Riko's entire arm felt like it was plugged into a thunderstorm.
The glowing words LEVEL UP × 50 didn't fade-they multiplied. The number burst outward in a storm of spinning digits, swirling across the screen like a slot machine possessed. Every time one number slowed, another exploded into its place. Columns of stats rose and collapsed. Bars stretched, shattered, rebuilt. Icons he didn't understand flashed like angry neon insects.
"No no no—STOP!" Riko shouted, waving his arm as if the screen might fall off if it got dizzy. "I didn't ask for fifty levels! I didn't even ask for ONE level! I don't even know what a LEVEL IS!"
The screen vibrated so hard in response that his shoulder jolted.
More data erupted:
STRENGTH +10000%
AGILITY +9999%
COORDINATION COMPENSATION ENABLED
OVERFLOW STATUS: CRITICAL
"CRITICAL? CRITICAL WHAT? CRITICAL LIKE BAD? CRITICAL LIKE I'M ABOUT TO EXPLODE? WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!"
The device ignored his panic entirely. Panels of data kept layering themselves in impossible stacks, scrolling so fast they blurred into vertical streaks of light. Riko felt the vibrations crawling up his arm, into his chest. His ribcage quivered like he was standing next to a giant speaker.
He stumbled backward, clutching his wrist. "Stop upgrading me! I'm HUMAN! Humans don't go up fifty levels in one second! That's cheating! Or hacking! OR A MEDICAL EMERGENCY—"
The screen pulsed so violently, it knocked the rest of his words out of his throat.
Another wave of energy coursed through him, hotter than the last. Riko's muscles tensed like someone had flipped a switch. His fingers curled. His back straightened. His heartbeat felt too strong, too loud, too fast.
"What-what is this-why does everything feel-tight?!"
He tried to unclench his fist.
A sharp crack cut through the junkyard.
Riko froze.
He looked down. A small engine block—some abandoned hybrid core he'd leaned on for support—crumbled where his hand had brushed it. Not picked it up. Not slammed it. Brushed it.
"NO WAY."
He poked another corner of the engine with one finger.
The metal caved in, like it was made of cardboard.
"NO WAY NO WAY NO WAY—" Riko's voice pitched so high a gull overhead squawked back in confusion. "I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE STRONG! I GET TIRED OPENING JAR LIDS!"
Another pulse ran through him, stronger. The hoodie seemed to tighten around his shoulders, like it suddenly didn't fit. His breathing came too quick, too sharp, like his lungs were trying to expand faster than his body allowed.
"Is this even legal?" he wheezed. "It shouldn't be legal! You can't just force someone to be—whatever THIS is!"
Then the device displayed another line:
MUSCLE DENSITY INCREASE: 650%
SKELETAL REINFORCEMENT: ACTIVE
Riko slapped his palm over the screen. "NO! STOP REINFORCING MY SKELETON! I LIKE MY SKELETON THE WAY IT IS!"
The instant his palm touched the display, another shockwave exploded through his arm. His hand juddered backward and the engine block beside him completely shattered—chunks of metal leaping into the air like startled bugs.
"I DIDN'T EVEN TOUCH THAT ONE!" he shouted.
The digits spun, stacked and overflowed across the screen. His vision vibrated at the edges; the world felt too sharp, too loud. Riko took a step forward and the ground cracked beneath his shoe. Just a hairline fracture, but enough to make him yelp.
"Stop leveling me up! I don't want to break the… the FLOOR! Floors are supposed to win!"
A new line blinked on screen:
WARNING: USER REACTION UNSTABLE
BALANCE ADVISORY: DISABLED
"Oh fantastic. So NOW you're telling me I might fall over and destroy something else? Great! Great update! Thanks!"
Another surge of energy traversed him, and that time Riko clenched his jaw so hard a crunch echoed in his ears. He wasn't sure if it was from his teeth or the air.
He needed to get away from the junk pile before he accidentally punched a crater in it.
He turned, stepping carefully—
And a chunk of metal the size of a suitcase slid from the mound and landed in his hand.
He hadn't even noticed it falling.
His body just… caught it.
"NOPE." He chucked it away on reflex.
It flew ten meters, burying itself into a half-molten candy vending machine like a meteorite.
"NOOOOOPE. Absolutely not! I am not dealing with SUPER GRAVITY HANDS!"
The screen chimed.
LEVELING SEQUENCE COMPLETE. FINAL STATUS: P
"Pending? P
The device paused.
Then…
It went silent.
The junkyard quieted, too, except for the soft metallic ticking of all the things he had accidentally dented, cracked, or nearly thrown into orbit.
Riko let out a shaking breath. His arms buzzed, as if his skin was wrapped in electricity. Every part of him felt too awake, too wired, too… something.
He whispered, "Okay. Okay. Maybe it's over. Maybe—"
The bushes behind him rustled.
Riko froze.
The leaves trembled again.
"…No," he whispered. "Please not another tiny pixel-bug thing. I just got leveled fifty times without consent. I need five minutes."
The bushes shook harder: branches snapping, metal cans rolling, the sound heavier and deeper than before.
Riko backed up, hands raised in surrender to nature itself. "Whatever's in there, I'm not edible! I taste like anxiety and skipping breakfast!"
The glow on the wrist screen flared once more-but quietly this time, like a whispered warning.
NEW ENTITIES DETECTED. "Oh, COME ON—" The bushes burst open. Three more monsters crawled out, bigger than the first.