The rhythmic clinking of a metal spoon against a frying pan dragged Adrian Hayes back to the land of the living.
He blinked beneath the makeshift fabric tied tightly around his head. He was back in his cramped, low-rent apartment in Queens.
Sitting at the small kitchen table was Sophia. Like him, she was an orphan, but she had become the closest thing to a sister he had in this cruel world.
She slid a plate of fried eggs, toasted bread, and crispy bacon onto the table, her eyes glued completely to the tiny, flickering television set resting on the counter.
Adrian followed her gaze. On the screen, a shaky news broadcast played. It showed a green behemoth with pulsing, mountain-like muscles roaring at the heavens, holding back a gargantuan Chitauri Leviathan with nothing but raw, muscular strength. The Hulk.
Adrian groaned internally at the sheer, terrifying scale of those physical stats. That reminds me...
System.
Yesterday, the absolute sensory overload of the Six Eyes had forced his brain to process the atomic structure of the entire street at an astonishing speed. The agonizing, splitting migraine had caused him to pass out the moment he crossed his threshold, leaving his first major reward unopened.
"What's with the blindfold, Hayes?" Sophia asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.
She raised an eyebrow, gesturing to the black cloth wrapped securely over his eyes.
"Nothing," Adrian replied, offering a casual shrug as he reached for a piece of toast.
"Just thought it looked cool."
"You're crazy." Sophia rolled her eyes, but then she froze. She watched in sheer bewilderment as Adrian effortlessly picked up his fork, cut a piece of the egg, and brought it to his mouth without a single drop of hesitation. "Wait... how the hell are you doing that if you can't see?"
"Why not? I'm a sorcerer, Sophia," Adrian teased, a small smirk playing on his lips.
"Right. A sorcerer," she muttered, turning back to the TV. "Honestly, with how insane the world got yesterday, I wouldn't even be surprised if you actually went mad."
Mad? They haven't seen anything yet, Adrian thought. With a mouth full of eggs, he willed the interface to appear.
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[STATUS INTERFACE]
* Name: Adrian Hayes
* Race: Human (Sorcerer / ???)
* Level: 2 / 10 (Grade 3 Sorcerer)
[ATTRIBUTES]
(Note: Average Peak Human Attribute is 10)
* Strength (STR): 20
* Agility (AGI): 20
* Endurance (END): 40
* Perception (PER): 40
* Cursed Energy (CE): 100 / 100
[SKILLS & ABILITIES]
* [Active] Cursed Energy Manipulation (Lv. 1): The fundamental ability to control and weaponize the negative energy inside one's body. Can be used to reinforce physical attacks and drastically reduce incoming damage.
* [Passive] The Six Eyes (Rikugan): Grants absolute visual perception down to the atomic level, reduces Cursed Energy consumption to effectively zero, and inflicts severe brain strain if left uncovered.
[INVENTORY]
* ** Bronze Reward Card** (Unopened)
------------------------------
Adrian's lips curled into a grin. His base stats already made him twice as strong as a normal human. Still nowhere near Captain America level, but hey, it's a start.
Focusing his mind, he channeled a minuscule thread of Cursed Energy. A faint, crackling shroud of glowing blue light enveloped his fingertips, trailing down the metal fork in his hand.
Sophia glanced over, shuddering slightly.
Adrian felt entirely different today. The predatory grin on his face sent an instinctual chill down her spine.
Open the Bronze Card, Adrian commanded mentally.
The digital inventory screen shattered into a burst of golden particles.
[DING!]
[CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE UNLOCKED AOI TODO'S PHYSICAL TALENT!]
[DO YOU WISH TO ASSIMILATE THE REWARD IMMEDIATELY?]
Adrian quickly finished his breakfast, stood up, and excused himself to the bathroom, locking the door behind him.
"Assimilate."
BOOM!
Adrian's entire world turned white. His body violently spasmed, collapsing against the tiled floor. His veins bulged beneath his skin like thick, writhing earthworms, and a flood of saliva pooled in his mouth as his genetic code was forcefully rewritten. Every single muscle fiber in his body was ripped apart and knitted back together, packing themselves with immense, dense structural weight.
After what felt like an eternity of agonizing evolution, the pain subsided.
Adrian dragged himself up, gasping for air. A terrifying spike of raw, unadulterated power surged through his veins. He felt heavy,
explosive, and profoundly dangerous.
He walked over to the sink and tore off the makeshift blindfold, staring straight into the mirror. His jaw dropped.
Standing before him was a towering, six-foot-tall young man. His physique was streamlined to absolute perfection—broad shoulders, a razor-sharp jawline, and sculpted, rock-hard abdominal muscles that looked like they were chiseled from marble.
His eyes were a breathtaking, mesmerizing shade of cerulean blue, shining with an otherworldly light. But it was his hair that shocked him the most; the jet-black strands covering his forehead now possessed stark, snowy-white roots. His skin was flawlessly pale, contrasting sharply with his naturally crimson lips.
Damn... I'm ridiculously handsome, Adrian thought, running a hand through his newly altered hair. He looked like a dark prince from a fantasy novel. He could put Hollywood's top celebrities to shame with a single glance.
[ASSIMILATION COMPLETE!]
[REWARD: AOI TODO'S PHYSICAL TALENT]
* Effect 1: Peak Human Physique (+50 Permanently Added to All Base Attributes).
* Effect 2: Innate Combat Genius
Instantly, a massive influx of martial arts mastery, weight-shifting techniques, and perfect close-quarters combat memories flooded his brain. His Six Eyes flared, processing the massive data stream in a fraction of a second, completely eliminating the headache.
He smiled, clenching his fist. A localized shockwave of air snapped from his knuckles. This is it. I'm a superhuman now.
Slowly, Adrian unlocked the bathroom door and stepped out into the hallway.