Kai woke up. His mind felt refreshed, as if a crushing burden had finally been lifted from his shoulders.
He looked down at the vial containing the Elixir of Life, slowly tightening his grip.
The promise he had made to himself was finally about to be fulfilled. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, a genuine smile crept across his face.
He opened the window of his apartment and took a deep, fresh breath.
Inhale. Exhale.
The morning sun was dazzling. Birds were building nests on the fire escapes. Down on the street, people were bartering for armor, and a mother stood on the corner, entirely engrossed in her phone, completely ignoring her six-month-old daughter crying with a puffed, red face.
It feels like a new life, Kai thought, ignoring the strange behavior below.
Suddenly, a minor detail nagged at him. He hadn't received the monthly billing report from the hospital for Anna's mother yet.
Let it be. I'll just go there and check in person, he decided. His eyes softened as he looked at the vial again.
'Today, I will save the mother, even if I couldn't save Anna.'
Kai went to the bathroom and freshened up. He combed his hair and put on clean, neat clothes, treating the morning like a sacred holiday.
He carefully placed the Elixir into his inner pocket, keeping his hand pressed against it as if his own life depended on its safety.
Stepping outside, he noticed the mother from earlier was still glued to her screen. Her child had finally stopped crying from sheer exhaustion.
Nearby, a group of armored men were huddled together, staring blankly at a device. Are they playing something? Kai wondered.
He considered taking the metro, but the terrifying memory of the ghostly stranger and the empty train flashed in his mind.
Cold sweat pricked his forehead. 'What the hell was that?' he muttered, shaking the thought away.
He opted for the bus instead. Sitting by the window as the bus rolled through the city, Kai noticed an eerie quiet. Most of the shops were closed.
He turned to the passenger sitting beside him. "Excuse me, why are all the shops closed?"
The person ignored him, eyes locked on a glowing screen.
Kai frowned. Is he ignoring me? He reached out and shook the man's shoulder. "Hello? I'm speaking to you."
The sudden jolt caused the phone to slip from the man's hands and clatter to the floor.
The passenger snapped. He lunged aggressively at Kai, fingers clawing like a rabid animal.
[ Zero Kelvin ]
Kai instantly dropped the temperature around the man, freezing his joints just enough to paralyze him in place.
The man's eyes were bloodshot red. "You maniac!" he screamed, spit flying from his lips. "I just lost 100 experience points!"
"Sorry," Kai said flatly, but the man's violent rage didn't subside.
Kai's gaze fell to the dropped phone. He picked it up. For a fraction of a second, he saw a string of blue pixels bleeding out of the screen, but when he blinked, it looked normal.
Displayed on the screen was the interface for the game Endless.
Kai's expression turned dead serious. Deep inside his chest, the Shard began to vibrate.
He clicked on the profile tab. The aggressive passenger's photo appeared, along with a full stat sheet: Intelligence, Strength, Stamina, and Endurance.
Testing a theory, Kai pressed the '+' button next to 'Strength'.
Instantly, the frozen man groaned. The ice restricting his muscles began to crack as his physical power dynamically increased in the real world.
A notification popped up on the screen: 1000 Experience Points Consumed.
Hearing the chime, the man grew completely unhinged, preparing to tear Kai apart to get his device back.
Kai didn't hesitate. He casually tossed the phone out the open bus window.
"My experience points!" the man shrieked. Without a second thought, the passenger dove headfirst out the moving bus window after it.
Kai stared at the empty seat, brushing off his hoodie. What is going on here? People can actually level up their real bodies through a mobile game?
[Alfred's Hospital - Next Stop]
The automated voice rang out. Kai exited the bus. He noticed the hospital grounds were eerily empty today, but he didn't care.
His only motive was to reach the ward and administer the cure.
He marched straight to the front desk.
"Hello. I'm looking for the patient in Room 369."
The receptionist looked confused, tapping at her keyboard. "There is no patient in that room, sir."
Kai let out a dry, dismissive laugh. "Stop joking. I pay the monthly bills. Look here." He pulled up his digital receipts from the previous months.
"This is exactly why I came. Why didn't I get this month's report?"
The receptionist looked incredibly nervous. She frantically searched the database, her face draining of color. With heavy hesitation, she finally looked up.
"Sir... that patient went missing last month."
The world stopped spinning. sound started to fade slowly.
The Elixir of Life suddenly felt like a lead weight in Kai's pocket. A crushing wave of despair slammed into his chest.
The stranger on the train hadn't been lying.
The mother Kai wants to protect has been kidnapped.