Tyson had just closed the taxi door, his body leaning back against the cracked leather seat. He gave the driver the address in a flat tone, eyes fixed on the city lights reflected across the window.The driver gave a brief nod, switched on the meter, and started the car at a lazy pace.The air inside the taxi was stuffy. Tyson glanced at his watch, as if searching for something else to think about, anything to distract him from what had just happened with Scarlett. But before his thoughts could wander too far, his phone buzzed in his jacket pocket.The name on the screen made him pause.Anna.His jaw tightened. After everything that happened a few days ago, the shouting, the accusations, and the long silence that followed, he hadn’t expected her to call again. He considered letting it ring out, but somehow, his thumb still moved to press the green button.“Anna?” His voice was quiet, almost cold.But it wasn’t her voice that answered.“Uh, hey? You’re Anna’s friend, right?” a man’s v

Tyson stepped into the private room without a word. The sharp scent of alcohol hit him the moment the door opened, mingling with expensive perfume and a haze of electronic cigarette smoke that drifted lazily in the air. Music played softly from a small speaker in the corner, too noisy to be called relaxing, too dull to be called a party.A few people glanced his way when he appeared, but none seemed to care. They were too busy with their drinks, laughing aimlessly, ignoring the woman slumped over at the end of the glass table.Anna.Her hair was a mess, a few strands sticking to her flushed cheeks. In front of her sat an empty glass, and beside it, a nearly finished bottle.Tyson stared at the scene for a moment before approaching, passing two men who chuckled under their breath and gave him hazy looks. He didn’t respond. Instead, he crouched down beside Anna and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.“Anna,” he called quietly.No response. Only a heavy exhale and the thick smell of a

Tyson stared at the numbers without expression, but his eyes slowly changed. It wasn’t as much as what he used to earn back when he was the unacknowledged son of the De Leon family, but it was far more than he could make with his current status as an ex-convict.He moved the cursor and immediately opened his investment dashboard, placing portions of the funds into the most promising projects. Each click sounded like a major decision, one step further from his past, one step closer to something much greater.Sunlight filtered through the apartment curtains, casting a warm glow on Tyson’s face as he slept on the sofa. His laptop lay open on the table, the screen dimmed into sleep mode. Beside it sat a cup of coffee he had made the night before, now cold, leaving only a faint bitter scent behind.He woke up close to noon, his head heavy from lack of sleep. His movements were slow but deliberate, the kind of rhythm belonging to someone used to suppressing fatigue and replacing it with rou

Tyson had just arrived at his apartment shortly before dawn. The sky outside the window was still dark, lit only by the faint shimmer of city lights. His body felt heavy, not merely from physical exhaustion, but from the aftereffects of using his ability too many times that day.His head throbbed, a dull, persistent pressure pulsing behind his temples. He thought about collapsing into bed the moment he stepped inside, but the feeling of grime clinging to his skin after a day of handling all sorts of objects made him stop.He cleaned himself first, the cold water running down his skin offering a brief relief from the ache inside his skull.When he was done, Tyson let himself fall onto the bed, his limbs drained of strength. His eyes closed, but his mind refused to settle. He could still hear the faint echo of Rodriguez’s voice from earlier in the car.“You seem very different now… calmer. Colder, too.”Those words kept replaying in his head. Tyson opened his eyes slowly, staring at th

In the depths of unconsciousness, the voice of the system came piercing through the thick fog of his mind.[Ability usage has exceeded the body’s adaptive limit.][Recovery process in progress.]Tyson tried to move his body, but it felt as if he were being dragged underwater. Every muscle resisted his command. His breathing was heavy, his head throbbed in waves of heat and cold that alternated endlessly. All he could do was listen.[System is stabilizing cellular function. It is advised not to activate any ability for the next 48 hours.]Silence hung for a few seconds before the voice returned.[Partial reboot initiated. Synchronizing data with host: 89%... 92%... complete.] [System level: advanced adaptation stage achieved.]Reboot. Level increased.Tyson wanted to ask what it meant, but his mind was too scattered. Behind his closed eyelids, he caught fleeting glimpses of glowing codes flickering like fragments of light… then everything disappeared.No more voice. No more instructio