[System Alert: Unverified broadcast signal detected. Origin: Unknown. Encryption Level: Omega-Red.]
Lin Chen's pupils narrowed as the holographic interface on his wrist terminal flared red. Without warning, the global networks were once again hijacked—this time not by him, but by a phantom broadcast channel traced to a dead zone beneath the Arctic Circle.
Erebus had responded.
The screen blinked, and then it appeared:
"THE AWAKENED INDEX — Classified Compilation 001A (Unredacted)"Compiled by: [Erebus]Status: Public Disclosure ActivePurpose: Risk Mitigation | Target Prioritization | Phase II Protocol
A sharp synthetic voice echoed from every device connected to a network:
"This is a public security announcement. The following individuals possess anomalous capabilities beyond standard human thresholds. They are hereby classified as System Hosts, categorized by projected threat level and confirmed feats."
The broadcast cut to a black screen—then:
Ranking Display: GLOBAL TOP 100 SYSTEM-BEARERS
One by one, the names appeared. Blurred faces. Redacted affiliations. Danger ratings. Energy types. Kill counts. Anomalous feats. The world watched as the once-hidden elite were laid bare for judgment.
And then—
#5: Lin ChenCodename:Salvator-01System Class: Wealth–Evolution HybridRisk Tier: Omega (Potential Cataclysmic)Confirmed Feats:—System Awakening at sub-urban incident (Beihai Collapse)—Disruption of Operation Umbra—Global Broadcast Hijack (Priority Alpha Breach)—Domain Formation (Unauthorized)—Anomaly Immunity DetectedLast Known Location: Eastern Pacific SectorStatus: Active — Termination Protocol Deferred
The moment the name flashed across the globe, chaos ignited.
Across Asia, Europe, the Americas—underground factions mobilized. Black market forums exploded. Governments invoked martial contingency orders. News anchors stuttered over hastily redacted segments, while social media collapsed under #SystemBearers, #Salvator01, and #WorldNotAlone.
More terrifying—bounties began circulating.
The Awakened were now targets.
"Shit," Lin Chen muttered, scanning the rest of the list. Some faces he recognized: mercenaries turned monsters, scientists who vanished after mysterious breakthroughs, even a child host in Africa rumored to manipulate time in sleep.
But most were nameless, just numbers now. Threats to be neutralized. Testaments to a world losing control.
The camera panned back to Lin Chen, who now stood in a darkened underground facility—one of his pre-prepared safe zones.
The system pinged.
[System Notification: You have been identified. Public risk tier escalated.]New Side Quest Unlocked: Survive the First 72 Hours.Reward: 'False Signal Generator' blueprint unlocked.
Lin Chen exhaled slowly.
The weight of exposure settled on his shoulders—not just as an individual, but as a symbol. There was no going back.
And it wasn't just him. The others—those with families, those still in hiding—had been dragged into the open too.
The system's voice echoed:
"Host status compromised. Global systemic unrest projected to reach Phase IV within 48 hours."
For the first time, Lin Chen realized: this wasn't a personal war anymore.
It was a global awakening.
A war of ideologies, of control, and of survival.
He looked at the flickering map. More than 70 Awakened had gone underground. Five had already vanished from the list—whether dead or in hiding, no one knew.
The hunt had begun.
And Lin Chen was one of the most wanted men on Earth.
As Lin Chen's name burned across the globe, another screen flickered into life in an undisclosed location, miles away from the chaos that was unfolding in the world's capital cities.
Inside a sterile, high-tech control room, Li Chu sat motionless in front of a bank of monitors. The dim light from the screens painted her face in pale blue. Her hands were trembling as they hovered over the keyboard, but she made no move to touch it.
Her heart raced as she watched the live broadcast—a broadcast that shook the foundations of everything she had known. The image of Lin Chen, standing on that tower, his power pulsing like a beacon across the world, gripped her in a way she could neither understand nor control.
Her mind buzzed with fragments—disjointed, half-formed memories. She had seen that energy before, felt its power once... but when?
"Lin Chen..."
The name passed her lips softly, as if testing it, but the memory came and went like a fleeting shadow. It made no sense—she had no reason to remember him. Yet, there he was, on every screen, calling out to the world, declaring himself Awakened.
A sharp pain shot through her temples.
The image of the face in her mind flickered—a younger version of herself, watching through a one-way glass, eyes wide with horror. She saw Lin Chen then, lying unconscious, his body connected to machines, and a set of unfamiliar wires attached to his temples. The memories were fragmented, the timeline skewed.
Her fingers twitched, but she still didn't move.
"No..." She whispered to herself, her voice unsteady.
Something wasn't right. There was something about that moment she couldn't piece together. But it was clear: Lin Chen had been there. He had been connected to the system in ways she couldn't comprehend.
Her breath caught as another wave of dizziness passed over her, and for a moment, she saw herself in that lab—strapped to a chair, a mask over her face, watching through glass as Lin Chen was… was modified.
But why? Why couldn't she remember?
"Li Chu…" The voice in her head was soft but insistent. "Remember."
The last thing she could clearly recall was the feeling of disconnection, the sensation of losing herself, and the cold emptiness of their experiments. Then, a terrible blankness.
The word X-Project rang in her mind.
She had to remember. She needed to remember what happened. And Lin Chen—he was a key part of that memory.
As the broadcast continued across the globe, Li Chu slowly leaned back in her chair, her eyes unfocused but her mind racing.
"What did they do to us?"
The sound of a distant alarm broke her reverie, signaling the latest shift in the data—another unsettling clue in the puzzle. Li Chu's fingers hovered over the terminal, but she made no move. Her thoughts were consumed by the flood of fragmented memories.
The link was there, somewhere. And she needed to find it.