Adrenaline is a liar. It makes you feel like a god until it leaves you, shivering and broken, on the cold pavement.
Elias was gone. The fog was thinning, replaced by the pale, indifferent light of a Tuesday morning. Adam stood in front of the cracked wall of the Star Café, his right arm throbbing with a dull, rhythmic ache that felt like his bones were vibrating.
He looked at his hand. It was red, swollen, and faint wisps of white steam were still rising from his knuckles.
[Warning: Physical Strain Detected]
[Status: Muscle Fiber Tear (Minor)]
[Estimated Self-Healing Time: 4 Hours]
"Four hours..." Adam croaked. His throat felt like he'd swallowed glass.
He looked down at the matte black card Elias had thrown. The symbol—the gear crushed by a hand—seemed to pulse with a faint, oily light. He tucked it into his pocket, his mind racing. Hunters. Glitches. Collection missions. The words felt like heavy stones being dropped into a dark well.
Buzz.
[Reminder: The Collection begins in 11:20:15]
[Pro Tip: A leaking vessel cannot hold power. Repair the leaks.]
"Leaks? What leaks?"
Adam turned and began the long walk back to his apartment. He didn't run this time. He couldn't. Every step felt like he was dragging weights. As he walked, he noticed people starting their day. A woman walking her dog. A man in a suit checking his watch.
To them, he was just a sweaty, disheveled kid in a cheap tracksuit. They couldn't see the blue screens. They couldn't see the smoke rising from his hand.
But Adam could see them.
With his [+1 Focus] still faintly humming in the background, he noticed things he never had before. He saw the nervous twitch in the businessman's eye. He saw the way the woman's dog shied away from him as he passed, its fur bristling as if it sensed a predator.
"I'm leaking energy," Adam remembered Elias's words. "Like a broken pipe."
He reached his apartment building, his sanctuary. He climbed the stairs—slowly this time—and locked his door with three turns of the key. He collapsed against the wood, sliding down until he hit the floor.
His room looked different. Smaller. Dirtier. The cracks in the ceiling were still there, but now they looked like a map of his old life. A life he couldn't go back to.
He pulled out his phone. The white screen was gone, replaced by a new interface. It looked like a character sheet from the RPG games he used to play to escape reality.
[USER PROFILE: ADAM]
Level: 0 (Incomplete)
Class: None (Glitch Detected)
Strength: 6 (+5 Temporary)
Agility: 2 (+2 Reward Pending)
Focus: 2 (+1 Active)
Credits: 200
Skills:
Counter-Burst (Rank E): Convert 30% of impact into kinetic energy.
"Two hundred credits," Adam muttered. "Elias said points are currency."
He tapped the [Credits] icon. A new menu flickered to life.
[SYSTEM MARKETPLACE (RANK F ACCESS)]
Basic Healing Salve: 50 Credits
Energy Seal (Rank 1): 150 Credits (Hides your 'Signal' from low-level Hunters)
Random Stat Point: 300 Credits
Adam's heart skipped a beat. Energy Seal. "If I don't buy that, they'll find me tonight," he realized. But if he bought it, he'd be left with only 50 credits. No healing. No strength.
He looked at his room. He needed to prepare. He needed to "fix the leaks."
He stood up and walked to the bathroom. He splashed cold water on his face, staring at his reflection in the cracked mirror. His eyes looked different—sharper, colder. The "Old Adam" was dying, and something else was taking his place.
Suddenly, a notification appeared, not on his phone, but directly on the mirror's surface.
[Emergency Mission: The Neighbor's Secret]
[Objective: Investigate the sound behind the wall of Apartment 4B]
[Time Limit: 05:00]
[Reward: +1 Agility / +100 Credits]
Adam froze. Apartment 4B. That was Mrs. Gable. A sweet, 80-year-old widow who had lived there for thirty years.
He pressed his ear against the thin wall.
At first, there was nothing.
Then, he heard it.
A wet, tearing sound. Like someone pulling a heavy rug across a sticky floor.
And then, a faint, rhythmic clink... clink... clink... The sound of a gear turning.
Adam's blood ran cold. The symbol on Elias's card—the gear.
"The Collection isn't starting tonight," Adam whispered, his hand reaching for the kitchen knife on the counter. "It's already here."
04:30
04:29