The golden screen stayed floating in the air, pulsing like a second heart. It didn't flicker or fade like the blue screens Han had seen his whole life.
It felt heavy.
It felt real.
[WARNING: GLOBAL TRACKING SYSTEM ATTEMPTING TO SYNC...]
[COUNTER-MEASURE INITIATED: STEALTH PROTOCOL (RANK F)]
[TIME REMAINING: 04:59]
Han stared at the countdown.
Five minutes.
In five minutes, every Enforcer drone and Hunter in Sector 7 would know exactly where he was.
A "Null" who suddenly manifested a golden system wasn't just a miracle; in this world, it was a crime.
"I have to move."
Han whispered, his voice cracking.
His body felt strange.
The wounds on his shoulder had closed, leaving only jagged scars and dried blood. He felt a buzzing energy under his skin, like he had swallowed a lightning bolt.
He looked down at the pile of black dust that used to be a Level 15 Void Creeper.
He had killed it with one hand.
A monster that usually required a four-man Hunter team was gone in seconds.
Sch-wing!
The sound of a blade unsheathing echoed from the rooftops above.
Han didn't look up.
He didn't have to.
His new [Perception]—a stat he never knew he had—was screaming at him. There were three of them.
"Target identified,"
A cold, mechanical voice drifted down from the ledge. "The Null is still in the alley. Energy signature is... unstable. Proceed with Extreme Sanction."
That was Hunter-code for "Kill on Sight."
Han's heart hammered.
He had no armor.
No weapons.
Just a golden screen and five unused Attribute Points (AP).
"System!"
Han hissed.
"Open Stats!"
[STATUS WINDOW]Name: Han
Class: Sovereign (Locked)
LVL: 2HP: 85/100
STR: 12 (+5 Stolen) AGI:8 INT:10VIT:9
AP (Available Points):5
He had five points to decide if he lived or died. If he put them into Strength (STR), he might be able to fight. If he put them into Agility (AGI), he might be able to run.
Think!, Han. Think!!
In the movies, the hero always fights. But Han knew the reality of Sector 7. These weren't Goblins. These were professional Assassins from the Silver Wing Guild. They had years of training, high-tier gear, and Skills that could turn a man into ash.
I can't outrun a Level 20 Assassin with 13 Agility,
Han realized.
But I can change the environment .
"System! Put all 5 points into Intelligence (INT)!"[INT: 10 —> 15][ALERT: In threshold Reached! New Skill Unlocked: SOVEREIGN'S VISION (RANK F)
]Suddenly, the world changed. The dark alleyway wasn't just shadows anymore. Han could see "lines" of energy flowing through everything.
He saw the electrical wires hum with yellow light. He saw the cloaked figures on the roof glowing with a sharp, aggressive red. But most importantly, he saw a "glitch" in the air near the trash compactor. It was a leak in the city's mana-grid.
"There!"
Han lunged toward the trash compactor just as a silver streak whistled through the air.
A throwing knife thudded into the brick wall where his head had been a second ago. The impact was so hard the bricks turned to dust.
"He moved?!"
one of the Assassins muttered, jumping down from the roof. He landed with a heavy thud, his blue aura illuminating the rain.
"A Null shouldn't have that reaction speed."
Han didn't wait for an answer.
He reached out and grabbed the leaking mana-wire.
Normally, the raw energy would have fried his heart. But as his fingers touched the wire, his golden screen flared.
[SOVEREIGN'S TOUCH ACTIVATED.]
[ABSORBING RAW MANA... CONVERTING TO BURST ENERGY.]
"What are you doing, kid? Ha! ha! ha!"
the Assassins laughed, raising a glowing blue sword.
"You're going to blow yourself up."Han
looked the man in the eye. For a split second, a memory that wasn't his own flashed in his mind. He saw a woman with long, silver hair standing over a field of fallen stars. She whispered a single word:"Break."
(Note: This is a foreshadowing for Chapter 10—keep this image of the silver-haired woman in mind.)
"I'm not blowing up,"
Han said, his voice deep and vibrating with power.
"I'm rewiring the neighborhood."
He shoved the absorbed energy back into the city's grid.
BOOM!
The transformer at the end of the block exploded. Every streetlight in Sector 7 went dark. The digital locks on the nearby warehouse screeched and popped open. A massive cloud of sparks and black smoke filled the alley, blinding the Assassins' digital visors.
[STEALTH PROTOCOL SUCCESSFUL.]
[YOU HAVE ENTERED THE "HIDDEN" STATE.]
Han didn't stay to watch.
He dove into the open warehouse, his feet moving faster than they ever had.
He was terrified, but for the first time in his life, he wasn't helpless.
Inside the warehouse, it smelled of old oil and dried sea salt. It was a storage facility for illegal monster parts. Massive ribs of long-dead beasts hung from the ceiling like ghostly chandeliers.
Han hid behind a stack of shipping crates, pressing his back against the cold metal.
He tried to quiet his breathing, but his lungs felt like they were on fire.
"System," he whispered.
"Why did I see that woman? Who was she?"
[ERROR: DATA CORRUPTED.]
[RECOVERY AT 0.02%.]
[HINT: THE SOVEREIGN DOES NOT REMEMBER. THE SOVEREIGN BECOMES.]
Han frowned. Cryptic.
Just like every other system in the world.
"Target is inside,"
a voice whispered from the warehouse entrance. The Assassins were close. They weren't using lights. They were using [Mana Sense]. To them, Han's new golden core must have looked like a campfire in a dark forest.
"I can't hide,"
Han realized. "I'm too 'bright' for them.
"He looked around the room with his Sovereign's Vision. Everything was glowing. He saw a crate marked with a biohazard symbol. Inside were the hearts of Flame Salamanders.
They were highly volatile. If they were hit with enough force, they would explode with the power of a grenade.
Han looked at his hand. He still had the "Stolen Strength" from the Void Creeper for another three minutes. If I can't run, I have to hunt. He picked up a heavy iron pipe from the floor. He felt the weight. It was heavy, but with his 17 STR, it felt like a toy.
"Come and get me!"
Han whispered, loud enough for the Assassins to hear.
The three cloaked figures moved in unison. They were fast—much faster than Han. The leader, a man with a jagged scar across his nose, flickered and appeared ten feet in front of Han.
"Playtime is over, glitch,"
the leader said. He raised his hand, and a ball of blue fire began to form.
"You're a threat to the Order. Nothing more."
Han didn't flinch.
He didn't look at the fire.
He looked at the biohazard crate ten feet behind the leader.
"You're right,"
Han said. "I am a threat."
Han threw the iron pipe. He didn't throw it at the leader. He threw it at the crate. The pipe whistled through the air, propelled by Han's desperate strength.
The leader laughed, thinking Han had missed. CRASH! The pipe smashed into the Flame Salamander hearts.
A roar of orange fire filled the warehouse. The explosion sent a shockwave that shattered the windows and threw the Assassins off their feet. The leader's blue fire spell backfired, exploding in his own face.
[COMBAT LOG: TARGET DAMAGED.]
[EXP GAINED: 150]
In the chaos of the fire and smoke, Han moved. He didn't run away this time. He ran toward the nearest Assassin who was struggling to stand. He grabbed the man's head.
[SOVEREIGN'S TOUCH ACTIVATED.]
[STEALING TARGET'S AGILITY...]
The Assassin screamed as a blue mist was ripped from his body and absorbed into Han's chest.
The man collapsed, his legs turning weak and useless as his stats were drained.[AGI: 8 —> 14]
Han felt his body become light.
His movements became a blur.
He felt... amazing.
It was a drug. The feeling of taking power from those who had always looked down on him was better than any meal he had ever eaten.
"Stop!"
the leader yelled, coughing through the smoke. His cloak was burnt, and his silver armor was cracked.
"Do you have any idea what you're doing? If you use that power, They will come. Not us. THEY."
Han paused.
"Who are 'They'?"
The leader looked at Han with genuine pity.
"The ones who built the System.
The ones who deleted the Sovereign the first time.
"Suddenly, the leader's eyes went wide.
He looked at the golden screen floating behind Han.
"Wait... your screen... it has a 'V. 1.0' tag?"
the leader whispered, his face turning pale.
"That's impossible!"
"That version was supposed to be erased before the Great Reset."
"Before Han could ask what the "Great Reset" was, a high-pitched whistle filled the air.
[Target Locked.]
A red laser dot appeared on Han's chest. An Enforcer drone had found them.
"Run, kid!"
The leader said, surprisingly.
He stood up, clutching his side.
"If the Enforcers catch you, they won't just kill you. They'll harvest your soul to power the city."
The leader threw a smoke bomb at his own feet.
When the smoke cleared, the Assassins were gone. Han didn't wait.
He turned and sprinted toward the back exit of the warehouse. With his new 14 Agility, he cleared the fence in a single bound.
He disappeared into the dark alleys of the slums just as the drones began to open fire.
Later that night, Han sat under a bridge, shivering.
The "Stolen Stats" had worn off, leaving him feeling weak and empty.
The "dip" after the dopamine rush was brutal.
He looked at his golden screen.
[QUEST COMPLETED: SURVIVE THE ASSASSINATION.]
[REWARD: 500 CREDITS / 1 MYSTERY BOX.]
Han opened the Mystery Box in his mind. A small, rusty key appeared in his palm.
[ITEM: THE FIRST KEY (RANK ???)]
[DESCRIPTION: A KEY TO THE LIBRARY THAT WAS NEVER WRITTEN.]
Han gripped the key.
He didn't know what it was for, but he felt a strange warmth from it.
As he drifted into a restless sleep, he heard that silver-haired woman's voice again.
"Don't let them see the key, Han. The key is the only thing that can stop the...."
Han woke up with a start.
The what?
What did that mean?
He looked at his wrist.
The golden countdown was gone, but a new number had appeared.[DAYS UNTIL THE GREAT RESET: 30]He was Level 2. He had 30 days. And the entire world was his enemy.