System X: Bloodline Awakening System

Kaiza walked over to Will Liam and helped him into a seat. As he did, he noticed that his uncle was wearing the same hospital patient uniform as him. That could only mean one thing—Will Liam was also a patient at this hospital.

But what happened? Kaiza wondered, his thoughts racing as he took a seat across from the man on the couch.

Silence hung heavily between the two, stretching longer than either anticipated. Kaiza retreated into his thoughts once again, desperately searching for answers within himself. Yet, as always, his attempts were futile, like grasping at shadows.

As Kaiza struggled to break through the intangible barrier clouding his memory, Will Liam was equally preoccupied, his mind spiraling with the doctor's revelations about Kaiza.

When Kaiza had been brought in late last night, a series of tests had been conducted to determine the cause of his unconscious state—a peculiar, spell-like sleep that was oddly peaceful. The results revealed he had been drugged.

The doctor, familiar with the substance, recognized it immediately. It was a drug frequently used by Iniquity Workers, and their victims were brought to the hospital almost daily. The drug's effects varied, leaving some weak and dizzy. But in Kaiza's case, it induced forgetfulness—a tragic and common outcome the doctor knew all too well.

In most cases, victims of the drug would forget significant chunks of their lives—sometimes a year, sometimes months. Rarely did the memory loss span less than a month. But Kaiza's case was different. He had only forgotten a single day, and even now, fragments of those events were beginning to resurface in his mind.

The doctor had explained this anomaly to Will Liam, advising him not to pressure the boy into recalling memories. Forcing him to remember could overwhelm his mind, potentially plunging him into a coma. Instead, the doctor recommended that Kaiza be allowed to recover his memories naturally, without interference.

Will Liam sat in quiet contemplation, wrestling with the weight of the situation. How was he supposed to explain to Kaiza what was happening in his life now? How could he tell the boy that his parents were gone, perhaps even that Kaiza might not remember having parents at all? If Kaiza only remembered him, as the doctor had suggested, how would he help the boy navigate such a harsh reality?

Stealing glances at Kaiza, Will Liam's heart ached. The young man across from him was deep in thought, his expression clouded with confusion. Kaiza's mind was occupied with his own questions.

'Did Uncle Will Liam get into an accident? And why was he screaming about a sister? Who is this sister?'

As Will Liam had feared, Kaiza couldn't recall ever having parents. All he knew was Uncle Will Liam, the man sitting in front of him. The drug's effects had made this a reality, just as the doctor had warned.

Kaiza, meanwhile, was trying to piece together the blurry image in his mind. The scene replayed over and over, but every time, it stopped at the same point. He couldn't push past it, no matter how hard he tried.

But something new began to surface in the loop replaying in Kaiza's mind. This time, he saw himself in the scene, sadness radiating from him, so intense it was almost suffocating. Then, for the first time, he could hear his own thoughts.

"I don't have parents anymore."

The words echoed in his mind, chilling him to the core.

"What does that mean? Did my parents... die on my birthday?" Kaiza wondered, his thoughts spiraling.

Before he could delve deeper into the unsettling realization, a voice interrupted him.

"About..."

Will Liam's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Kaiza raised his face, meeting the older man's gaze. Sympathy flickered in his eyes, not because he pitied his uncle for losing his sister, but because he could sense the weight he carried—the effort it took to speak to him, to pretend to be strong.

Will hesitated, regretting his choice to speak. The doctor's warning echoed in his mind, reminding him to tread carefully. But it was too late. He had already begun, and Kaiza's curious expression made it clear there was no turning back.

"About what happened yesterday," Will finally said, his voice steady but guarded. He stopped there, gauging Kaiza's reaction, hoping to discern how much the boy actually remembered.

"What happened yesterday?" Kaiza asked, leaning forward slightly. His tone carried a mix of curiosity and urgency. Maybe this conversation could provide answers to the chaos swirling in his mind. After all, he didn't trust the fragmented memories haunting him—they felt unreal, like fragments of a dream he couldn't wake from.

At first, Will Liam hesitated, the weight of the doctor's warning pressing heavily on his mind. Forcing Kaiza's memories to resurface could be dangerous. But curiosity and the need to address the unspoken tension drove him to continue.

"...," Will began, but Kaiza interrupted, his sharp voice cutting through the silence.

"Did something happen to your sister?" Kaiza asked, noticing the hesitation and pain etched across Will's face. His uncle seemed lost in a battle with himself, struggling to maintain composure.

The question hit Will hard, dragging him back to a memory he wished he could forget.

Back then, when Sulan—known to many as M. Boss—broke the news of Kaiza's parents' brutal death, it was Will who felt too weak to bear the burden. He recalled watching Kaiza, who had witnessed the horrifying event firsthand, barely shedding a tear. Instead, the boy had been consumed by an overwhelming sense of vengeance, a fire that burned brighter than his grief.

Now, sitting across from Kaiza, Will found himself reliving that moment. The pain, the helplessness, and the guilt all came rushing back. He tried to appear strong for the boy's sake, but the effort was futile. His tears betrayed him, streaming down his face despite his best attempts to hold them back.

What struck Will even more was Kaiza's calm demeanor. He had always known the boy was strong, but this? This was beyond anything he had imagined. Kaiza had not only lost his parents but had witnessed their deaths. Yet here he was, composed, almost unnervingly so.

But Will didn't know the whole truth. Beneath Kaiza's stoic exterior, a storm raged. The pain was there, buried deep, but it was overshadowed by a singular, all-consuming desire: vengeance.

Kaiza wasn't ignoring his emotions—he was channeling them into a purpose. Every person involved, no matter how small their role, would pay for what they had done. That was the vow he had made to himself.

Despite Kaiza's condition, a part of him felt an inexplicable pain, a deep ache in his heart that he couldn't understand. It was as though he had lost something irreplaceable, leaving a void that could never be filled. Yet, he didn't know what it was. He assumed the sorrow he felt was merely a reflection of the man's pain before him. Perhaps he was just being emotional, watching a grown man cry so openly.

Kaiza had waited for a response from Will Liam for what felt like an eternity, but all the man did was cry—his sobs growing heavier each time their eyes met.

Finally, Will managed to compose himself, though his voice still wavered. "Kaiza, do you remember being injected?" he asked, steering the conversation in a different direction. Speaking of Kaiza's parents' death felt too harsh, especially given his fragile state.

At the mention of being injected, Kaiza felt a sharp pain flare at the side of his neck—the very spot where Sulan, then known as M. Boss, had jabbed him. His hand shot up instinctively, rubbing the area as if to soothe the phantom pain.

And then it happened—a rush of memories surged through his mind. This time, it wasn't fragmented pieces but a vivid recollection of a specific moment. He remembered himself rushing to get an inhaler for a sick man, the driver—unbeknownst to him, his nemesis.

Kaiza froze as the scene played out in his head. Every detail felt strikingly real, from the pounding of his heart when the driver's behavior shifted to the sharp sting on his neck. It was as if he were reliving the moment all over again.

"I was injected... then I fell asleep. But why?" Kaiza muttered, his hand still pressed to his neck.

"You remembered?" Will asked, his voice cautious, his eyes searching Kaiza's face for signs of clarity.

"But who did that?" Kaiza questioned, his brows furrowing as he tried to dig deeper into the memories. He needed to understand what had led to that moment—what had brought him to this point.