Free Web NovelChapter 4: The Nexus Fruit
More than an hour passed.
Inside a simple room in a single-bedroom flat, a young man sat staring at the blank screen of his monitor in silent contemplation.
’Was the decision I made the right one?’ Amon asked himself.
His eyes drifted toward the man sleeping on the bed. His facial features couldn’t be made out beneath the cloth tightly wrapped around his head.
Amon had wanted to take him to the hospital, but the man had strongly refused, urging Amon to take him somewhere else instead.
’The situation is too suspicious,’ Amon muttered thoughtfully to himself, ’and...’
His gaze shifted to the man’s hand.
Despite being fast asleep, the object he held remained tightly clutched in his grasp, as though he wasn’t willing to let go of it in the slightest.
Amon could also see a faint shimmer of crystalline light leaking through the man’s fingers, making him curious about what exactly it was.
Soon, however, Amon shook his head and returned his attention to the monitor, waiting for something to happen. Perhaps for the man to recover. After all, he seemed to possess a supernatural healing ability.
’Is he an awakened who managed to extract his abilities into the real world?’
Amon had his suspicions regarding the man’s identity, but he pushed them aside and waited for him to wake up.
Gradually, the seconds ticked by.
They soon turned into hours.
Suddenly, Amon felt a faint but unpleasant premonition creep up his spine.
Instinctively, his eyes snapped open, and through the reflection of his monitor, he caught sight of the man who was supposedly unconscious hovering directly behind him.
His right hand hung inches above Amon’s head, illuminated by a soft blue glow.
Both men froze the moment their gazes met through the monitor.
Amon reacted almost entirely on instinct, his will to survive surging to the forefront.
Without hesitation, he threw himself away from the chair, creating distance between them.
"What are you trying to do?!" he asked, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.
"Listen, kid. I have an important mission to fulfill and I would need to borrow your body for a bit." A gruff voice came from the clothed man.
It sounded casual and slightly strained with exhaustion.
But it sent a chill down Amon’s spine.
’Borrow my body?’
Amon’s pupils contracted.
His breathing grew uneven. Behind his back, his hand hurriedly rummaged through the desk, searching for something. Anything.
A weapon perhaps.
The man studied his face and gradually began approaching once more, the familiar blue light glowing in his hand.
Amon’s heartbeat grew heavier with every step.
Fortunately, his searching hand seemed to find something.
The man’s eyes flashed with surprise as he noticed what Amon was trying to do.
He quickened his movements and dashed straight toward him.
His actions were fast and precise despite his badly injured state.
Surprisingly, Amon reacted just as quickly.
Dodging to the side, he took advantage of the moment the man slammed into the table from the force of his charge and rammed the weapon into him without caring what it was.
The sound of something hard colliding against something harder echoed through the quiet room.
The man’s head twisted slightly to the side, but Amon could tell he wasn’t seriously injured.
He was an awakened after all.
Not waiting for him to recover, Amon immediately began swinging the baseball bat in his hand again and again.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The impacts sounded deafening in the otherwise silent room as Amon struggled to catch his breath.
He didn’t stop.
Not until he had struck the man more than ten consecutive times.
The body finally went still.
A moment later, the object in the man’s hand rolled free and clattered across the floor.
Amon released a shaky breath after confirming the man’s death.
At the same time, a nauseating sensation rose from the pit of his stomach, making him want to throw up.
He glanced down at his trembling hands, stained with faint traces of blood.
’I... killed someone... I really took a life...’
Amon stood there in a daze for several seconds.
Then a glowing line of words appeared before him, momentarily pulling his attention away from the fact that he had just killed a person.
[Congratulations Player, on crossing above levels and killing a Tier 2 player.]
[Gained 600 Exp.]
[Congratulations you have leveled up!]
[Congratulations you have leveled up!]
Amon ignored the notifications, although they served as confirmation of the man’s death.
His attention was instead drawn toward the object the man had been holding.
It glowed with a strange, ethereal light.
And it seemed to carry a bewitching allure.
The rain outside intensified as flashes of purple and red lightning streaked across the skies.
Meanwhile, inside the room, Amon found himself drawing closer and closer to the object.
He hesitated for a moment.
This was something the man had held so tightly that he seemed willing to cherish it with his life.
It couldn’t possibly be dangerous.
With that thought, Amon picked up the object and examined it more closely.
It resembled a soft peach-like fruit.
Immediately, a compelling and irresistible feeling surged through Amon’s heart and mind, clouding his thoughts entirely.
For a moment, he was unable to control himself as he brought the fruit toward his mouth.
Closer.
And closer.
Amon didn’t even realize what was happening when he took the first bite.
Sweet juice flooded his mouth.
Then came a second bite.
A third.
Before long, he had completely consumed the fruit and found himself aching for more.
Suddenly, Amon’s pupils shrank as his senses returned and he realized what he had done.
’This...’
Amon was left speechless, unable to understand why he had lost so much control over himself.
A soft blue light suddenly materialized within his field of vision.
[Detected that player has consumed a Nexus Fruit. Congratulations, player.]
[Awakening a system related to talent...]
’What?’
Amon’s pupils shrank as he noticed the new line of words from the Nexus Interface.
New information flooded his vision.
[Loading... Loading... Loading...]
[Congratulations on Awakening the Extraction System. Please enter into Nexus to explore its features!] freewēbnoveℓ.com
After displaying the message, the Nexus Interface vanished once more.
However, it left Amon’s heart reeling with shock.
’What the hell is a Nexus Fruit? And what’s an Extraction System?’
His mind filled with questions as he recalled what he had just read.
He could tell that all of it was connected to the mysterious Nexus.
However, one thing continued to bother him.
Why would something related to Nexus be in the hands of the man from before?
’The only way to truly understand what this system is...’
Amon pushed thoughts of the dead man aside, his attention returning to the Extraction System.
’...is to find out the truth of it all from its roots. Nexus.’
Amon’s expression hardened.
Pacing slightly around the room, he began thinking about how to dispose of the body.
He lived in a somewhat isolated area.
Although it was rare to find a murdered body lying on the street, it wasn’t impossible.
And with the man’s face being completely unrecognizable, nothing would point back to him.
Amon felt the decision was reasonable.
With that, he proceeded to dispose of the body.
Thankfully, the rain had washed away any traces of fingerprints or DNA he might have left behind.
After finishing, Amon walked to his drawer and pulled out a box.
Inside was a VR headset with a sleek design.
Everyone who turned sixteen received a Nexus headset from the academy.
However, they weren’t meant to use it until they had awakened their talents and were required to return it if their awakening proved unsuccessful.
Naturally, ordinary humans could enter Nexus.
However, only those with talents had a greater chance of completing missions and surviving.
Amon had never heard of someone awakening after already entering the game, so he knew very little about situations like this.
Moreover, now that he had awakened, he was free to enter Nexus whenever he wished.
’Now... to finally understand what the Extraction System actually is...’
Amon muttered to himself as he placed the headset over his head.
Initially, he had wanted to spend the entire day training before entering Nexus.
However, his heart couldn’t stop pounding with curiosity toward the mysterious system.
His vision darkened.
It remained that way for several seconds.
During this time, Nexus gained access to his brainwaves and began simulating the world around him.
Gradually, his vision brightened at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The moment his sight cleared, a fairy with soft blue hair, glowing silver wings, and light blue eyes carrying a hint of gentleness smiled at him.
As she spoke, an interface appeared within his line of sight.
[Detected a new player. Please proceed to create a character profile.]
[chara#$ pro#*&]
Just as Amon was preparing to hear the familiar words he had read about countless times on the forums, something akin to a glitching sound echoed through the air.
It repeated incessantly.
The status screen before him flickered and distorted repeatedly, as though the Nexus Interface itself was struggling to recover.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the blue interface vanished.
In its place appeared a new one.
A slightly deeper shade of blue, glimmering faintly with streaks of gold.
[Welcome, Player, to the world of Nexus.]
