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Chapter 7 - Chapter 7: The Cost of Blood and Steel

The air reeked of rot and wet iron.

Aidan wiped the blade clean on a torn coat he scavenged from a corpse, though it hardly helped. The Obsidian Edge had been his silent partner in at least five kills since dawn—each one dirtier than the last.

The infected had begun mutating.

The last one took three slashes to go down, and that was after dodging a tongue-like appendage bursting from its shoulder. He could still feel the acidic burn on his sleeve.

He slid the blade back into its makeshift cloth sheath and leaned against a cracked concrete wall, eyes scanning the alley ahead.

Then the system's interface blinked open:

[The Crimson Ledger]

Name: Aidan Cross

Level: 2

EXP: 14 / 200

HP: 89 / 100

Stamina: 63 / 100

Skills:

Undying Regeneration (Passive)

Crystal Focus (Passive)

Critical Hit (Active) – 1% activation

Titles: None

Debt: 98,650 coins

Coins Held: 870

Auto-Repay: OFF

Interest Accruing: Yes (3% Daily, Compounded)

Dimensional Storage: [10 Slots | 3 Used]

(Obsidian Edge, Protein Bar x2, Crystal Fragment)

[Experience gained from hostile kills: 57 XP.][Remaining EXP to Level 3: 186 XP.]

[Would you like to apply current coins to reduce debt? Y/N]

Aidan squinted at the prompt, then exhaled. "Still on this crap."

He pressed "N".

The system chimed again, this time with a cold, almost mocking tone:

[Very well. Interest continues to apply.][Projected Debt in 24 hours: 101,232 coins.]

Aidan rubbed his temple. "I swear if this thing starts billing me for oxygen…"

[Free for now.]

He rolled his eyes and shut the interface.

The growing debt didn't scare him anymore. What scared him was the silence—the way the infected had begun to move in coordinated packs. That wasn't normal. Or at least, it hadn't been.

He had a feeling something was stirring deeper in the city—something smarter.

And he wasn't ready.

Yet.

His mind flicked back to the crystal fragment in storage—still unanalyzed. He retrieved it with a thought, the glowing shard hovering in his palm.

[Initiating Analysis of Mutant Crystal Fragment...][Estimated Time: 10 Minutes.]

The shard pulsed with faint violet light. He could almost feel it hum beneath his skin, like it recognized something in him.

[Warning: Fragments of this type may attract higher-tier mutated entities.]

"Perfect," he muttered. "As if I wasn't already a walking target."

He tucked the crystal back into storage and pushed off the wall.

It was time to move again. Staying still in this world was death. His blade was sharp. His body, thanks to the passive regen, was slowly recovering. His debt was a noose tightening around his neck—but for now, he could still breathe.

Step by step. Slash by slash.

And when the world finally demanded payment in full, Aidan Cross planned to pay it in blood—not his.

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