Loop 74 — The First Surge
The wave split the sky open. Mike braced himself for the familiar doubling of telekinesis.
The chime came, but it was different.
[Ding!]
[Unknown Ability Enhanced: Capacity 10% → 100%]
His chest tightened. The air thickened around him, like the atmosphere itself recognized a new gravity within. This wasn't weight he could measure. It wasn't tons. It was possibility—an undefined reservoir of power he couldn't yet name.
His telekinesis didn't grow this time. Instead, the strange aura pulsed within him, beating like a second heart.
Even Mio, standing at his side, shivered without knowing why.
The loop ended in failure anyway. Brad's laughter cut through their screams, inevitable as ever.
---
Loops 75–76 — The World Bends
The system returned to its rhythm.
[Telekinesis Capacity Enhanced: 5.72 Billion Tons → 11.44 Billion Tons]
[Telekinesis Capacity Enhanced: 11.44 Billion Tons → 22.88 Billion Tons]
Mike's grip on the planet had become monstrous. He dragged mountains from their roots, tore rivers from their courses, and collapsed skyscrapers with a twitch. In one loop, he even held back a tsunami—an entire wall of ocean hanging motionless above a city—just to test his will.
And yet Brad's hand came anyway, unseen and merciless, ripping the illusion of victory to shreds.
The loops ended in ruin.
---
Loop 77 — The Second Surge
The wave howled. The system chimed.
[Ding!]
[Unknown Ability Enhanced: Capacity 100% → 1,000%]
Mike staggered. His aura deepened, pressing against the battlefield like a storm without form. Mio gasped, her Absolute Protection flickering in instinctive defense against him, not the enemy.
"What… was that?" she whispered, though she'd never receive an answer.
Mike didn't know himself. He could feel the reservoir yawning open inside him—an impossible range, like he could unleash something a thousand times stronger than what had first stirred.
But Brad still ended it. Chloe burned out. Mio's shield cracked. And the laughter, always the laughter, closed the curtain.
---
Loops 78–83 — Telekinetic Godhood
The numbers rose like tides drowning the world.
[22.88B → 45.76B tons]
[45.76B → 91.52B tons]
[91.52B → 183.04B tons]
[183.04B → 366.08B tons]
[366.08B → 732.16B tons]
[732.16B → 1.46 Trillion tons]
Mike's telekinesis entered the realm of gods. He shifted mountain ranges to form fortresses, collapsed fault lines to bury abominations, pulled satellites from orbit like toys and sent them crashing as firebombs against the enemy tide.
Neil, watching in awe, muttered once:
"You're… you're not even human anymore."
And yet it meant nothing.
Because Brad came anyway.
Execution disguised as inevitability.
---
Loop 84 — The Third Surge
The system chimed again, but not for weight.
[Ding!]
[Unknown Ability Enhanced: Capacity 1,000% → 10,000%]
The aura roared awake, crushing the air around him. Even Neil recoiled this time. Even the beasts shuddered as if sensing an authority older than battle.
But it was still only capacity. A reservoir of power he couldn't understand, much less wield.
And when Brad's hand reached for them, inevitability swallowed everything.
---
Loops 85–97 — The Titan's Chains
The cycle returned to doubling telekinesis, each step compounding into madness.
[1.46T → 2.92T tons]
[2.92T → 5.84T tons]
[5.84T → 11.68T tons]
[11.68T → 23.36T tons]
[23.36T → 46.72T tons]
[46.72T → 93.44T tons]
[93.44T → 186.88T tons]
[186.88T → 373.76T tons]
[373.76T → 747.52T tons]
[747.52T → 1.49 Quadrillion tons]
[1.49Q → 2.98Q tons]
[2.98Q → 5.96Q tons]
[5.96Q → 11.92Q tons]
By Loop 97, his power had become unfathomable. He could reshape continents with gestures, redirect asteroids mid-flight, or tilt the ocean itself to drown nations.
During these loops, he experimented with Monarch of Space. Beyond teleportation, he felt another pulse—something subtle, not meant for combat. A technique waiting for him, hidden in the folds of space itself. He didn't chase it yet. But it lingered.
And yet none of it mattered.
He fled in some loops, dragging Mio and Chloe across the broken world, living in shadows. Once they lasted two years. Once three. Once—five.
Five years of hiding. Five years of Chloe's Solar Flare blazing uselessly against the dark. Five years of Mio's Absolute Protection holding against storms instead of enemies. Five years of Mike bending landscapes to survive.
But Brad always came.
And the execution always followed.
---
Loop 98 — The Breaking Point
The wave split the heavens. Mike braced for the system's judgment—telekinesis or the unknown aura.
The chime came.
[Ding!]
[New Ability Acquired: ???]
Mike's breath caught. Not telekinesis. Not the void's deepening reservoir. Something new.
No description. No explanation. Just silence in the system's wake.
But this wasn't like the others. The unknown aura had stirred like a beast in slumber. This—this felt like an intrusion. A blade slid into his chest, unseen but undeniable.
The loop did not end.
Mike stood frozen in the ruins, heart pounding, as the new, unnameable power settled into him like a shadow.
And for the first time, he felt the faint, impossible thought—
Maybe the game was changing.