System Activated: Divine Talent Granted

Chapter Sixty-One

Oliver gasped and opened his eyes.

For a moment, he did not understand where he was. Everything around him was strange—too sharp, too clear, too real. He was lying on something hard and cold. It was not just any cold, but a deep chill that seemed to sink into his skin, into his bones. He could feel the roughness of the surface beneath him, every tiny crack, every uneven part of the stone pressing against his back.

He could hear things too—things that no human should be able to hear. The faint sound of wind moving through a distant place, the soft crackling of unseen energy in the air, and even heartbeats—many of them—some close, some so far away they should have been impossible to notice.

And yet, he heard them all.

Something was wrong.

His own heartbeat was missing.

No. It was not gone. It was different. It was slower, quieter—no longer the steady rhythm of a living man, but something else entirely.

He sat up quickly, breathing in deep, though he somehow knew he did not need to brea