the air like sparks in dry grass. Phones stayed raised, lenses catching every drop of blood on Kent’s chin, every twitch of Derek’s fists, every fragment of rubble scattered across the courtyard.

"He dodged Derek’s punches..."

"No one’s ever done that before."

"Did you see the ground crack?!"

"Gilbert’s not normal."

Kent caught the stares as he staggered, clutching his side. Faces he’d never noticed before—faces that had never noticed him—were locked onto him now. Some with admiration, some with fear, some with curiosity that burned hotter than anything else.

He overheard girls whispering:

"He’s kinda... hot when he’s bleeding like that."

"Did you see how he smirked at Derek?"

"Lena’s not the only one watching him now."

Kent nearly laughed despite the pain. A day ago, he’d been invisible. Now, even his blood seemed to shine under their eyes.

Not all the voices were flattering.

"He must’ve cheated somehow. No way he’s that fast."

"Maybe he used steroids."

"I heard he’s got connections—maybe that’s why Harrington didn’t punish him right away."

The mixture of awe and suspicion swirled through the crowd, already mutating into legend. Kent realized, with a sick twist in his stomach, that the fight wasn’t going to stay in this courtyard. By tonight, it would be all over the school feeds. Maybe beyond.

He caught Derek’s glare burning into him from across the space. It was the look of someone who had been humiliated in front of his kingdom. A wounded wolf—and a wounded wolf was the most dangerous kind.

Kent straightened despite the pain, refusing to show weakness. If Derek wanted him broken, he wouldn’t get the satisfaction.

"Derek." Harrington’s voice cracked like a whip, pulling every eye back to the towering bruiser. "Step forward."

The big man’s jaw flexed. For a second, Kent thought Derek would explode again, smash Harrington, smash everything. But Derek’s pride had already taken enough of a beating—he forced himself forward, his boots grinding against the fractured tiles.

Harrington folded his arms, expression carved from stone. "I know exactly who your family is. And I know you think that name gives you license to treat this place as your playground." His voice dropped lower, colder. "Let me make this perfectly clear: the next time you throw a tantrum that endangers lives, not even your father’s money will keep you here. Do you understand?"

Derek’s nostrils flared. His fists curled and uncurled like he was strangling the urge to snap Harrington’s neck. Finally, through gritted teeth, he muttered: "Yes, sir."

"Good." Harrington’s eyes narrowed further. "Then you’re dismissed—for now. Nurse’s office, immediately. Do not let me see you in this courtyard again until you’ve learned what restraint means."

Derek turned, muscles trembling with restrained rage. But before he left, he slowed near Kent. Their shoulders brushed.

Derek leaned in, so close Kent could feel the heat of his breath. His voice was low enough only Kent could hear:

"This isn’t over. I’m going to tear you apart. Not in front of teachers. Not in front of cameras. Next time, there won’t be anyone to stop me."

Kent didn’t answer. Didn’t flinch. He kept his gaze locked forward, jaw set tight. But inside, his stomach churned with the certainty that Derek meant every word.

Derek stalked off, shoulders rigid, teachers trailing after him like nervous sheep following a wolf.

The air he left behind felt heavier than before.

The courtyard thinned out until only scraps of rubble and silence remained. Teachers herded the last clusters of students away, leaving Kent standing there, bruised and aching, like the lone survivor of a storm.

He took one shaky step toward the hall—

Ding!

The familiar chime rang in his skull, sharp and clean like glass breaking.

[System Notice]

Survival Achievement Unlocked: Predator’s Glare

– Condition: Endure a confrontation against a physically superior opponent.

– Reward: +2 Agility, +1 Endurance.

– Temporary Buff: Battle Clarity (During life-threatening encounters, reflexes sharpen and perception slows by 10%).

Kent froze, blinking through the pain. His veins tingled as warmth surged through his body. The ache in his legs dulled, his breaths came easier, and his eyes... his eyes felt sharper, as though every flicker of light in the courtyard etched itself in perfect detail.

Another notification pulsed.

[Hidden Progression Triggered]

Harem Progress: 5%

Note: Your bold survival under public scrutiny has altered female perception. Curiosity. Admiration. Desire.

Kent’s throat tightened. His vision drifted toward the direction where the girls had been whispering before—the giggles, the stares, the hungry looks. He thought of Lena’s sharp eyes earlier, the way other girls had started to notice him.

The System wasn’t joking.

He flexed his bruised knuckles, wincing. A single fight had changed everything. His body was stronger, his reputation was shifting, and girls he’d never spoken to were starting to see him.

But the price... Derek’s whisper still crawled at the back of his neck.

Next time, you’re dead.

Kent exhaled slowly, gripping his side as the ache returned. Stronger or not, this was only the beginning.

Kent leaned against the nearest standing bench, running a hand through his sweat-damp hair. The adrenaline was fading, leaving behind a bone-deep exhaustion that no stat points could erase.

His gaze swept the ruins of the courtyard—shattered tiles, cracked stone, the faint scorch marks from Derek’s rampage. It looked like a battlefield. And I walked out of it alive.

He pulled up the System panel in his mind’s eye.

[Kent Gilbert – Status Update]

Strength: 6

Agility: 7 (+2)

Endurance: 5 (+1)

Charm: 8

Progress: Harem – 5%

His lips twitched upward despite the ache in his jaw. "Harem... five percent from almost dying? That’s insane."

The System didn’t reply, as usual, but he could almost feel its silent amusement, like a partner in crime nudging him forward.

Kent straightened, the pain settling into something he could manage. He thought of Lena, her sharp gaze cutting through the crowd like a scalpel. She’d seen everything. She’d measured him. And she hadn’t looked away.

He thought of the other girls, whispering with flushed cheeks and bright eyes. The way their stares lingered, not on Derek’s muscles or his rage, but on Kent—the underdog who had faced a monster and hadn’t backed down.

It wasn’t just survival. It was leverage. A new kind of strength.

But Derek’s words echoed, heavy and venomous: Next time, there won’t be anyone to stop me.

Kent clenched his fists, feeling the faint thrum of new energy in his veins. He knew the truth: the System wasn’t just about girls. It wasn’t even just about power. It was about survival.

And if he didn’t grow fast enough... Derek would make sure this story ended in blood.

Kent took a slow, steady breath, forcing himself upright. "Then I’ll grow. Faster than anyone expects."

The nurse’s office door swung open down the hall, a teacher motioning him inside. He pushed himself forward, step by step, leaving the wrecked courtyard behind—but knowing the battlefield had only just begun.