THE SOVEREIGN SYSTEM CHOSE ME

Chapter 7: The Second Threat

The man's fist came again, faster than before and with enough force to make Ethan's instincts scream a warning.

Ethan twisted his head aside just in time, feeling the rush of air against his cheek as the punch tore past his face. Before he could recover, the man followed with a second strike, and Ethan managed to raise his forearm to block it. The impact jolted through his arm and slammed into his shoulder, leaving a deep ache in its wake.

Ethan staggered half a step, his shoes scraping against the polished floor.

He had barely recovered from the first exchange when another punch came toward his ribs. Ethan turned his body and avoided the worst of it, but the man's knuckles still clipped his side hard enough to make him grunt. He stumbled backward, breathing heavily as he watched the man advance without hesitation.

This wasn't close.

Ethan could feel the difference now.

He might have awakened a System, and his body might have become stronger than it had been before, but whatever advantage his Level One status gave him was nowhere near enough. The man was faster, stronger, and far more experienced. Every time Ethan managed to avoid one attack, another was already coming, forcing him to react instead of fight.

He threw a desperate punch of his own, but the man easily slipped past it and drove an elbow toward Ethan's jaw. Ethan managed to duck beneath it, yet the movement left him exposed, and a hard kick struck his thigh. Pain shot through his leg, nearly making his knee buckle.

The man stepped forward with cold confidence, his eyes fixed on Ethan as though he were already certain of the outcome. “You're stronger than a normal person,” he said, his breathing barely disturbed as he flexed his fingers. “But strength without experience won't keep you alive.”

Ethan steadied himself, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. “Good thing I'm still learning,” he replied, forcing a faint grin despite the pain burning through his body. “You might want to finish me before I get better at this.”

The man's expression darkened.

He lunged again.

Ethan braced himself, but before either of them could make contact, the hospital door suddenly burst open.

“Ethan?”

His sister's voice cut sharply through the room.

Ethan's head snapped toward the doorway.

She stood there with one hand still gripping the door handle, her face draining of color as her eyes moved across the scene. The cracked section of drywall, the overturned equipment, the syringe lying beneath the hospital bed and the unfamiliar man standing between her and her brother all seemed to register at once.

For a second, she simply stared.

“What is going on?” she asked, her voice trembling with confusion and fear.

The man's attention shifted toward Ethan's sister, and something cold flashed across his face.

Ethan recognized that look immediately.

The man wasn't thinking about him anymore.

He was thinking about her.

“Don't!” Ethan shouted, already pushing away from the bed. “Get out of here!”

His sister stood frozen in the doorway, too shocked to understand what was happening. The man took one quick step toward her, then another, and suddenly burst forward.

“Run!” Ethan yelled.

She finally tried to move, but the man's speed was terrifying. He crossed half the distance between them before she could even turn around.

Ethan's heart lurched the moment he realized he was too far away. Even if he moved now, he wouldn't reach her in time.

He pushed off the floor anyway.

His legs drove him forward, but the distance between them seemed to remain impossibly large. The man's hand was already reaching toward his sister, his fingers stretching toward the collar of her hospital gown.

Ethan's mind screamed at him to move faster, but he couldn't.

Then a blue notification suddenly flashed across his vision.

[Emergency Condition Detected.]

[Host's life or protected target is in immediate danger.]

[Unique Skill Requirement Fulfilled.]

[Skill Unlocked: Combat Reflex Surge.]

The moment Ethan saw the words, something changed. His heartbeat seemed to slow, and the man's movement became easier to follow.

Ethan watched the attacker's arm extend toward his sister, but instead of seeing one fast movement, he suddenly noticed every small part of it. He saw the man's shoulder rotate first, then his elbow straighten, then his hand move forward. He could even see the man's fingers beginning to close around the air where his sister's collar would be.

Everything around him was still moving.

It was simply moving far more slowly compared to Ethan's perception.

Without wasting another second, Ethan planted his foot against the floor and pushed forward with everything his newly awakened body could give him. His muscles responded instantly, and before he could even process how fast he was moving, the distance between them had almost disappeared.

He shot across the room and reached the attacker just as the man's outstretched hand came within inches of his sister.

Ethan wrapped both arms tightly around the man's waist from behind, locking his grip before the attacker could reach her. The man reacted immediately, twisting violently as he tried to turn around, but Ethan had already committed himself to the movement. He leaned backward, digging his feet into the floor as he pulled with all his strength, while simultaneously twisting his body to drag the attacker away from the doorway.

The man's fingers swept through empty air, missing Ethan's sister by mere inches.

Ethan did not release him.

Instead, he continued the motion and used the man's own forward momentum against him. As the attacker struggled to regain his balance, Ethan twisted harder, shifting his weight at exactly the right moment before driving the man's body sideways.

The attacker went off balance and crashed heavily into the hospital bed.

The impact sent the entire frame rattling across the floor, and the metal side rail tore violently from its hinge before clattering onto the tiles beside them.

Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the strange sensation vanished, and the world snapped back to normal speed.

Ethan stood over the man, breathing hard as he stared at his hands.

A few seconds ago, he had been certain he was too slow to save his sister.

Now he had crossed the room faster than he thought possible.

Ethan looked at the blue words still hovering faintly across his vision.

[Skill: Combat Reflex Surge]

[Effect: Temporarily enhances the host's perception and reaction speed during moments of extreme danger.]

His eyes widened slightly as he finally understood.

The skill hadn't made time stop.

It had given him the speed to keep up with it.

His hands trembled slightly as the reality of it sank in.

“Ethan, what is happening?” his sister asked, her voice trembling as she pressed herself against the doorframe.

Ethan looked at her.

For a moment, he saw the confusion in her eyes and realized how terrifying this must look from her perspective. Only a few days ago, he had been lying unconscious after suffering a gunshot wound to the head. Now she had walked into a hospital room and watched him fight a stranger with impossible speed and strength.

There was no way he could explain it.

“Get security,” Ethan said, his voice rough but firm as he kept his eyes on the man lying across the bed. “Call them right now, then get away from this room.”

She remained frozen.

“Ethan, you're hurt,” she whispered, her eyes moving over him anxiously. “You were supposed to be recovering. What happened to you?”

“I'll explain everything later,” Ethan replied, forcing his voice to remain steady despite the adrenaline flooding his body. “Right now, I need you to trust me and get help.”

His sister hesitated for another second.

Then Ethan's expression hardened.

“Go!”

The sharpness in his voice finally broke through her fear.

She spun around and rushed into the hallway, shouting for security as her footsteps rapidly disappeared down the corridor.

Ethan waited until she was gone before turning back toward the bed.

The man was already moving.

He groaned as he pushed himself upright, one hand reaching toward the back of his head. Blood trickled from a shallow cut along his hairline and ran down the side of his face, but the injury did little to slow him.

A dangerous smile slowly formed across his face.

“You know,” the man said, wiping the blood from his temple with his thumb, “my employer told me this would be a simple job.”

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood, rolling his shoulder until a quiet pop came from the joint.

“Find the survivor, confirm he's still dead, and clean up the mistake if necessary,” he continued, his voice low and bitterly amused. “But nobody mentioned that the survivor would wake up with a System.”

Ethan remained still, watching him carefully.

The man's eyes suddenly shimmered with that same faint blue light.

“And nobody mentioned,” he added, his smile disappearing, “that he'd be strong enough to throw me through a hospital bed.”

Ethan's hands tightened into fists.

But before he could take a step, a familiar blue notification appeared across his vision.

[ ALERT! ]

[ Threat proximity updated: 0.1 kilometers. ]

Ethan frowned.

Before he could make sense of it, another chime sounded in his head, and the blue interface changed.

[ WARNING: Second hostile signature has entered the building. ]

Ethan's stomach dropped straight through the floor.

There were two of them now, and the second one was already inside. He had no idea how many more were waiting outside, no idea how many minutes, or seconds, he actually had before this hallway filled with people who wanted him dead a second time.

The man in front of him smiled, slow and humorless, blood still trickling down the side of his face.

“Level one,” he said, almost to himself, shaking his head slightly like he still couldn't quite believe it. “This is going to be embarrassing for you.”

He came at Ethan again, faster this time, and somewhere down the hallway, Ethan heard the second set of footsteps break into a run.