The night did not welcome Elior Ade.
It claimed him.
The first man rushed him with a knife, fear flashing across his face when Elior didn't flinch. The blade slashed forward—but Elior moved before the thought finished forming.
He didn't dodge.
He stepped through the attack.
The world slowed. Not like time stopping—more like Elior suddenly understood where everything belonged. The knife, the arm, the heartbeat behind the ribs. He caught the man's wrist with unnatural precision and twisted.
Bone cracked.
The scream ripped through the alley.
Elior froze.
I did that.
The man collapsed, clutching his arm, eyes wide with terror. "W–what the hell are you?"
Elior staggered back, breath ragged. His chest rose and fell—but his heart barely beat.
The second attacker hesitated.
That hesitation saved Elior.
> ABILITY CONFIRMED: SIN DRAIN (BASIC).
CONDITION MET: DIRECT CONTACT.
WARNING: HUMANITY LOSS PROJECTED — 3%.
"No," Elior whispered. "I don't want—"
The man lunged.
Instinct won.
Elior grabbed him.
The moment skin met skin, the world exploded.
---
He was no longer in the alley.
He was in a dim room lit by flickering bulbs. The smell of sweat and rusted metal filled the air. A man—this man—paced the floor, phone pressed to his ear.
"She won't talk," the voice snarled. "I told you—fear works. Always does."
A woman sobbed somewhere nearby.
Elior's stomach twisted.
> SIN IDENTIFIED: COERCION. GREED. VIOLENCE.
MEMORY EXTRACTION IN PROGRESS.
The memory slammed into him like a wave.
Pain. Cruelty. Enjoyment.
Elior cried out as the emotions bled into him, not as images but as feelings—hot, sharp, invasive. He felt the man's hunger for power, his delight in control.
"Stop!" Elior shouted.
The memory shattered.
He stumbled back into reality, gasping, hands shaking.
The attacker collapsed at his feet, unconscious but alive.
Elior stared down at him, bile rising in his throat.
> SIN DRAIN COMPLETE.
HUMANITY: 94%.
TEMPORARY SKILL ACQUIRED: KNIFE PROFICIENCY (MINOR).
"I didn't kill him," Elior whispered.
The system did not respond.
The alley was silent now—too silent.
The rain felt colder.
Elior backed away slowly, then turned and ran.
---
He didn't stop running until his lungs burned and the city lights blurred into streaks. He ducked into an abandoned bus shelter, collapsing onto the cracked bench.
His hands were still trembling.
This isn't real.
He pressed his palms against his face, trying to ground himself. The scent of blood clung to him—not thick, not sweet, but metallic and alive.
His phone buzzed.
He flinched.
A news alert lit the screen.
BREAKING: Two men found unconscious in Surulere alley. Authorities investigating possible gang conflict.
Elior stared at the words.
I did that.
> SYSTEM NOTE:
NON-LETHAL OUTCOME REGISTERED.
HUMANITY LOSS MINIMIZED.
"Shut up," Elior muttered.
The reflection in the glass panel of the shelter caught his attention.
His eyes were normal again.
Too normal.
"Am I… dead?" he whispered.
> STATUS: ALIVE.
STATE: ALTERED.
A chill ran down his spine.
---
Morning came too quickly.
Elior watched the sun rise from the shelter, afraid to sleep. When the city began to wake—vendors setting up stalls, buses groaning to life—he blended in, pulling his hoodie low.
No one noticed him.
That terrified him more than the night had.
He returned to his one-room apartment, locking the door behind him with shaking hands. The mirror above the sink reflected a man who looked unchanged—same tired eyes, same scar on his chin.
But when he leaned closer, he saw it.
A faint, crimson line pulsing beneath his skin.
He staggered back.
> SYSTEM CALIBRATION COMPLETE.
"What do you want from me?" Elior demanded.
Silence.
Then—
> OBJECTIVE UPDATED.
PRIMARY DIRECTIVE: SURVIVAL.
SECONDARY DIRECTIVE: GROWTH.
"No," he said. "I won't become a monster."
> QUERY: DEFINE 'MONSTER.'
Elior laughed bitterly. "Someone who takes from others just to exist."
> RESPONSE:
ALL LIFE CONSUMES.
YOU SIMPLY REMEMBER.
His knees buckled.
The system wasn't arguing.
It was stating a fact.
---
Later that afternoon, Elior stepped onto campus, trying desperately to feel normal. Students laughed, argued, lived.
A girl brushed past him.
His head snapped toward her involuntarily.
For a split second, he felt it—an echo of sadness, sharp and fresh.
He recoiled.
I can feel them.
> PASSIVE SENSORY TRAIT UNLOCKED: EMOTIONAL ECHO (LOW).
"No," Elior whispered. "Turn it off."
> UNAVAILABLE.
He swallowed hard.
That's when he saw her.
She stood near the security office, dressed casually but moving with purpose. Her posture was alert, eyes scanning faces—not like a student.
Like a hunter.
Their gazes met.
For a heartbeat, Elior felt something different.
Not fear.
Curiosity.
She frowned slightly, as if sensing something off, then looked away.
His chest tightened.
> UNIDENTIFIED ENTITY DETECTED.
THREAT LEVEL: UNKNOWN.
"Who is she?" Elior asked.
> DATA INSUFFICIENT.
Yet.
---
That night, Elior dreamed.
He stood in a vast hall carved from obsidian. Shadows clung to towering pillars. At the center sat a throne—empty, cracked, stained dark.
Blood pooled at its base.
A voice echoed, ancient and weary.
"You wear my chains… and call them power."
Elior stepped back. "Who are you?"
The shadows shifted.
"I am what remains when humanity is forgotten."
He woke with a gasp.
> DREAM EVENT LOGGED.
ANCIENT MEMORY FRAGMENT DETECTED.
Sweat drenched his shirt.
This wasn't just a system.
It was a legacy.
---
Elsewhere, in a secure facility hidden beneath the city, Amara Voss stared at the surveillance feed.
"Replay that," she ordered.
The footage showed a blurred figure in an alley—moving impossibly fast.
"Enhance."
The tech hesitated. "It's unstable."
"Do it."
The image sharpened briefly.
Red eyes.
Amara's jaw tightened.
"Another one," she murmured. "And this one doesn't kill."
Her superior's voice crackled through her earpiece. "Orders?"
Amara leaned back, eyes cold.
"Track him," she said. "I want to know what he is… before he decides what he becomes."
---
Back in his apartment, Elior stared at his hands.
"How long until I lose myself?" he asked quietly.
> ESTIMATE: VARIABLE.
BASED ON USAGE, CHOICES, AND EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENTS.
"Emotional attachments?"
> CONFIRMED.
Elior thought of the girl on campus.
Of the woman crying in the memory he stole.
Of the life he'd almost lost.
His phone buzzed again.
A message from an unknown contact.
Unknown: You survived. Impressive.
Unknown: We should talk.
Elior's blood ran cold.
> WARNING:
EXTERNAL INTEREST DETECTED.
THE NIGHT IS AWARE OF YOU.
Elior clenched his fists.
"Then let it watch," he whispered.
Outside, the city lights flickered.
And somewhere in the darkness, something smiled.