The first thing I learned about my new life was that it came with a countdown.
I stumbled into my apartment, a cramped studio in the worst district of Sector 4. The walls were thin enough to hear the neighbors breathing, and the air smelled of stale synth-noodles and mold. Usually, this place depressed me. Tonight, I didn't even notice the smell.
I was too busy staring at the red numbers floating in the periphery of my vision.
[Time Remaining: 23:42:12]
[System Failure Imminent if LP requirements are not met.]
"Twenty-three hours," I muttered, stripping off my ruined waiter's uniform. The fabric was stiff with dried blood and expensive wine.
I walked into the bathroom and looked in the cracked mirror. The System had healed my broken nose and the glass shards in my hand, but I still looked like a wreck. Bruises were blooming across my ribs where Kaelen's gravity had crushed me. My eyes were bloodshot.
But the fear... the fear was gone. In its place was a cold, vibrating hunger.
[Status]
Name: Viktor
Rank: Unawakened (Civilian)
LP: 0 / 100 (Survival Threshold)
Strength: 4 (Average: 5)
Agility: 5
Endurance: 3
Charisma: 4 (Current Modifier: +5 [Sovereign's Aura - Passive])
I laughed, a dry, hacking sound. My stats were pathetic. Below average. I was physically weaker than a healthy adult male. But that modifier caught my eye.
[Sovereign's Aura (Passive): Your presence naturally triggers carnal instincts in the opposite sex. Effectiveness depends on the target's Willpower and Resistance.]
I needed 100 Points. If I didn't get them, this voice in my head—this thing that promised me the world—would kill me. It was a parasitic relationship, but right now, I was willing to be a host if it meant I could crush the Zenith Guild later.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The sound of bass music vibrated through the wall to my left.
My neighbor. Chloe.
She was a waitress at a dive bar down the street. We'd exchanged maybe ten words in the two years I'd lived here. She was loud, messy, and usually had a different guy over every Friday. She looked down on me because I was quiet. Because I was weak.
I walked to the wall and pressed my hand against the peeling paint. I could hear her moving around. She was alone tonight; I didn't hear any voices.
Resources, the System had called them.
I didn't bother washing the blood off my chest. I didn't bother putting on a shirt. I just pulled on a pair of sweatpants and walked out into the hallway.
The fluorescent light in the corridor flickered, buzzing like a dying fly. I stood in front of Chloe's door. My heart should have been racing. I should have been nervous. I was about to try and seduce a woman who had never given me the time of day, solely to save my own life.
Instead, I felt a strange calm. It was like the System was regulating my pulse.
I knocked. Three sharp raps.
The music inside dipped in volume. Footsteps approached. The peephole darkened as she looked through, then the chain rattled, and the door opened.
Chloe stood there in an oversized t-shirt and underwear, holding a half-empty bottle of cheap beer. She had dyed pink hair that was fading to a straw-like yellow, and heavy makeup smeared under her eyes.
"Viktor?" She blinked, looking me up and down. Her eyes widened when she saw the bruising on my chest and the dried blood. "Holy shit. What happened to you? You get mugged?"
Usually, she would have looked at me with pity or annoyance. But tonight, as her eyes met mine, something shifted.
A transparent window popped up next to her head.
[Target: Chloe]
[Rank: Civilian]
[Lust: 15/100 (Indifferent)]
[Status: Intoxicated (Resistance -20%)]
"Rough night," I said. My voice sounded deeper, rougher than usual. I stepped closer, encroaching on her personal space. Usually, I would have backed away, apologizing for disturbing her.
"I... yeah, it looks like it," she said. She didn't step back. Her eyes darted over my exposed chest.
[Lust: 25/100]
It was working. The Sovereign's Aura. It was subtle, but it was twisting her perception. To her, the blood didn't look pathetic; it looked dangerous.
"I locked myself out," I lied smoothly. "Can I use your phone?"
"Uh. Yeah. Sure." She stepped aside, opening the door wider. "Come in."
I stepped into her apartment. It was messy—clothes on the floor, takeout boxes on the table. It smelled of cheap perfume and alcohol.
As I walked past her, I made sure my arm brushed against hers.
A spark—literal static electricity—snapped between us. She gasped, dropping her beer bottle. It didn't break, but it foamed over onto the carpet.
"Oh, crap," she muttered, bending down to grab it.
I moved faster. My Agility was average, but my intent was razor-sharp. I grabbed the bottle before she did, my hand covering hers.
We froze there, crouched on the floor. I looked into her eyes. The pupils were dilated.
[Lust: 45/100 (Aroused)]
[System Tip: Physical contact accelerates Affinity generation.]
"You're shaking," I whispered.
"I'm not..." Her breath hitched. She looked confused, like she couldn't understand why her heart was beating so fast for the quiet neighbor boy. "You smell... different."
"Better?"
"Yeah," she breathed. "Intense."
I stood up, pulling her up with me. I didn't let go of her hand. I pulled her close, eliminating the distance between us. The heat coming off her body was palpable. To the System, she was a battery. To me, she was the first step.
"I don't need the phone," I said, my voice low.
Chloe looked at my mouth. She licked her lips. The resistance in her eyes was melting away, replaced by a glazed, hungry look. The alcohol and the System were a potent cocktail.
"Then what do you need?" she asked.
I didn't answer with words. I leaned down and kissed her.
She tasted like cheap lager and cigarettes, but the moment our lips touched, a notification flashed in my mind.
[Intimacy Initiated.]
[LP Siphon: Active.]
She melted into me, her hands clawing at my back, digging into the bruises. The pain was dull, distant. What I felt instead was a rush of warmth, a stream of energy flowing from her into me. It felt like taking a shot of adrenaline.
[+2 LP]
[+2 LP]
It wasn't enough. Kissing wasn't enough.
I picked her up. She wrapped her legs around my waist, abandoning all pretense of neighborly hesitation. She was desperate for it, fueled by an unnatural attraction she couldn't comprehend.
I carried her to the bed in the corner of the room and threw her down.
The next hour was a blur of sensation and numbers.
It wasn't love. It wasn't even romance. It was feeding. Every touch, every gasp, every movement was quantified. I watched the numbers tick up in real-time, hovering over her head as I used her.
[+5 LP]
[+10 LP]
When she reached her climax, screaming my name into the thin walls of the apartment complex, the System chimed with a golden notification.
[Target Climax Achieved.]
[Bonus Reward: +20 LP]
I collapsed next to her, my chest heaving. The bruises on my ribs had faded significantly. My skin felt tighter, stronger. The weakness from the gala was gone, replaced by a buzzing vitality.
Chloe was asleep almost instantly, passed out from the alcohol and the unnatural exertion. She looked pale, like I'd drained more than just lust from her.
I sat up on the edge of the bed and summoned the screen.
[Current Lust Points: 58/100]
I stared at the number. Fifty-eight.
I had used her, taken everything I could in one session, and I was still only halfway to satisfying the death counter.
[Time Remaining: 21:15:00]
"Civilian women yield low Essence," I whispered, realizing the trap.
If I wanted to survive, I couldn't just rely on one lucky encounter. I needed volume, or I needed quality. Chloe was a Level 0 civilian. Her energy was thin, watered down.
To become a King, I would need better prey.
I stood up and dressed in the dark. I looked at Chloe one last time. She was snoring softly. I felt no guilt. She had enjoyed it—the System ensured that. But she was of no more use to me tonight.
I walked back to my apartment, the power humming in my veins. 58 Points. I needed 42 more before tomorrow night.
I sat in my chair and opened the [Store].
Most items were grayed out, locked behind higher Levels or insufficient funds. But the Tier 1 section was visible.
* Minor Stamina Potion (10 LP)
* Basic Aphrodisiac (20 LP)
* Stack of Cash ($1,000 USD) (10 LP)
My eyes narrowed. I could buy money. I could buy drugs.
But then I saw a skill at the bottom of the Tier 1 list. It was expensive. It would cost me almost everything I just earned.
[Skill: Eyes of Analysis]
Cost: 50 LP
Effect: Allows the user to see detailed stats, secrets, and hidden desires of the target.
If I bought it, I would have 8 LP left. I would be back at the brink of death.
But if I didn't buy it, I was flying blind. I wouldn't know who to target next. I wouldn't know who was an Awakened and who was just a civilian.
I grit my teeth. To get rich, you have to invest.
"Purchase," I commanded.
[-50 LP]
[Skill Acquired: Eyes of Analysis]
A burning sensation flooded my retinas, stinging like acid. I squeezed my eyes shut, tears streaming down my face. When the pain subsided, I opened them.
The world looked sharper. Textures were clearer. And when I looked at the wall shared with Chloe's apartment, I could see a faint outline of her heat signature through the plaster, tagged with data.
[Civilian. Low Threat. Drained.]
I smirked, the expression feeling feral on my face.
I had 21 hours to find 92 Points. And now, I could see exactly who in this city was ripe for the taking.
***
[End of Chapter 2]