Chapter 8: The Library of Souls
The Agency Hub was unlike anything I had ever seen. Back in New York, the sky was always gray and the air was filled with the smell of exhaust and trash. But here, the sky was a deep, sparkling indigo, filled with stars that never moved. There was no sun, yet the entire place was filled with a soft, golden light that seemed to come from the books themselves.
I stood there, still clutching my broken phone. My $800,000 balance felt like a joke in a place like this. "Where are we, Sophia?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper. "This doesn't look like Manhattan."
"We're in the gap between worlds, Ethan," Sophia said, walking toward a massive wooden desk that looked like it was carved from a single, giant tree. "The Gods live in the 'Upper World,' and humans live in the 'Lower World.' This Hub is the only place where the Agency can watch both without being caught."
I looked at the bookshelves. They didn't just have books; they had glowing jars filled with silver mist, floating maps that changed every second, and weapons that looked like they were made of frozen lightning. It was beautiful, but it was also scary. I felt like a small ant in a giant's house.
[NOTIFICATION: HUB SYNC COMPLETE.]
[RESTING AREA UNLOCKED: ROOM 101.]
[TRAINING MODE: AVAILABLE.]
"Come on," Sophia said, waving her hand. "You need to clean up. You look like you just fought a war... which you did."
She led me to a small wooden door. When I opened it, I found a cozy room with a fireplace, a big leather chair, and a bed that looked even softer than the one in the penthouse. There was a window, but instead of the New York skyline, I could see a giant, glowing tree whose branches held up the stars.
"Get some sleep, Ethan," Sophia said, her voice softening a little. "Tomorrow, the real work starts. Ares was a bully, but the next God on the list... he's a genius. And you can't beat a genius with just a whip."
I didn't argue. I was so tired that my bones felt like lead. I took off my tactical jacket, lay down on the bed, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
When I woke up, the golden light was still there. I felt different. The 'Body Reconstruction' was finished. My muscles didn't ache anymore, and my mind felt sharp, like a newly sharpened pencil. I looked at the phone. It was fully charged, the blue light pulsing steadily.
I walked out of my room and found Sophia in the main library area. She was reading a book that was literally on fire, but she didn't seem to mind.
"Good, you're awake," she said, shutting the flaming book. "It's time to upgrade your 'Broken Phone.' Do you know why it's cracked, Ethan?"
"Because I found it in a junk yard?" I guessed.
"No," Sophia shook her head. "It's cracked because it's trying to hold too much power. It's like a small bottle trying to hold an entire ocean. Every time you collect a debt, the phone gets stronger, but the cracks get deeper. If the phone shatters, you die with it."
My heart skipped a beat. "So, I'm carrying a bomb in my pocket?"
"In a way," she said. "But you can fix it. You need to 'Bind' the phone to your soul. Right now, you're just a user. You need to become the Master."
She led me to a stone pedestal in the center of the library. "Place the phone there. Now, close your eyes. Don't think about the money. Don't think about the Gods. Think about the first time you felt like the world was unfair. Think about the 'Debt' you want to fix."
I closed my eyes. I didn't have to try hard. I thought about the time the hospital told me they wouldn't give my dad the medicine because I was ten dollars short. I remembered the feeling of helplessness, the feeling of being invisible. I took all that anger and turned it into a single thought: I will never be invisible again.
Suddenly, the library started to shake. A blue light, brighter than anything I had ever seen, exploded from the phone. I felt a sharp pain in my chest, like a needle was stitching my heart to the device.
[CRITICAL ALERT: SOUL-BINDING IN PROGRESS.]
[SUCCESS RATE: 99%.]
[USER ETHAN IS NOW THE PERMANENT OWNER OF THE SYSTEM.]
When I opened my eyes, the phone had changed. The cracks were still there, but they were filled with a glowing gold liquid. The screen was no longer just glass; it felt like a part of my own skin.
[NEW SKILL: THE ARCHITECT'S EYE.]
(Effect: You can now see the 'Value' of everything. You can see the weaknesses in buildings, weapons, and even the souls of people.)
[NEW SKILL: THE DEBTOR'S SHACKLE.]
(Effect: You can freeze any person who owes you money or luck for 5 seconds.)
"Wow," I whispered, looking at my hands. I could see the 'Value' of the stone pedestal ($2,000) and even the value of Sophia's silver daggers ($1,000,000 each).
"Impressive," Sophia said, watching the gold light in my eyes. "You skipped three levels of training just by being angry. You really are a natural, Ethan."
"What's next?" I asked, feeling a surge of confidence. "Who is the next God?"
Sophia's face turned serious. She tapped her own phone, and a holographic image of a man appeared. He looked young, maybe even younger than me. He was wearing glasses and a simple white lab coat. He looked like a nerd, not a God.
"This is Hermes," Sophia said. "In the old stories, he was the messenger God. In the modern world, he owns the world's biggest social media company—Nexus. He doesn't steal money or war-luck. He steals Attention."
"Attention?" I asked, confused. "How can you owe a debt of attention?"
"Every time someone spends ten hours a day scrolling through his app, they are giving him their life-force," Sophia explained. "He has stolen 10,000 years of human time.
Because of him, people don't talk to each other. They don't dream. They just... watch. And that time belongs to the Agency."
"So, I have to hack a social media king?" I asked.
"Worse," Sophia said. "You have to get him to look at you. And Hermes is the fastest God in existence. You can't catch him with a whip. You have to trap him with a lie."
I looked at the photo of Hermes. He looked so innocent, but I knew the truth. Behind that smile was a thief who was eating the lives of billions of people. I thought about all the kids I saw on the subway, staring at their screens while their lives passed them by. I felt a familiar fire starting in my stomach.
"I'm ready," I said, tucking the newly-bound phone into my pocket.
"Good," Sophia said, handing me a small, silver ear-piece. "This will let us talk across worlds. I'll stay here and hack his servers from the back end. You... you're going to San Francisco. You're going to join his 'Top Creator' party."
"But I don't have a social media account," I said.
Sophia smiled. "Check your phone, Ethan. You're now the most famous person on the internet. The System just created 100 million fake followers for you. You're the 'Mystery Billionaire' everyone is talking about."
I looked at the screen. My profile was everywhere. People were guessing who I was. I was a sensation, and I hadn't even posted a single video.
"Thirty days left until the Great Reset," I said, looking at the blue portal opening in the library. "Let's go save some time."
I stepped into the portal, leaving the golden library behind. New York was my past. San Francisco was my future. And Hermes? He was about to find out that time is a very expensive debt to pay.