Author's Note: I'm so sorry that things have been slow for a while now. Please hang around longer; things are about to get increasingly peak, I promise.
…
The night passed in silence so clean it almost felt wrong.
No disturbances. No interruptions. Just the heavy weight of Logan's thoughts pressing against his skull until sleep became more of a struggle than rest.
By the time morning finally crawled in, he had barely slept at all.
And the system made sure he didn't get a second to recover.
A familiar chime cut through the morning haze the moment his eyes opened.
[Master! Good morning! Please proceed to complete the daily mission!]
Logan exhaled through his nose. He was still a little irritated with Astra, but that was a problem for later. Right now, growing stronger was the only thing that mattered.
[Daily Mission: Push-ups x100. 100m Run x100. Sit-ups x100.]
[Mission Difficulty: E]
[Mission Rewards: 3 Free Attribute Points]
"Before any of that," he thought, "there's something else first."
"Astra. Purchase the potion for Evelyn."
[Please note this will consume 900 System Points, leaving you with only 30. Do you wish to proceed?]
He hesitated for exactly one second. Then: yes.
The points vanished. And something appeared in his hand.
The Elixir of Life.
Logan stared at it.
Just a small vial, glowing faintly at the edges, almost modest in how it looked. But he knew exactly what it was. He'd written it himself.
This thing could strip away every trace of the dark origin, the corrupted energy that kept people locked away from their own abilities. It could undo damage that nothing else in this world could touch.
He set it down on the hotel desk, rummaged through the drawers for a pen and paper, and wrote a short note.
Then he took a shower, changed into training gear, and headed downstairs.
He stopped at the front desk long enough to leave the vial and the note with the receptionist, along with one quiet instruction about who they were for.
Then he went to the training room and got to work.
…
Time passed.
[Daily Mission Completed! Please assign your Free Attribute Points.]
Logan sat on the floor of the training room, back against the wall, sweat cutting down his face. His lungs were finally slowing.
Around him, other residents moved through the equipment with varying degrees of effort, most of them watching him with curiosity they were trying to disguise as indifference.
He ignored them.
"Astra. Stats."
[Master: Logan Weaver]
[Rank: Origin Initiate]
[Lifespan: 120]
Strength: 20
Agility: 21
Stamina: 22
Charm: 21
Endurance: 21
Free Attributes: 6
Origin Energy: Awakened
Origin Ability: Space Affinity
[System Space: SSS-Rank Sword]
He read through it and felt quiet satisfaction settle in his chest.
Every number past 20 represented something that shouldn't be possible for an ordinary human.
Back in his old world, a professional athlete at their peak would sit around that threshold. But he'd crossed it.
He was sitting on the other side of that line now, in a world he'd created, playing by rules he'd written for characters he'd never imagined becoming.
"Can I still be considered human?"
The thought drifted through his mind, almost casual.
He'd never stopped to ask that question while he was writing. The characters who transcended human limits in his novel had always just been characters, numbers on a page, power levels he shuffled around to fit the plot.
He hadn't considered what it would actually feel like to be one of them.
"There's no need to dwell on it," he told himself, and stood up.
…
The same pattern repeated for three days.
Train. Cook. Sleep. Wake. Repeat.
No messages from Evelyn. Not a single glimpse of her in the halls.
Logan told himself she needed time. He knew it was true. He also knew that knowing something was true didn't stop you from worrying about it.
He was heading back from his morning session on the third day when he noticed the woman following him.
She was hard to miss.
Pink training gear, form-fitting from shoulder to ankle. Dark hair in a high ponytail that swayed with every step. The kind of face that turned heads without trying. She moved with a deliberate, almost lazy confidence, like someone who had spent years being looked at and had made peace with it, even started using it.
She smelled like vanilla and warm skin.
Logan slowed his pace slightly. She closed the gap.
"Hi," she said, stopping just behind him. Her voice was low. A faint embarrassment flickered across her expression, like she was braver than she felt right now.
"I've noticed you around the last few days. I was wondering if you'd be interested in giving me some private sessions. In my room."
She finished with a small, hopeful wink.
Logan looked at her properly for a moment.
Objectively, she was stunning. No cosmetics, and still far beyond most of the models he'd seen back on Earth. In any other life, any other context, there wouldn't be a man alive who'd hesitate.
He smiled politely.
"I appreciate it. But I'm not interested in that kind of training right now."
Her lower lip caught between her teeth. The confidence deflated by one quiet degree.
"Ah. Right. Okay."
She lingered a second longer than she meant to, then gave him one last glance and walked away, her ponytail swaying.
Logan exhaled and turned back toward the corridor.
He took two steps before he stopped.
Not because he wanted to.
Because she was already there.
Standing in the middle of the passage with the ease of someone who belonged exactly where they were. Like she hadn't been absent for three days. Like the world had simply arranged itself around her.
Logan's voice came out quieter than he intended.
"Evelyn…"
She tilted her head.
The ghost of something unreadable moved through her eyes.
"Hi, Logan."
A pause, brief and loaded.
"It's been a while."