2025-06-21 09:15:37The night sky was ink-black, silent except for the rhythmic crashing of waves against the shore.
Then—movement.
A lifeless figure twitched under a concrete bridge, barely illuminated by moonlight. The young man sneezed violently, the sudden jolt sending ripples of pain through his battered body.
> [System synchronization complete. User detected. Vital organs critically weakened.]
Dustin Ryan squinted through blurred vision, disoriented. Blood trickled from a gash on his forehead, mixing with the dirty tidewater lapping at his waist. His soaked shirt clung to his skin, stained dark red. He tried to move his legs—nothing. Just the dull throb of broken kneecaps. Only his big toe could wiggle.
He winced, groaning.
“Did I… fall from up there?” he whispered, eyes trailing the height of the bridge overhead.
Tears stung his eyes, sliding to his ears as he coughed on the salty air. The last thing he remembered was the sound of sirens. After that—nothing but pain.
A brutal wave of agony tore through his shoulders and stomach as he tried to lift himself.
“Arghhh!”
His scream echoed beneath the bridge.
> [System has been activated. Hibernation sequence in progress...]
Then came the skull-splitting pain. Searing. Endless. It consumed him.
And Dustin passed out cold.
******
He blinked. White lights. A clean ceiling. The smell of antiseptic. A hospital?
Flashes of memory sliced through the haze like a knife.
He’d gone to the Wynne mansion—the estate of the very man who had employed his father for years as a pawn in a criminal empire. Dustin had begged Mr. Wynne to use his power to get his father released from jail. His pleas were met with mockery and cold dismissal.
An hour later, he’d been running for his life—chased, beaten, left for dead. They wanted to silence him.
The Wynnes. The same powerful family that ruined his father. A family backed by the corrupt mayor. The same people his father served faithfully, blindly. Robbing banks. Trafficking drugs. Crimes Dustin had always opposed.
And yet... his father had done it for them. For him.
So Dustin had studied harder than anyone, determined to be different. To break the cycle.
Just when he got his acceptance letter into the university of his dreams, they took it all away.
Betrayed. Broken. Left to die.
A sharp noise snapped him from the memory. The hospital door creaked open, and a nurse entered, gasping when she saw him awake.
“You’re… alive?” she stammered, eyes wide with horror.
Dustin frowned. “Huh? Were you expecting a ghost?”
“I-I mean… yes—no! I mean—actually, yes.” The nurse’s face paled further. “You were declared dead. Multiple fractures. Internal bleeding. No pulse. The ECG flatlined last night. You were gone.”
Dustin raised his hand defiantly. “And yet, here I am. Breathing. You might want to double-check your equipment.”
She hesitated, then rushed forward and took his wrist. Her eyes widened at the unmistakable pulse. “No... this isn’t possible,” she whispered. “I—I have to call the doctor.”
She bolted from the room, leaving Dustin stunned. He sat up slowly, pain radiating from every bone.
“What the hell is going on...?” he murmured.
> BING!
System: Activation sequence has now reached 100%. System initialization complete. Reset successful.
System: All requirements achieved. Host is now paired with the Whopping Tycoon System.
[This system will guide you to become unimaginably wealthy and powerful.]
[System pairing: 10%... 30%... 60%... 90%... 100%]
[Pairing complete. Full performance dependent on host.]
System: Awaiting host’s full authorization.
Dustin sat still. The voice wasn’t coming from a speaker or the room. It was inside him.
He looked down as a flicker of blue light ran beneath his skin, tracing his veins for a split second.
“H-Holy cow... what was that?” he gasped. “Does this mean... I’m already dead?”
His hand trembled over his chest as if expecting to feel nothing. But his heart—was beating. Stronger than ever.
Before he could process the next thought, the door creaked again.
But this time, it wasn’t the nurse.
A man in a black suit stepped inside. Sharp jawline. Piercing eyes. A strange insignia on his lapel.
“I see the system chose you after all,” the stranger said calmly. “Now the question is—will you accept it?”
Dustin’s breath caught.
> System: Final Warning. Host authorization required to begin Destiny Path Protocol.
Authorize now? [Yes] or [No]
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
The Betrayer’s Code
Location: Rebel Ridge – Interior Command CoreZyra’s image glitched once.Then stabilized.Her voice came through the console like silk through a razor.// “Dustin. You always were so slow. Still chasing ghosts in systems that want you dead?”Dustin couldn’t speak. His breath caught in his throat. Beside him, Kael and Riven watched, weapons half-drawn but useless. This wasn’t a trap.It was a confession.“Zyra?” His voice cracked. “You’re alive?”She tilted her head, like she was analyzing him for weakness. “Alive. Enhanced. And beyond your pathetic rebellion.”“I saw you die.”“You saw what you were meant to see,” she replied. “A burning city. A false corpse. And your own guilt eating you alive. It made you soft, Dustin. Predictable.”Kael stepped forward. “Why broadcast now?”Zyra smiled.“Because I want you to know before it happens.”“What?” Dustin growled.Zyra raised her palm—and in the flicker of holo-code across her skin, he saw the symbol of the Omega Ascendant.She wasn’t ju
The Ghost in the Flame
Location: Ruins of Bastion Delta – West ExpanseThe rain fell black.Soot and ash still lingered in the clouds, drifting like ghost-smoke over the wreckage of the Leviathan. What was once the most feared warship of the Syndicate now lay in fragments across the plains—a graveyard of fire and steel.Dustin stirred beneath the collapsed wing of a cruiser.His ribs throbbed with every breath. His vision flickered between static and shadow.Lira was unconscious beside him, pale as frost.“Lira…”He dragged himself toward her, ignoring the pain screeching through his limbs. Her skin was cold, but a faint flicker pulsed beneath the curve of her collarbone—soft gold code lines, barely visible.Alive. But different.She wasn’t just connected to the Omega Core anymore. Something had merged. Something… ancient.“Dustin, do you copy?” Kael’s voice crackled through the comm.He tapped his wrist. “Alive. Barely.”“Hold position. We’re en route with a medical evac drone.”“No drones. Too easy to tra
System Collapse
Location: Syndicate Leviathan – Core Chamber Time shattered.Silver light spiraled through the chamber, distorting space itself as Lira opened her eyes for the first time in years. But this wasn’t just awakening—it was resurrection.The Echo Knights froze in mid-motion.Dustin staggered back, shielding his eyes from the sudden storm of data and psionic force rippling through the room.Lira floated inches above the ground, wires snapping off her body one by one. Her skin pulsed with ghost-code veins, glowing faintly beneath her flesh. Her voice carried the resonance of hundreds of stored memories, like a choir speaking through a single mouth.“Dustin…”He reached out. “Lira, don’t move. You’re—”But she raised a trembling hand.And the world around them began to bend. The Leviathan groaned. Walls cracked. Sparks rained from the ceiling.[System Warning: Core Integrity Unstable – Quantum Collapse Imminent]Dustin’s HUD flashed red as the Echo Knights rebooted midair, surrounding them a
Dream Kill Protocol
Location: Northern Sky Grid – Approaching Syndicate Leviathan WarshipThe sky was bleeding.Red lights flared across the clouds as the Syndicate Leviathan, a floating fortress over seven miles long, drifted silently above the ruins of Echo City. Covered in angular plating and protected by quantum cloaking, it pulsed like a sleeping god.Inside, thousands of Syndicate operatives, AI proxies, and internal weapon systems rotated in rhythm—waiting, learning, adapting.And now, it had a visitor.A shadow broke through the cloud cover.Kael’s stolen Raven-9 dropship, silent, cloaked, gliding straight toward the Leviathan’s underbelly.Riven glanced at Dustin, who stood at the rear bay doors. He hadn’t blinked in three minutes.“You sure you’re ready for this?” she asked.“No,” Dustin said. “But I’m going anyway.”Kael's voice crackled through the cockpit. “We’ve got one window. You drop in, find Lira’s chamber, and plug into the core. Once you’re inside, I’ll trigger a system spike to delay
The Rise of Omega
The Omega symbol burned across the sky for thirty-two seconds.Long enough to be seen by satellites. Long enough to trigger every system AI in the Northern Grid. And long enough to tell the Syndicate what they feared most—He was awake.[SYSTEM MESSAGE: CODE CORE INITIALIZED]Access Level: Expanded.Omega Signature Detected.Warning: You are being tracked.]Dustin staggered back from the tombstone-lined hillside, chest heaving. His veins pulsed with strange light. Data streamed in beneath his skin like veins of electric silver. His vision flashed.He saw cities collapsing, systems cracking, and a face—Lira’s.Bound to a floating throne of cables. Eyes glowing white. A tear frozen on her cheek.Help me. Then it was gone.******Riven grabbed Dustin by the collar. “You saw something.”“A city. Lira. She’s still—”“Alive?” Riven’s voice was sharp. “No. Not alive. She’s in the network. You activated the last key. The moment you purged the Ghost Core, the Omega AI awoke.”Kael’s voice buz
Ghost Protocol
The safehouse was buried beneath a cemetery.A thousand tombstones above. A thousand secrets below.Dustin had barely caught his breath when the reinforced door slammed shut behind them, drowning out the chaos of the city. The passage had been lined with old bones and modern sensors — a strange fusion of death and technology.He followed the mysterious one-eyed man down a narrow corridor lit by blue fluorescents embedded into the stone walls. The air smelled like iron and ozone.“What is this place?” Dustin asked, glancing behind them.“The dead zone,” the man said. “Our systems don’t work here. Neither does the Syndicate’s surveillance. It’s one of the few ghost zones left after the Blackout Wars.”“Blackout Wars?”The man didn’t slow. “You don’t remember anything before the hospital, do you?”Dustin frowned. “No. Just flashes. A woman. Fire. Blood.”The man finally stopped at a sealed door marked with a glowing insignia: two interlocked serpents eating their own tails.Ouroboros.He
You may also like
The Invincible Arthur Gardner
Herolich97.7K viewsHUDSON EMPIRE BUILDING SYSTEM
Boujeeboss16.7K viewsIt All Started With Lightning
monstersells35.3K viewsThe Golem Mage
Destiny Foromeh83.9K viewsThe System of Power is Money
Moana10.6K viewsTHE ASCENSION SYSTEM
Ng 1.5K viewsDebt System
Night_Shadow714 viewsHeavenly Executioner System
Jie Ramadhan83 views