I sat there for a while.
Just... sat there. Next to a dead man in a wheat field, staring at my hands like they belonged to someone else.
The system screen had faded, but I could still feel it. The power. It was humming inside me, a constant buzz beneath my skin like I'd stuck my finger into a light socket and the current decided to just... stay.
"...Okay."
I exhaled slowly, running a hand through my messy hair. My fingers came back red—Sonic's blood. I wiped them on my hoodie, which was already ruined beyond recognition anyway.
I looked down at him. At David Collins. At Sonic Stryker. At the man who'd saved my life and then asked me to end his.
"...What the fuck do I do with you?"
He was dead. Obviously. I'd snapped his neck. Quick, clean, the way he'd asked. His eyes were still open, staring up at the blue sky with that same glassy, unfocused look.
Fuck me.
How did something so simple end up into this?
I didn't really know.
"..."
I should bury him. That's what you do with dead people, right?
You bury them. You dig a hole, put them in it, say some words, and cover them up.
I looked around at the wheat field. The dirt was dry and hard. I didn't have a shovel. I didn't have anything. My hands were already torn up from getting thrown into walls and crawling through broken glass.
"Yeah, that's not happening."
I could walk to that farmhouse and ask the people in it to call the cops. That was the other option. Dial 911, tell them there was a dead body in a wheat field, and let them handle it.
But then they'd ask questions. Who is he? How did he die? Why are you here? What's that black box? Why are you covered in blood? Who are you?
Why do you have a lesser version of his powers...
Yup. Not happening.
"Sorry, man." I looked down at him. "I'd give you a proper funeral, but... I literally can't. I don't even know where I am."
I stood up, wincing as my legs protested. Everything hurt. My back, my ribs, my arms, my face. I was a walking bruise.
I started to walk away, then stopped.
"...Fuck."
I turned back. I couldn't just leave him here like this. It felt wrong. He'd saved my life. He'd broken his own body to get me away from Flint. The least I could do was...
I looked around. There was a nearby haystack, probably part of the farm's equipment. I dragged it over, tore off handfuls of it, and covered his body as best I could. It wasn't much. It wasn't a grave. But it was something.
"Rest in peace, I guess. You were... l..."
I should get going before the police show up.
I stood there for a moment, then turned away.
As I started walking through the wheat field, something caught my eye. A faint glow, coming from a few feet away.
The black box?
It must have fallen nearby during the crash. It was lying in the dirt, half-buried under a stalk of wheat, its surface gleaming with a faint, pulsing crimson light.
I walked over to it and picked it up.
[Enigma]
[Rarity: Epic (?)]
[Description: ???]
"..."
The system couldn't tell me what it was. The question marks stared back at me like a taunt.
"...Not enough information, huh?"
I turned the box over in my hands. It was warm. Warmer than it should've been. The glowing markings on its surface pulsed in a slow, rhythmic pattern, like a heartbeat.
"...I should throw this away." The source of this chapter is g.com.
I really should have. I didn't know what it was. I didn't know what it did. For all I knew, it was a bomb that would go off the second I tried to open it. Or a tracking device that would lead Flint straight to me. Or some kind of cursed artifact that would melt my face off.
But I didn't throw it away.
Instead, I stood there in the wheat field, turning the box over in my hands, feeling the warmth seep into my fingers.
"..."
My thumb found the seam on the edge. A thin line where the lid met the base. It was barely visible, but I could feel it.
"Don't open it," I told myself. "Whatever this is, it's not worth the risk. You got your powers. You got what you came for. Just leave it."
I really should not open this. Like the common sense-having part of my brain was screaming at me to drop it and run far away. Whatever was in this box, it was dangerous enough to make a B-rank villain go on a murder spree.
"..."
"..."
Fuck it.
"...I'm going to open it."
I pressed my thumb against the seam.
The lid popped open with a soft click.
Inside, a crimson light flared—blindingly bright, so intense I had to squint. The light grew brighter and brighter, pulsing with a heat that I could feel on my face, my hands, my chest.
Then something moved.
It was... I don't know how to describe it. Like a snake made of light. A thin, serpentine thread of crimson energy that uncoiled from inside the box and reached toward me.
"What the f—"
It touched my chest.
*ZZZZT!*
My whole body seized up. Every muscle contracted at once. My teeth clamped together so hard I thought they'd crack. My spine arched backward, and a sound escaped my throat—a scream that came out as a choked gurgle.
It felt like being electrocuted. My whole body seized up, my vision going white as every nerve in my body seemed to fire at once. I felt a burning sensation spread from my chest outward, through my limbs, through my teeth, through my very bones.
"AAARGH!!!"
I blacked out.
...
...
...
[Ding!]
[You have consumed the item [Enigma].]
[Analyzing effects...]
[...Done.]
[Effect: All current abilities have been boosted by one rank.]
[Speedster (E-rank) → Speedster (D-rank)]
[New maximum speed: ~120 km/h]
[Note: The Enigma's boost is permanent and cannot be reversed.]
[Note: Additional Enigma consumption may yield diminishing returns.]
I opened my eyes.
"...Huh?"
I was on my knees, gasping for air, my hands clutching the dirt. The box was lying on the ground in front of me, its lid open, empty.
I checked my body for wounds. Nothing. No marks, no blood, no snake. It was like it had never happened.
I got up slowly, my legs feeling like jelly. I looked around. The wheat field was still there, but something was different.
The world was... different.
The wind had stopped. The birds... they were frozen.
I looked down at my hands. They were trembling, but not from fear. I could see the world in slow motion. The details of every leaf, every grain of wheat, every speck of dust floating in the air.
The wheat field around me was the same. The sky was the same. The farmhouse in the distance was the same. But everything felt... slower.
The wheat swaying in the breeze—the individual stalks moved so slowly I could track each one with my eyes. A bird flew overhead, and I could see every beat of its wings, every feather shifting, the air resistance curling around its body.
I raised my hand. It moved normally—or what I assumed was normally—but the air around it seemed to part like water.
"What the..."
Everything was slower. Like I was the only person moving at normal speed and the entire world was stuck in molasses.
"Whoa..."
I took a step forward, and I was suddenly a few feet ahead of where I'd been standing.
I took another step. Then another. I was moving faster without even noticing. I was walking at what felt like a casual pace, but I'd already crossed the distance to the edge of the field. I must've moved at 50 meters in five seconds, without even trying
My legs were lighter. My body was lighter. Everything was lighter.
"What the actual fuck?!"
I laughed. It was a broken, hysterical sound, but it came from somewhere deep inside me. I was laughing because I couldn't believe it, because I was happy, because I was terrified, because it was all so ridiculous.
"Hahahahaha! I'm fast as fuck, boys!"
I started jogging. Then running. The wheat field blurred past me—not the smeary, eye-watering blur of high-speed movement, but a smooth, almost cinematic blur. Like the world had been put on 0.5x speed and I was the only one operating at normal speed.
"Holy shit."
I skidded to a stop, my feet digging into the dirt. The deceleration was instant—almost too instant. I nearly fell forward, my momentum carrying me a few extra feet before I caught myself.
[Current maximum speed: ~120 km/h]
[Warning: Pushing beyond comfortable speed for extended periods may cause physical damage.]
120 kilometers per hour.
I could run at 120 kilometers per hour.
That was... that was fast.
I laughed again. It came out high-pitched and slightly unhinged.
"Heh... hehehe... hahaha!"
I was standing in a wheat field, covered in blood, next to a dead man's body, and I was laughing like a maniac.
"I have superpowers."
I said it out loud, just to hear how it sounded.
"I have actual, real, honest-to-god superpowers."
The Enigma box was still in my hand. The crimson glow had faded—the inside was empty now, just a hollow shell. Whatever had been inside it was inside me now.
I closed the lid and shoved it into my hoodie pocket.
"..."
I looked up at the sky. The sun was starting to dip toward the horizon. I had no idea how long I'd been out. Hours? The whole day?
"I need to get home."
I looked in the direction of the dirt road. It led somewhere—probably toward the city. I could figure it out from there.
But first...
I looked back at the spot where David's body lay, covered in straw.
"I..."
I'm sorry.
I turned away and started running.
The world blurred around me, and for the first time in my life, I was the one leaving everything behind.