THE DISCARDED SON-IN-LAWS GOD-LEVEL DOMINION SYSTEM

Chapter 2

Rain hit Ethan's face like cold needles.

He pushed himself up from the wet ground with both hands. His left cheek was already swelling fast. Blood still leaked from the cut on his lip. Every breath hurt his ribs. The rain soaked through his cheap suit until it felt heavy as lead on his body. Water ran down his neck and into his shirt. His shoes were full of cold water.

The blue screen floated in front of him, bright against the dark night. The words stayed clear even when he blinked.

[Combat Template: War God - available for unlock.]

[Cost: Complete first mission.]

Ethan looked around the empty street. Cars passed in the distance with bright headlights that hurt his eyes. The Whitmore mansion lights still glowed behind the high walls. Music and laughter still came from inside. No one came out to check if he was dead. No one cared if he lived or died in the rain.

He wiped blood and rain from his eyes with the back of his hand. His fingers shook a little from the cold and the pain. He forced them to stop.

Footsteps sounded on the wet road.

Three men walked toward him under the street light. They wore black jackets and heavy boots. Their faces were hard and empty of kindness. One of them held a long knife that shone under the light like a silver tooth. Another carried a thick wooden stick. The third man cracked his knuckles as he walked.

"Boss Damien said to finish the job," the tallest man said. His voice was rough from smoking. "No witnesses. Make it look like a street fight that went wrong. Leave him in the gutter."

Ethan wiped more rain from his face. His heart beat fast in his chest, but his hands stayed steady at his sides. He did not run. He did not beg. He simply watched them come closer.

The three men surrounded him in a half circle. Water dripped from their jackets. The one with the knife stepped closer and pointed the blade at Ethan's chest.

"Any last words, trash?" the man asked. He smiled like he already enjoyed what was about to happen.

Ethan said nothing. He watched the knife and waited. His breathing stayed calm even as anger burned under his skin.

The man swung the blade toward Ethan's heart with full force.

Something exploded inside Ethan's mind like a bomb going off.

[Combat Template: War God - unlocked.]

[Power surge activated.]

Heat flooded Ethan's body from head to toe in a single wave. Pain disappeared at once. His muscles tightened and grew strong. His vision became sharp as broken glass. He could see every drop of rain falling from the sky. He could hear the three men's heartbeats. He could smell their sweat and the cheap cigarettes on their clothes. Time itself seemed to slow down.

The knife came close to his chest.

Ethan moved.

His right hand shot out and grabbed the man's wrist. He twisted hard and fast. Bone cracked with a wet sound that made the other two men step back in shock. The knife fell to the ground and spun on the wet road. The man screamed in pain and surprise.

Ethan punched him once in the face with his left fist. The power behind the punch was nothing like before. The man flew backward and hit a parked car with a loud crash. The car alarm started to scream into the night. The man slid down the side of the car and did not get up.

The other two men froze in place for one second. Their eyes were wide.

"What the hell was that?" one of them shouted. His voice shook with fear. "Did you see that?"

They rushed at Ethan together with wild eyes and raised weapons. The man with the stick swung first. The third man came from the side with his fists.

Ethan stepped to the side with easy speed. His left fist hit the second man hard in the stomach. Air left the man's lungs in a rush. Ethan followed with a sharp elbow to the side of his head. The man dropped to the wet ground and did not move again.

The third man tried to run toward the dark side street. His boots slipped on the wet road.

Ethan grabbed his collar from behind and pulled him back hard. He slammed the man against the brick wall of a building. The man gasped for air and struggled. His feet left the ground for a second.

"Tell Damien," Ethan said in a low, cold voice, "the next time he sends people after me, they will not walk away. Do you understand?"

The man nodded fast, eyes full of fear. "I understand! I understand!"

Ethan let go. The man fell to his knees and crawled away into the rain as fast as his hands and knees could carry him. He did not look back.

Ethan stood alone on the street. His breathing was calm and steady. The power still burned in his veins like clean fire. He looked at his own hands. They did not shake. Rain washed the blood from his knuckles.

He walked over to the first man who still lay against the car. The man was breathing but unconscious. Ethan picked up the fallen knife, wiped the rain from the blade on the man's jacket, and tossed it into a nearby drain.

The blue screen changed in front of his eyes.

[First mission complete.]

[Reward: Ten million dollars deposited into host bank account.]

[New function unlocked: Unlimited Wealth Generation.]

Ethan looked at the numbers floating in the air. Ten million dollars. In one night. From nothing at all. He almost laughed.

He touched his face with careful fingers. The swelling was already going down. The cut on his lip stopped bleeding. The system was healing him from the inside. The pain in his ribs faded to a dull ache.

A cold laugh left his throat. It sounded strange to his own ears. He had not laughed in a long time.

Three years of pain. Three years of silence. Three years of being treated like dirt under rich people's shoes. Three years of waking up every morning in a house that hated him. All of it ended tonight in the rain.

He walked away from the mansion without looking back once. His wet shoes made soft sounds on the road. The car alarm still screamed behind him, but he did not care.

An old hotel stood three streets away. The neon sign flickered and buzzed in the rain. The lobby smelled of dust and old cigarettes. A tired man at the front desk looked at Ethan's wet clothes and the cut on his lip but said nothing. Ethan paid for one night with the last cash he had in his pocket. The room key felt cold in his hand.

The room was small and smelled of dust and old smoke. The bed was hard. The window did not close all the way. Rain still tapped against the glass. Ethan locked the door with the chain and sat on the edge of the bed. Water dripped from his suit onto the thin carpet.

He pulled off the wet jacket and threw it on the floor. His shirt stuck to his skin. He sat in silence for a long time and listened to the rain.

The system screen appeared again in the dark room.

[Host status: Stable.]

[Recommendation: Rest. Prepare for the next mission.]

Ethan closed his eyes. His mind replayed every insult from the banquet. Vanessa's cold eyes when she pointed at him in front of everyone. Damien's punch that split his lip open. Victor's kick that stole his breath. The loud laughter of three hundred rich people who enjoyed watching him fall. The way no one helped him. The way the doors closed on him like he was already dead.

Anger burned in his chest, but it was clean now. Controlled. Ready to be used like a weapon.

He opened his eyes and looked at the blue screen still floating in the air.

"What are you?" he asked the empty room.

The screen did not answer with words. It only showed the same calm text.

[God-Level Dominion System.]

[Host: Ethan Cross.]

[Current balance: 10,000,000 dollars.]

Ethan stared at the number for a long time. Ten million. More money than he had seen in his entire life. More money than the Whitmore family had thrown at him in insults over three years.

He spoke to the empty room again.

"Host, your bank account now holds ten million dollars. Use it well."

The system had already said those words. Ethan repeated them anyway. They felt good in his mouth. They felt like power.

He lay back on the hard bed fully clothed. His body was tired, but his mind was clear. Tomorrow he will walk into a bank. Tomorrow he will walk into Whitmore Group. Tomorrow the people who laughed at him would start to understand what they had done.

Outside the window, the rain kept falling hard on the city. Inside the room, a new man lay on the bed and waited for morning.

And the city had no idea what was coming for it.