Strongest Side-Character System: Please don't steal the spotlight

Eugene's lips twitched, his brows slightly furrowing as Vonjo stared at the now-wriggling, three-headed frog with eyes full of regret and greed. 

"This sir Vonjo is a little shameless." He mused in his head helplessly. 

The young man didn't say a word, but the silence was telling—like a thousand unspoken thoughts churning behind his steady gaze. And then—

[User998Fury]: "SHAMELESS!"

[KaleStorm69]: "WTF bro just gave the frog away then tried to TAKE IT BACK? 💀💀💀"

[UwUArsonist]: "Bitch move ngl. This man's the villain fr."

[NoScopeSaint]: "I KNEW he'd do this lmaooooo 🤡🤡"

The bullet comments exploded across the hell-sky interface, streaking like meteors above the two figures standing amid the still-simmering remnants of the failed demonic summoning. 

Vonjo clicked his tongue and looked away from the frog, whose once useless status had apparently upgraded without his knowledge when he just turned his head a little. 

"Oi, Eugene," Vonjo began nonchalantly, as if the last thirty seconds of silent judgment from the digital realm weren't scorching holes in his back. "You like archery, right? Got the feel of the bow, that obsessive gleam of someone who shoots even in their dreams."

Eugene blinked. He hadn't even pulled out his bow since arriving. Well he did carry them but Vonjo assumed. "...How did you—"

"It's obvious, kid. Why would you carry it if you don't like it? Come on, don't take me for a fool." Vonjo cut him off, waving a finger vaguely. "Doesn't matter; your archery is still trash. I can tell you're not even at the basic level. You're probably still in 'wild guess' mode. If you want, I can help you unlock the full basic tier."

[ArrowSimp3000]: "BASIC? THIS MF SAID BASIC???"

[HawkeyeWho]: "Imagine calling yourself a teacher and offering BASIC 💀"

[SmugDuck]: "He's holding back like he's an old player of an RPG game who is hoarding SR drops from a newbie."

Vonjo rolled his eyes theatrically at the bullet chat, muttering but not that loud enough for them to hear, "Y'all want me to spoon-feed him Ultimate-tier for free? Eat glass you shitheads."

But Eugene… couldn't answer immediately.

His heart pounded as memories surged violently, like waves smashing against his mind. 

That wretched, half-broken RPG world he'd gotten yeeted into by that sadistic system administrator. His body had been glitched, his class bugged, and the game gave him the Worst Starting Package (Unlucky Roll) perk. 

He remembered crouching for seven hours straight under a collapsing ruin, his breath fogging while he waited for a corrupted boss mob to leave just so he could retrieve a bent, rusty bow with 1 durability point.

He'd ground rats for 12 in-game days. Rats. Just to buy one Singed Bowstring of Lesser Accuracy.

He remembered the questline that took him through Rogue Castle's Sewer of the Dead, where the slimes could split into smaller slimes when hit, and the reward was a single, unremarkable unknown spatial gift.

He had fought, bled, and cried through a pixelated, laggy hell for just a whisper of a chance to own a skill—a living spatial storage container that could make beasts into living spatial containers as long as they were compatible—and it wasn't even guaranteed to work. But eventually, he got it!

Now, was Vonjo just going to take it? This?

It felt too casual.

In the end, Eugene remembered those shots. 

Those distant, impossible shots had sniped the tall guy escaping with his fast-flying roc mount, and another had taken down the round-faced psycho who left with a massive hell hound—both monsters that could have easily wiped him and his father out for being too slow. But Vonjo managed to hit them!

Worse, they were too far away when Eugene realized that Vonjo wasn't joking when he said he would hit those two, even though they had already escaped so far far away.

His skin prickled.

How many kilometers had that arrow flown?

He felt like he could still hear the whistle, the death-hum of his arrow cleaving air like prophecy. Maybe… maybe Vonjo really was someone who could teach him real archery. Not just survival flailing, but something terrifying. Precision. Lethality.

So, Eugene slowly dropped to one knee.

He lowered his head.

"…Please accept me as your student, Teacher Vonjo."

[BetrayalFan420]: "NOOOOOOOOOOOO"

[PlsEugeneNo]: "WHY. JUST WHY. 😭😭"

[VonjoHater89]: "BRO HE DID THE GOKU BOW WTF"

[WholesomeCringe]: "He legit gave up dignity for BASIC. Basic."

Vonjo stood frozen.

Shit.

Why did he say that again? Why did he do that?

He didn't even want a student. He wasn't a teacher. He wasn't some noble mentor from a fantasy isekai! He just wanted to take this container frog for convenience and style. 

This was a mistake.

"I-I was just kidding," Vonjo began, panicking internally. "I'll just… pay for the frog instead. Yeah, gold coins or something. You want crypto? I have some shady hellbit I mined once—"

But then—

DING!

A massive, brilliant system screen exploded in front of him, blotting out the hellsky. 

Every bullet chat froze mid-flight. Even the air around them seemed to pause.

[SYSTEM ALERT: Side Character Status Evolved]

Congratulations, Vonjo. You are no longer an 'Unknown Side Character.'

New Title Acquired: 'Recognized Supporting Role - Beginner Tier.'

Vonjo blinked, stunned.

You are now considered a narrative-fixed side character to Protagonist Eugene Dawn.

Special Feature Unlocked: Daily Passive Danger level Experience

As long as you remain acknowledged by the Protagonist as his 'strongest known side character,' you will gain daily XP to level up your Danger Level.

Fallen Curse Sorcerer Class Progression: UNLOCKED

Auto-Crystal Dependency: REMOVED

Daily Growth Multiplier: x3 when in proximity to Protagonist.

Vonjo's mouth slowly fell open.

"…What the actual fuuuuck—?"

He turned to Eugene, who was still kneeling, solemn and calm.

"You… You seriously meant that?" Vonjo asked, voice half a whisper.

"I did," Eugene replied, raising his head. "You have knowledge. I need guidance. That is enough."

Vonjo squinted. There was no irony, no mockery in Eugene's voice. The kid was serious. Dead serious.

He looked back at the system screen. A smug little flame icon now hovered next to his name, with the words:

"Mentor Bond (Locked-in)"

The system wasn't going to let him wiggle out of it.

"…This is a scam, probably because it's too good to be true," Vonjo muttered. "I'm being scammed by fate, aren't I?"

But then, he saw the XP bar slowly ticking.

+3 XP... +3 XP... +3 XP...

He hadn't moved. Hadn't fought. Hadn't even blinked. Yet he was gaining power. Slowly, like a passive income source that just kept climbing.

No hellfire. No demon beast hunts. No soul-crushing trials.

Just... being acknowledged.

"Holy shit," Vonjo whispered, a grin creeping onto his face. "Daily passive danger XP? No more eating rotten demonoid intestines just to get a drop of cursed blood to level up? No more hell scavenging? No more being mauled to death by hell beasts like others who would venture outside the human realm!?"

He clenched his fists. A golden glow appeared faintly in his iris, the telltale glint of system evolution.

"This… This is freedom."

He turned to Eugene with wild eyes, already recalculating their future. "You're my student now? Fine. Guess I'll be your reluctant master."

Then, he glanced at the still-hopping three-headed frog beside them.

"...But that thing's still a useless mount."

[MountRights]: "HE DIDN'T EVEN LET IT STAY WINNING 💀"

[PetAbuseReal]: "Justice for Froggo."

[FreeXPAndSlander]: "LMFAOOOOOOO."

The frog sneezed.

Vonjo kicked a rock at it.