The sun had already climbed high into the sky, a stark white disk burning through the thin curtains of Apartment 237. Dust motes danced in the beams of light that slashed across the floor, undisturbed by any movement.
Cedric was awake. Technically.
He was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling with the thousand-yard stare of a soldier who has seen too much. He wasn't moving. He wasn't blinking. He was barely breathing.
It wasn't because he was tired. He had slept for ten hours, his body shutting down like a computer pulling the plug after the sensory overload of the previous day. No, the problem wasn't fatigue.
The problem was pain.
Every single muscle fiber in his legs felt like it had been replaced with rusted barbed wire. His calves were tight knots of agony. His thighs burned with a dull, throbbing heat. Even his glutes—muscles he didn't even know he used—were screaming in protest at the slightest twitch.
Yesterday's 3-kilometer run, performed by a body with the structural integrity of a marshmallow, had consequences.
"Paralysis," Cedric whispered to the empty room, his voice a dry croak. "I am paralyzed. This is the end."
He tried to lift his arm to pull the blanket up. His shoulder clicked. He dropped his arm. Too much effort.
He decided to accept his fate. He would lie here until he withered away, becoming a skeleton in a black t-shirt, a cautionary tale for future tenants about the dangers of jogging.
"I drank the milk," he muttered, a sense of betrayal washing over him. "The Moomoo Milk. It fixed me yesterday. Why... why does it feel like I fell down a flight of stairs today?"
[Baby shark, doo-doo, doo-doo~]
The answer did not come immediately. Instead, a sound bloomed directly in the center of his brain stem, bypassing his ears, vibrating through his skull with crystal-clear, high-definition malice.
[Baby shark, doo-doo, doo-doo! Baby shark!]
Cedric's eye twitched.
"No," he rasped.
[Rise and shine, sunshine!]
The System's voice cut over the cheerful, repetitive nightmare music. She sounded entirely too pleased with herself.
[I detect consciousness. I also detect that you have been staring at a water stain on the ceiling for forty-five minutes. Get up.]
"I can't," Cedric moaned, squeezing his eyes shut against the daylight.
"My legs. They are broken. You broke them. You made me run."
[I made you use your legs. The fact that they hurt means they are working. It's called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. It means you're alive. Congratulations.]
"The milk..." Cedric argued weakly. "You said it heals."
[It refilled your stamina instantly. That is why you could clean your room and walk to the store yesterday without collapsing. But Moomoo Milk is an energy drink, Cedric, not a biological time machine. You ran 3 kilometers on legs that have atrophied for sixteen years. You tore those muscle fibers apart. The milk gave you the energy to keep moving, but it didn't stop the biology. What you are feeling now is your body knitting itself back together. It means you're getting stronger.]
"It feels like dying," Cedric gritted out.
[Growth often does. Now, move. If you stay in bed, the lactic acid will settle. You will stiffen up like a rigor mortis victim. You need active recovery.]
[Mommy shark, doo-doo, doo-doo~]
The volume increased. It wasn't just loud; it was textured. He could hear the synthetic bubbles popping in the background of the song.
"Turn it off," Cedric begged.
[Then get out of bed.]
A bright red window slammed into his vision, overlaying the darkness of his eyelids.
[DAILY QUEST: LUBRICATION PROTOCOL]
Objective: Perform a Full Body Stretching Routine (30 Minutes).
Reason:"Yesterday you ran like a panicked duck. Today, you are paying the price. If you do not stretch, you will walk like a zombie for the next three days. Fix it."
Reward: 01x Berry Juice (Pure Extract).
Failure Penalty: 'Baby Shark' (10-Hour Remix).
Cedric stared at the penalty.
"You are a tyrant," he muttered.
[I am a personal trainer. Now, roll out of bed. Literally. Let gravity do the work.]
Cedric groaned. He shifted his weight to the side. Gravity took over.
Thump.
He hit the floor wrapped in his duvet like a depressed burrito.
"I'm up," he said into the laminate. "Happy?"
[Thrilled. Now, unwrap yourself. Let's begin. Praise the Sun!]
For the next thirty minutes, Cedric experienced a new kind of torture. It wasn't the breathless lung-burn of running. It was the slow, exquisite agony of stretching tight fascia.
He followed the holographic wireframe instructor the System projected into the room. He touched his toes (or tried to, reaching only his shins). He did lunges that made his quads tremble. He twisted his spine until it sounded like a bag of gravel being crushed.
"I hate this," he panted, holding a cobra pose. "I hate this so much."
[Breathe into the pain, Cedric. Imagine the pain leaving your body with every exhale.]
"I am exhaling my soul," he countered.
But as the minutes ticked by, something strange happened. The sharp, biting pain in his legs began to dull. The stiffness in his back loosened. Blood flow returned to his extremities. He felt... less like a rusty robot and more like a human being.
Finally, the timer hit zero.
Ding!
[QUEST COMPLETE!]
[Reward Delivered: 01x Berry Juice.]
A small, corked glass bottle materialized in mid-air and dropped into his open hand. It was heavy, cold, and filled with a thick, violet liquid that swirled sluggishly, emitting a faint, inner glow.
Cedric popped the cork. A sweet, earthy scent wafted out—like blueberries and wet leaves.
He downed it in one go.
The taste was incredible. It wasn't the cloying, artificial sugar of the sodas he had bought. It was sharp, tart, and deeply refreshing. It tasted like life.
As it hit his stomach, a wave of cool relief washed over him. It spread through his veins, hunting down the remaining soreness in his muscles and dissolving it. His legs stopped throbbing. His shoulders dropped. His headache vanished.
"Oh," Cedric whispered, looking at the empty bottle. "That works."
[Of course it works. It's Berry Juice. It's concentrated vitality. Now, go eat. You can't build muscle on empty air.]
Lunch was a solitary affair. Another cup of instant noodles—"Spicy Seafood" this time—eaten while sitting cross-legged on the bed.
Cedric slurped the noodles mechanically. He checked his phone. Still no messages. He checked the incubator.
Thump-thump.
The egg was fine, happily absorbing the warmth of the machine.
He finished the soup. He set the cup on the table next to the empty Berry Juice bottle.
He looked around the apartment. It was clean. It was silent.
And he was bored.
[Get dressed.]
The System's voice broke his reverie.
[You are staring at the wall again. It is unhealthy. Go outside.]
"Outside?" Cedric frowned. "I am recovering."
[Your body is recovering, but your reflexes are still trash. You have the reaction time of a sloth on tranquilizers. If we are going to survive this world, you need to be faster, sharper.]
"I am not fighting anyone," Cedric argued, though he stood up and reached for his black windbreaker.
[You live in New Eridu. The fight will find you. Besides, you need to acclimatize to the local culture. You can't just be a hermit who hoards snacks.]
A waypoint marker appeared in his vision and pointed out the window.
[Destination: Godfinger Arcade.]
"Video games?" Cedric raised an eyebrow. "That is entertainment. I thought you wanted me to be a warrior."
[Hand-eye coordination is the core of combat. Tracking targets. Predicting movement. Plus, you need to be exposed to human civilization. You cannot live in this white box forever. Go to the Godfinger Arcade. It is directly across from the noodle shop.]
Cedric clicked his tongue. "Fine."
He clipped the incubator to his belt, checked his pockets for his keycard, and walked out the door.
***
The Godfinger Arcade was an assault on the senses.
Even from the sidewalk, Cedric could hear the bass of the speakers thrumming through the pavement. He stepped inside, and the world exploded into noise and light.
It was a cavernous space, dim and hazy, lit only by the aggressive strobe of hundreds of CRT monitors and LED strips. The air smelled of ozone, floor wax, cheap popcorn, and the distinct, sweaty scent of teenage excitement.
Pew-pew!
K.O.!
INSERT COIN!
The cacophony was overwhelming. Cedric instinctively hunched his shoulders, letting his long black hair fall forward to shield his face. He moved through the crowd like a shadow, dodging groups of kids, ignoring the flashy VR rigs and the loud rhythm games where people were stomping their feet to a techno beat.
He wasn't here for the spectacle. He was here for the quietest corner he could find.
He found it in the back. A row of "Retro Classics"—older cabinets with simpler graphics and fewer flashing lights.
He stopped in front of a machine labeled "SNAKE DUEL: HYPER SPEED".
It was simple. A pixelated snake. A grid. Eat the dots. Grow. Don't hit the wall. Don't hit yourself. The speed multiplier was set to "Hardcore".
Cedric sat down on the vinyl stool. He fished a token out of his pocket and dropped the coin in.
Clink.
In his previous life, gaming wasn't a hobby. It was an escape. When he was focused on a screen, calculating pixels and frames, the world disappeared. His hands, usually weak and trembling when lifting boxes, became surgical instruments when placed on a keyboard or a controller.
The screen flared to life.
[START]
The snake began to move.
Cedric's purple eyes glazed over. He didn't blink.
His fingers danced over the joystick and the plastic buttons.
Click-clack-click-clack.
The snake moved. It ate. It grew. It sped up.
To a casual observer, it looked boring. Just a line moving on a grid. To Cedric, it was a flow state. He wasn't reacting; he was predicting. He saw the path three turns ahead. He saw the grid not as a game, but as a logic puzzle to be solved with maximum efficiency.
The snake grew longer, winding around itself in a complex, deadly knot. The speed increased until the pixels were a blur.
Cedric didn't sweat. He didn't grimace. He just played with the ruthless, cold precision of a machine.
[HIGH SCORE!]
[NEW RECORD!]
The screen flashed violently, celebrating his victory with a burst of digital confetti.
The name "CID" climbed to the number one spot on the leaderboard, kicking the previous champion, "SHARK", down to second place.
Cedric looked at the score. 999,999. Maxed out.
"Too easy," he murmured, his voice flat. "The input lag on this stick is terrible."
He prepared to stand up.
Suddenly, the air behind him grew cold.
The ambient noise of the arcade seemed to drop away, replaced by a heavy, menacing silence that was localized directly at his back. The light from the screen dimmed as a shadow fell over him.
"Hey."
A female voice spoke. It was lazy, drawn out, the vowels stretching like taffy. But hidden underneath the lethargy was a distinct, serrated edge of irritation.
"Did you just kick me out of first place?"
Cedric swiveled the stool around.
Standing in front of him was a girl.
She wasn't wearing a uniform. She was dressed in casual street wear, but it had a sharp, deliberate style to it.
She wore a simple, slightly loose black t-shirt with distinct red-orange lines tracing the collar and sleeves. Across the chest, faded white letters were partially visible—he could just make out the word "SHARK". The neckline hung a bit loose, revealing the sharp line of her collarbone.
Below that, she wore high waisted, wide leg culottes in a pale grey-blue. A black belt cinched her waist, from which a small silver chain dangled on her left hip, a tiny Star of David charm catching the arcade's neon light. On her feet were a pair of bright red canvas shoes with white laces, low-tops that looked well worn.
Her hair was jet black with striking red streaks on the inner layers that framed a pale, bored face. In her mouth, a lollipop stick bobbed up and down.
But the most terrifying detail was behind her.
A massive, sleek black shark tail, thick with muscle and tipped with a dangerous fin, swished back and forth with menacing weight.
Swish. Swish.
Cedric looked at the tail. Then he looked at the sharp, serrated teeth peeking out from behind her lips as she chewed on the plastic stick.
He didn't jump. He didn't gasp. He just... observed.
'Shark,' he thought, categorizing the threat. 'Is she a Thiren?'
He looked up, meeting her eyes with his familiar blank expression.
"This machine does not have your name on it," Cedric said, his voice flat. "It says 'Top Rank'. I just filled in the blank."
The lollipop in the girl's mouth stopped moving. She narrowed her eyes.
Usually, when she loomed over someone—or just let her tail twitch aggressively—people apologized. They ran. They stammered. They didn't stare back with eyes that looked emptier than a drained pool.
Crunch.
She bit through the candy, shattering it.
"Gutsy." she drawled, the corner of her lip twitching up to reveal a fang. "I worked hard on that score. It took me... like, twenty minutes."
"It took me ten," Cedric replied.
The girl's eyebrows shot up. A spark of genuine interest lit up her bored eyes.
"Oh? You think you're fast?" She leaned in, invading his personal space. She smelled of sugar and something sharp, like sea salt.
"Want to prove it? 1v1. Versus mode. Loser buys candy for a week. Winner... gets to walk away without a tail slap."
Cedric looked at the clock on the wall. It was still early. He looked at the "Quest Complete" notification in his mind. He had nothing else to do.
"Fine," he replied, turning back to the screen. "But be fast. I have to go home and... incubate."
"Incubate? Anyway." The girl replied.
She sat down on the stool next to him. A small crowd began to gather, whispering. The "Shark" was challenging a stranger.
"Duel!"
The match began.
The girl played aggressively. Her style was explosive. She attacked relentlessly, her reflexes sharp, cornering Cedric's snake, trying to force him into a trap. She played like a predator hunting prey, cutting off angles, moving with bursts of speed.
But Cedric didn't flinch.
His eyes were glued to the screen. The world around him—the noise, the crowd, the shark tail swishing near his leg—faded away. Only pixels remained.
He entered The Zone.
Everything slowed down. He saw the gaps in her defense before she made them. He saw the trajectory of her snake before she turned the joystick. He didn't need to be faster than her; he just needed to be more efficient.
His fingers flew over the buttons.
Click-clack-click-clack.
His snake weaved through the girl's trap with impossible precision, turning the tables in a split second. He didn't attack; he simply outmaneuvered her, cutting off her escape route with cold, mathematical certainty.
[GAME OVER]
[WINNER: CID]
The screen flashed the victory message. Cedric relaxed his hands, exhaling a long breath. Fatigue washed over him, but it was a satisfying kind of tired.
The shark girl stared at her "YOU LOSE" screen. Her tail stopped swishing. She looked stunned.
"Tsk," she clicked her tongue, standing up and dusting off her culottes. "Fast hands. You cheating?"
"No," Cedric said shortly, standing up as well. "Just geometry."
She stared at him for a second longer, then shrugged. "Alright. I'll let it slide this time. You're not bad."
She reached into the pocket of her wide trousers and pulled out a wrapped lollipop—strawberry flavor. She tossed it to him.
"Take it. Consolation prize for having to look at my losing screen."
Cedric caught it. "I won."
"Yada, yada." she waved a hand dismissively, turning to leave. "I'm Ellen. Remember it. Next time, bring your wallet. I don't lose twice."
She walked away, her tail swaying lazily behind her. As she passed him, the heavy fin swung out and thwacked him lightly on the shin—a playful, yet firm reminder of who she was.
Cedric looked down at his dusty pant leg. He brushed it off. "Weird girl."
Ding!
[HIDDEN QUEST COMPLETE: SHARK OUT OF WATER]
[Reward: Skill [Focus Energy] - Direct Download Initiated.]
Cedric felt a sudden, sharp prick in his temple, like someone had plugged a USB drive directly into his brain.
Information flooded his neural pathways. How to regulate breathing to lower heart rate. How to filter out background noise in a combat scenario. How to sharpen focus into a single point. How to see the telltale twitch of a muscle before a strike.
For a fleeting second, Cedric's purple eyes flashed with a sharp, dangerous light, before dulling back to their usual haze.
[Focus Energy - Active Skill]
Description: Writing and mental concentration technique.
Effect: When activated, removes distracting thoughts, enhances the ability to observe the opponent's weak points (Increases critical hit rate).
Cooldown: 5 minutes
Note: Headache will occur after use.
"Convenient." he thought. "Better than the juice."
***
Cedric stood on the sidewalk outside the arcade, squinting against the midday sun. He shoved his hands into his pockets, fingering the lollipop Ellen had given him.
"Home time," he muttered. "That is enough social interaction for one day. I am at my limit."
He turned toward the Northwest District.
BZZZT!
A mild—but definitely noticeable—electric shock zipped through his belt, right where the incubator was clipped.
Cedric stopped dead. He was walking along the sidewalk, ready to head back toward the solitude of the Northwest District.
[Where do you think you are going?]
The System's voice rang out, sounding unimpressed.
"Home," Cedric replied, unfazed. "I stretched. I went out. I defeated a shark. I am done. Now I rest."
[Seriously? Look to your left.]
Cedric frowned. He turned his head slightly.
Across the narrow street, past the steaming red lanterns of the ramen shop on the corner, the bright yellow storefront of Random Play was clearly.
"So?" Cedric shrugged. "I see it. Very yellow."
[You are going to walk right past it?]
"I am not walking past it," Cedric argued, adjusting his collar against the wind. "I am walking near it. There is a difference. I don't need to go in."
[Cedric, that is weird.]
"What?"
[It is socially bizarre behavior. You just accepted her as your 'Big Sister' the day before yesterday. You are currently fifty meters away from her house. If you just slink away back to your room without saying hello, it makes you look like a sociopath.]
"She doesn't know I am here," Cedric countered. "If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, it is not awkward."
[I know you are here. And you know you are here. Do not be that guy. It is rude. It is awkward. It is the behavior of a bad little brother.]
Cedric groaned, looking to the way that led to his apartment.
"I don't want to," he grumbled. "It's troublesome. She will ask questions. I am sweaty and smell like fish."
[Do you want the egg to hatch sooner?]
Cedric paused. He shifted his weight, torn between the desire for sleep and the desire for power.
[Stop being weird. Go over there. Say 'Hello'. Show her you are alive. Five minutes. Don't make me shock you again.]
[SIDE QUEST: DON'T BE A JERK]
Objective: Come to Random Play and say hi to Wise.
Reason: Basic human decency.
Reward: Add Egg Status and decrease Incubation Time.
Cedric sighed. It was a sound that carried the weight of the entire universe.
"Fine," he muttered, turning away from his route home and stepping off the curb towards the store.
"But if she asks why I look like a drowned rat, I am blaming you."
He turned on his heel, crossed the street, dodging a delivery scooter, and headed for the yellow door.
***
Cling-clang.
The bell chimed as he pushed the door open.
The shop was quiet. Wise was standing behind the counter, wiping down a stack of DVD cases with a microfiber cloth. She looked up at the sound.
When she saw him, her face lit up. It wasn't a customer-service smile; it was genuine, brightening the somewhat dim room.
"Cedric? Did you come to return the bag?"
"No," Cedric said, walking up to the counter. He kept his hands in his pockets, feeling awkward. The smell of coffee in the shop was comforting.
"I... was passing by. Saw the door open, so I just came to... say hi."
Wise chuckled softly. She stepped out from behind the counter. She reached into a glass jar on the desk and pulled out a mint candy wrapped in green foil. She placed it in his hand, like a treat for a well-behaved child.
"I'm really glad you stopped by," she said warmly. "But hey, Cedric, you've been here twice now, and I haven't even asked... what kind of movies do you like? If we're going to be friends, I should know your taste."
Cedric froze. The candy in his hand felt heavy.
'Movies?'
In his previous life, "entertainment" was a luxury he couldn't afford. He watched the news to know if the world was ending. He watched tutorials on how to fix leaky pipes. He didn't have hobbies. He didn't have passions. He barely had a personality.
"I..." Cedric's eyes darted around the shelves packed with tapes. Action. Romance. Horror. Documentary.
"...I don't know."
"You don't know?" Wise asked, her teal eyes widening in surprise. "You don't have a favorite genre?"
"I watch... random things," Cedric lied clumsily (or perhaps just guessed). "Something... loud?"
Wise's eyes lit up. "Loud? Oh, you have to try the Starlight Knight classics! Or the remastered Mecha Godzilla series! Giant robots, monsters, explosions—it's perfect white noise if that's what you like, but the stories are actually really deep!"
She excitedly ran to shelf number 3, pulling out two VHS tapes with covers featuring colorful robots and kaiju destroying a city.
"Here!" She placed them on the counter, sliding them toward him. "These are introductory courses for boys your age. Guaranteed to be loud, but the plot is actually really good. Take them. On the house. Consider it a welcome gift."
Cedric looked at the tapes. The covers were vibrant, full of action and heroism. Then he looked up at Wise, at the enthusiasm shining in her eyes. She wanted to share something she loved.
He swallowed dryly. He couldn't lie anymore. It felt wrong.
"I..." He hesitated, his voice shrinking. "I don't have a TV."
The silence in the shop lasted for three seconds. The whir of the ventilation fan sounded deafening.
Wise blinked. "Huh?"
"I don't have a TV," Cedric repeated, his voice flat, trying to maintain his dignity. "No VCR either."
His apartment had a bed, a fridge (filled yesterday), and a table. The only tech he owned was the phone and the incubator. It was a life of ascetic minimalism bordering on poverty.
Wise stared at him. Her expression shifted from surprise to... sympathy. She seemed to be constructing a tragic backstory in her head for her new "little brother"—a boy living alone, no family, not even the basic comforts of entertainment.
"I see..." Wise said softly, pulling the tapes back. Her voice dropped. "I'm sorry, I assumed..."
She tapped her finger on the wooden counter, thinking. Then, she looked up. The smile returned, but this time it was warmer, more inviting.
"Tell you what," Wise said. "Today is Saturday. Tomorrow, Sunday, the shop is closed for inventory and rest."
She tilted her head, looking him in the eye.
"Why don't you come over tomorrow afternoon? Say, 7 PM? We can watch a movie in the loft. Belle will definitely want to buy popcorn and soda. We'll make it a movie night."
Cedric was stunned. "Come... to your house? Watch a movie?"
"Yeah. My TV is good, and the sound system is great." Wise winked. "You're not going to turn down an invitation from your 'Big Sister', are you?"
Cedric wanted to say 'Too troublesome.' He wanted to say 'I want to sleep.' He wanted to say 'Socializing exhausts me.'
But looking at Wise's expectant smile, remembering the warmth of the towel and the scent of lavender, refusing felt like a crime.
[Say yes. You need to watch movies to understand the culture of this world. Plus, free popcorn. And most importantly: You need to learn how to live like a normal boy.] The System whispered, urging him on.
"Yes," Cedric nodded slightly, his voice quiet. "Tomorrow afternoon. 7 PM."
"Great!" Wise clapped her hands, looking radiant. "It's a date then. Ah—"
Cling-clang.
The doorbell rang again.
A customer walked in—a large Thiren man with a bear head, looking like he was in a hurry to find something.
"Welcome! How can I help you?" Wise switched instantly to her professional Manager mode, smiling at the customer.
She turned to Cedric, lowering her voice but keeping the warmth.
"Customers are here. You go home and rest, remember our appointment tomorrow. Don't forget."
Cedric nodded. He stepped back, making way for the large Grizzly Thiren.
"Goodbye, Sister." he said softly.
He quickly slipped past the customer and out the door, escaping before he could say anything awkward.
***
Cedric walked back to the Northwest District under the midday sun. In his pocket was a mint candy, a lollipop, a new combat skill programmed into his reflexes, and a movie date for Sunday afternoon.
[SIDE QUEST COMPLETE!]
[Reward: Add Egg Status and slight decrease Incubation Time.]
[Busy schedule, huh?] The System teased. [From a recluse to a guy with weekend plans. You are evolving, Cedric. You are almost a normal person.]
"Shut up," Cedric mumbled, but his hand unconsciously tightened around the candy in his pocket.
He looked down at the incubator on his hip.
[Egg Status: Very Happy]
[Progress: 67%]
It seemed that not only him, but the little monster inside also enjoyed these meetings.
"Tomorrow afternoon..." Cedric exhaled, looking up at the bright blue sky. "I hope the movie isn't terrible."