Darkness swirled in Mark's mind, thick and cold like oil. He didn't know how long he had been unconscious—seconds, minutes, hours? Time blurred when you stood at the edge of death.
Then came the voice.
System rebooting… Host stabilized. Life force absorbed. Awakening process complete.
Mark gasped as air rushed into his lungs like fire. His body jerked, pain lancing through his chest. He lay sprawled in the ruins of what used to be his living room, now nothing more than scorched wood, broken tiles, and shattered glass. He blinked, slowly focusing on the smoky sky above.
Miyu…
The memory slammed into him like a hammer. She had tried to kill him. No, It seem to be something had be controlling her from the way she spoke.
Mark pushed himself up, his hands trembling. Around him, the wreckage stretched like a battlefield. This was supposed to be his home, the one place where he could lay around and now it was in disaster. From the cut all around to broken things.
The system's voice returned, calm and inhuman. Enemy presence eliminated. Foreign influence detected in subject "Miyu." Possible external control source. Analysis ongoing.
He clenched his fists. "But who will try to kill me by controlling her…"
The system remained silent for a while before saying.
Mark's thoughts spiraled. Was the world trying to erase him? First the sudden awakening of this strange system within his body, and now Miyu.
"It's like the universe is trying to crush me," he muttered, standing with effort. He looked at the blackened skeleton of his home. That was Miyu as the system had told him to absorb her life force to make sure she wouldn't stand up and grow stronger.
The couch he used to sleep on, the photos he never hung, the books he meant to read—all destroyed in the crossfire between an enemy-controlled Miyu and the system's automatic defenses.
"I didn't even get to say goodbye," he whispered, eyes burning as he look at his shraded books and pictures.
Anger began to stir in his gut—not just at Miyu, but at the enemy. The thing that had turned his home into a crater.
Why me?
The system's voice returned. Emotional turbulence detected. Suggestion: seek shelter. Host requires recovery. Alert: surveillance drones approaching. Location compromised.
He kicked a half-burned table leg and winced as pain flared up his leg. His power had grown—he could feel it—but it didn't take away the ache, or the hollow feeling swelling in his chest.
Where was he supposed to now?
He stared off into the distance, at the faint glow of the city skyline miles away. Could he risk going back? Doubtful. Whoever had control Miyu would probably be dead by now.
Mark sighed, pressing a palm to his chest where Miyu's attack had struck. The pain still could be felt all over his body.
He shook his head. No time for guilt. Not now.
"I'll find somewhere," he said aloud, as much to himself as to the System. "A new place. Somewhere quiet. Somewhere no one knows me. Then we'll figure out who did this."
The system responded, colder than before. Affirmative. Host objective updated: locate safe refuge. Engage in recovery. Prepare for future threats.
Mark stared once more at the ruins of his home, heart heavy. "I'll make them pay," he whispered. " For this house, for my picture, my books, For everything."
' The world has attack me now it was time to level up,' Mark thought as he knew danger was coming fast.