Okay, so like—
I didn't sleep.
Not even a bit.
After that glowy red pact screen flashed in my face and I touched that sigil thing... bruh, how was I supposed to sleep? I just kept lying there staring at the ceiling like:
"What did I just sign up for?"
And the mark, man. It was still there. Right on my chest. Kinda faint now but still warm like my skin had a little battery inside. Not painful... just weird.
Also, sidenote: red-glowing symbols shouldn't casually show up on people's bodies, right? Just me? Cool.
Anyway, next morning I zombie-walked to class. I don't even remember brushing my teeth. Just threw on my hoodie, slapped my bag on my back, and dipped.
It was biochem at 10, but I was on campus by 8:40 like some overachiever. Bro I don't even like biochem.
I wasn't tryna study though. I just didn't wanna be at home. You know that weird feeling like the walls are watching you? Yeah. That.
I kept my hoodie up, headphones in — no music. Just so nobody would talk to me.
At lunch I went to the library. Not even to read anything, I just needed to breathe. It's one of those spots where nobody asks questions. I grabbed a corner seat, plopped my notebook open, and just sat there pretending like I was focused.
And then...
Boom.
Time froze.
I swear to you — the fan stopped spinning. Outside the window, a bird was just chilling in the air. Not flying. Just hanging there like some glitch in a game.
Even the guy walking past me with his loud slippers? Froze mid-step. Mouth half-open.
I'm sitting there like
"Nope. Nope. Nope. This is not happening."
Then I hear it:
Tap… tap… tap...
Footsteps.
I turn around slow, and guess what.
This tall dude, straight outta some gothic mafia anime, walks in. Red coat, black gloves, boots clickin' like he owns the place. Wide-brim hat. Pale as paper.
He looks like he sells curses for fun.
He goes,
"You're early."
I blinked. My brain went:
"Sir???"
He starts pacing around me like some dramatic anime villain. Then he said this:
"You felt the mark, didn't you? That thrum under your skin. The pull. That means the pact has taken root. You belong now."
Bro. Belong to WHAT?
Then he leaned in behind me, and in this creepy whisper he just goes:
"Every power has a price."
AND THEN—this dude straight up taps my chest right where the mark is.
And I felt it.
Broooo I felt like a car battery got slammed into my ribcage.
My back arched, eyes went wide, chest burning like I just chugged lava.
Then boom — gone. Like he pressed the pain off.
He stands back up, tips his hat like he's in a movie, and says:
"That was interest. The first one's free."
He turned, walked into the corner shadows like a freakin ghost, and just disappeared.
Next second—everything unfreezes.
Fan starts spinning again. Bird flaps off. That slipper guy keeps walking like nothing happened.
Me?
I'm just sitting there, shaking, sweating, notebook open on an empty page, trying not to scream in the middle of the freakin library.
And then this red text box pops up in my vision:
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
Blood Debt: 1,230 Units
Projected Collection Date: ???
New Ability Unlocked: Veinburst [Lv. 1]
Forcefully rupture a target's veins in close range.
300 units per use.
BRO WHAT?
300?! Just to pop someone's veins?
That's expensive violence!
But also…
kinda dope?
I stared at the numbers and that glowing red screen, and for a second, I wasn't even scared anymore. I was just...
curious.
What if this... was a chance?
Like yeah, I didn't ask for it.
But maybe this is what I needed all along.
I pulled my hoodie back up, took a deep breath, and whispered to myself:
"Let's see how far I can take this."