Jack's eyes fluttered open to a plain white ceiling. He briefly stared at the slow, rhythmic spin of a ceiling fan slicing through the silence, before he realized he was in an unknown room.
Only a while ago, he'd been talking to that man in the endless white space. The whole thing still felt unreal.
He sat up slowly.
Scanning the place, it did not take a genius in Jack to figure out he must be in some unfamiliar place again because of that man's life. At this point, Jack quietly laughed as he had no choice but to accept his situation.
'Who took me here though? Is it his enemies or his allies? He didn't even say anything helpful. So, what am I supposed to do now?'
Jack had to admit though. His situation wasn't exactly the same as he'd initially thought. There weren't any changes in his body. His memories were still his own, though the man's life remained hazy, and his access was limited to those he had told him.
He raised a hand, and glowing panels appeared before him at will, disappearing and appearing upon his command.
'And I have this system which I can summon everytime I wish but…this is really surreal,' Jack said, as glowing panels hovered in front of him,
With a blank expression, Jack scanned the spotless room. There were no windows, no natural light. The walls were too clean. The temperature neither cold nor warm. The door, when he tried it, was locked from the outside.
"Great," he whispered. "I'm really screwed."
Frustration built as he kicked the door several times, but it didn't budge. Whoever built this place knew how to keep people in.
Then a chime echoed in his mind.
[First Mission]
[Learn more about yourself.]
[You are still Jack Crawluster—but you have inherited another's life, his allies, and his enemies.]
[Reward: Continuous EXP grant.]
Jack exhaled sharply. 'I agree that I need to learn more but is this an indication this system can read my thoughts now?' He thought as he skimmed through the menus.
[Skills: Speed Reading | Basic Fighting | Appraisal | Last Surge]
None would help him escape. Appraisal only told him the door was locked. The rest were situational at best.
I wouldn't be surprised if this room's even being monitored.
His gaze swept the ceiling corners, careful not to move too much. Using his appraisal skill, he secretly looked for those tiny cameras, mics or sensors that they used in movies. But surprisingly, there was none. Either that or there was something he still do not know about his skill.
Then—click.
The door opened.
A towering old man stepped in, broad-shouldered and carved from muscle, followed by a young woman in an office blazer. The air grew heavy immediately.
Jack kept his expression composed as his eyes silently followed the old man and the girl's movements as the old man sat in a chair.
He was not planning at first, but he tested the idea and almost collapsed.
[Brian Sand G. Colminor
[Codename: ???]
[Level: ???]
[Race: ???
[Kill Count: 565]
Jack froze. Five hundred sixty-five kills… His breath caught. The number echoed in his mind like a curse. That's not human.
He turned to the girl. He expected something similar, maybe another monster hiding behind a pretty face. But what appeared next stunned him for a different reason.
[Lucy Blaine]
[Level: 20]
[Race: 24% Elf, 19% Mermaid, 57% Human
[Kill Count: 0]
Elf? Mermaid? What kind of DNA cocktail is that?
Before he could process his new shocking reality, Brian's voice cut through the tension. "Long time no see, Jack. How have you been?"
Jack almost bit his tongue. He flipped through all the man's words and the dream he had. Anyone could tell that the man seemed like an important person and dangerous.
He looked at his expression and it was stiff as if he had nothing to do with him, but there was warmth in his voice. Suddenly, before he could speak, Brian's eyebrows dropped sharply.
Jack stiffened. The air thickened. Even the chair and the girl shrunk under the same suffocating pressure.
Without warning, Brian slammed a hand on the chair arm, causing splinters to fly.
"We let you stay low these three years, and you've gone soft."
Jack's pulse pounded. Three years?
Brian's tone grew colder only to turn soft a second a later. Finally, a younger version of the old man popped in Jack's mind, the same as that one large person in the dream.
"Arrogance kills. So does rust. Even the sharpest blade dulls when unused."
Jack hesitated, then took a gamble. "Thank you for understanding, dear… grandfather."
Lucy's eyes widened. Brian froze. Then—his expression eased into a faint smile.
The system chimed.
[Mission Progress: Advancement detected.]
[EXP +10 | 60 / 100]
Jack sighed in relief inwardly. Lucy, meanwhile, looked like she'd just witnessed history.
Brian's tone returned, stern but composed.
"Don't flatter me. This incident only confirms that you've been neglecting your training. So while I'll respect your decision to stay out of the company's affairs, I've made up my mind about something!"
Jack tensed while Brian gestured to the girl. "This is Lucy Blaine. She'll monitor you twenty-four hours a day and report to me. Six months. Endure it, and you're free."
"Twenty-four hours?" Jack frowned, trying to keep his tone respectful but not pleading. "You can't be serious, Grandfather."
"The decision is final," Brian said simply with his arms closed on his chest. "You may rest here for a week. You're still recovering," and turned to Lucy. "What you heard here doesn't leave this room."
"Y-yes, Vice-Executive!" she stammered.
Then, as if he'd been waiting for that moment all along, Brian walked toward Jack and stopped beside him. For a brief, almost disarming second, his expression softened as he placed a hand on Jack's head.
And with that, he left.
Outside, the guard who'd been waiting noticed the faint grin stretching across Brian's face as he walked down the hall—smug, almost victorious, like a man who had just set something in motion.
Inside the room, Jack exhaled in relief, realizing only then how drenched in sweat his back was. He thought it was over.
But it wasn't.
Because when he looked up, Lucy was still there—watching him.