The rain hadn’t stopped.By the time Leon returned to the warehouse, his uniform clung to him like a second skin, soaked through with cold and humiliation. The night shift lights buzzed overhead, casting long shadows across the empty loading bay.His steps felt heavier than they should.His chest tighter than it had ever been.He moved like a man carrying a mountain.---The storage room—his “home”—was dim and damp. A thin mattress lay in the corner, barely better than cardboard. Leon shut the door behind him and leaned his back against it, sliding down slowly until he was sitting on the floor.His body ached, but the real pain wasn’t physical.It pulsed from somewhere deeper… a place he didn’t know could hurt this much.He dropped the envelope—the final inheritance papers—onto the ground. It landed with a soft thud, like dirt hitting a coffin.Leon stared at it.“That’s it,” he breathed. “They’ve completely erased me.”His voice sounded foreign—even to himself.He had lived his whole

The storm eased sometime after midnight, but the cold didn’t lift.It wrapped itself around Leon like a second skin as he dragged himself across the cracked pavement, still shaken by the strange flashes of light and sound that had echoed through his mind.Had he imagined it?Was it a hallucination from exhaustion?The rainwater dripping from his hair made it hard to think.Harder to breathe.He didn’t go back to the warehouse.He couldn’t—not yet.Instead, his feet carried him toward the old iron bridge crossing the river at the edge of the industrial district. A lonely place. Quiet. Forgotten. Like him.By the time he reached the midpoint, the storm had died completely, leaving only the hiss of wind over the dark water.Leon gripped the railing with both hands, knuckles white.The river below was black—so dark it swallowed the reflection of the city lights. The current moved slowly, like something alive, waiting.He stared down at it.For a long time… he didn’t move.---His shoulder

The rain didn’t stop.It hammered against Leon Hale’s shoulders like the world itself wanted to crush him. Water streamed down his face, mixing with the faint traces of dried blood from his fall earlier. His fingers trembled uncontrollably as he leaned against the cold metal railing of the bridge.Everything hurt.His body. His chest. His pride. His soul.He had nothing left to fight with.No family.No money.No dignity.No future.The city lights blurred through the rain, stretching into streaks of white and gold, as if the world was melting away. Leon blinked, but the tears didn’t stop. He didn’t even notice when his knees finally gave out, dropping him to the ground.For the first time in years, he didn’t pretend to be strong.He just… broke.“What’s the point anymore…?” he whispered, voice hitching.The storm swallowed the sound.His shoulders shook violently, and for a moment he couldn’t breathe. His lungs locked up, his vision dimmed, and a sharp pain stabbed behind his ribs li

The world snapped back into focus in a single jolt.Leon sucked in a sharp breath as his vision steadied. The rain was still falling, the bridge still cold beneath him, but something inside him had changed—shifted—like gears clicking into place after years of rust.A faint hum vibrated through his skull.Then—Ding.A translucent blue interface materialized before his eyes.[INITIATING FIRST SYSTEM SCAN…]Leon stiffened.“S-System scan?”He didn’t feel pain.But he did feel exposed—completely, terrifyingly exposed.Another line appeared.[PLEASE REMAIN STILL.]Leon let out a harsh, humorless breath.“I’m standing on a bridge in the rain. How still do you want me to be?”The system ignored his sarcasm.A cold wave swept over him from head to toe, like an invisible beam passing through flesh, bone, and even his mind. He twitched in surprise—he had no control over the sensation. It was like every cell in his body was being inspected.His heart throbbed faster.His breath grew uneven.“Wh

The rain had not stopped since the moment Leon staggered out of the construction site. It came down in violent sheets, drumming against concrete like bullets and turning the ground beneath him into a sucking, slippery mire. The storm should have been a warning for any sane man to seek shelter.But Leon wasn’t seeking shelter.He was seeking survival.And survival meant movement.Not rest.Not warmth.Not safety.Because the System’s cold voice echoed inside his skull like a death sentence he couldn’t escape.[Mission #1: Survive 24 Hours]Reward: +10 VitalityPenalty: Immediate collapse][Status: 23:18:41 remaining]Every second felt heavier than the last.He didn’t know how long he’d been crawling—minutes? Hours?—but his arms burned and his legs shook with every attempt to move forward. Rain plastered his hair to his skin, soaking his thin shirt until it clung to him like ice. His breath came out in short, ragged bursts that hurt all the way down to his stomach.Still, he dragged him