The night hung heavy with static tension, as though the city itself could sense a coming storm. Lin Chen sat silently in a high-rise apartment overlooking the downtown skyline, its neon haze casting an eerie reflection across the floor-to-ceiling windows. Below him, the world was still buzzing about the "miracle man" who had saved dozens from the explosion at Westline Square.
The viral video—him pulling people out just before the shockwave hit, moving faster than anyone had a right to—had now been looped on every major platform across the globe.
And Lin Chen hated every second of it.
[System Alert:Global attention levels rising. Identity compromise threshold: 68%. Immediate action recommended.]
"Too late for invisibility now," he muttered, watching the counter ticking upward on his system HUD. Even the newly activated [Identity Concealment Protocol] could only do so much.
A new notification slid across his vision.
[Urgent System Warning]Unidentified energy signature detected.Classification: HOSTILE SYSTEM USER.Codename: Pyra.Ability Detected: FLAME MANIPULATION.Distance: 1.2 kilometers.Objective: Eliminate irregular host (You).Commencing auto-tracking…
His fingers tightened on the edge of the armrest. "Finally showing up, huh?"
Just as he stood, the door buzzed. A package delivery?
No.
BOOM!
The entrance exploded inward, wood and steel twisted as a fiery figure stepped through the smoke. Dressed in a scorched red coat, eyes glowing ember-orange, the man's hands crackled with liquid fire. His breath steamed the air around him.
"Lin Chen," he said, lips curled in a hungry smirk. "They said you'd be worth burning."
Ten Minutes Earlier – Erebus Monitoring Station
Inside a dim underground control room, data streamed across walls of holographic panels. The central figure, clad in the sleek black uniform of Erebus, leaned forward.
"Subject Pyra has arrived at the target coordinates. Commencing live capture."
Beside him, a woman adjusted the lenses of her augmented optics. "Do you think he can eliminate Lin Chen?"
"Not eliminate," said the commander coldly. "Test. Measure. Break."
Back to Lin Chen
Flames whooshed toward him—wild, fast, uncontrolled.
[System Initiating Emergency Defense Protocol… Activating Battle Simulation Module]
"Let's see what you've got," Lin Chen muttered.
He sidestepped in a blur, heat singeing his sleeve but missing vital flesh. The system overlaid combat routes in front of his eyes, a glowing path of movement, showing him every weak spot in Pyra's stance.
[Tactical Analysis Complete]Flame Host – Mid Tier. Weakness: Oxygen dependence, overheat after 3.5 minutes.
"Noted."
He dashed forward. The man's hand flared, a fireball launched directly toward Lin Chen's chest. But Lin Chen was already sliding under it, foot sweeping Pyra's ankle. The man stumbled.
Then Lin Chen's palm glowed blue.
[Ability Triggered: Temporary Combat Boost – x2 Reflex Speed (Duration: 1 Minute)]
He pivoted and drove a knee into Pyra's stomach, sending the man crashing backward through a glass partition.
"I'm not who I was a month ago," Lin Chen whispered.
Inside the System Space
In a parallel cognitive layer, Lin Chen's system displayed Pyra's info in real-time:
Host Codename: Pyra
System Alignment: Type B – Aggressive Elemental
Ability Core: Flame Manipulation – Derived from molecular excitation
System Status: Virus-laced. Operated under Erebus Command Structure
Objective: Kill or destabilize Lin Chen
And something else…
[Bonus Objective Detected: Retrieval of Pyra's Memory Fragment possible upon system disarm]
Lin Chen narrowed his eyes.
"Then I'm taking more than your pride tonight."
Back in the Real World
Pyra growled, standing amid the shattered glass, body blazing like a bonfire.
"You don't know what you've stepped into, Lin Chen."
"I've been inside your system profile," Lin Chen replied. "You're a puppet with a lighter. Let's see how you do when someone fights back with logic."
He activated [Battle Simulation Lv.2].
Suddenly, the room shifted in his perception. Every trajectory, every flicker of fire, every breath of oxygen—it was data. Predictable, modifiable, crushable.
He struck.
Left jab—intercepted mid-air.
Flame wave—dodged using a triple-feint route from the simulation.
Overhead strike—countered with a system-enhanced elbow to the ribs.
Pyra's Panic
Pyra staggered, his control slipping.
"What... what system are you running?! You're not standard!" he hissed.
Lin Chen didn't answer.
Instead, he activated a new option.
[System Command: Counterhost Subjugation Protocol – Memory Fragment Extraction Authorized]
He touched Pyra's chest. A pulse of light flashed.
Pyra screamed. His eyes went wide as a sliver of his mind—like a reel of warped footage—began to unspool.
Fragment Contents
Lin Chen saw it:
A dark chamber.
A board of faceless figures.
A glowing capsule.
A little boy—him?—watching as a man in chains was dragged through the corridor.
His father?
The scene shifted. Pyra was not a volunteer. He'd been chosen. And modified.
But worse… he'd seen Lin Chen's name before.
"Experimental Host #03… active again?"
Pyra Collapses
Lin Chen stepped back. Pyra's system began to short out. Flames died, sizzling on the damp remains of the apartment.
"You're lucky I didn't take your core."
He turned, walking away as the system buzzed in his ears:
[Mission Complete]Host Subjugated. Memory Fragment Recovered.Coin Reward: 1,200Reputation Points: +300New Data Added to Erebus File.
Outside – Moments Later
As Lin Chen exited the building, emergency services swarmed in.
But he didn't stop.
He walked past them all, system cloak enabled. Invisibility engaged.
Inside, Pyra groaned, barely conscious.
One of the Erebus retrieval units approached him.
"Mission failed?"
"No…" Pyra gasped. "He's not just a host. He's a mirror. A warning."
Final System Notification
As Lin Chen reached his next destination, a message appeared in gold script:
[Congratulations – You have now officially entered the World of System Conflict]New Status: Target by Erebus Elite UnitsUnlocked: Phase Two – The Ability Tree
And just before the interface faded, two new icons appeared:
[Quantum Dash: Lv.1]
[Danger Sense: Lv.1]
He smirked.
"Let's see what's next."