Trent jolted awake as if he'd been struck by lightning, his heart hammering against his ribs. The familiar water stains on his ceiling greeted him—the same ones that had leaked onto his bed during countless rainstorms. He was in his room. His actual room, not some ethereal realm between life and death.
"What the fuck?" he whispered, sitting up slowly. Everything looked exactly as it had yesterday morning before his awakening test. His worn pizza delivery uniform hung on the back of his chair. His alarm clock showed 6:47 AM. Even the position of his textbooks on the desk was identical.
But then the headache hit—a sharp, throbbing pain that made him wince and clutch his skull. And with it came the memories, flooding back like a broken dam.
The awakening test. E-rank Water Mage. The bar. Eight bottles of soju. The scooter ride. The fucking tortoise. The crash. The ambulance. The punch that killed him. His father in that impossible place between worlds.
*"Awaken to your second chance."*
Trent's hands trembled as he touched his jaw where the medic had hit him. No pain. No bruising. He ran his fingers over his arms and legs—no road rash, no injuries from the crash that should have happened last night.
"I didn't die," he said aloud, trying to make sense of it. "The turtle... I made it home safely. No crash, no ambulance, no—"
Then another set of memories crashed into him, and his stomach dropped. The argument. The terrible, drunken argument with his mother when he'd stumbled home. The words he'd screamed at her still burned in his throat like acid.
*"I never asked to be born into this shitty family! I never asked for this poverty! I never asked to carry everyone's fucking problems on my shoulders!"*
*"You want to know the truth, Mom? I'm leaving. I'm done with this responsibility bullshit. I'm going to make my own life, without you dragging me down!"*
*"Dad died and left me with this mess, and I'm supposed to fix it? Well, fuck that! I'm done!"*
Tears began pooling in his eyes as he remembered his mother's face—how it had crumpled, how she'd stood there in the kitchen doorway in her worn bathrobe, just taking his verbal assault without fighting back.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" Trent punched himself hard in the jaw, the same spot where the medic had hit him in that other timeline. The impact sent him rolling off his bed onto the floor. "You always fuck everything up!"
He lay there on the cold tile, staring at the ceiling. Only God knew what his mother was thinking about him now. And he'd promised his father—in that space between worlds—that he would protect them. That was why he was alive again, wasn't it?
Trent slowly got to his feet, rubbing his sore jaw. "Okay," he said to himself. "I need to act normal. Go to work like nothing happened. Maybe if I just pretend—"
A sudden jolt of electricity shot through him, like invisible lightning passing through his body with the force of a million volts. The sensation wasn't painful exactly, but it was unmistakably a warning.
*Do the right thing.*
The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. His father's voice.
"Fine!" Trent said to the empty room. "I'll apologize. I'll tell her I was drunk and didn't mean any of it. Because I didn't mean it. I don't know what the hell got into me."
He looked up at the ceiling for a few seconds, waiting to see if another electric shock would come as punishment for his half-hearted resolution. When nothing happened, he moved toward his bathroom.
Twenty minutes later, showered and dressed in his red Papa Tom's Pizza uniform, Trent stood outside his bedroom door. He could hear voices from downstairs—his mother and Mira having breakfast. His hand hovered over the doorknob.
He breathed in slowly and opened the door.
The stairs creaked under his weight as he descended, each step announcing his presence. When he reached the bottom, he saw his mother at the old stove, flipping pancakes in their old black frying pan. Mira sat at the dining table, eating while staring at her textbook.
The moment they saw him, the kitchen fell silent.
Mira suddenly pushed her chair back from the table, her fists clenched, her face twisted with anger. She stood up abruptly.
"Mira, what's wrong?" their mother asked, her tone filled with careful sadness. "You're not done eating."
"I'm not hungry anymore," Mira said coldly, shoving her books into her bag. "I'm full."
She walked toward the door, passing directly by Trent without even glancing at him. No hug. No "good morning, oppa." No acknowledgment that he existed.
The pain that shot through Trent's chest was worse than any physical injury. Mira had never, not once in her sixteen years, left for school without hugging him goodbye.
His mother returned to her cooking as if nothing had happened, but Trent could see the tension in her shoulders, the way she held her head just a little too straight.
"Mom," Trent said, but his voice came out as barely a whisper.
She didn't respond.
"Mom, I'm sorry about last night," he said louder. "I was drunk and I was an asshole and I was messed up after my awakening test, so I'm sorry for everything I said. I didn't mean any of it."
His mother froze at the stove, her back still turned to him.
"It's not your fault, Trent," she finally said, turning around. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying—she'd been crying all night because of what he'd said. She used her apron to wipe away fresh tears. "You can leave. I'll pack up your clothes and give you the savings money to start your new life."
She smiled, but it was the most heartbreaking smile Trent had ever seen.
Something electric and urgent shot through him again, but this time it felt like his father's hand on his shoulder, pushing him forward.
"Mom, no!" Trent stood up so abruptly his chair fell to the floor with a crash. "I won't do that. I can't!"
His mother blinked in surprise.
"I will never leave you here alone with Mira," Trent continued, the words pouring out of him. "Who's going to support this family? Who's going to make sure Mira finishes school? Just think about it—I love this family, and I'm not leaving you guys no matter what."
His mother broke down crying, and Trent moved to hug her, pulling her tight against his chest.
"I will be with you and Mira," he whispered into her hair. "I'm not leaving you guys. We'll get through this together."
The moment their bodies touched in the embrace, something extraordinary happened.
________________________________________
[SYSTEM INITIALIZING…]
[Emotional Catalyst Detected…]
[Verifying Soul Integrity… 87%... 100%]
[Pain. Regret. Sacrifice. Protection.]
[Minimum Awakening Conditions Fulfilled.]
WELCOME, TRENT ACKERMAN.
You have chosen love over abandonment. Duty over freedom. Brokenness over selfish peace.
[AWAKENING TYPE: BOND-FUSED SYSTEM]
→ Progression Path: Leveling Hunter > ??? > Deathbound Necromancer
Core Trait: "Guardian of the Broken Flame"
System Mode: Restricted. Core Quests Required for Unlock.
_______________________________________
Trent staggered backward, releasing his mother, his eyes wide with shock. Blue text floated in his vision, transparent but unmistakably there. His mother didn't seem to see it—she was still crying, still holding her apron to her eyes.
"What the hell?" he whispered.