"What the f..."

"...do this? Why?"

"IBAA’s gonna go bankru..."

"...looks...earthquake..."

[Name: Adam | Planet: SS4E | Strength: 93 Agility: 4 Endurance: 1 Perception: 1] [Free Status Points: 13]

Adam could hear the group talking. But none of their words were even making it to his ears, their voices drowned by the whistle loudly whispering to him without end.

...They are... numbers.... A...

He couldn’t even hear the voice inside his head. He tried to convince himself that all this death meant nothing—they were creatures of another world, and should be treated as mindless monsters.

But they weren’t. Adam couldn’t convince himself of something that wasn’t true at all.

His own voice also convinced him that he’d already killed millions more just from being forced to participate in the Games; this one wasn’t any different.

Of course, that realization just made him feel even worse. If there was another voice inside his head, Adam wished for it to speak now and say something else.

But alas, the only thing he could really do was... just drown in guilt.

He stared at the words floating in front of him; the hundreds—no. The thousand people he killed, reduced to just points.

And perhaps the worst part of it all... was that he didn’t even suffer at all.

He should.

[Free Status Points: 13]

He stared at all his free Status Points, lowering his head for a moment before—

"Put... seven points in Strength and six on Agility," he whispered. Harvey, who was closest to him, crouched down to hear what he was trying to say.

"What was—"

"Gkh!"

"Bro?!" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Before Harvey could say anything, however, a large amount of blood spewed out from Adam’s mouth—no. It didn’t just spew out; it flowed violently.

"Fuck?! What’s wrong with the fucking midget?!"

"Adam?! Call for a medic, now!"

[Wow! Wow! Wow! Congratulations on finally reaching your first hundred points! And on Strength, nonetheless, you masochist. For being the first, and probably the only one to achieve 100 points in Strength, the Universe has decided to grant you 10 free Status Points!]

Adam wheezed, he couldn’t even move at all from the pain that suddenly raptured across every inch of his body. He was only expecting the brief, sharp pain that came along with him increasing his attributes. But this was... different.

[The Universe is detecting that you have consumed an Eye of Administrator Mikhail, allowing you to surpass and break your limits! Your body will now once again undergo complete reconstruction. This will only last for a few seconds, at least, that is how it should be. Due to the nature of your existence and body...

...the process will repeat itself over and over again until successful.]

[The Administrator, Mikhail, laments your fate.]

[The Administrators are once again watching you, curious as to what you will become.]

[The Administrators are...]

Adam gritted his teeth to the point his jaw shattered into pieces—no. It didn’t shatter because of his bite; it shattered because, like the rest of the bones inside his body, they were being broken down, turned into powder—some seeping into his flesh and piercing his nerves, causing a pain... he hadn’t quite experienced before.

"Adam?! What’s wrong?! Fuck!"

"Here! Right here! Bring down the chopper here!"

Beatrice and the others were afraid to even move Adam; his face was planted on the ground, and his breaths convuluted. His eyes moved to his friends, and then back to the ground, looking at the feet approaching them.

But soon enough, everything became a blur. He closed his eyes for a moment, the mud created by his blood seeping into his eye, and as he tried opening them again, there was nothing but darkness that greeted him.

"F-fuck... his eyes are melting!"

"What the..."

"Adam?! Where’s Adam?!"

His hearing followed next, and the only thing that was left was the warmth of his own blood and the cold whispering down his neck. But soon, even that, too... was gone. He couldn’t even feel anything.

He didn’t know whether the people around him were moving, whether they were talking, or whether he was even breathing. Maybe... not?

If he were any other person, Adam would probably be drowned with panic and fear right now. But he wasn’t. In fact, if anything, he felt incredibly... at peace.

Is this... what death feels like? It feels wonderful, Adam. Maybe... we could stay like this forever? Is this what you felt, trapped inside that crypt for thousands of years? How did you even survive that? Did time just move on without you knowing?

Can... it become like that again? But... do you really want that? You have friends now. Family. Katherine is still here—you heard her voice, too. Right? She’s here. She came for you. Do you... really want that to...Put all my new Status Points into Agility. You crazy—

"Grah!"

Like a flower blooming instantly, Adam’s entire body healed. His powdered bones, his organs, his brain, his heart, his veins—all healed at the same time, once again allowing him to feel, see, and hear everything around him.

"Adam?!"

Adam stood up, causing the medics surrounding him to quickly back away. As for Beatrice and the others, they quickly approached...but were pushed away by Katherine, who stopped right in front of him.

"Adam..." Katherine’s eyes darted, checking and studying each corner of Adam’s body. She patted his arm, hesitating for a moment before grabbing it entirely. "This..."

It didn’t even take her a second to notice how... solid his arm felt. Dense. It still felt soft to the touch, but once she pressed on it, it felt more akin to steel than flesh. But of course, Katherine pushed all of these other thoughts aside and wrapped her arms around Adam in a tight embrace.

"Are you... are you okay?" she whispered, trying her best not to swallow her words. "Your... your flesh was... your body was melting and we didn’t know what... what happened?"

"I was... melting?" Adam blinked several times; his eyes, focused on the words floating in front of him.

[Name: Adam | Planet: SS4E | Strength: 100 Agility: 20 Endurance: 1 Perception: 1] [Free Status Points: 0]

"Are you okay...?" Katherine repeated, gently caressing Adam’s cheeks, wiping away the blood and whatever else was on it.

"Yes. I think... I’m fine now." Adam once again blinked, his eyes finally landing on Carmen and the others, who were looking at him like he’d just resurrected. Well, he probably did.

"Thank you," he said. "I think I just need a couple of minutes’ rest and... we’ll go support Mira and the others."

"Adam." Katherine lightly pulled away from him, glaring at him. "You do know you can rest, right? You need to rest. You’ve just—"

"You know better than me that I don’t need to rest." Adam sighed, then placed his hand on her shoulder. "I’m fi—Katherine?!"

Katherine suddenly stumbled several feet back, almost rolling all of a sudden. Adam was about to check on her, but ended up leaping into the air.

"Wha..." His eyes turned wide, and Katherine also looked up at him as she recovered. He... only added seven points on Strength, and yet the difference was almost uncontrollable—no. Not almost, just uncontrollable.

He dropped to the ground, his face once again slamming on a pile of corpses. He quickly stood up, only to once again be thrown in the air. This time, he managed to land properly, slowly and carefully, standing up and making sure to use as little strength as possible. He... almost looked like a baby learning to walk.

He slowly turned toward Katherine, who’d already fully recovered and was making her way toward him.

"Adam. What... is happening to you?" Katherine asked. "Did... you grow stronger?"

Adam looked down for a moment and subtly nodded to her.

"Is... growing stronger the ability you gained from the Game?" Katherine quietly asked, and Adam placed a finger on his lip. Katherine understood, and she just returned a nod to him before Harvey and the others followed.

"Bro. You’re definitely not okay." Harvey leaned down, his eyes wide while staring at Adam’s face. "Ms. Katherine’s right. You should fucking rest."

"...Wait, aren’t you in that telenovela...?" Meanwhile, Carmen was staring up at Katherine, her mouth slightly opened.

"I just... need to get my bearings." Adam shook his head. "We need to help Mira and the others."

"There’s no need for that—Mira had already successfully closed the Leak," Beatrice said, checking on her tablet. "Like us, the alien combatants they faced weren’t that strong."

"Oh..." Adam sighed in relief. "That’s... good, then. I guess humans are stronger than we thought?"

And with those words, Beatrice, Harvey, and Carmen quickly lowered their heads and immediately became quiet.

"What’s... wrong?" Adam looked at them, squinting. "Did something happen? Did one of us... get hurt?"

"No." Beatrice quickly shook her head, typing something on her tablet before showing Adam an image.

"Canada’s Toronto... was completely destroyed."

"What...?" Adam stared at the image, but he couldn’t really make it out from all the haze.

"The alien Heroes that appeared in Toronto were... all believed to be S-tier."

Beatrie swiped the screen, switching to another image—and although the image was still blurry, Adam still recognized the silhouette—no. He still recognized the silhouettes of the figures within the haze.

They... all looked similar to the Emperor during the Games.