Chapter 27 – The Weight of Waking
It wasn't peaceful silence. It was the silence of loss, the silence after a storm, when everything inside you feels hollow and distant.
His body was broken, every part of him ached in ways he never thought possible. Every breath felt like a battle.
But there was no fight. No immediate threat.
Just emptiness.
The sterile white of the room around him felt surreal. Machines beeped softly, tracking his vital signs, but it felt like a foreign world.
Not his. Not anymore. His mind felt clouded, fuzzy. Thoughts spun in chaotic patterns, unable to settle. He reached up weakly, his fingers brushing the soft gauze wrapped around his wrist.
The necklace.
Sera's necklace.
It was the last piece of her he had. His fingers closed around it, but it felt like holding onto a ghost.
"Steven?"
The voice broke through the fog in his mind. Caitlyn.
He turned his head to find her seated beside him, her tired eyes fixed on him with a mix of concern and something else—something darker.
The events from before came flooding back: the explosion, the smoke, the pain, and most vividly—the image of Sera's lifeless body.
Sera had died in his arms. And he couldn't stop it.
He couldn't save her.
And that thought, that bitter, aching thought, threatened to swallow him whole.
"I failed her," he murmured, his voice barely audible, hoarse.
He couldn't hold the tears back. His chest tightened as the grief threatened to break him.
"I should have—"
"You didn't fail her," Caitlyn interrupted gently, but the way she said it—she was trying, but even she wasn't sure if it was true.
Steven didn't respond. He couldn't.
Instead, he closed his eyes, letting the tears fall freely now. He wasn't sure how long it had been, or even if it mattered. It was just him. Alone with the ache of loss.
And then, through the haze, something else—something familiar. A sharp pulse within his mind.
The system. The Gacha system.
A notification.
GACHA SYSTEM – CORE SYNCHRONIZED
User: Steven Liam
Rate: 100%
Status: Stable
He tried to focus, his vision narrowing. The world around him seemed to flicker as the notification continued to expand before him. It was the only thing that felt real in the moment.
Achievement Unlocked:
Avenge a Loved One
His mind seized up. The notification. The pull. He couldn't push it away. Not now. Not when everything felt so wrong.
But even in his grief, his training kicked in.
His fingers twitched toward the small device embedded in his wrist—the Gacha system.
He hadn't used it yet, but this felt... different. He needed to see what it would offer.
Maybe it would fill the hole inside him. Maybe it would help him focus on something, anything, that wasn't this pain.
Steven felt the weight of the pull in his mind, but he wasn't ready to use it.
He had just unlocked it as a result of the Avenge a Loved One achievement—something that felt hollow now, something that didn't fix the empty space left behind.
He stared at the interface, his mind numb.
Achievement Details:
Avenge a Loved One: Trigger Condition – Suffer the loss of someone important and exact vengeance against those responsible.
Reward:Tier C Pull – Random Skill, Weapon, or Pet
The pull was there.
He had earned it.
He could feel the activation waiting for him, but he wasn't ready to take it.
His mind was still swirling in the aftershocks of the attack, and he didn't want to rely on something as impersonal as a system to give him what he needed.
What he needed was vengeance.
What he needed was to make those responsible for Sera's death pay.
But that pull...
He couldn't ignore it. Not when it was right there, waiting for him.
"Not yet," he whispered to himself. "I need to focus. I need to avenge her first."
Caitlyn watched him carefully as she leaned forward, seeing the change in his expression. He was no longer just broken by grief—there was something else there now.
Something darker.
Something that had been triggered by the loss.
The loss of Sera. And now, the loss had awakened something inside him.
A desire for justice.
A need for vengeance.
For now, the pull could wait.
But she could see it in his eyes.
He wouldn't let this go.
Not until he had seen every last one of them pay.
Caitlyn said nothing, but she stayed by his side, as the storm outside continued to rage.
GACHA SYSTEM – CORE SYNCHRONIZED
User: Steven Liam
Rate: 100%
Status: Stable
Inventory: 1 Pull Acquired
Achievement Unlocked:
-Avenge a Loved One
Pull: Tier C – Random Pull (Pet, Skill, or Item)
No additional pulls available.
Awaiting next achievement or cooldown.
The screen flickered one last time before vanishing.
Steven lay back against the pillow, staring at the ceiling, still reeling from everything.
The emptiness.
The grief.
The anger.
He would use the pull eventually. But not now.
Now, there was only one thing on his mind.
Vengeance.