Crios City was like any other metropolis of the advanced age. It had its gleaming towers, markets, malls, and tourist spots. Digital billboards painted the night sky in restless color. But beyond the glow were places that felt like a different world entirely.
There, people lived under bridges. Alleys crumbled and sometimes crawled with hissing live cables and cracked pavements.
Jack looked up and could see the digital billboards from afar. Up there, everything gleamed. But down below, everything corroded.
Jack froze at the glowing notice before him.
[Danger Detected.]
Under the defective streetlights, Jack subconsciously started go silent and started walking while looking for the way back to the upper districts.
In the background, he could hear barking dogs, eyes from houses looking at him, and the occasional sound of vehicle engines, and sometimes a distant laughter of a drinking session.
He'd been to the lower districts before but he had always been accompanied by friends, sometimes as a school activity where they did feeding programs, but never at night.
Jack kept watch of his surroundings as he walked trying to look calm.
Then—he flinched.
!!!
At the top of a stairs, a black figure was standing motionless as if watching him.
Jack clicked his tongue.
Come on, am I really getting scared of a shadow now?
But the figure began walking toward him and with each second, he could hear his footsteps louder, getting closer.
Another notification blinked into view.
[Danger.]
Huh?
Before he could process it, the hooded figure was suddenly in front of him as if he took some shortcut. He sprinted fast, too fast.
"Uh… hello."
Jack said with a nervous smile, even giving a small nod of courtesy. It was one of those times he prayed that the guy was just in a hurry to get home or scared himself.
However, as they get closer, the person didn't respond. Didn't even slow down.
"Hey, I don't have any money—Uagh!"
Without warning, the figure blurred and pain exploded across his jaw. Before he knew it, Jack's body was lifted off the ground and slammed into a wall.
"UGH! Shit!"
Notifications fell on his vision like stars.
[Start Battle]
[Win against your first opponent]
[Reward: 50 Exp]
[You had been hit!]
[-1 hp]
[You are now in battle.]
[Basic Fighting Skill has automatically activated.]
[Physical coordination, balance, movement accuracy, strike synchronization and reaction timing has been enhanced.]
Blinking through the haze, Jack lifted his head.
Battle?
The hooded stranger started walking towards him again. but Jack could see him now.
???
It was like a birth of something within him starting with his eyes and then his body. He instinctively rolled aside as another kick sliced past his ribs.
Swish!
Crash!
Then another kick.
But this time, Jack was able to raise his arms in response, shocking himself.
[HP: 8/10]
The shock rippled through his arms all the way to the base of his shoulders.
"Do I… know you?"
He then quickly asked as he searched for an opportunity to run past him, but the man lunged again, closing the already narrow distance between them.
Swish!
Crash!
Jack grabbed a garbage bag and flung it across the air. He then reached for a broken plank from the ground and swung it through the air, aiming for the man's head.
"Eat this!"
Crack-
It didn't land. The wood was easily caught by one hand and splintered in the man's grip.
What the—?!
The hooded figure didn't even flinch. Another low kick came from the side
This guy's a monster! He's really going to kill me!
[HP: 5/10]
Jack got hit and crashed onto the pavement.
Why is someone this strong attacking me?!
But deaf to his ears, the hooded stranger closed in again, mercilessly, and instantly sunk a brutal kick into his jaw as his head snapped sideways.
[HP: 3/10]
Jack involuntary spat blood from his mouth.
"Why is…someone like you attacking me?!"
The stranger didn't answer. The blows kept coming, relentless and precise. Then suddenly, the stranger stopped.
"…This can't be the guy," he muttered, pulling back his hood which revealed a man in his thirties with blond hair and a thin scar running across his right eye.
He pressed a finger to his earpiece.
"You got the wrong person," he said. "This one's just a civilian—can't even fight. He's crying, for god's sake."
He stomped on Jack's back twice, casually, as he spoke.
A distorted voice replied through the earpiece:
"That can't be. I cannot be mistaken. It doesn't matter. The organization is protecting him. Return with him for now. Ensure he's alive and intact. If there's any chance he's connected to the experiments…"
The blond man's jaw tightened. He didn't look convinced.
But then a faint hum broke through the silence. He looked up—spotting a drone hovering above, its red light blinking as it scanned the area.
"That…" His eyes narrowed and glanced back down. "So this guy really is connected to something?"
But just as his eyes looked at Jack again, his expression froze.
'!!!'
Jack's eyes were glowing. His trembling hand lifted slightly, pressing against the air as if touching an invisible button.
[Certain conditions have been met.]
[Skill Unlocked: Last Surge]
[Type: Passive / Triggered]
[Condition: Activates automatically when HP drops below 10%.]
[Effect: Temporarily doubles all stats, restores HP over time, and enhances reflexes for 1 minute. Severe pain afterward.]
[Skill Activated: Last Surge]
[+1 HP]
[+1 HP]
[+1 HP]
[All Stats Doubled]
A surge of power erupted through Jack's body.
[Speed x2]
The man's eyes widened in shock as Jack, still on the ground, lashed out with a sudden kick to his shin.
"!!!"
The blond staggered but recovered almost instantly. Yet before he could fully regain his footing, Jack wasn't finished as another leg surged up, striking the man's knee.
Jack then managed to stand up.
"Gah—!"
The man retaliated with a wild uppercut — but Jack disappeared from his vision.
[2x Strength]
Jack's hips twisted as he slammed a fist into the man's gut from the left side, followed by a vicious knee kick that sent him reeling backward.
More shock flickered across the stranger's face.
Was he pretending to be weak this whole time? But why?
The stranger snarled and lunged again, unleashing a flurry of strikes. But Jack was moving faster than thought — weaving, ducking, countering — each motion sharper than the last. He answered with three rapid jabs to the ribs that methodically drove the air from the man's lungs.
"Ugh!!"
Blood sprayed from the man's mouth. He tried one last desperate strike——but Jack spun and kicked.
The blonde spat a mix of blood and saliva.
[Critical Hit!]
Crack!
The sound of bone snapping echoed through the alley.
Before he realized, the opponent only received blow after blow until he inevitably lost his consciousness. How long had he been punching the man Jack did not know, until he heard the 'ding' notification in his head.
[Victory!]
[Your first battle has been completed.]
[50 EXP Received.]
[50/100 Exp]
Jack started to stand, chest heaving, as the blonde stranger's eyes rolled back while sprawled into the ground.
Is this… really me?
He glanced at his trembling hands and the glowing texts before him. But after a minute passed, something strange caught his eye.
The man's wound's--cuts that had opened across his arms and face—were slowly, very slowly, but clearly already beginning to close. After more seconds, the blood stopped flowing. Skin was knitting itself back together, faintly glowing under the streetlight as if the body refused to stay broken.
If he wasn't seeing it in real time, Jack would not have believed it. Whatever this man was, he wasn't ordinary.
Then—
[1 minute is over.]
[Consequences will now apply.]
"Huh—?"
[All primary senses — shutting down.]
His vision suddenly swam as he saw the streetlights dart back and forth before his vision noticed he had fell down to the ground.
Everything went dark.
But just as he passed out, he saw people in office suits hovering above him.