Chapter 83 (2)
He thought about the numbers the system had shown him, his stats against Jack's stats, and he realized that even if his base stats had been the same as Jack's, he still would have lost.
Jack's technique was cleaner, his experience deeper, his instincts sharper.
The gap between them was not just a gap in numbers but a gap in everything that mattered in a fight, and closing that gap would take more than a few weeks of training.
A screen flashed in the corner of his vision, and he opened it without thinking.
[Quest Failed: The True King's Challenge]
[You have faced a True King and been found wanting. But defeat is not the end, Little King. It is only the beginning of a longer road.]
[Reward: None]
[Experience Gained: 500 EXP]
[System Points: 3,600 → 3,700]
Elijah stared at the screen for a long moment, and then he closed it and set the phone down on the bed beside him because he could not hold it any longer.
His arm was trembling, and his fingers were numb, and the simple act of holding a phone had become a battle that he was losing.
But there was something he needed to do before he slept, something that could not wait until his body had healed.
He needed to send a message to Lisa, needed to explain, needed to make her understand that the marriage was not something he wanted but something he had to do.
He picked up the phone again, and his thumb moved to open his messages, and the screen lit up with three notifications from Lisa.
The first message had been sent at 3:00 AM, an hour after he had left the apartment, and it read: Hey, I understand.
Elijah read the words three times, and a small smile touched his lips because understanding was more than he had expected and more than he deserved.
The second message had been sent at 4:00 AM, and it read: Do your thing and hope you achieve whatever you want.
His smile faded because the words were supportive but distant, the kind of message someone sent when they were trying to be strong but did not know how much longer they could hold themselves together.
The third message had been sent at 5:00 AM, and it read: I love you and will always love you. But understanding doesn't mean I can do it. This is the life you have chosen and I can't be a part of it. Please just come back to me and me only. If you can't, then goodbye, Elijah.
The phone slipped from his fingers and landed on the bed beside him, and Elijah stared at the ceiling with his chest burning and his throat tight and his heart breaking into pieces that he did not know how to put back together.
The void that opened inside him was vast and cold and empty, and it swallowed everything that he had been feeling since the fight ended.
He thought about the conversation they had had in the apartment, the words he had spoken about treating his future wife with love and affection, the way Lisa's face had crumpled when he told her that the other woman would mean something to him.
He had been honest, and honesty had cost him the person he loved most in the world.
His hand moved toward the phone again, his fingers reaching for the screen, because he needed to tell her that he would find another way, that he would refuse the marriage, that he would choose her over the gang and the territory and everything else.
The words were already forming in his mind, a promise that he would not marry Sylvia, that he would break the agreement with Daniel, that he would find a path that did not require him to lose her.
A screen flashed in front of his eyes, blocking his view of the phone.
Warning: The King's Path]
[You have made your choice, and you have chosen to become a King. The Queen does not want you to conquer. She wants you to be a man so that she can feel safe with you. Do not call her. Do not try to change her mind. Your goals and your ambition are above her.]
[Reward: 10,000 System Points and an immediate level up]
[Punishment: Intense pain until you have removed the thought from your mind]
[Do you accept the terms of the King's Path? Yes / No]
Elijah's thumb moved toward the screen, toward the keyboard that would let him type his message to Lisa, and the pain hit him like a blade through his chest.
It was not the pain of broken ribs or torn muscles or bruised organs. It was something deeper, something that seemed to come from inside his soul rather than his body, and it spread through him like fire through dry grass.
His back arched off the bed, and his mouth opened in a scream that tore through his throat, and his hands clawed at the sheets beneath him as the pain consumed everything.
The door burst open, and Doctor Ben was there, his pale blue eyes wide, his hands reaching for Elijah's body.
Kai was behind him, his face pale, his voice shouting questions that Elijah could not understand because the pain was too loud and too bright and too overwhelming.
"What's happening to him?" Kai shouted.
"I don't know," Doctor Ben replied as he pressed his hands against Elijah's chest and sent his Ki flowing into Elijah's body.
"I can't find the source. His body is healing, but something else is wrong, something I've never seen before."
Elijah's vision was fading, the edges of his world turning gray and then black, and he could feel himself slipping away. The pain was still there, but it was distant now, muffled, as if his mind was shutting down to protect itself.
"He's going to kill himself if this continues," Doctor Ben said, and his voice was tight with urgency. "I have to put him under."
Elijah felt something cold press against his neck, and then the world went dark.