2026-02-21 15:48:18Kieran shifted his gaze away from the television screen a few seconds after the word suicide was clearly spoken by the news anchor. Without expression, he reached for the remote that the nurse had placed beside the hospital bed earlier and pressed the power button. The screen immediately went black, and the room returned to silence.
All of that was indeed the past. Technically, it was no longer even him. However, feelings were not so easily severed.
He did not want to know the details of the investigation broadcast on television because he knew it was all lies and the result of manipulation by his family.
A light knock sounded at the door. A nurse entered while pushing a small trolley filled with food. The aroma of warm soup slowly spread through the room.
“It’s time for dinner,” she said kindly.
Kieran nodded slightly. He did not have much appetite, but this body needed nourishment if he wanted to recover quickly.
After the nurse took the empty tray and left, the fatigue he had been holding back since the afternoon finally became clear.
The sky outside was already dark. Kieran laid his head back on the pillow. He only intended to close his eyes for a moment while waiting for the system process to finish. However, this teenage body was indeed still weak. His consciousness slowly sank without him realizing it.
When he opened his eyes again, the room was dark except for the corridor light filtering in through the gap beneath the door.
He blinked several times.
How long had he been asleep?
The wall clock showed that more than five hours had passed.
As if waiting for his awareness to stabilize, the system’s voice immediately sounded.
[Value enhancement process completed.]
Kieran instantly became fully alert.
[Object report: Gold bracelet.]
[Initial purity level: 18K.][Current purity level: 24K.][Weight unchanged: 3.8 grams.][Physical structure stable. No significant visual changes.]Kieran drew a slow breath.
“Out,” he said inwardly.
At once, the bracelet reappeared in his palm.
He lifted it slightly toward the light. Its shine looked cleaner and clearer. The gold color was deeper, no longer mixed with a dull hue.
In the East Rail District, the poor district where this body’s family lived, gold of this purity should be quite valuable. Especially for a daily laborer’s family.
But “quite valuable” did not necessarily mean “enough to solve the problem.”
“What is the selling price of this bracelet in ASD?” he asked the system.
[Calculation based on the pure gold market price in the Averion region.]
[Current estimated selling price: 312 ASD.]He did not react immediately, but his fingers tightened slightly. Not small for a thin bracelet. But not large either.
He fell silent for a moment, then asked again, “Can you determine my mother’s total debt?”
[Data unavailable. The system does not have direct access to an individual’s financial information without initial parameters.]
Kieran exhaled softly.
“Then estimate the hospital costs. From the beginning until now.”
The system processed again.
[Estimated costs for initial critical treatment, emergency surgery, hospitalization, medication, and observation:]
[Estimated total: 2,740 ASD.]Almost nine times the price of the bracelet. Not including the possibility of the family’s previous debts.
Kieran sighed quietly. So it was true. One bracelet was not enough. Even if he enhanced several small items, the result would not immediately close a hole that large.
He looked at the bracelet in his hand once more before putting it back into the spatial space for the time being.
If this space could increase value without significantly altering physical form, then he needed items that were easy to purchase with small capital, physically stable, and had a significant price difference when their quality increased.
Precious metals were clearly a safe option, but his initial capital was limited.
Antiques? Too risky and required specific knowledge.
Cheap jewelry? Required precise calculation.
Or… raw materials?
He stared at the ceiling of the room. The space had a volume of five cubic meters. Not small for an initial level. He could store quite a lot of items if necessary. However, he could not act recklessly. Sudden money movement could attract attention.
He had to act gradually and methodically.
He closed his eyes again until his consciousness slowly sank into a deeper and calmer sleep.
Morning came. Kieran woke to a soft call that felt so familiar in his ears.
“Kieran… wake up, my child.”
He slowly opened his eyes. His mother was already standing beside the bed, carrying a small thermos and a simple cloth bag. Her hair was tied carelessly, several strands falling around her face.
She looked more tired than yesterday. Dark and heavy eye bags were clearly visible. Her skin was pale, her lips slightly dry. Without needing to ask, Kieran knew the woman had not slept. After finishing her night shift, she must have gone straight home, cooked something, and then come to the hospital.
“I brought soup. Eat,” she said softly, trying to sound cheerful.
She poured the contents of the thermos into a small bowl. The light aroma of chicken broth immediately spread. Not luxurious, but made sincerely.
Kieran looked at her for a few seconds before speaking.
“You didn’t sleep?”
His mother gave a small smile.
“I’ll sleep a little later.”
“You don’t need to bring food,” Kieran continued in a calmer voice. “The nurse said food will be delivered. You should rest.”
The woman shook her head lightly.
“It’s fine. Home-cooked food is better. You just recovered, you have to eat something warm.”
Her tone was gentle, yet firm. Kieran did not argue further. He knew this type—once she decided something, she was difficult to sway.
He accepted the bowl.
When their hands touched, beneath the slightly exposed long sleeve, several dark bruises were visible on his mother’s wrist and the side of her arm. A bluish-purple color that had not fully faded.
His mother quickly pulled her sleeve down, trying to cover it.
But it was too late.
Kieran placed the bowl back on the small table. His hand moved faster to grab his mother’s wrist.
“Mom,” his voice lowered, “what is this?”
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Chapter 009
The next morning, Kieran woke to a soft voice calling his name. He slowly opened his eyes. His mother was already standing beside the bed with a food container in her hand.“Wake up. Eat first, then we’ll take care of the administration and go home,” she said softly. Her tone tried to sound light, but the dark circles under her eyes were becoming more obvious.Kieran sat up slowly. He wanted to ask about the cost, how she had paid it, and where the money had come from. But when he saw her exhausted face and the faint, the question stopped in his throat. Even if he asked, he would not be helping anything right now.In the end, he simply accepted the bowl of soup and began eating quietly. This time, he finished it without leaving anything. His mother looked relieved to see that.Not long after that, the administrative process was completed. They walked out of the room toward the elevator. At the end of the corridor, several nurses and an administrative staff member were talking in some
Chapter 008
After sitting for quite some time, Kieran finally stood up. He walked slowly along the garden path, then reentered the hospital building through the side door.His steps were unhurried. A nurse who passed by him only glanced briefly and gave a small nod. A doctor coming out of an examination room even offered a faint smile, perhaps assuming the young patient was simply taking a casual walk to pass the time.No one was suspicious. Meanwhile, Kieran’s eyes moved subtly, noting every detail.In his mind, he spoke quietly to the system, “Create a detailed map of this building.”A few seconds later, transparent lines seemed to spread across his thoughts. [Data is being mapped…][Structures of floors one to three have been recorded.]Kieran did not change his expression. He still looked like a teenager leisurely spending his free time.Tonight, he would act.After feeling it was enough, he returned to his hospital room. The door was open. However, the moment he stepped inside, the room was
Chapter 007
The woman fell silent for a moment.“Just a small scrape. I accidentally fell in the kitchen yesterday.”Kieran stared at her without blinking. That was not a scrape. It was a grip mark. An uneven bruise, like the imprint of pressing fingers.From the original owner’s memories of this body, he remembered that his father often came home drunk, frequently asked his wife for money, and if there was none, he would beat her.The original owner of this body might have been afraid of his father due to childhood trauma, but the current Kieran was not. He even hated the old man, not much different from how he hated his father in his life before transmigrating.“That old man did this?” he asked flatly. He did not say the word father.His mother flinched slightly at his tone, then exhaled softly.“It’s nothing. Don’t think about unnecessary things. Just focus on recovering.”She finally managed to gently pull her hand away, then adjusted her sleeve again and tried to return to the original topic
Chapter 006
Kieran shifted his gaze away from the television screen a few seconds after the word suicide was clearly spoken by the news anchor. Without expression, he reached for the remote that the nurse had placed beside the hospital bed earlier and pressed the power button. The screen immediately went black, and the room returned to silence.All of that was indeed the past. Technically, it was no longer even him. However, feelings were not so easily severed.He did not want to know the details of the investigation broadcast on television because he knew it was all lies and the result of manipulation by his family.A light knock sounded at the door. A nurse entered while pushing a small trolley filled with food. The aroma of warm soup slowly spread through the room.“It’s time for dinner,” she said kindly.Kieran nodded slightly. He did not have much appetite, but this body needed nourishment if he wanted to recover quickly.After the nurse took the empty tray and left, the fatigue he had been
Chapter 005
The room returned to silence after the door closed. Kieran remained lying down, staring blankly at the window with its curtains half open. His aunt sat not far from him, occasionally checking her phone, occasionally looking at him with a gaze that still did not fully believe he was awake.But Kieran’s thoughts were not there. He slowly closed his eyes, trying to “feel” the existence of the spatial space again. He needed a test. Something small at first and inconspicuous.The water bottle on the bedside table? Or the plastic spoon from the meal tray?He could not recklessly experiment with trivial items like that. What if, after testing one object, the spatial space required a long recovery time? Wouldn’t he just be wasting it?Kieran drew a slow breath.Besides the storage function, what mattered more was the ability to double an object’s value. That meant whatever he put inside, if it worked according to the system’s explanation, would become an asset.He did not like uncertainty, s
Chapter 004
Not far from his bed, two women stood facing each other. Their appearance was simple, ordinary clothes that looked worn from long use, hair tied up without much care. They looked like most women one might meet at a market or a bus stop.However, the exhaustion on one of their faces was unmistakable.That woman, the mother of this body’s original owner, had fine lines that were too deep for her age. Her eyes were red and slightly swollen, as if she had cried too often over the past few days.The woman beside her, who was likely her sister, looked calmer, though the dark circles under her eyes showed that she, too, lacked sleep.Kieran watched them in silence for a few seconds. His chest felt tight, not from physical pain, but from feelings he could not ignore.“Mom…”His voice was hoarse, soft, almost like a breath. He could not hold back the sadness in his heart, after all, he had lost his original mother. And now he was calling someone “Mom.” Someone who could indeed be said to be hi
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