After finishing up at the library, Cain walked while looking down at his smartwatch. His finger slid across the screen several times, showing several borrowed digital books from the library.
Initially, Cain was puzzled. Why did he only receive digital copies with so many physical books clearly displayed in the room?
Then, looking at the digital copies, Cain's eyebrows furrowed when he saw the time limit before the books would disappear from his watch.
'All of them are for one week, huh.'
He heard from the librarian that all the books Cain saw on the shelf were just copies. All of them were meant to remind people of history and add to the aesthetics of the place.
As for the actual data, it was stored under strict security by the central authority.
Cain shrugged his shoulders, realizing physical books were too precious in this era.
'Well, what else can you expect in a world like this?'
With the rampant virus and the human population dwindling in a matter of seconds. The high-ranking officials wanted to preserve the heritage of their ancestors, which served as a bridge connecting the past, present, and, if possible, the future.
After passing through the narrow, illuminated corridor, Cain finally left the building and looked up. His eyes narrowed as he saw the sun glaring above him.
'It didn't take as much time as I thought.'
Suddenly, Cain's attention was diverted when he heard a commotion echoing in the distance.
"The training was pretty tough today, right?"
"You're just weak."
"What did you say!"
"Calm down, boys!"
A group consisting of two men and three women approached him. Cain stepped aside to let them pass.
When their eyes met, Cain gave a slight nod, which was returned by a broad smile from the men and a sweet smile from the women, who waved their hands at him.
But despite all that, Cain's eyes couldn't look away from the figure of the last girl, perhaps a senior.
It was the first time Cain saw such a beautiful girl in his life. Her long silver hair fluttered in the wind, exhaling a milky aroma that pressed against his chest.
Their eyes met by chance. The girl's expression was neutral, and her appearance suggested she was detached from the world—like a goddess.
She looked at Cain for a few seconds, then walked into the building to catch up with the others.
Cain stood beside the entrance gate, frozen like a statue as his thoughts lingered on the girl.
'Woah, she's so beautiful!'
No, the word beautiful was not enough to describe her figure. She was something like a sculpture carved in perfection by the divine itself. Cain swallowed hard to wet his dry throat.
He reached for his left chest. Finding his heart was pounding rapidly, as if wanting to burst from his chest.
The girl's figure not only left a deep impression in his mind. It caused something more profound in his thought to stir awake, flickering like neon at night.
Cain vacantly stared at the closing entrance door. His detached soul almost grasped something slipping away from the void in his chest, but it failed.
His facial expression tightened, and what came into his mind was only a faint whisper that disappeared like a foggy illusion and was quickly displaced by his returned consciousness.
"What was that? Why am I standing here like an idiot? I need to go back."
Cain shook his head, sauntering away and didn't take long to arrive at the male dormitory. He stood in front of his locker to change his shoes.
Walking down the silent corridor, alone, the rows of doors on both sides seemed only like empty, uninhabited decorations.
This sight somehow left a feeling of emptiness in a small corner of his heart.
He stopped and placed his palm on one of the devices beside the door. The red light above it turned green, accompanied by a 'click,' indicating that his room door was open.
With a long sigh, Cain slid open his room door and was greeted by the cheerful voice of the alarm perched on the monitor.
{Welcome back, how was your first training? Are you hurt? Or just exhausted?}
Without mercy, Cain slammed the door with, 'bam.' A loud sound echoed in the narrow room as he wiped the sweat that appeared on his forehead.
"I forgot about the AI thing."
Every cadet would receive a private room and a support AI to accompany their day in the room.
It sounded pleasant, like having an ideal supporter. But it was nothing more than surveillance installed by the central authority.
The support AI itself was a small fraction of the highest authority that was obedient and submissive to the will of its own creator.
Although the AI's cheer was enough to lift the cadets' spirits and wash away the burden that shackled their feet.
All of that was programmed by the central authority and linked through the cadet's deepest desire, for the AI itself was, after all, born from the cadets' imagination.
Of course, Cain and the other cadets still knew nothing about it.
{I have prepared something for you, please enjoy.}
A section of the wall near the desk split open, revealing a silver kettle with several transparent glasses lined up neatly, emitting a cold, white mist.
"T-Thank you."
Cain grabbed one of the glasses and the kettle. He placed them on the desk, ignoring the small robot arm moving behind the hollowed wall.
'The room is so practical.'
Pulling the half-capsule chair, Cain turned on his terminal and immediately started transferring the digital book files on his watch.
With just a single swipe from his finger. The book file moved into the terminal before him.
After finishing the task, Cain poured mineral water from the silver kettle into the glass, spilling a few small drops onto the table.
He ignored it, flopped down on the cushion as he held the terminal.
"Let's start with History."
What he vaguely remembered in his head was that a large meteor struck the southern area hundreds of years ago.
It threw dust high into the clouds, coiling the atmosphere in a thick blanket. Then, a mysterious virus spread around the globe. It preyed on machines and organic matter, turning them into mindless amalgam monsters, almost bringing the world to the brink of destruction.
Cain slid the screen to move to another page. His eyes move slowly to absorb as much of the book's information into his head as possible.
'For an opening, it's not much different from what I knew until the meteor struck.'
Finished reading the opening chapter, he grabbed the glass on the table and sipped its contents.
The cold touch of the glass began to spill a refreshing sensation that flowed down his throat and clarified his mind, as if washing away unnecessary thoughts.
"Okay, let's continue!"
When he was about to enter the next chapter, his black eyes glowed blue, and the Null System unknowingly activated without its owner's will.
"Huh!?"
[Scan Protocol activated.]
[Scanning the Information… History book. …Scan Complete.]
[Compressing it into Data!]
The letters in the terminal began to float and seemed to compress into one place, turning into a blue panel with a new notification.
[Data successfully saved.]
[Would you like Data Reconstruction to absorb it into your brain? Y/N]
"What?"
Cain's breath hitched, his eyes widening at the unexpected ability of his skill.
A second passed, and Cain reluctantly reached for the floating blue panel before him and pressed the 'Y' button.
[Copying complete.]
In an instant, tens of thousands of words from a single book page were archived in his brain, and Cain could remember them perfectly down to their last detail.
He gasped, unable to believe that his ability was valuable for gathering information.
His lips parted in a wide grin. The boy fixed his gaze on the terminal. His black eyes glowed blue as he scrolled through many pages and kept switching to other books in succession.
[Compressing it into Data!]
[Data successfully saved.]
...
[Copying complete.]
…
Blue panels kept appearing at the corner of his view, yet the boy's attention was still immersed in the terminal, and time passed before he knew it.
Cain rubbed his closed eyes, breathing roughly as he opened them slowly. Golden light mixed with crimson hue stretched across the horizon, reflecting an ethereal beauty that soothed his rampaging heart.
He stared at the evening scenery, approaching night. His leaning back suddenly tilted forward, and he set his next plan.
"I have to read a book about weapons."
With the combination of his skills, whether it was a firearm or an ancient weapon like a sword and others. Cain was sure he could comprehend it.
If lucky, he could absorb information about warfare and martial arts for his survival in this world.
Cain stood up and stretched his stiff body, then turned to the terminal, which was still displaying the book's last page about the encyclopedia of the corrupted and virus beasts, the main enemy of humankind.
{The pod is ready}
Behind him, the room floor split open, and a tall, fog-covered glass pod appeared as it connected to the ceiling.
Cain pressed the terminal's power button and turned the screen black, revealing his sparkling face with a wide smile.
"I can't wait for tomorrow."
The boy ended the day by cleaning himself up inside a pod. Then, he changed into a new pair of clothes before lying in bed, playing a game to pass the time until the night took his consciousness into a deep sleep.