The Forgotten Bloodline

Chapter 2

The emergency room corridor echoed with hurried footsteps.

A female doctor raced down the hallway, pushing a gurney alongside two men. Eric lay on top of it, his face covered in blood. His right arm was bent at an unnatural angle, his breathing was faint, and the monitor beside the gurney kept emitting sharp, urgent beeps.

The two men were Dominic and Andreas.

Dominic, Eric’s neighbor at the boarding house, had found him lying unconscious by the side of the road. He had immediately called Andreas, Eric’s only friend on campus.

Seeing his friend in such a terrible condition, Andreas clenched his fists.

Without hesitation, he took a picture of Eric and sent it to the faculty group chat.

‘To hell with all of you! I’ll make sure everyone involved in this ends up behind bars! You call yourselves college students, yet you ganged up on an innocent man and destroyed his life. You’re all trash! If anything happens to Eric, you’ll regret it!’

The group chat, which had been buzzing with activity only moments earlier, instantly fell silent.

The sight of Eric covered in blood with a broken arm left many people speechless. Before long, however, the conversation erupted again.

The photo spread from one group chat to another at an unstoppable rate.

Public opinion quickly became divided. Some believed the punishment Eric had suffered was far too cruel, while many others considered it a fitting consequence for someone accused of sexual assault.

The debate continued to intensify until the case became one of the most widely discussed topics online.

Meanwhile, Xavia could only stare at the photo of Eric with tears in her eyes.

She had never imagined that things would end this way.

She had intended to upload a video that afternoon to clarify what had really happened and defend Eric. But before she could do so, he had already become the victim of violence fueled by the public outrage.

She was too late.

Too many videos had been edited and paired with misleading narratives, convincing the public that Eric was truly guilty.

Without wasting another second, Xavia recorded a video to clarify the situation. Her voice trembling, she explained what had actually happened and uploaded the footage of Eric being beaten.

At the end of the video, Xavia also revealed that Eric came from a modest background. He didn’t wear worn-out clothes because he was lazy. He wore them because he had to work tirelessly to support himself and pay for college.

The video spread at an astonishing speed.

The narrative that had condemned Eric from the beginning was finally called into question.

“So Eric really was the victim?”

“One false accusation nearly destroyed someone’s entire life.”

“Imagine if Eric had actually died. Who would have taken responsibility?”

“Just because a woman is beautiful doesn’t mean she’s always telling the truth.”

The accounts that had previously shared the defamatory video quietly began deleting their posts.

However, not everyone believed Xavia right away.

“Hold on. Don’t rush to blame Issabel. Let the university investigate first.”

Some accused Xavia of defending Eric merely to attract attention, while others demanded that the university conduct an open investigation into the case.

Slowly, the tide of the debate began to turn.

The public anger that had initially been directed at Eric gradually shifted toward Issabel, Christine, and the students who had beaten him.

Hashtags demanding justice for Eric continued to appear until the incident became a nationwide topic of discussion.

Several television stations and news outlets also began covering the case, highlighting the alleged bullying, defamation, and violence that had occurred on campus.

In a single night, a personal conflict between college students had become a social issue that captured the entire nation’s attention.

⸻

The emergency room doors opened.

A doctor stepped out while removing her gloves.

“Who is the patient’s family?”

Dominic and Andreas exchanged glances.

“We’re his friends, Doctor,” Andreas answered.

The doctor gave a small nod. “He’s fortunate that he received medical attention so quickly. If he had arrived even a little later, his condition could have been far worse.”

Andreas immediately stepped forward.

“How is Eric, Doctor?”

“His life is no longer in danger. His right arm was fractured, but we’ve already treated it. At the moment, our greatest concern is his psychological condition. He suffered severe trauma and emotional distress, so we gave him a sedative to help him rest. He most likely won’t regain consciousness for several hours.”

Andreas and Dominic finally breathed sighs of relief.

At least Eric was still alive.

⸻

As the case continued to go viral, the identities of the students captured in the video were exposed one by one.

They weren’t the only ones being investigated by internet users. Their family backgrounds also became targets of public scrutiny, and their families’ reputations gradually began to suffer.

Some parents were furious upon discovering that their children had taken part in a bullying incident that had nearly cost someone his life. Others, however, tried to cover up the matter by using their influence.

Public outrage continued to rise.

“The perpetrators must be punished!”

“The university had better not try to cover this up!”

“The victim nearly lost his life!”

Calls for the university to investigate the case poured in from all sides. Faced with mounting pressure, the university could no longer remain silent.

Shortly before midnight, the university released an official statement. It announced the formation of a special investigative team and promised to release its findings no later than the following day.

⸻

Three in the morning.

Eric slowly opened his eyes.

A white hospital ceiling came into view.

He remained silent for a long time, trying to remember what had happened. A few seconds later, his eyes widened.

“I’m… still alive?”

It took him a moment to fully accept the truth.

He had survived.

Someone had brought him to the hospital.

Eric turned his head to the right. His right arm was encased in a thick cast and suspended in a sling. Almost his entire body still ached, while his face was covered in bruises and scrapes.

He let out a long breath.

Being alive was more than enough.

Ding!

An unfamiliar mechanical sound suddenly rang in his ears.

[Legacy Intelligence has successfully identified its new owner.]

At the same time, a transparent screen slowly appeared before him, hovering in midair like a holographic monitor.

Eric’s eyes widened.

“This…”

His heart began pounding faster.

It was exactly the same screen he had seen before losing consciousness.

Eric swallowed hard.

“So… it wasn’t a hallucination?”

[Synchronization initiated.]

[1%… 2%… 3%… 4%…]

Click!

The door to the hospital room opened.

Andreas had just stepped inside when his eyes widened at the sight of Eric awake.

“Eric!”

He hurried toward the bed, then looked over his shoulder.

“Dominic, hurry! Get the doctor!”

“Okay!”

Dominic immediately turned around and ran out of the room.

Eric, meanwhile, merely glanced at Andreas. He couldn’t hear a word his friend was saying.

All his attention was fixed on the transparent screen hovering before his eyes.

What shocked him even more was that Andreas didn’t seem to notice the screen at all.

“Eric, can you hear me?”

Andreas waved a hand in front of his face.

There was no response.

Eric’s gaze seemed to pass straight through Andreas, as though he were staring at something no one else could see.

The numbers on the screen continued to rise.

[98%…]

[99%…]

[100%.]

[Synchronization complete.]

The display before Eric changed.

===================

LEGACY INTELLIGENCE

Status: Active

Owner: Eric Brown

Age: 22

===================

A few seconds later, new lines of text slowly appeared.

[Welcome, Mr. Eric.]

[I am Legacy Intelligence, an artificial intelligence developed approximately 218 years after your time.]

[My primary function is to assist my owner in analyzing information, identifying solutions, and increasing the likelihood of success when facing various challenges.]

[Attention.]

[I cannot make decisions on behalf of my owner. Every choice remains entirely yours.]

Eric’s eyes widened.

“Two hundred and eighteen years…?”

His heart pounded even harder.

For the first time in his life, he felt as though he were facing something completely beyond human understanding.

⸻

The night passed.

Eric slowly began to accept the system’s existence while Andreas explained everything that had happened after he lost consciousness.

However, whenever Andreas asked who had attacked him, Eric merely shook his head.

“Forget it. I’ll deal with them myself.”

Andreas stared at him for a moment, but eventually nodded and respected his decision.

Not long after Andreas left the room, the transparent screen appeared once again.

[Blood relative detected.]

[Location: Kravania.]

[Would you like to transmit an identification signal to the target?]

[YES]  [NO]

Eric froze.

“A relative…?”

His breath caught in his throat.

For all twenty-two years of his life, he had believed his parents were the only family he had ever had.

Could there be other members of his family he knew nothing about?

His eyes remained fixed on the two options displayed before him.

The room fell silent once more.

After a long moment of deliberation, Eric finally raised his left hand.

His fingertip slowly touched—

[YES].