From Suffering To Power System

6. Sonic speed

[ Combat Awareness Awakened ]

[ Threat Assessment ]

[ Robber #1: Gun in hand — Primary Threat ]

[ Robber #2: Tall, carrying the bag — Slow reaction speed ]

[ Robber #3: Lean, knife visible at waistband — Aggressive temperament ]

[ Survival Probability: Direct Charge (14%) | Disruption Strategy (61%) ]

Owen clenched his fists, staring the gunman straight in the eye. He wanted to question how the system knew so much about the robbers, but he pushed that thought aside. Right now, he had to focus on fighting and winning.

“You got a death wish? I said get on the floor, now!” the gunman barked, pointing his weapon loosely at Owen.

The cashier gasped.

“No, please don’t,” she cried, her voice cracking. She turned to Owen and hissed through clenched teeth, “Get on the floor!”

Owen ignored her. How could he trust someone who had tried to trap him?

“Look,” he said, stepping closer to the gunman. His heart raced, but he forced it down, reminding himself that the system wouldn’t let anything happen to him. “Return the money and get out!”

Without warning, the robber with the knife snorted and charged at Owen with terrifying speed.

“I lost my patience with you the moment you opened your mouth.”

The strike was fast, rough, and reckless, but Owen sidestepped just in time, avoiding a brutal blow by inches. The attacker swung again. Owen grabbed his wrist mid-swing and twisted it without mercy. As the man buckled, Owen drove his knee upward, smashing his nose, then finished with a powerful blow that knocked him unconscious.

[ Impact: +10 EXP ]

[ Strength Output: 71% (Temporary) ]

[ Reflexes: 30% ]

Before Owen could even let the body fall, the gunman fired. The bullet tore through the wall inches from Owen’s head. Dust filled the air as Owen rolled violently across the floor, narrowly dodging another shot.

“Stop!” the cashier screamed.

A single glare from the man holding the money bag froze her in place. She trembled like a naked child in the cold.

In the same instant, the gunman shifted his aim toward her. Fast and deadly, he shouted, “Shut up!”

The word came with a gunshot. The bullet ripped through the air toward the cashier at nearly six hundred meters per second.

Then something impossible happened.

[ Critical Alert! ]

[ Sonic Speed — Activated ]

[ Warning: Severe fatigue possible ]

Owen didn’t have time to respond. The system had already acted.

Time slowed.

So much that Owen could see the bullet drifting forward, inch by inch, toward the cashier.

He moved.

Owen vaulted over the counter, grabbed her, and shoved her out of the bullet’s path. The world snapped back to normal as the shot slammed into the wall behind her.

[ Impact: +30 EXP ]

“What?!” The gunman stared in disbelief. There was no way Owen could have crossed that distance in time.

He exchanged a stunned glance with the remaining robber.

The cashier lay on the floor, shaking uncontrollably, until she realized an arm was wrapped around her, it was Owen’s arm.

Before she could react, Owen pushed himself upright. He drew the gun he had taken earlier from the cop and fired.

The shot was clean as it struck the gunman square in the knee.

The man screamed as excruciating pain tore through him. His gun clattered to the floor as he collapsed, blood pooling beneath him.

Owen stared in amazement. It felt like something straight out of an action movie.

But just as the system warned, his head grew hazy. His vision blurred. He had moved at a speed no living being should survive.

With the last shred of strength left, Owen turned the gun on the final robber.

“Please!” the man cried, throwing the bag onto the counter and raising his hands. “Don’t shoot... I beg you, I...”

He didn’t finish, instead, he spun on his heel and bolted for the door, fleeing with a cowardly scream.

At the same moment, Owen’s body went numb. His legs failed and he collapsed behind the counter, the gun slipping from his grasp.

Silence fell, and the cashier stood frozen, hands clamped over her mouth, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. Strangely, not a single hotel guest emerged from their rooms.

Cowards, she thought.

Her gaze drifted down to Owen’s unmoving body beside her legs.

“Oh my God,” she whispered.

His chest rose and fell faintly, but enough, at least he was alive.

She slid down against the counter, her mind replaying everything. The bullet. The impossible speed. The way he had thrown himself in front of her without hesitation.

“He saved me,” she whispered.

The sound of approaching sirens snapped her back to reality.

“Oh no—the cops!”

Earlier, before everything went wrong, she had called them. The news. The reward. It had been too tempting and now she regretted it.

Owen might be a fighter, but he wasn’t someone she wanted to turn in.

“Please don’t die,” she murmured, tears burning her eyes. “I’m so sorry—please don’t—”

She froze, and her gaze darted around the lobby.

“Room 23,” she whispered. “Oh Lord, give me strength.”

Without hesitation, she hooked Owen’s arm over her shoulder and dragged him across the floor. Heavy footsteps approached the entrance as she struggled down the hallway.

“Hurry,” she muttered.

Her hands shook as she unlocked Room 23. She pulled Owen inside, laid him on the bed, turned off the lights, locked the door, and rushed back to the lobby just as the officers entered.

“What happened here?” one cop asked, taking in the chaos.

“I was robbed,” the cashier said. “They came in with guns and knocked out the guards. I thought I was going to die.”

The officers exchanged sharp looks. One knelt beside the wounded robber.

“This shot was precise,” he muttered, calling for an ambulance.

“Where’s the shooter?” another officer asked.

The cashier shrugged. “There was a fight among them. They shot at each other, and the last one ran when he heard the sirens.”

“And you survived?”

She nodded. “I don’t know how. I was terrified.”

The officer studied her. Something felt off, but she was shaking, her voice breaking, every sign of genuine trauma.

“Dispatch said you called about the young man on the news,” he said. “Where is he?”

She swallowed, forcing herself to meet his eyes.

“He ran. I’m sorry, I couldn’t stop him.”

“No,” the officer said gently, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Your life matters more.”

He turned to his team. “Get her a medic—”

“No need,” she interrupted. “I’m going home. I’ll be fine there.”

The officer nodded. “Alright.”