The blue window hung in front of Adam like a sheet of light.
His anger broke apart.
The name John was still on his tongue, but the burning force behind it suddenly faded. The vivid scene of blood, betrayal, and laughter slipped away as if someone had pulled it behind a curtain. All that remained was a confusion and the simple fact that something impossible had just appeared in front of him.
Adam stared without blinking.
The screen was transparent, yet clear enough for him to read. Pale blue lines spread across it one after another, forming words in a language he understood perfectly.
[System Integration in Progress]
[Host Condition Verified]
[Special Circumstance Detected]
Adam's lips parted.
"A system?"
He had seen things like this before, but only in web novels. In those stories, people gained systems, hidden windows, quests, stats, and powers. He had spent enough nights reading them to recognize the format instantly.
But reading about something and seeing it appear in front of his own eyes were two different things.
For a few seconds, Adam just stood there, staring in disbelief.
Then another thought rose inside him.
He had somehow returned fifteen years into the past.
That was already insane.
Compared to that, a floating system window should not have been the part he struggled to accept.
Adam took a long breath and forced himself to calm down.
"Fine," he muttered. "If I've really come back... then this can be real too."
As if responding to him, the blue window shifted.
More words appeared.
[Because the host has returned from the future to the past, special integration conditions have been met.]
[The host will receive one special gift.]
[Unique Skill Granted: Copy and Paste]
Adam's eyes narrowed.
The lines below began to move, slowly enough for him to read every word.
[Copy and Paste]
[The host can copy and paste any non-living object.]
[Copy condition: The host must touch the target object directly.]
[Paste condition: Stored copied objects can be materialized from inventory.]
[Skill cost: Endurance and Life Force.]
[Warning: Excessive use of Life Force may result in host death.]
Adam read the last line twice.
"Death?"
The excitement that had briefly risen in him cooled at once.
So this power was real, but it was not free. If he used it carelessly, it could kill him.
He kept reading, waiting for more details, but the window only stayed in front of him for a few seconds. Then the blue text dimmed, the screen trembled once, and everything vanished.
Adam blinked.
The park was quiet again.
For a second, he wondered if he had imagined everything.
Then he straightened and said, "Status."
The blue window reappeared instantly.
Adam's heart jumped.
This time the screen looked different.
[Status]
[Name: Adam]
[Level: 0]
[Strength: 4]
[Agility: 4]
[Endurance: 5]
[Life Force: 10]
[Skill: Copy and Paste]
[Inventory: 0/8]
Adam stared at the numbers.
They looked simple, but there was no mistaking what he was seeing. This was a real status screen. He even had an inventory.
Eight slots only.
Not much, but enough to prove this was no hallucination.
He looked around the park with sharper eyes.
If the system was real, then the skill should be real too.
He needed to test it.
Adam searched the ground near the bench and quickly spotted a small stone lying beside one of the metal legs. It was nothing special, just a rough gray piece of rock.
He bent down and picked it up.
The stone felt ordinary. Cool. Hard. A little dusty.
Adam held it in front of him and swallowed.
Then he said, "Copy."
The system window opened at once, but instead of the status page, a different section appeared.
It was his inventory.
Eight empty boxes were arranged in two rows. Seven of them were blank. In the first slot, however, a small image had appeared.
It was the same stone.
Adam looked from his hand to the inventory window and back again.
The stone was still in his hand.
But it was also inside the inventory.
His breathing slowed.
"It worked," he said under his breath.
Even then, he sounded uncertain.
He had spoken the command aloud without thinking. Now a new question came to him.
Would it work if he only thought the command?
Adam tightened his grip on the original stone. He focused on the image in the first inventory slot.
Then, in his mind alone, he said, Paste.
The response was immediate.
A ripple passed through the air above his palm.
Something solid pressed against the stone already in his hand.
Adam jerked in shock.
A second stone, identical in shape, color, and weight, had materialized right on top of the first one.
His fingers lost their hold. Both stones slipped, one striking his wrist before dropping to the ground with two sharp clicks.
Adam stumbled back from the bench.
His eyes were wide.
He looked down.
Two stones lay near his shoes.
They were exactly the same.
For a long moment, Adam did not move.
Everything around him felt normal.
That only made the two stones at his feet look even more unreal.
Adam crouched slowly and picked them both up. He turned them over, checked their edges, rubbed the dust off with his thumb, then held them side by side.
There was no difference.
Not even a small one.
He had read about cheats, systems, and overpowered skills before. He had laughed at them, envied them, and imagined what he would do if he ever had one.
Now he was standing in an empty park with a copied stone in each hand.
And he still could not believe it was actually real.