The taste of blood was metallic, cold, and familiar.
Kaelen Thorne lay on the rubble of what was once the city of New Eden. Before him, humanity's "Heroes" the very ones who had used him as cannon fodder for a decade knelt before the King of the Void.
"They sold me for a handful of Soul Crystals," Kaelen whispered, his voice barely a gurgle of blood. "Me, who mapped every escape route for them. Me, who warned them of this ambush."
The leader of the Heroes, a man in golden armor named Alaric, didn't even look at him. He was too busy pleading for his life.
[WARNING: SYSTEM INTEGRATION FAILED.]
[OUTCOME: TOTAL EXTINCTION.]
"If I had one more chance..." Kaelen thought, closing his eyes as a blade of darkness descended towards his neck. "I wouldn't play by their rules. I'd create my own."
[HIDDEN REQUIREMENT DETECTED.]
[CONDITION: DIE AS THE ONLY ONE AWARE OF THE TRUTH.]
[ACTIVATING FUNCTION: CHRONICLE REWIND.]
"...Mr. Thorne? Are you alright?"
Kaelen's eyes snapped open. There was no blood. No darkness. Just the scent of expensive floor wax and the hum of a high-tech air conditioner.
He was sitting in a faux-leather chair. Opposite him, a woman in an impeccable uniform watched him with disdain through her glasses. On the wall, a digital clock read: March 12, Year 2024.
Ten years ago. The day of the Apex Academy Selection.
"If you're not going to answer the aptitude question, please withdraw your form," the interviewer said. "There are a thousand A-Rank aspirants waiting outside. You are an F-Rank. Your mere presence here is an administrative anomaly."
Kaelen didn't respond immediately. His eyes scanned the room. In the upper right corner of his vision, a translucent interface flickered. It was different from what he remembered.
[SOVEREIGNTY SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
[USER: KAELEN THORNE]
[STATUS: THE REGRESSOR]
[PASSIVE ABILITY: DEBTOR'S EYE (LV 1)]
Allows you to see the "Market Value" and "Primary Secret" of any target.
Kaelen looked at the interviewer.
[TARGET: MARIANA VANCE]
[VALUE: 1,200 STATUS POINTS]
[SECRET: She is embezzling Academy funds to pay off her younger brother's gambling debt.]
A spark of coldness crossed Kaelen's eyes. In his past life, he would have begged. He would have tried to prove his worth through physical effort. What a waste of time.
"Ms. Vance," Kaelen said. His voice was calm, deep, devoid of the nervousness an 18-year-old boy should have. "Before you ask me to withdraw, you should check the transfer log of the admissions office's secondary account. The one ending in 4402."
The woman froze. The color drained from her face so violently that she looked like she was about to faint.
"How... how do you know that number?" she asked, her voice barely a thread.
Kaelen leaned forward, lacing his fingers on the desk. His posture was that of a predator who has already won the hunt before it even begins.
"What I know isn't the problem. The problem is who else will know in the next five minutes if you don't change my 'F' evaluation to 'S' in the Strategy and Perception criteria."
"That's impossible!" she hissed. "The system will detect the inconsistency!"
"Not if you mark my profile as 'Covert Operations Candidate'," Kaelen replied with a glacial smile. "Do it now. And in return, I'll tell you exactly what name to put on the audit report so that you look like the heroine who uncovered the fraud instead of the culprit."
Mariana Vance trembled. She looked at Kaelen, searching for any trace of doubt. She found none. She only saw a man who seemed to have lived a thousand tragedies and emerged from them with a soul of steel.
Her fingers flew across the holographic keyboard.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY MANIPULATED A HIGHER-RANKED TARGET.]
[REWARD: 100 INFLUENCE POINTS ACQUIRED.]
[ACADEMIC RANK UPDATED: S-RANK (PROVISIONAL)]
"Good," Kaelen said, standing up. "A pleasure doing business with you, Director Vance. Because that's what you'll be after you turn in your boss, right?"
He left the room without waiting for an answer.
Outside, in the grand hall, hundreds of young people from noble families and prodigy warriors waited. In the center of the crowd was Alaric, the future "Golden Hero," surrounded by admirers. Right now, Alaric was just an arrogant young man with immense talent.
Kaelen walked past him without a glance. But the system emitted a sound only he could hear.
[MISSION ALERT]
[QUEST: THE IDOL'S COLLAPSE]
[OBJECTIVE: Ruin Alaric Von Heist's reputation during the initiation trial.]
[REWARD: ABILITY 'SERVITUDE CONTRACT'.]
[PENALTY: NONE (FAILURE IS ITS OWN PENALTY).]
Kaelen smiled to himself. In his previous life, Alaric had left him to die like a dog. In this life, Alaric would hand over everything he owned without even realizing who was pulling the strings.
Suddenly, an alarm blared throughout the building. The doors of the grand hall slammed shut.
"Attention aspirants," a mechanical, impersonal voice filled the air. "The entrance exam has begun prematurely. The building has been sealed. Only 10% of those present will leave with an invitation. The rest... will be removed from the citizen database."
Panic erupted. The young people began to summon their weapons and spells, preparing for a real battle.
Kaelen stood still, watching the ceiling. He remembered this event. It wasn't a combat test. It was a test of betrayal.
"In three seconds, the sleeping gas will be released into the ventilation system," Kaelen thought, covering his nose with a handkerchief already prepared with a homemade antidote he had bought at a pharmacy that morning. "Except in the VIP area where Alaric is. The system wants the 'weak' to fight among themselves while the 'strong' watch from safety."
Kaelen looked towards the ventilation grate and then towards a hidden camera in the corner.
"You know," he whispered, knowing the Academy observers were listening, "if you wanted a real massacre, you should have also closed the emergency exits on the lower levels. But don't worry. I'll make sure this game is... interesting."
[SYSTEM: YOU HAVE UNLOCKED A "HIDDEN FACT" OF THE SCENARIO.]
[THE 'SPONSORS'' INTEREST IN YOU HAS INCREASED.]
Kaelen Thorne was not going to be a hero. He was going to be the man who collected the debts of the entire world.
And the first bill had just come due.