The night pressed close around the workshop roof, the air was sharp with the scent of rain and pipe metal. Kaelen Burn leaned against the railing, his eyes were fixed on the distant towers of the upper tiers. The academy's spires glowed faintly through the mist, steady and unreachable. He could feel the hum beneath his skin had grown louder since sunset. It wasn't the city's current mumbling; he felt it was deeper, and active.
The static he was feeling in his chest wasn't new, since the explosion incident. But tonight it throbbed like something trying to get out. Every pulse felt like a knock at the edge of his consciousness, soft at first, then insistently rhythmic. The last few days had been strange enough, with system's flickering lights, the faint numbers that ghosted at the corners of his vision, but now they burned bright as if demanding his attention.
He exhaled, slow and steady. "Almost there," he whispered, reading the synchorization numbers increasing.
The wind shifted, carrying the faint buzz of current lines and the metallic tang of ozone. The city below was quiet for once; even the usual drone of hover-trams had faded into the night. Only the rain, whispering against the metal roofs, which broke the stillness. Kaelen closed his eyes, listening. The whisper returned. It wasn't the sound of the wind, nor the humand vibrations of machines, but a voice that wasn't quite a voice. It came from somewhere inside him.
Synchronize.
A tremor ran through him. The air thickened, vibrating faintly, the way sound does before lightning splits the sky. The lights of the city blurred, bending inward as if drawn toward him. His pulse quickened, and before he could move, the world fractured.
Light burst outward... silent, blinding, endless. Kaelen staggered back, clutching the railing as the air split into ribbons of red and silver. Time seemed to ripple outward, every raindrop frozen mid-fall, suspended like glass beads. The hum of the city stretched into a long, dissonant chord. He tried to breathe, but the air felt heavy, viscous and alive. The world folded inward, collapsing into a single point of light that pulsed in rhythm with his heart.
Then came the voice again, clearer this time, calm, mechanical, and emotionless.
[System Initialization Complete.]
The light dimmed. The world reassembled itself piece by piece; the roof, the city, the rain, the stars. But everything looked sharper now, every edge outlined in faint red luminescence. Threads of energy wove through the air, connecting everything, the conduit lines, the towers, the faint pulse of his own heartbeat.
Kaelen gasped, gripping the railing. "What… what is this?"
A holographic panel unfolded before him, translucent and alive. Lines of data scrolled across it, forming words that pulsed faintly with each breath he took.
[Host Status]
[Name: Kaelen Burn]
[Class: Chrononaut ]
[Title:None]
[Classification
[Level: 1 (0 / 500 XP)]
[System Level: 1 (0 / 100 XP)]
[HP: 50/50]
[A.E.: 70/70]
Stats
Strength 10 | Stamina 15 | Perception 12 | Defense 11 | Agility 7 | Vitality 10 | Intelligence 14
Stat Points:0
Abilities
Time Authority — Tier 1 Lv. 1
Spatial Authority — Tier 1 Lv. 1
Active Skills
Flash Step Lv. 1 | Spatial Lock Lv. 1
Passive Skills
Chrono‑Perception Lv. 1 | Spatial Awareness Lv. 1
[Daily Mission]
Objective: 10 Push‑Ups | 1 Mile Run | 10 Pull‑Ups
Reward: +30 XP (Base and System) | +1 Stat Point
Penalty for Failure: Stat Reduction (‑1 Random Stat) | System Instability +5%
[Shop Locked — Unlocks at System Level 5]
...
Kaelen stared at the glowing text, his mind spinning. "This… this is real." His voice came out hoarse, disbelieving.
The panel flickered faintly, almost like it was waiting for him to accept it.
He swallowed hard. "You're really in my head." His reflection shimmered faintly in the red glow, eyes wide and bloodshot. "Great. I'm talking to myself now." He let out a shaky laugh. "That's not better."
The interface pulsed once, syncing with his heartbeat, the hum in his chest deepening until it felt like it was part of him. A living rhythm.
He reread the text slowly. "Push-ups? Running? Pull-ups?" He blinked, incredulous. "You're serious?"
No response. Just the faint pulse of data, calm and merciless.
"So if I don't exercise… time breaks?" he muttered. "You've got to be kidding me."
He dragged a hand down his face. "Penalty for failure… instability? What does that even mean?"
The panel blinked once, a quiet warning.
"Fine. I'll do it," he said finally, resigned. The words seemed to satisfy it as the interface shimmered and displayed a faint timer.
He looked around the roof. "Guess this is as good a place as any."
He dropped to the ground. The holographic interface hovered beside him like a silent judge. The roof was slick from rain, but he braced his hands and started the first push-up. His arms protested immediately; he hadn't trained properly and is only good at repairing things. The muscles along his shoulders trembled, but with each movement, the hum grew louder, syncing with his heartbeat.
By the fifth, his arms burned. By the eighth, his wrists ached. By the tenth, the interface pulsed and chimed softly.
[Objective Progress: 1/3 — +10 XP]
He rolled onto his back, panting, his chest heaving as he was coveredin sweats. "That's one," he murmured, half-amused, half-terrified.
The door creaked open behind him. Lira stepped out, rubbing her eyes and squinting against the light drizzle. "Kael? What are you doing?"
He froze mid-breath. "Uh… exercise."
"Now? In the middle of the night?. I literally thought you went back to sleep." She crossed her arms. Her hair stuck out in damp curls, a reminder she hadn't expected to leave her bed.
"It's… complicated," he said carefully.
She frowned. "You hit your head harder than I thought."
"I'm fine."
"Sure you are." She leaned against the doorframe, watching him. "Are– you planning to explain why you're doing push-ups right now on the roof? Or should I just assume you've lost it?"
He hesitated. "It's part of… something I need to do."
"Something the voice in your head told you?" she asked, deadpan.
He looked up sharply. "You heard it?"
She blinked. "Heard what?"
"The System."
Lira's expression softened. "Kael, you've been through a lot. The explosion, the concussion, maybe you should rest. Your brain's still—"
"I'm not imagining this," he snapped, louder than he meant to.
Her gaze flicked over him, his hands trembling, the faint glow on his skin, the wide eyes. She sighed. "I didn't say you were. I just think you're running on fumes."
He wanted to argue, to show her the interface, but she couldn't see it. The thought drained him. He sighed. "I have to run."
"At midnight?"
"Yeah."
She shook her head, half-exasperated, half-concerned. "You're impossible."
He jogged past her before she could stop him, boots clanging down the stairs, the echo swallowed by the wet air. The streets below were quiet. The rain had stopped, leaving puddles that reflected the pipe lines and flickering holo-ads. The System's interface floated in front of him, invisible to everyone else.
His breath came in steady bursts, the sound of his footsteps bouncing off empty walls. By the half-mile mark, his lungs burned. The hum inside him sharpened, almost urging him forward. Every beat of his heart was syncing to the system's rhythm, pulling him onward like a current.
He turned down a narrow alley where the neon signs buzzed faintly, their colors bleeding into the wet asphalt. His legs ached, but the world seemed to flow differently now, slower, almost aware of him you might say. The edges of reality blurred.
Then, mid-stride, the world froze.
Raindrops hung in the air like shards of glass. The hum of the city dropped into silence. Only Kaelen moved, his breath echoing in the stillness. Every sound, every motion felt thick, stretched thin across an invisible surface.
"What… is this?" he whispered, spinning slowly.
The System flickered.
[Passive Skill Activated: Chrono-Perception Lv. 1]
The frozen moment shivered, then released. Time snapped back. Water splashed, air rushed into his lungs, and he stumbled forward, gasping. "Okay," he muttered. "That was definitely real."
He looked around. The street was empty. The puddles rippled back into motion, the city's hum returning like a sigh. His body trembled, adrenaline buzzing in every vein. He bent double, breathing hard. "One more," he said between gasps.
He found an old scaffold near the workshop, its frame rusted but sturdy. The metal was slick with rain. He jumped, gripping the upper bar. His shoulders screamed in protest, but he pulled himself up, counting each motion.
By the sixth pull-up, his arms felt like lead. By the eighth, he thought he'd drop or even worse drop dead. The hum in his chest deepened, a bass vibration that resonated through his bones. He grit his teeth, finished the last two, and dropped to the ground with a groan.
[Objective Complete: +30 XP (Base and System)]
Kaelen collapsed against the wall, breathing hard. His body shook with exhaustion, but beneath it all was a strange calm. "That… was awful," he managed between heavy breaths. "You're not much for sympathy, are you?"
The System remained silent. A faint chime sounded instead.
[Stat Point +1 | System Instability 0% | Synchronization Stable]
He laughed weakly. "You're impossible."
Still nothing. Just the gentle glow of the interface fading to a steady pulse.
He leaned back, staring at the sky. The clouds had thinned, revealing the upper tiers, the silver spires of the academy glowing faintly through the mist. The city stretched out before him, endless and unknowable. Somewhere in that maze of circuits and current lines, he was now connected to something vast.
The XP bar filled a little further, glowing faintly.
[Level Progress: 30/500 XP | System Progress: 30/100 XP]
"So this is real," he whispered. "All of it."
The hum in his chest softened, no longer oppressive. It was almost comforting, like a heartbeat not entirely his own. He exhaled, letting his head fall back against the cold metal. His body felt weightless, suspended between exhaustion and calm as he caught his breath.
...
The night stretched on. The rain began again, soft and rhythmic. Somewhere in the distance, a conduit line sparked, painting the air with white light before fading.
He was already drifting, exhaustion pulling him under. The world blurred, the noise fading into silence.
When Lira found him an hour later, she stopped in the doorway, arms crossed against the cold. Kaelen sat slumped against the wall, soaked to the bone but smiling faintly in his sleep. The faint red light of the system pulsed at his temple, unseen by her.
She sighed. "You really did hit your head too hard," she muttered, draping her jacket over him.