The room was drowned in a heavy silence. Nothing broke it but the buzzing of a flickering bulb overhead.
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Amid the shattered wood and scattered ash, Arya began to move. Slowly. As if she were reclaiming her connection to her exhausted body. She rose with immense difficulty. Every motion was a harsh reminder of the fall she had suffered. Her left shoulder and her back sent sharp pulses of pain through her. The dizziness from the depletion of her Spirit Points tilted her head slightly with every attempt to steady herself.
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I took a deep breath and fought for balance. My fingers still trembled as they brushed the worn floorboards, but the shiver wasn't just fear. It was the shock of what I had felt.
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It really happened. That power wasn't a hallucination.
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My muscles still throbbed with the memory of the transformation—that sudden flood of energy that had made me feel, even for a moment, like I was in control. I looked at my hands. I expected them to look weaker. Instead, I felt a hidden firmness beginning to creep into the fibers of my body, the residue of that absorbed Core Shard.
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+0.1 Strength. A small number. But I can feel it in how steady my stance is now.
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She moved her right leg first, then her left, the weight of each step dragging at her, as if gravity itself was trying to pull her back to the ground. The dizziness hadn't vanished entirely. But it was manageable now. Just enough to stand without swaying.
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Finally, she was upright, leaning against the wall, allowing her body to reclaim full physical awareness. She surveyed the room in silence.
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I rested my back against the cold wall and felt awareness return with brutal clarity. There was no time to sink into deep thoughts. The screams outside reminded me the world hadn't paused just because my battle here was over.
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Maryam is gone. And now I face this alone.
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I didn't feel collapse. What I felt was a kind of harsh clarity. Instinct was speaking louder than emotion now. There was a need to know the next step. A need to confirm the shadow was ready to manifest again if I needed it.
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Grief is a luxury I can't afford right now. I have to move. This isn't the time to mourn.
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The room still reeked of ash. Arya stood amid the wreckage, her eyes scanning with practical intent. She wasn't searching for memories. She was searching for means of survival. On the floor, three bronze coins glinted with a strange gleam, as if beckoning her toward something entirely new.
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I saw the coins lying in the ash. I bent down and picked them up. They were unexpectedly heavy. Cold. The instant they touched my palm, a notification blinked to life.
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[Bronze Coins (System Currency): 3]
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So even death has a price in this world, I thought bitterly, slipping them into my pocket. I remembered my father, how he used to think numbers could build a home. Now, it seemed, numbers were the only thing that would give me a chance to stay alive.
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I opened the System Panel with focus. I wanted to understand what I was now. I studied every detail on the panel, trying to grasp every piece of it that could help me survive this changed world.
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---
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[Personal Status Board]
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· Name: Arya Caldwell
· Title: —
· Race: Human | Age: 15
· Level: 1 | Experience: 10/100
· Class: — (Unlocks at Level 10)
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[Core]
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· Status: Open | Stability: 80%
· Mana: 100/100
· Spirit: 25/50 (Severe depletion due to mental power usage)
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[Physical Attributes]
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· Strength: 9 / 10.1 (Muscle fibers enhanced)
· Constitution: 10/10
· Agility: 10/10
· Health: 80/100 (Reduced due to fall and attack)
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[Mental Powers]
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· Angel (Inactive)
· Devil — Active Entity: First Shadow (Shadow Cat)
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[General]
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· Balance: 3 Bronze Coins
· Forum: (Range: City +)
· Market: Available
· Residence: Locked — requires presence in a certified safe zone
· Time Remaining Until Final Integration and Gate Activation: 06:19:30:10
· Note: Please use this period to secure resources and reach safe zones.
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---
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It's like a video game, I whispered, staring at the panel.
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Class... is that what I think it is? When my level hits ten, do I become a witch? A summoner? A warrior? Or something else entirely?
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But it doesn't unlock until Level 10. And when it does, how will it even work?
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I shook the thought away. Think about it when you get there.
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I pulled my eyes from the screen and focused on my mental powers. I needed to test them. See how they worked. I summoned the Shadow Cat again.
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"Summon... Shadow Cat." I whispered the words.
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The Shadow Cat materialized. Slightly larger than an ordinary cat. Its body was low, elongated—built to stay close to the ground. Its fur wasn't pure black. It was more like a dense void, swallowing light instead of reflecting it, radiating a faint violet aura. Its eyes didn't gleam. They were still. Sharp. Watching without urgency.
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It didn't move. Neither did I. I felt no hostility. Just a strange sense of closeness.
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Its presence was that of a predator, but one bound to my spirit. I took a cautious half-step forward. I placed my hand on its head. Its tail moved—slowly. No warning. No coiled readiness to strike. Just an acknowledgment of my presence. As if waiting for orders.
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I watched my body. No rush of energy. No wave like the first time. Just that strange sensation... a silent presence stationed behind my awareness. Like a shadow that had slipped back into its natural place.
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Then I stopped moving completely. I wanted to know: would anything happen if I just waited?
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Two seconds. Three. My shoulder still ached. The faint dizziness remained. But nothing new happened.
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I glanced at the Status Board. Spirit: 25/50. Unchanged. The number was stable.
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I pulled my eyes away and waited longer. I deliberately kept still, breathing shallow, as if any change might ruin the observation. Time stretched—short or long, I couldn't tell. The silence stayed silent.
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Finally, I canceled the summoning. The feeling of that presence faded quietly. No recoil. No trace. I checked the panel immediately. The number hadn't changed.
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I felt no relief. No concern either. I simply filed the information away, as it was, without interpretation. No immediate cost to maintaining the summon.
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Then I shifted my focus to the other side of the panel.
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[Angel]
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The name was a complete contradiction to the brutality of the Devil. I clicked the icon out of curiosity. The details unfolded.
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· Cost: 15 Spirit Points for initial activation.
· Status: Available.
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I stopped breathing for a moment, calculating.
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Fifteen points? My current Spirit balance is only twenty-five because of the earlier consumption. If I activate Angel now, I lose more than half my spirit power in a single second.
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I looked at my hand. It was trembling again, just slightly, just from the thought.
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In this world, does spirit depletion mean loss of consciousness? Mental collapse? Activating a power I don't understand, at the cost of half my remaining spirit, while I'm standing in the middle of a danger zone... that's suicide.
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No. Not now. That's insanity.
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I pulled my finger back from the screen as if I had touched fire. The idea alone was terrifying. Mental power was the only lifeline connecting me to reality. Spending it this way could leave me an empty shell before I even reached the door.
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Forget Angel. For now, it doesn't exist. Not until I find a way to increase my spirit capacity.
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Arya kept studying the pale blue screen before her eyes. The flickering bulb threw long, erratic shadows across the wall—as if her own shadow was bracing for another leap.
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I opened the Forum.
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The page loaded instantly, as if it had been waiting for my arrival from the very start. But before I could access the messages, a gleaming golden screen erupted, filling my vision.
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---
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[System Alert: Digital Identity Setup]
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Please choose a "Title" to be displayed to other users in the global and local forums. Your Title is your identity among the survivors. Your means of communication. Your ranking criterion.
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[Title Selection: ________]
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---
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I paused, stunned. This wasn't just a username. I felt the weight of the words. The system was telling me this Title was how I would be known. And more than that... there was a ranking attached to it.
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I stared at the empty field. Real names were a vulnerability in this world. I thought for a moment, then typed steadily.
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Dualis.
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I pressed [Confirm].
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Immediately, the [Ranking] tab opened. No music. No celebration. Just a cold list of names and numbers on a pale blue background.
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[City Domain Ranking — Level & Experience]
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I searched for my name and found it in a deep, distant place.
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Rank: #210 — Dualis (Level 1 — Experience 10/100)
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A pinch tightened in my stomach. Two hundred people... in my city alone, there were people who had moved this fast already. I looked to the top to see how far I was from it.
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Rank #1: The Executioner — Level 2
Rank #2: Falcon — Level 2
Rank #3: Sarah — Level 2
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I drew a slow breath. Level two. How was that possible? Barely hours had passed since the catastrophe began. It meant they had already killed. Already faced monsters and won—while I was still here trying to find my balance in this room.
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I let out a bitter, inward laugh at myself.
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Then I steadied my thoughts and navigated back to the Forum section, eyes fixed on the blue screen that had now divided into three main tabs:
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[Group Chat]
[Private Chat]
[Ranking]
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I studied the interface, then pressed [Group Chat].
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The messages poured in like a waterfall. Rapid words. Digital screams. Warnings typed by trembling hands. This wasn't just a chat room. It was a live map of death and survival.
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---
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[Domain: City]
(Note: [Country] and [World] domains are locked... payment required to unlock channels.)
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"Payment...?" I muttered. "Does that mean money? No... that can't be right. It must be..."
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I glanced at the coins in my pocket. The system coins? No one answered the thought. I didn't dwell on it. My eyes went to the conversations.
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---
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Unknown: Please, I'm stuck on top of a store shelf... the monsters are gathering below... I'm going to fall... can anyone hear me? I don't want to die!
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Khalid: This isn't real... it has to be a government experiment. Or a mass hallucination. When does this nightmare end?
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Passing Shadow: Accept it, man. This is the end. We're all going to die.
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Nini: This is punishment. Obviously punishment from heaven.
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Braid: Are you all idiots? The system gave us powers. Use them instead of screaming!
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Mark: Right. I got a fire ability. The monsters are slow. I already killed one.
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I Am The Best: Haha. You killed ONE. I killed three with my body enhancement. You're weak.
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Lina: How did you manage that? Didn't your spirit run out? My power turns my hand into a claw. I had 12 Spirit, used it twice, barely escaped that monster, and now I'm at 10. I'm so dizzy.
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Zain: Only 12? Haha. I'm at 14.
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I Am The Best: You're all weak. I'm at 18.
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---
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I tracked the numbers as they appeared, one after another: 12... 14... 18.
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I paused. My Spirit value was higher than all of theirs. By a margin I hadn't expected. I didn't know if that was normal or not, but a single question slid through my mind.
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Is it because I have two powers? Or is there another reason I don't understand yet?
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While scrolling, my eyes caught a different kind of message. One that stood out.
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Prince of the Quarter: I know the location of the safe zone the system mentioned. If you want the location, it'll cost you 5 Bronze Coins.
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The responses erupted instantly.
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Nini: How selfish can you be?! Asking for money at a time like this? Have some mercy! Give us the location for free!
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Roni: How do we know you're not lying to steal our coins?
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Zain: Yeah.
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Prince of the Quarter: I trade on the System Market. Cheating is banned—it would shut down my access. You think I'm crazy enough to risk that?
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Khalid: This is wrong. At a moment like this, humanity matters more than money!
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Lina: Yes. Humans should help each other.
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Braid: Prince, please! You can help all of us! Just give us the location, no payment!
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Prince of the Quarter: No. My rules are clear. Whoever wants the safe zone location pays. I live near it. This information is valuable.
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---
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My heart kicked against my ribs. The safe zone's location. But it wasn't free.
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I looked at my balance: 3 Bronze Coins.
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Okay. I'll gather the money if I have to.
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The choice was already made. Life was worth more than any principle, any moral debate. I needed this information more than anything. I had to reach that safe zone before the protection period ended.
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Because if I didn't...
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I didn't know what would emerge after that.
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---
ns216.73.216.67da2
and then Add to home screen.