2025-10-14 16:02:45The hospital’s atrium glittered with cameras and white coats. Banners draped across the mezzanine read “In Honor of Life Restored.”
Rick stood beside Master Yuren Sun at the podium, heart pounding louder than the applause.
Yuren’s voice carried over the crowd. “Apprentice Franklin achieved what we deemed impossible, reviving a collapsed Golden Pulse.”
Polite clapping rolled through the hall; reporters leaned forward, holo-recorders glowing. Rick managed a stiff bow.
Across the rows of physicians, he caught Isaac Voss’s expression, smiling just enough to hide the contempt in his eyes.
When the crowd quieted, Yuren’s tone shifted, almost too soft for the microphones. “Yet, even golden light can blind those who gaze too long.”
A murmur rippled. Rick blinked, uncertain whether it was a warning or a proverb. After the ceremony, Yuren placed a hand on his shoulder. “Come by the study this afternoon. We need to talk.”
Rick forced a smile. “Yes, Master.”
The cameras kept flashing; every lens felt like an eye judging him. From the edge of the hall, Evelyn watched, white lab coat over her floral dress, pride mixed with something darker. When their gazes met, she mouthed “Be careful.”
Yuren’s private study smelled of aged parchment and tea. Diagrams of meridians shimmered in suspended light; scrolls lined the walls like silent witnesses.
Rick stood near the window, waiting while Yuren poured tea into two small cups. “You spoke beautifully this morning,” Rick said, trying for levity.
Yuren’s smile was brief. “I spoke the truth. Beauty is irrelevant.” He set a cup in front of Rick. “Tell me, do you know what you awakened that night?”
Rick hesitated. “You called it the Golden Meridian Flow.”
“More than that.” Yuren’s eyes flicked to an ancient scroll on the shelf. “It is the remnant of a divine system, one that hears the pulse of creation itself. Those who touch it uninvited… invite echo.”
Rick frowned. “Echo?”
“Death, madness, calamity, call it what you will. Every miracle disturbs the balance.”
Rick’s voice sharpened. “Then why train us to heal at all? Why teach methods you fear?”
“Because compassion without discipline is chaos.”
Yuren’s words landed like blows. Rick stared into the steam rising from his cup. “When I treated that child, I didn’t feel chaos. I felt… clarity. Like the world was breathing with me.”
“That feeling,” Yuren said softly, “is precisely how the madness begins.”
Silence settled. Outside, rain whispered against the glass. Rick finally asked, “So what now? You want me to pretend it never happened?”
Yuren looked tired. “I want you to live long enough to understand what it means.”
Rick glanced down at his wrist; beneath his sleeve, the faint golden rune pulsed once, then faded.
The apprentice ward buzzed with quiet rivalry. Screens projected patient simulations, virtual meridian maps, digital organs pulsing in rhythm.
Rick joined the cluster of students around a holographic patient suffering from “energy imbalance.” Isaac was already there, coat immaculate, tone clipped.
“Standard correction at points Q-14 to S-3,” Isaac instructed. “We balance flow manually, no improvisation.”
Rick watched the projection flicker, the simulated heart still faltering. “That path only stabilizes output, not rhythm.”
Isaac’s brow furrowed. “You have a better idea?”
Rick stepped forward, fingers hovering over the interface. “Link Q-14 to T-7, skip S-3. Cross-bridge the meridian. It’ll sync the pulse faster.”
“That’s not in the manual,” another student whispered.
Rick smiled faintly. “Neither was the cure last night.”
He executed the adjustment. The holographic pulse leveled instantly; the screen turned green.
A wave of murmurs swept the room. Isaac’s jaw tightened. “You think breaking rules makes you enlightened?”
“No,” Rick replied evenly. “It makes me adaptable.”
Isaac slammed his palm on the console. “You got lucky once. Don’t mistake intuition for mastery.”
The door opened. Yuren entered silently, gaze sweeping the room. “What’s this commotion?”
Isaac straightened. “He’s undermining standard protocols, Master.”
Rick started to respond, but Yuren raised a hand. “Enough. If conflict breeds skill, you’ll settle it through cooperation.”
“Cooperation?” Isaac repeated, incredulous.
“You’ll share the next clinical assignment. One patient, one report.”
Rick blinked. “Together?”
Yuren nodded. “Perhaps you’ll learn balance from each other.”
When he left, Isaac leaned close, voice low and venomous. “I don’t need your charity, Franklin. Keep your miracles to yourself.”
Rick said nothing, but the silence between them crackled like static. As he packed his notes, he heard Isaac mutter to another apprentice, “He thinks he’s touched heaven. Let’s see how heaven feels when it burns.”
Rick didn’t turn around, but a cold weight settled in his chest.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 7: Master’s Verdict
Incense drifted through Yuren Sun’s private study, coiling like smoke around memories. Scrolls lined the walls, each one a lifetime of knowledge, and on the table lay the ceremonial robe he would wear tomorrow, gold threads woven to blind the guilty and reassure the pure.He hadn’t moved in hours. The holo-screen before him looped the footage again: the patient’s dying gasp, the surge of golden light from Rick’s hands, the flare of the rune. Every time he paused it, the frame caught Rick’s face, desperate, alive, far too much like his younger self.A ghost of a smile crossed Yuren’s lips before bitterness returned. “You touched the mystery too soon, my son.”Footsteps echoed; Elder Liang entered, robes whispering. “The tribunal expects your statement at dawn.”Yuren didn’t look up. “And if my statement disagrees with theirs?”Liang’s tone was smooth as glass. “Then you lose your seat, and the academy dissolves under investigation. Do not let one boy’s arrogance destroy what took cen
Chapter 6: Framed for Death
Three days after the explosion, Salt Lake Central felt unfamiliar, too quiet, too bright. Rick walked through the sliding doors, coat collar up, trying to look ordinary. Every heartbeat around him hummed faintly in his ears; every cough or groan tugged at him like invisible strings.A nurse glanced up from reception, whispered to another. “He shouldn’t even be here.”“They say the basement’s still sealed.”Rick forced a thin smile and swiped his ID. The scanner blinked red: ACCESS PENDING INVESTIGATION.He exhaled through his nose, nodded at the guard as if it were nothing, and kept walking.Inside Ward C, an elderly woman gasped for air, monitors beeping in a chaotic rhythm. “Dr. Franklin?” a junior nurse stammered. “She’s crashing, heart failure, unresponsive to medication.”Rick’s hands moved before thought. “Give me space.”He pressed two needles, then three, tracing the pulse lines he could now see under her skin, threads of dull gold flickering weakly. He guided the energy with
Chapter 5: The Forbidden Rune
The hospital basement wasn’t on any floor plan Rick had ever seen. It lay below the morgue, metal doors, no label, only a flicker of cold light at the edge of a half-hidden stairwell.He hadn’t planned to come here. The System had guided him.[Descent coordinates verified] the voice whispered inside his pulse.[Source signal beneath primary structure.]“Great,” Rick muttered. “Haunted hospitals and invisible voices. Perfect combination.”The hum in his wrist brightened. He took the stairs. At the bottom, the air felt heavy, thick with rust and something older. Banks of sealed drawers lined the walls, discarded medical prototypes, analog monitors, broken holo-panels.And at the center: a door marked by a faint golden ring, the same pattern that burned beneath his skin. Rick reached for it. “Should I be opening this?”[Access recognized. Healer authorized.]The ring flared; the lock disengaged. The door slid open to a chamber lit by a single pulse of amber light, spreading across the f
Chapter 4B: Evelyn’s Ultimatum
Rick’s mouth opened, but she was already walking toward the bedroom. “Evelyn, ”She stopped at the door without turning back. “You have until sunrise. Choose me… or choose this obsession. After that, I’m gone.”The door shut with a quiet click. Rick stood motionless, the hum beneath his skin rising until it matched the rhythm of the storm outside.The apartment went still after she closed the door. Only the clock’s second hand moved, whispering over the hush.Rick sank onto the couch, exhaustion settling like sand through his veins. The hum inside his wrist hadn’t stopped since the board hearing; now it climbed up his arm, tiny sparks beneath his skin.He pressed a hand over his heart. “Quiet,” he whispered. “Please.”The pulse answered. A low vibration rolled through his chest, slow, resonant, like a second heartbeat trying to find him. The world blurred. The sound of the rain fell away.He stood in a space without gravity or walls, surrounded by a haze of molten gold. Each particle
Chapter 4A: Evelyn’s Ultimatum
The apartment was dark except for the soft pulse of the city outside the window. Rick dropped his coat on the couch and pressed the heel of his hand against his eyes. Every heartbeat still throbbed like an echo from the trauma ward. A voice came from the shadows. “Rough night, Doctor Franklin?”Rick spun toward it. A tall man stepped out of the dim light, gray suit, precise posture, the faintest scent of cigar smoke following him.“Victor Harrington,” Rick said slowly. “You don’t usually visit people unannounced.”Victor smiled, all teeth and civility. “Unannounced visits tend to reveal the truth, don’t they?” He glanced around the small apartment. “You’ve been busy. The city hasn’t stopped talking about your little miracle.”Rick exhaled. “If you came for gossip, you can find it on any screen.”“I came for an opportunity.” Victor pulled a small black card from his pocket and set it on the table. “The Syndicate’s Council is watching you. They think you’ve touched something ancient, s
Chapter 3B: The Healers’ Syndicate Rumor
The apartment felt colder that night. Evelyn moved quietly around the kitchen, shutting drawers with the soft finality of someone rehearsing silence.Rick watched her from the doorway. “You’re not talking to me.”She kept her eyes on the counter. “I don’t know what to say that won’t make it worse.”“You could start with I believe you.”“I want to.” She turned then, tired, beautiful, terrified. “But every screen in the city’s replaying that footage, Rick. They’re calling you an alchemist. A fraud. The hospital’s under audit. And Yuren Sun’s reputation’s bleeding because of you.”“I didn’t leak anything.”“I know. But truth doesn’t matter when the Syndicate decides what’s real.”He rubbed his face. “You think I should confess to something I didn’t do?”“I think you should disappear until this burns out.”He stared. “Run?”“Lay low. Take a transfer to the outer wards. Pretend to be ordinary for once.”“That’s not who I am.”Her laugh broke halfway. “That’s the problem.”He reached for he
You may also like
The Ultimate Man
M. K. Diana69.7K viewsThe Invincible Arthur Gardner
Herolich99.2K viewsRoyal Harem System
Red Phoenix.44.4K viewsThe Omnipotent God's Heir
WestReversed28.1K viewsMy Survival System In An Apocalyptic World
Lumydee_NC8.2K viewsThe Game Master’s Apocalypse
Alia Writes 86 views100 Million Dollar Challenges
Author Sweetyp1.3K viewsRevenge and the Harem Chef’s Miracle System
MDW2.5K views