System X: The Villain Rise

The next morning, Kaiza woke up to a soft chime from the system. His body felt lighter, and although his muscles ached slightly from the previous night's exertion, he could move more freely.

The system interface hovered before him, displaying a new notification:

[Daily Quest]

[Jumping Jacks: 0/100]

[Pushups: 0/50]

[Squats: 0/50]

[Run: 0/10 km]

Kaiza sighed as he read through the list. "So now it wants me to work out every day, huh?" he muttered. It seemed the system was intent on keeping him active—and alive—whether he liked it or not.

He dismissed the interface with a wave of his hand and stretched his arms over his head, feeling the pull in his sore muscles. Then, without further delay, he moved towards the side of the ward where the bathroom was located.

Kaiza splashed cold water on his face, the refreshing sensation jolting him fully awake. As he glanced at his reflection in the mirror, he muttered to himself, "Guess I have no choice but to follow this daily quest if I want to survive."

He dried his face and stepped back into the room, mentally preparing himself for the physical challenges ahead.

Kaiza returned to his room after a while, feeling the weight of the day's challenge ahead. Without wasting any time, he got straight to work on his daily quest.

He began with the simplest one: Jumping Jacks. After completing fifty, he opened the system to check his progress, expecting to see the numbers rise.

[Jumping Jacks: 25/100]

The other exercises still read zero.

Kaiza furrowed his brow, a confused look crossing his face. "What's going on? I've done over fifty jumping jacks, if I'm correct."

He stared at the screen, wondering why the system only registered twenty-five of his efforts. Was I doing it wrong? he mused. His body was still weak, and his movements had been slower than usual, but he thought he'd done enough to meet the count.

He tried again, pushing himself to do more jumping jacks, keeping the system screen open to track his progress. But no matter how many he did, the counter stayed stuck at twenty-five.

Frustrated but not willing to waste too much time on the glitch, Kaiza moved on to the next exercise on the list: push-ups.

"Let's see if this works," he muttered, dropping to the floor and positioning himself for the push-ups, hoping the system would respond this time.

Kaiza powered through the push-ups, feeling each strain on his muscles as he pushed himself further. The system was counting each one, slowly ticking up with every push-up, whether slow or fast. The steady count reassured Kaiza that at least something was working correctly.

But as he neared twenty-five push-ups, the counting stopped again, just like with the jumping jacks.

"What the hell?" Kaiza muttered under his breath, confused and slightly irritated. His eyes drifted away from the screen, momentarily staring at nothing, his thoughts racing. Why did the system stop again?

He pushed himself to finish thirty push-ups, his muscles aching, but his experience as the captain of the basketball team gave him the strength and stamina to keep going.

'I've done more than this before' he thought, his arms burning with each push.

However, when he finally stopped, he glanced at the system again, only to see his push-up count stuck at 25/50, not the 30 he had just completed.

"What is wrong with this system?" Kaiza was frustrated now, his muscles sore and his patience wearing thin. He had pushed himself beyond the expected count, but the system wasn't acknowledging his progress.

He took a moment to breathe, closing his eyes and reflecting on what could be causing the glitch. Why did the stats stop at twenty-five? The system seemed to be malfunctioning, but Kaiza couldn't figure out why it was refusing to add his exercise count.

With irritation building, Kaiza began to wonder: Was there a limit on how much the system would count in one go? Or was it something more...

Kaiza's thoughts raced as he continued his exercises. After completing twenty-five squats, he noticed the same pattern: the points remained still, refusing to budge any further despite his efforts. He did a few extra squats to confirm his suspicion, but the system remained unresponsive.

"I guess I have to take a break after every 25 points I hit," Kaiza concluded, doing a quick mental calculation. "That means each exercise is divided into four sections. Except for the run... I need to confirm that."

He wiped the sweat from his brow, his muscles aching from the effort. He paused for a moment, considering what he had just learned. The system seemed to divide the exercises into segments, forcing him to rest before continuing. He hoped the run wouldn't follow the same pattern, but he would have to test it for himself.

As he approached the door, ready to head out for his run, Kaiza's mind wandered back to the chaotic events of the day before. He thought about the fight.

'how surreal it all seemed. It felt like I was watching a live-action movie,' he thought, a mix of disbelief and awe creeping into his thoughts. The way everything unfolded, the danger, the urgency—it was like something out of a high-budget action film.

Kaiza couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to it than he understood. His mind spun with questions—about the system, about the enemies chasing him, about his mysterious father—and though he knew he needed to focus on his next task, the fight scene from yesterday kept resurfacing in his mind. It felt almost too real... but he knew he had to keep moving forward.

Kaiza replayed the scene in his mind, admiring Gwan's fighting skills all over again. The way he moved with such precision, his calm demeanor in the face of every attack from Sulan—it was almost like watching a master at work. Each block, each counterattack was smooth and calculated.

"But how is that even possible?" Kaiza couldn't help but wonder. What kind of training or abilities did Gwan have to move like that?

But his thoughts were quickly pulled back to his own situation, to his unexpected invisibility. He still couldn't believe it.

'How did I become invisible?' he wondered. His body, seemingly unseen by everyone around him, was a strange and almost impossible phenomenon, except for Gwan. Kaiza was certain that Gwan had somehow been able to see through his invisibility. After all, the man had winked at him—an odd but certain confirmation that he could perceive Kaiza in ways others couldn't.

The questions started flooding in.

Who exactly were these men? Why had Gwan and his team shown up to protect him? What made Sulan so determined to hunt him down? Why was his life suddenly in so much danger?

Kaiza felt a heavy weight on his chest as he thought about it. He was grateful for Gwan's timely intervention. If not for him, Sulan might have found him sooner, and with the suspicion Sulan had about the book, things could have turned deadly very quickly. It wasn't just about the fight—it was about the larger mystery that surrounded his life now. The book, his father, and the strange powers he was unlocking... everything seemed interconnected in ways he couldn't fully understand yet.

For now, Kaiza needed to focus on the questions he could answer. He was still alive because of Gwan. But he knew that wouldn't last forever, not if Sulan was still out there. The danger was real, and Kaiza had to be ready for whatever came next.

Kaiza paused for a moment, contemplating whether he should ask the men for permission to leave the room. He was just a few steps away from the door when he heard the sound of it opening. A man walked in—Will Liam.

Kaiza could immediately sense the change in the atmosphere. Will wasn't in his usual hospital attire anymore. Instead, he wore a black suit that exuded an air of solemnity, as though he were carrying a heavy burden. The moment he stepped into the room, the aura around him shifted. It was palpable. Kaiza could feel the tension in the air, and it made him pause.

Will walked toward the second door, and the moment he saw Kaiza standing by the first door, he froze. His eyes widened in shock and fear, and he instinctively took a step back, trying to regain his composure. It was clear that he hadn't expected to find Kaiza standing, let alone by the door. After everything that had happened the day before—the tests, the near-death experience—he had assumed Kaiza would still be in bed, resting, recovering from the ordeal.

Will's shock was tangible. He wasn't prepared for Kaiza to be standing, much less so close to the door. He had believed the boy would need more time to recover, both physically and mentally, to process everything he had been through.

Kaiza, on the other hand, was feeling the weight of those same questions he had been trying to make sense of. What was his next move? Should he confront Will about his questions, or was now the time to try and leave?

The weight of the situation was heavy on Will's shoulders. He had been informed by the hospital officers about the dangerous events that had unfolded the day before. Kaiza's life had been on the line, and the aftermath was far from easy to handle. Will could hardly believe that Kaiza was once again in danger. The officers had even gone so far as to beg him to keep the incident quiet, to prevent the military personnel on duty from facing the consequences of their failure to protect the boy. The hospital was under pressure, and Will could sense the strain it had placed on everyone involved.

In a way, Will had hoped Kaiza would still be in bed, resting and recuperating. He had expected the boy to need time to heal from the trauma, both physical and emotional. It was almost unfathomable to Will that Kaiza, after everything, was standing before him—alive, yet again defying the odds. But what troubled him even more was the uncertainty of Kaiza's condition.

He still wasn't sure how the fluid that had been injected into Kaiza was affecting him. Will feared it might have had a lingering effect, especially on Kaiza's memory, clouding the part of him that still had parents.

As Will regained his composure and smiled at Kaiza, the forced nature of his smile didn't escape the boy's notice. Kaiza could see through the facade; he knew the man too well. Will was struggling, trying to put on a brave face for Kaiza, but the sadness in his eyes spoke volumes.

He wasn't just worried about Kaiza's physical well-being—he was concerned about how the boy was coping with the loss of his parents.

Will cleared his throat, his gaze shifting to the floor for a brief moment before meeting Kaiza's eyes again. "Kaiza... about your parents," he began, his voice softer than usual. "There's a burial scheduled for later today. I... I wanted you to know."

The words lingered in the air. Will didn't know how to phrase it. He wasn't certain if Kaiza's memory had fully recovered or if the fluid had erased that part of his past. Still, he knew one thing: Kaiza wasn't alone. He still had Will, even if the boy had no one else to call family.

Will's heart sank as he watched Kaiza's response. He had expected the boy to react in a way that reflected the deep emotional weight of losing his parents. A moment of grief, perhaps a hint of sorrow, even a brief silence to process the reality of it all. But instead, Kaiza simply nodded, his expression unreadable.

Will stood there, taken aback by the lack of visible emotion. Was Kaiza really processing everything the way he should? Had the trauma from the previous day, combined with the loss, hardened him in a way that made it difficult to show outward signs of his pain?

But before Will could dwell on this, Kaiza broke the silence.

"Can you talk to the doctor for me? I want to go for a run," Kaiza said, his tone steady yet determined. He was eager to complete his system's daily quest and test if the running stats would stop like the others.

"Okay," Will replied without hesitation. He didn't see a reason to argue, knowing Kaiza often used running as a way to clear his mind back in the capital city. To Will, this seemed like Kaiza's way of processing the bad news he'd woken up to and shaking off the heaviness of being confined to the room for so long.

Will stood and prepared to leave, ready to grant Kaiza's request without delay. Kaiza followed him to the door, pausing briefly as Will stepped out. Once the door closed, Kaiza turned back into the room, mentally preparing himself for the run ahead.

As Will left to make arrangements for Kaiza to go on his run, Kaiza stood by the door for a moment, watching him go. His thoughts drifted back to the systems, his parents, and the path he was walking. Despite everything, he couldn't help but feel a growing sense of urgency within him. The quest, the systems, and the mysterious forces that seemed to be pulling at him—it was all too much to ignore.

But for now, running seemed like the only thing that could clear his mind. He needed to push his limits, both physically and mentally. The outside world, with its fresh air and open space, was a welcome reprieve from the walls that had confined him for so long.

He turned around, walking back into the room and beginning to stretch in preparation.

A small part of him hoped that the run might provide some clarity on the strange events that had been unfolding around him. The sudden increase in his power, the mysterious systems, the constant danger—it all felt like a tangled web of uncertainty.

But today, he would focus on the task at hand: completing his daily quest and seeing whether the run would be any different from the other exercises. Would the system count his efforts correctly this time, or would it continue to withhold the full rewards?

Kaiza took a deep breath, ready to push forward. The world outside was waiting, and he was determined to face whatever it had to offer.