2026-07-28 23:04:22Leo stared at the men. His eyes were wide and cold. He pointed his finger toward the back door.
"Leave," Leo commanded. His voice was hoarse, but it carried a deadly serious tone.
The men did not hesitate. They dropped their weapons. They turned around and ran toward the back door of the bar, slipping and sliding on the spilled alcohol, desperate to escape the demon boy. They pushed each other out of the way, bursting through the back door and running out into the dark alley.
In seconds, the large bar was completely empty, except for Leo, the unconscious thugs on the floor, and Raphael, who was groaning under the iron light.
[Combat Encounter Concluded.]
[Threat Neutralized.] [Reward: +50% Experience to Intelligence. +20% Experience to Perception.] [New Skill Unlocked: Environmental Mapping.]Leo read the golden text floating in his vision, but he was too tired to care. He dropped the broken green bottle. His hands were bleeding slightly from gripping the sharp glass.
His legs finally gave out. He fell to his knees on the dirty floor. He breathed heavily, feeling the sweat run down his face.
[Warning: Critical Stamina Failure.]
[Emergency shutdown in 60 seconds.]He only had one minute before his body forced him to sleep. He had to finish his quest.
Leo forced himself to crawl forward over the broken glass and spilled beer. His knees hurt. His hands hurt. Every single muscle in his body felt like it was tearing apart.
He crawled past Raphael. The gang boss was still conscious, breathing in ragged gasps.
"You..." Raphael coughed, spitting out a small amount of blood. "You are dead, kid. When my boys find you... you are dead."
Leo ignored him. He didn't care about tomorrow. He only cared about surviving today.
Leo reached the pool table where they had played their game. Miraculously, the stack of hundred-dollar bills was still sitting safely on the wooden edge of the table, untouched by the fight. Next to it was his folded Team Apex jacket.
Leo grabbed the cash with a shaking hand. He held the thick stack of money tightly.
[Objective Complete: Acquire Funds.]
[Quest: The Cost of Survival - SUCCESS.] [Reward: Stat Debuff Prevented.]A wave of intense, incredible relief washed over Leo’s tired mind. He had done it. He had one thousand, five hundred dollars. It was enough to pay Mr. Henderson. It was enough to buy a warm meal. It was enough to keep a roof over his head.
He stuffed the cash deep into the pocket of his jeans. He grabbed his valuable gaming jacket and shoved it back into his dirty duffel bag.
He had to leave now. The police would surely come soon. The noise of the fight was too loud.
Leo stood up slowly. His legs wobbled dangerously, but he forced himself to walk. He moved toward the front door of the bar, the heavy steel door with the deadbolt.
[Emergency shutdown in 30 seconds.]
"Just a few more steps," Leo whispered to himself. "Just get outside. Get some air."
He reached the heavy steel door. He placed his hand on the metal deadbolt and slid it back. Clack.
He grabbed the handle and pulled the heavy door open.
A rush of cold, fresh night air hit him in the face. It felt amazing. It cleared the smell of cheap cigars and spilled beer from his lungs. He smiled, ready to step out into the dark alley and disappear into the city.
But he did not take a step.
Standing right outside the door, in the dark alleyway, was a figure.
It was not the large, bearded guard from earlier. The heavy guard was lying face down in the muddy puddle on the ground, completely unconscious.
The person standing in front of Leo was tall and thin. They were wearing a long, dark raincoat. A hood was pulled over their head, casting their face into deep shadow.
Before Leo could speak, the person slowly raised their right hand.
They were holding a dark, heavy pistol. The metal barrel of the gun pointed directly at the center of Leo’s forehead.
Leo froze. His heart stopped.
Instantly, his HUD flared to life one last time. But the color was wrong. It was not the blue of calculation, or the red of warning. It was a blinding, glitching, terrifying purple.
The system text did not scroll smoothly. It violently flashed across his eyes, filled with errors and corrupted data.
[UNKNOWN ENTITY DETECTED.]
[Scanning... Scanning... FAILED.] [Entity is blocking biological scan.] [Lethal Projectile Weapon Detected: 9mm semi-automatic.] [Velocity: Lethal.] [Distance: 3 feet.]Leo stared at the black hole of the gun barrel. The system tried to draw a green evasion arrow, but the arrow flickered and vanished. The system tried to highlight a weak point on the person in the coat, but it could not pierce the shadow.
For the first time since the system had awakened in his blood, the HUD had no answer. There was no math to save him. There was no geometry to dodge a bullet from three feet away.
The purple text violently flashed its final, terrifying calculation.
[PROBABILITY OF SURVIVAL: 0%]
[NO ESCAPE ROUTE DETECTED.] [PREPARE FOR TERMINATION.]The person in the dark raincoat slowly pulled the hammer of the gun back. Click.
"Hello, Subject 47," a cold, metallic voice spoke from beneath the hood. "We have been looking for you."
Leo’s eyes widened. They knew his number. They knew about Project Prometheus.
The figure's finger tightened on the trigger.
Leo closed his eyes.
BANG!
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Chapter 17
Leo looked at Raphael coldly. He did not answer. He tossed the pool cue onto the broken table. Maya walked over to Leo. She holstered her smoking pistols. She reached up and grabbed the edge of her dark hood. She pulled it back, revealing her face in the dim light. She was young, maybe a year or two older than Leo. She had sharp, beautiful features, pale skin, and short, dark hair. But her most striking feature was her left eye. It was not human. It was a complex mechanical eye, glowing with a faint, pulsing blue light. Silver metal lines ran down her cheek, connecting the eye to her jaw. "You learn fast," Maya said, offering Leo her hand. "The system chose well.""Who are you people?" Leo asked, ignoring her hand. He was exhausted. The serum was starting to wear off. The burning heat in his veins was turning into a cold, heavy ache. "We are the mistakes," Maya said smoothly. "We are the test subjects of Project Prometheus. Years ago, a company paid poor, desperate people to take
Chapter 16
"You can't run forever, little rat," the giant laughed deeply. His voice echoed inside his metal helmet. He pulled the sledgehammer out of the floor and rested it on his massive shoulder. Leo scanned the room. The Adrenaline Override serum was powerful, but it would not last forever. He could feel his heart beating too fast. He needed a heavy weapon, but he was not strong enough to lift anything large. His eyes fell upon a long, solid wooden pool cue lying on the ground near the broken table. Leo reached down and picked it up. It felt light in his hands. The giant mercenary saw Leo holding the thin wooden stick and laughed even louder. "You are going to fight me with a stick?" the giant mocked, taking a heavy step forward. "My armor stops bullets, kid. That stick will break on my chest.""I am not going to hit you with it," Leo said quietly. His HUD shifted. The blue lines began to draw a new diagram. It was not a trajectory line this time. It was a mechanical diagram. The syst
Chapter 15
Maya did not hesitate. She raised both of her pistols and began firing rapidly. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! The bullets flew across the room, striking the mercenaries in the chest. But the bullets did not pierce their armor. The heavy Kevlar plates absorbed the impacts with dull thuds. The lead mercenary raised a heavy shotgun and fired back. Maya dived behind a heavy wooden table as the shotgun blast destroyed the wall behind her. "Covering fire is useless!" Maya shouted to Leo, who was crouching behind the sticky bar counter. "Their armor is too thick! We have to hit the weak points! Joints or the head!"Leo peeked over the top of the bar. His HUD locked onto the three mercenaries. The system immediately recognized the danger. These were trained killers. They were not going to slip on beer or fall for simple tricks. One of the mercenaries—a huge man with a scarred chin visible beneath his helmet—pointed a submachine gun toward the bar where Leo was hiding. Leo ducked down just a
Chapter 14
The loud BANG of the gunshot echoed in the small, dark alleyway. The sound was deafening. It rattled Leo’s teeth. It sent a shockwave of pressure against his chest. Leo kept his eyes tightly closed. He waited for the burning pain. He waited for his life to end. He waited for the glowing purple text of the HUD to tell him that his heart had stopped beating. But the pain never came. Instead, a heavy, wet thud sounded right behind him. Something large had fallen into the muddy puddle on the ground. Leo slowly opened his eyes. He looked down at his own chest. There was no blood. There was no bullet hole. He was still alive. "Move!" the cold, metallic voice commanded. The figure in the dark raincoat stepped forward. They grabbed Leo by the collar of his wet jacket. The figure possessed incredible, unnatural strength. With one single, powerful pull, they yanked Leo backward, dragging him out of the alley and back into the dark, destroyed bar. Leo stumbled over the heavy steel doorfra
Chapter 13
Leo stared at the men. His eyes were wide and cold. He pointed his finger toward the back door. "Leave," Leo commanded. His voice was hoarse, but it carried a deadly serious tone. The men did not hesitate. They dropped their weapons. They turned around and ran toward the back door of the bar, slipping and sliding on the spilled alcohol, desperate to escape the demon boy. They pushed each other out of the way, bursting through the back door and running out into the dark alley. In seconds, the large bar was completely empty, except for Leo, the unconscious thugs on the floor, and Raphael, who was groaning under the iron light. [Combat Encounter Concluded.][Threat Neutralized.][Reward: +50% Experience to Intelligence. +20% Experience to Perception.][New Skill Unlocked: Environmental Mapping.]Leo read the golden text floating in his vision, but he was too tired to care. He dropped the broken green bottle. His hands were bleeding slightly from gripping the sharp glass. His legs fi
Chapter 12
The HUD highlighted the bottle instantly. [Object: Glass Bottle. Weight: 1.2 lbs.][Status: Fragile. Excellent for creating environmental hazards.]Leo looked at the men slowly walking toward him. They were holding pool cues, empty mugs, and chains. They looked like monsters. Leo grabbed a tall, wooden bar stool with his left hand. He pulled it in front of him like a shield. With his right hand, he raised the green glass bottle high in the air and smashed it down hard against the wooden edge of the bar. SHATTER. The bottom half of the bottle broke off, leaving Leo holding a jagged, sharp glass weapon. But Leo did not point the broken bottle at the men. Instead, he turned around and began to wildly smash every single full bottle of alcohol sitting on top of the bar. Smash! Crash! Shatter! He broke whiskey bottles. He broke vodka bottles. He broke rum bottles. Gallons of sticky, strong-smelling alcohol poured over the bar and flooded onto the wooden floor beneath the men’s feet.
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