The hospital room was dark, save for the faint glow of the monitor beside Henry's bed. The rhythmic beeping was a steady reminder—he was still alive. But why? How?
Two weeks gone, just like that. His siblings are struggling. His mother was absent. The weight of it all sat heavy on his chest, but beneath that, something else gnawed at him. A question without an answer.
He turned his head, staring at the ceiling. His body still ached, but there was something… different. A tension in the air. A shift in his perception. Like the world wasn't quite the same anymore.
And then—
[SYSTEM INTEGRATION COMPLETE.]
Henry flinched.
A voice—no, not a voice. A presence. It wasn't spoken. It was just there, etched into his mind like a thought that had always existed.
[The Unbound Nexus has successfully integrated with Host.]
His breath hitched. He wasn't crazy. He wasn't imagining this.
He blinked rapidly, expecting the sensation to fade, but it didn't. Instead, his vision flickered—
Numbers. Text. Information scrolling across his eyes.
He gasped, jerking upright. His ribs protested the movement, sending sharp pain lancing through his torso, but he barely registered it.
The air felt charged, electric. His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
"What… what the hell is this?" he whispered.
[The Unbound Nexus: A Unique System designed for unrestricted growth.]
A System?
Henry's mind reeled. He had heard of people awakening systems before—powerful abilities granted by forces beyond understanding. But those were rare, reserved for elites, for those born into strength or status.
Yet here he was. Him. A nobody from Neo-Veridia.
It didn't make sense.
[System Functions Unlocked:],
- Status Overview,
- Specializations (Pending Selection),
- Optimization Suggestions,
Henry sucked in a sharp breath. His hands clenched the thin hospital blanket as his pulse raced.
This was real.
Not a hallucination. Not a dream.
Real.
He forced himself to focus. "Show me my status."
His vision shimmered, and new information unfolded before him.
[STATUS OVERVIEW],
Name: Henry Gray,
Level: 1 (Rank: F1),
System Type: The Unbound Nexus,
Health: 79/100 (Recovering),
Energy: 80/100 (Replenishing),
It looked like… stats from a game. A structured breakdown of his being.
His fingers twitched. His entire body buzzed with adrenaline, like he had stepped into something far beyond his understanding.
"This… this isn't possible," he muttered. "Why do I have this? Why now?"
The system did not answer that question.
Instead—
[System Functions: Adaptive Growth Enabled.]
[Analyze surroundings to improve perception.]
[Beginner Optimization Available: Do you wish to proceed?]
His heartbeat quickened.
Did he?
Could he really trust this?
And yet, something in his gut told him that this System—this Unbound Nexus—was the reason he had survived.
Maybe it had even been the reason for the accident in the first place.
A shiver ran down his spine.
Slowly, he exhaled, then whispered, "Proceed."
The moment he did, the world shifted.
His vision sharpened. Colors grew clearer. The flickering of the overhead hospital light became obvious, the faint static hum of the monitor now distinct. He noticed the coolness of the sheets against his skin, the distant sound of footsteps in the hallway—things he hadn't consciously registered before.
[Perception Level: F2 (Improved)],
Henry swallowed.
It was subtle, but it was real.
He was changing.
His fingers trembled. It wasn't just the system's presence that rattled him—it was the realization that he had stepped onto a path he didn't understand.
And there was no turning back.
The next day Lily and Tom returned as they always did, their relief still evident in the way they hovered near him. But Henry couldn't tell them.
Not yet.
Not until he understood what this meant.
They sat by his bed, talking about mundane things—Tom's school, Lily's work, the hospital bills that loomed over them.
Henry listened, but part of him was elsewhere, still processing everything that had happened the night before. The System. The changes. The possibilities.
At one point, Lily sighed, rubbing her temples. "We'll get through it," she muttered, mostly to herself. "We always do."
But Henry saw the exhaustion in her eyes.
The weight on her shoulders.
And for the first time, he felt something other than helplessness.
He felt determined.
The days passed in a blur of routine examinations, doctors muttering about miracles, and nurses checking his vitals every few hours. The medical staff couldn't explain how Henry had survived or why his body was recovering so quickly. But Henry knew, that it was the unbound Nexus, as he could fill it humm within him, always present. The System had given him a glimpse of its power—telekinesis, energy manipulation. And now, it had given him something else.
A directive.
[Quest Issued: Register as a Hunter within 24 hours.]
[Failure to comply will result in severe consequences.]
Henry's brows furrowed. "What kind of consequences?"
No answer.
He tried again, mentally pushing for more information, but the system remained silent.
He didn't like that.
If the System was warning him about consequences but wouldn't tell him what they were, then that meant only one thing.
He wouldn't want to find out.
Henry exhaled, sitting up on his hospital bed. The clock on the wall read late afternoon. If he left tomorrow, he'd still have time before the 24-hour deadline ended.
Still, the thought gnawed at him. He couldn't risk staying here any longer.
Decision made, he swung his legs over the bed and grabbed his clothes.
The moment Henry announced his decision to leave, the hospital staff protested.
"Mr. Eldrin, you've only just regained full consciousness—"
"You need at least another week to be fully monitored—"
"This isn't advisable at all!"
Henry shook his head. "I feel fine."
The nurses exchanged uneasy glances. One of the doctors stepped forward, arms crossed. "Legally, we can't force you to stay, but given the extent of your injuries, discharging yourself is reckless."
Henry met the doctor's gaze evenly. "Then let me be reckless."
The doctor sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "At least let us run another full diagnosis."
"No need," Henry interrupted. "I appreciate the concern, but I've made my decision."
With that, he signed the discharge papers and walked out of the hospital, the cold evening air washing over him as he stepped into the outside world for the first time in weeks.
As Henry exited the hospital doors, he took in his surroundings. The streets were dimly lit by flickering neon signs, casting eerie glows on the cracked sidewalks. The air smelled of damp pavement and distant smog.
Evening was settling in, and with it, a quiet unease.
Henry had grown up in these streets. He knew that after dark, the city would change. The safe, bustling areas gave way to shadows, where only the desperate or the dangerous roamed.
He pulled his jacket tighter around himself. He needed to get home.
Tomorrow, he'd head straight to the Hunter's Association. Whatever the system had planned for him, he wouldn't wait until the last moment to find out.