Black Coin

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[Chapter 10: The Blood Glitch, Infinite Train]

The private testing room in the Physical Assessment Center was quiet, except for the sound of Seven’s heavy breathing and the low hum of the ventilation.

Seven stood before the black leather punching drum, frustration radiating off him like heat. He had tried everything. He had yelled keywords, posed like a hero, and whispered to the coin. But the black metal hanging from his neck remained dormant, looking like a piece of rusty junk.

"You worked when I was dying," Seven muttered, glaring at the coin. "Why won't you work now?"

He felt foolish. He had spent his last 50 credits to stand in a room and yell at a necklace.

"Fine. If you won't activate, I'll just rely on my own strength."

He didn't bother wrapping his hands. Fueled by annoyance, he pulled his fist back. He ignored his stance. He ignored the proper breathing techniques. He just threw a punch with raw, unrefined anger.

BAM!

The drum shook violently.

BAM! BAM!

He hit it again and again. On the fourth hit, his form slipped. His fist grazed the jagged metal rim of the sensor at an awkward angle.

"Ah!" Seven hissed, pulling his hand back.

A strip of skin across his knuckles had been sliced open. A line of dark red blood welled up instantly. He instinctively brought his hand to his chest to cradle the injury.

Drip.

A single, heavy drop of blood fell from his knuckle. It didn't hit the floor. It landed perfectly in the circular hole of the black coin.

Sizzle.

The sound was like water hitting hot oil.

Seven froze. He looked down. The blood didn't slide off the metal; it was absorbed instantly, vanishing into the black iron as if the coin were thirsty.

Thump-Thump.

A heartbeat echoed in the silent room. It wasn't his.

Suddenly, the AI robot in the corner spun around, its blue optical eye turning a frantic, flashing red.

"Warning! Anomaly detected! Foreign biological signature found!" the robot’s tinny voice screeched. "Alerting School Security! Alerting Global Cultivation Alliance!"

Seven backed away. "Wait, cancel! It was an accident!"

The coin on his chest began to vibrate. It wasn't a gentle hum like before; it was a violent shaking, like an engine redlining. The carvings on the surface lit up, not with the purple of the armor, but with a chaotic, Glitch-Black light that seemed to tear at the air itself.

[CRITICAL ERROR.]

[HOST DETECTED: MO SEVEN.]

[STATUS: NULL.]

[WORLD SYSTEM ALERT: UNAUTHORIZED GOD-SLAYER SIGNATURE.]

A red holographic screen materialized in front of Seven, projected by the Universe itself.

[ERASURE PROTOCOL INITIATED.]

The walls of the room began to dissolve into pixels. The floor beneath Seven’s feet turned transparent. The Universe was trying to delete him.

"No!" Seven shouted, grabbing the coin. "Do something!"

The coin responded. It didn't shield him; it attacked the System. A pulse of black code shot out of the necklace, shattering the red screen.

[NO GOD ORDER: INTERCEPTING.]

[PROTECTION MODE: ENGAGED.]

[THE GODS ARE WATCHING. CURRENT REALITY IS UNSAFE.]

[INITIATING EMERGENCY TRANSMIGRATION.]

[DESTINATION: SCENARIO WORLD #001.]

The black light expanded, swallowing the gym, the robot, and Seven. The world twisted. Seven felt his body being pulled apart atom by atom.

WHOOOOSH!

[Location: The High Realm – The Temple of Dimensions]

Billions of light-years away, in a dimension composed entirely of golden fire, a being sat on a throne made of a dying star.

He was a High God, an overseer of the multiverse. Suddenly, he stood up, his movement causing solar storms in nearby galaxies.

"What is this?" his voice boomed.

He felt a shiver. A sensation he hadn't felt in eons. It was the feeling of a predator entering the room.

"Something has awakened," the God whispered. "The Order... I thought we destroyed it."

He waved his hand, summoning a viewing pool of liquid light. "Show me! Find the source!"

The pool swirled. It showed images of different universes—dragons, mechas, oceans. But every time the vision tried to focus on Seven, the image turned to static.

Krr-krr-krr.

"It’s blocked," the God hissed. "The coin... it is shielding the new host. It has hidden him in a fractured timeline."

He wasn't the only one. Across the multiverse, in the Void Dimension and the Hall of Reincarnation, other entities paused. They couldn't see who the new owner was, but they knew he was coming. The enemy of the Gods had returned.

[Location: Unknown Universe - Jiang City]

[Time: 16:30 PM]

"Gasp!"

Seven shot up from a bed, his lungs burning as if he had drowned.

He wasn't in the gym. He wasn't in his school uniform.

He was in an apartment. It was spacious, filled with cardboard boxes, canned food, and survival gear. The windows were reinforced with heavy alloy shutters.

Seven grabbed his head. Argh!

A headache split his skull. It wasn't just pain; it was information. Memories that weren't his were flooding into his brain, overwriting his confusion.

My name is Seven. I am a freelance writer.

I live in Jiang City.

The world changed three months ago.

Don't go out at night. Don't make noise.

The thing in the clouds is watching.

Seven stumbled to a mirror hanging on the wall. He stared at his reflection.

It was him. The same dark eyes, the same sharp jawline, the same messy hair. He hadn't possessed a stranger; he had replaced the "Seven" of this universe. He was this person now.

[TRANSMIGRATION COMPLETE.]

[WELCOME TO THE INFINITE TRAIN PLAN.]

[CURRENT SCENARIO: THE SILENT CITY.]

[DIFFICULTY: E-RANK (MORTAL).]

[MAIN QUEST: SURVIVE.]

The text floated in his vision in jagged purple letters before fading away.

"Infinite Train Plan?" Seven whispered. His voice sounded hoarse.

He looked down at his chest. The black coin was there, fused to his skin like a tattoo over his heart. It was silent now, recharging.

He walked to the window. The heavy alloy shutter was down, but there was a small gap. He peered through it.

His eyes widened.

This wasn't Planet Hig-17. There were no flying swords. No neon lights.

It was a modern city, filled with concrete skyscrapers, but it was dead silent. Cars were abandoned in the streets below. There were no people.

But what chilled Seven to the bone wasn't the empty streets. It was the sky.

Massive, thick clouds covered the sun, casting a perpetual grey gloom over the city. And inside those clouds... something was moving. A shadow. Something so large it defied logic.

Seven’s new memories surged forward. He knew what that was. He knew the rules of this world.

Rule 1: Prepare for the night.

Rule 2: Never look directly at the cloud entity for too long.

He checked his wrist. He was wearing a watch.

16:35.

"I have less than an hour before dusk," Seven realized, his voice calm. The panic of the gym was gone, replaced by the cold, calculating instincts of the survivor he had become.

He turned away from the window and walked into the living room.

On the table lay a short tactical knife and a crossbow. He picked up the knife, testing its weight. It felt familiar in his hand, thanks to the memories.

He wasn't a student being bullied anymore. He was a survivor in a world of horrors.

"Okay," Seven whispered, his eyes glowing with a faint, dark light. "The Gods can't find me here. But something else can."

He walked toward the balcony door. The breeze coming through the cracks was gentle and warm. He reached for the astronomical telescope set up near the glass.

It was time to observe the enemy.

[End of Chapter 10]