With his hands he had killed his math teacher. Adam looked down at them.
They were clean with no trace of blood. But in his mind he could still feel the slick handle of the scalpel.
He could feel the horrifying resistance as it sank into flesh and then bone. He could see his teacher’s eyes wide with shock and betrayal. His hands began to tremble.
A violent tremor that started in his fingertips and traveled all the way up his arms. It was a physical reaction to a moral boundary he had just crossed.
From the desk Jas’s voice started its familiar script. The words were a soft gentle drone in the background. "Adam you have to overco this incident—"
Adam didn’t hear the rest. He turned and walked out of the teacher’s office. His body was moving on autopilot. His trembling hands were a foreign part of him.
As he stepped into the empty hallway he leaned against the cool wall trying to steady himself. He felt sick. He had taken a life. It didn’t matter that Jas was alive again just a few feet away.
The act was real. The mory was real. The guilt was real.
Before he could think or process what to do next a transparent blue window materialized in front of him. It shimred in the air a ghostly blue light against the mundane school hallway.
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[Congratulations Host. You have successfully eliminated a hostile target.]
[Target Na: Jas]
[As a reward for your first kill you may claim one of the target’s core attributes.]
[Please select one:]
------------------------------------------------------
Another window appeared directly below the first. It displayed two large glowing buttons that pulsed with a soft light.
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[< Jas’s Skill >]
[< Jas’s Stats >]
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Adam stared at the options. His shock montarily overrode the tremor in his hands. He blinked but the windows remained. So this is how it works he thought.
This is the system. This is the ga.
If I kill soone I get their skills or their stats? The implications were staggering. He could grow stronger with every kill. It was a monstrous reward for a monstrous act.
It was a path that led deeper into the darkness. But it was also the only path to survival.
He couldn’t see what "Jas’s Skill" was.
The option was a mystery. It could be anything. It could be sothing useless like a skill for grading papers or sothing valuable like a combat skill he didn’t know the teacher possessed.
It was a gamble. A risk. And taking a risk could lead to another miscalculation another death. The pain of each death was real. It was a searing mory branded onto his psyche.
He couldn’t afford another mistake. The mory of the wire tightening around his neck was too fresh. He needed certainty not a lottery ticket.
He took a slow deep breath. He forced the shaking in his hands to subside. He replayed the scene in his mind. The wire the struggle the final desperate act with the scalpel.
He had won that exchange but he had still died. He needed to be stronger. He needed to be faster. Not just skilled but physically more powerful. He made a choice.
His finger reached out and pressed the second button. It felt solid under his touch.
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[< Jas’s Stats >]
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The button flashed brightly before the window disappeared. It was replaced by a new one a stream of information flowing into his mind.
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[Selection Confird. Integrating Target’s Physical Stats.]
[Calculating... Host stats are being enhanced.]
[Strength 14]
[Agility 14]
[Stamina 17]
[Perception 15]
[Integration Complete.]
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The ssages vanished. A final updated status window appeared showing him the result of his choice.
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[HOST STATUS]
Na: Adam
Strength: 21 (Previously 7)
Agility: 22 (Previously 8)
Stamina: 23 (Previously 6)
Perception: 24 (Previously 9)
Skills: [None]
----------------------------------------------------------
His old stats were pathetic. He had been a completely normal unassuming high school student. His new stats were on a different level entirely.
The strength of three n. The agility of a trained athlete.
The stamina to run for miles. The perception to notice the smallest details.
The mont the window closed Adam felt a change. It was not a subtle shift. It was a current of energy that flooded his body. It was a warmth that spread through his muscles and a clarity that sharpened his senses.
The exhaustion and lingering fear were washed away. They were replaced by a surge of raw physical power. He felt light yet solid grounded and powerful.
He slowly clenched his right hand into a fist. It felt different. It felt denser more powerful like a rock.
There was no tremor now only controlled strength. He took a simple fighting stance one he’d seen in movies. He threw a quick straight punch into the empty air in front of him.
The punch was a blur. It cut through the air with a sharp whoosh a sound his previous self could never have produced. The force generated by the simple motion was incredible.
He could feel the power coiling in his shoulders and exploding from his fist.
He knew with absolute certainty that a punch like that could knock a man like Jas unconscious instantly.
He thought back through his loops. He re-evaluated them with this new information.
The police were still too risky. His ho was still a deathtrap.
The bounty hunters in the alley were still three against one. The car was still the best option. He decided he would go with his teacher again.
But this ti he had a new objective. He needed to see the man in the back seat.
The one he had only managed to wound blindly in his last monts. He needed to know who his enemy was.
Even with his new strength he wasn’t overconfident. Jas was not a threat anymore. But the man with the wire was a professional. He knew it might not be enough to neutralize two grown n especially with one attacking from behind.
The strength was an advantage but the elent of surprise still belonged to his enemies. He needed an equalizer sothing to level the playing field.
Adam turned around. He walked back toward the nurse’s office with steady confident steps. His mission was clear. He would acquire his weapon. He would enter the car. He would survive this ti. And he would kill them both.*
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