Consciousness didn't return to me like a gentle wave; it hit me like a freight train made of jagged glass.
Every muscle in my body was screaming—no, they were vibrating. It felt as if my very atoms had been disassembled and put back together by a drunk toddler. My lungs were raw, my throat felt like I'd swallowed a handful of dry sand, and my head was pounding with the rhythmic thud of a war drum.
"Ugh... damn it..." I groaned, my voice barely a whisper.
I tried to push myself up, but my arms felt like overcooked noodles. I was still in the alleyway. The smell of ozone and frozen meat was still heavy in the air, a grim reminder of the two "Troops" I'd somehow—no, not me, that thing—had turned into popsicles.
[Host has regained consciousness.]
[Status: Extreme Muscle Fatigue, Mana-Circuit Burn (Stage 1), Malnutrition.]
[Time elapsed since Quest Failure: 14 minutes.]
"Wait," I wheezed, my eyes widening as a sudden, terrifying memory surfaced. "The penalty..."
[Commencing Penalty: The Inner-Ear Sting.]
"No, no, no! Wait! I was unconscious! That's an unfair—"
BZZZZT.
It wasn't a sound. It was a sensation. It felt like a white-hot needle had been driven directly through my eardrum and twisted into my brain. I didn't just scream; I thrashed, my body arching off the cold pavement as my vision went white. It lasted for exactly three seconds, but in "System Time," it felt like three years in a torture chamber.
When it finally stopped, I was curled in a fetal position, shivering and sobbing for air.
"You really are a pathetic little thing, aren't you?"
The voice was like velvet dipped in poison. I forced my eyes open, blinking back tears of pain. Lilith was still there. She was perched on the edge of a dumpster now, swinging her legs back and forth. In the dim light of the alley, her silver hair seemed to glow, and those violet eyes were fixed on me with an intensity that made my skin crawl.
"You... you're still here," I managed to choke out.
"I wouldn't miss this for the world," she purred, hopping down from the dumpster. She walked toward me, her leather pants creaking softly with every step. She knelt beside me, her scent—that intoxicating mix of sandalwood and cold iron—filling my senses. "One moment you're a godling turning assassins into ice sculptures, and the next, you're crying on the ground because of a little headache. You're a fascinating contradiction, Raven Desmerk."
She reached out, her cool fingers brushing the hair away from my sweaty forehead. The touch was lingering, far longer than necessary. She leaned in, her face so close I could see the faint, dark ring around her violet irises.
"Who are you?" I asked, my heart racing for an entirely different reason now. "Are you with them? The God of Greed?"
Lilith let out a soft, melodic laugh, her breath warm against my cheek. "Greed? Please. That golden-toothed moron wouldn't know what to do with a girl like me. I don't serve the Union, Raven. I serve my own interests. And right now, my interests are very... very focused on you."
She shifted her hand, her thumb grazing my lower lip. The tension in the alley was thick enough to suffocate. It wasn't just danger; it was an electric, predatory attraction. She was looking at me like I was the last glass of water in a desert—or the last piece of meat in a cage.
"You have something inside you," she whispered, her voice dropping to a sultry, dangerous register. "Something that smells like the Void. The Twelve Gods think they've won because they've divided Earth like a birthday cake, but they haven't seen you yet. They haven't seen the King."
"I'm not a King," I hissed, trying to pull away, though my body refused to move. "I'm a Zero. I just want to go home and sleep."
"Oh, you'll sleep," Lilith said, her eyes flashing with a predatory light. She leaned in even closer, her lips brushing against the shell of my ear—the one that had just been 'stung' by the system. "But you won't be a Zero for long. I'll be watching, Raven. Don't disappoint me. I hate it when my toys break too early."
With a sudden, blurred movement, she stood up and vanished into the shadows of the fire escape. One moment she was there, her heat pressing against me, and the next, the alley was empty, save for the wreckage of the SUV and the frozen bodies of the assassins.
[Stamina: 2/100 (Recovering)]
[New Quest: Get Home Before the Clean-Up Crew Arrives.]
[Reward: None. Do it or die.]
"I hate this system," I growled, forcing myself to stand. "I hate the Gods. I hate silver-haired psychos. I hate everything."
The Desmerk Manor loomed ahead like a tomb made of chrome.
I had limped the rest of the way, avoiding the main roads. My clothes were torn, I was covered in brick dust, and I smelled like a dumpster fire. As I approached the gates, the security drones buzzed overhead, their red sensors scanning my DNA.
[Welcome Home, Second Master Raven. Warning: You look like shit.]
"Thanks, AI. Your input is always valued," I muttered as the heavy doors slid open.
The interior of the house was a masterpiece of S-Rank engineering. The floors were heated, the air was oxygen-enriched, and the lighting was designed to perfectly highlight the various awards and trophies my sisters had won.
In the center of the foyer, Juno was standing with a glass of green juice in her hand. She was wearing her training gear—a sleek, white bodysuit that showed off her athletic frame. She didn't look like she'd just spent four hours in a gravity chamber; she looked like a goddess who had just descended from Olympus.
She stopped when she saw me, her nose wrinkling in immediate distaste.
"You're late. Again," Juno said, her voice dripping with cold arrogance. "And you've ruined another uniform. Do you have any idea how much effort Father puts into maintaining the family image? And you come crawling back looking like a stray dog that lost a fight with a lawnmower."
"I was attacked, Juno," I said, my voice flat. I was too tired for her games. "Two guys in an SUV. They had green eyes. Troops."
Juno paused, her glass halfway to her lips. She let out a short, sharp laugh. "Troops? Attacking you? Raven, don't be absurd. Why would a Higher Being waste resources on a Zero? You probably tripped in the alley while trying to hide from a cat. Your imagination is getting as pathetic as your mana-count."
"They were real," I snapped, stepping toward her.
The air suddenly thickened. Juno's eyes narrowed, and I felt the familiar, crushing weight of her [Absolute Gravity] slamming into my shoulders. I fell to one knee, the marble floor cracking under the pressure.
"Don't raise your voice to me," Juno whispered, walking over until her expensive sneakers were inches from my face. "You are a blemish on this family. The only reason you aren't in a labor camp is because Mother still has a shred of misplaced sentimentality for the 'accident' that is your existence. Go to your room. Clean yourself up. And if I hear one more lie about 'assassins,' I'll increase the gravity in your bedroom to 5G for a month."
She stepped over me as if I were a piece of discarded trash.
"Oh, Juno! Don't be so mean to the little pet!"
Serena appeared from the kitchen, vibrating through the air like a glitching image. she was holding a tablet, her eyes scanning news reports of a "mysterious disturbance" in the Gangnam district. She looked at me, her smile wide and chaotic.
"Hey, Raven! Did you see the news? Someone totaled a God-Union SUV just a few blocks from your school! They say the inside of the car was frozen solid. Like, sub-zero frozen." She leaned down, her face inches from mine as Juno's gravity held me down. She sniffed the air. "Wait... you smell like ice, Raven. And... is that sandalwood?"
Her eyes widened, a flicker of genuine curiosity—and something darker—crossing her face. Serena loved mysteries, mostly because she loved breaking them apart.
"Did you do something interesting today, Trash-can?" she whispered, her hand vibrating so fast it became a blur. She reached out toward my chest. "Should I check your heart rate? See if you're lying?"
"Leave him alone, Serena," Juno called out from the stairs. "He's not worth the mana. He's just a Zero. He'll always be a Zero."
Serena pouted, withdrawing her hand. "Fine. But if you're hiding something fun, Raven, I'll find it. And then I'll vibrate your bones until they turn into powder."
She vanished in a streak of distorted light. Juno's gravity finally lifted, leaving me gasping on the floor.
I dragged myself up, my vision swimming. I didn't look back at them. I made my way to my room, locked the door, and collapsed against it.
My room was small, filled with old books and a computer I'd built from scraps. It was the only place in this "Multiverse Playground" where I felt like I owned my own breath.
[Stamina: 5/100]
[Quest Rewards Processing...]
[You have survived your first encounter with the Union.]
[The 12 Gods are now aware of an 'Anomaly'.]
[The God of Greed is humiliated. The God of Wrath is intrigued. The God of Deception is moving.]
I stared at the screen, my hands shaking. I wasn't just a failure anymore. I was a target for beings that could snuff out stars.
"I just wanted a nap," I whispered, sliding down the door until I was sitting on the floor. "That's all I wanted."
[Warning: Host is entering a state of 'Extreme Self-Pity'.]
[Recommendation: Check your rewards, King. You're going to need them.]
I swiped the screen, opening the new skill I'd unlocked during the Absolute Zero state.
[Skill: Monarch's Cold Breath (Rank: ???)]
[Description: Exhale the cold of the Void. Freezes everything in a 5-meter radius. Cost: 50% of current Stamina. Note: Use this if you want to see the world stop breathing.]
Beside the skill, a new icon had appeared. It was a silhouette of a man sitting on a throne, half-hidden in shadow.
[The King's Eyes (Passive) — UNLOCKED.]
[Description: You see what others cannot. Ranks, Lies, and the Shadows of Gods.]
I looked toward my bedroom mirror. My reflection looked the same—pale, tired, unremarkable. But as I focused, the world turned into a grid of thermal signatures and data.
And then I saw it.
Through the wall of my bedroom, in the hallway where Juno had just been standing, there was a lingering trail of green energy. Not her gravity. Something else. Something that looked like a parasite clinging to her soul.
The Gods weren't just invading Earth. They were already inside my family.
"Juno..." I whispered, the realization hitting me harder than the gravity.
I wasn't just fighting to survive. I was living in a house full of ticking time bombs, and I was the only one who could see the timers.
[New Quest: The Trojan Sister.]
[Objective: Identify the 'Troop' infecting Juno Desmerk without being killed.]
[Reward: +20 Strength, Unlock: 'Shadow Step'.]
"Great," I sighed, crawling onto my bed. "Another reason to stay awake. I really hate my life."
As I closed my eyes, the last thing I saw was the golden screen, glowing in the darkness like a promise—or a threat.
[Sleep well, King. Tomorrow, the Playground gets bigger.]