Dawn of the 13th Era

ABNORMAL

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Opening his eyes after what felt like the deepest slumber of his life, Orion reached out and stopped the alarm. Slowly, he raised his upper body from the bed and looked around the pitch-black room, his vision still heavy with sleep.

He had returned from the test saga around 1 p.m., and the time now was 11:47 p.m. That meant he had been in an unconscious state for almost eleven hours.

Yes, eleven hours.

Even during the brief moments he had been awake earlier, all he did were to cover up everything in a semiconscious state, and it barely took 20 minutes.

Reaching up, he touched his forehead and felt the dried liquid crusted on his skin. The moment his fingers brushed against it, the memories came rushing back.

Recalling the wound he just suffered from,he would've clearly died and this would be the fourth time he'll go through it.

Slowly, he stood up and switched on the light.

The room was filled with a dull glow as he walked toward the mirror and examined his reflection carefully.

He saw the scar of his face still there with a new one longer than the rest now added, making his already hideous face even worse. sighing he was about to turn around and forget about it when he saw something that made him pause.

Weird spots of light floated around his body—tiny spheres that shimmered in a myriad of colors. Sometimes they appeared black, sometimes white, and other times they glowed faintly yellow, drifting slowly like fireflies in the air.

The sight made him question his own sanity.

For a moment, he wondered if he was still dreaming.

To confirm it, he raised his hand and pinched his arm hard.

Pain shot through his skin.

When he opened his eyes again, the lights were still there.

Orion exhaled slowly, forcing himself to accept the reality in front of him.

"Wow… is this the beginning of insanity? I feel like I’m going nuts"

He rubbed his temples tiredly.

"First thing… I need a cool bath. Yeah… and some fresh air to cool off"

Heading into the bathroom, he made sure to wash every part of her body thoroughly, especially his head. After rinsing off, he stood beneath the shower for several minutes, letting the cold water run down his body as he tried to calm the thoughts in his mind.

When he finally returned to his room, he grabbed a pair of pants and pulled on a black hooded jacket.

Without hesitation, he left the apartment.

His destination was simple, or more like he didn't have a destination, all he needed was a stroll and fresh air to calm his mind.

The city of Cyberis at night was truly a sight to behold.

Bright neon lights illuminated the streets, and people walked around as if it were still daytime. Cars moved endlessly, vendors called out to customers, and the city pulsed with restless energy.

On any normal day, Orion would have stopped to admire the scenery.

But tonight, his attention was elsewhere.

Because the same balls of light appeared within every single person he focused on.

He eventually sat down at a nearby roadside stall, holding a can of soda in his hand while trying to process the strange circumstances surrounding him.

As he observed carefully, he began noticing patterns.

The lights inside men were blue, swirling inside them like mist.

Meanwhile, the lights inside women appeared red, glowing faintly beneath their skin.

Yet despite the similarity in colors, none of them were truly identical.

Some shone brightly, radiating intense color, while others appeared dim and dull, barely noticeable.

But even when two people had the same color, something about them still felt… different.

Each light seemed unique in its own way.

Overwhelmed, Orion held his head in his hands.

A splitting headache surged through his skull, spreading across his body like a relentless tide.

She remained seated for several minutes, breathing slowly until the pain subsided.

Only then did he gather his thoughts again.

If this is real…

If I’m not dreaming…

Then one fact became obvious.

Only he could see these colors.

And if that was the case, then these strange lights couldn’t simply be meaningless colors.

They had to represent something.

"If only I could observe one up close" he thought.

Then maybe I could figure out what those little balls of light really are.

Instead of examining someone else,he decided it would be easier to observe her own.

However, the moment he tried, he ran into a problem.

His body was filled with a myriad of colors, making it impossible to distinguish anything clearly.

The only thing she could make out was the strange pattern they repeated, the little balls of light would seemingly change to other colors then turn to black and would need to change to black before turning to another color. It literally meant black was some sort of dormant state for them to switch.

Under normal circumstances, the unknown would have filled him with fear.

But strangely enough, Orion felt the opposite.

Excitement.

Because for the first time in his life, he felt as if fate had placed something extraordinary in his hands.

When he was younger, his greatest dream had been to make a difference—to stand out and be noticed.

Unfortunately, he had never been talented enough to make that happen.

No matter how hard he tried, nothing really changed.

Time passed.

Dreams faded.

And eventually he accepted the quiet reality of living as just another ordinary person.

But now…

Life was giving him another chance.

A completely new chance.

Not necessarily to make others notice him anymore—but certainly to escape the life of a nobody.

Because deep down, no one truly wanted to live their entire life without leaving a mark.

And if an opportunity appeared before him…

Orion had no intention of letting it slip away.

The first thing he noticed after waking up earlier was the strange lightness within her body.

He wasn’t stronger.

He wasn’t faster.

Yet somehow, it felt as if his entire body had been freed from a heavy burden he had carried for years.

He knew about his regeneration ability a long time ago, as long as he didn't die on spot he could heal from any wounds he had but it wasn't really much. At most he only healed faster than others, a bullet shot would still kill him.

Perhaps this ability explained why he had survived so many dangerous incidents in the past.

Although it wasn’t as exaggerated as the abilities in manga—where wounds healed instantly—it was still an incredible starting point.

Yet this discovery only raised even more questions.

How had he survived the times he brushed so closely with death?

When he tried making a wound on himself the wound only healed a bit faster than normal, taking almost the same time to heal but the ability somehow only activated when he was in dire strait, he literally just took a hit to his brain and survived.

It definitely wasn't something minor regeneration could do but it felt like he just couldn't control it.

But for now, she decided to push those questions aside.

There were far more pressing matters she needed to understand first.