"Sometimes, when you see everything clearly… you discover what you should have never known."
– From Kain's thoughts
When Kain used the "Dragon's Eye," he felt as if a spark of pain ripped through his retinas, crawling deep into his skull. Something was being reshaped inside him. With every passing second, it felt as though his perception of the world was being completely reset.
He opened his eyes slowly—everything had changed.
The forest that once seemed familiar now looked like a new world. Details he had never noticed before appeared as if they had been etched on glass with perfect precision. The falling snowflakes were no longer just white specks that melted away; he could now see each crystal spinning slowly in the air, each one a unique frozen story.
He looked far away, and everything drew closer.
His eye worked like a zoom lens. He tried focusing on a distant branch, and it felt as if his face was just centimeters away. It wasn't just visual zoom—it was sensory as well. He could feel the roughness of the bark, the curve of the leaf, the hesitant motion of the birds as they picked at specks of snow. With just a glance, he could see movements in slow motion. A small bird flapping its wings looked as if it were swimming through the air, each flap lasting several seconds before his eye.
"This… will be incredible in combat," he thought.
He could see vibrations in objects, the speed of movement, the range, even facial expressions. The world felt like an open book, and his eye… was the key.
Kain remained in the forest longer than expected, only to adapt. He felt this ability did not belong to him yet. Something this profound required respect.
On the way back, snow was falling again—soft, silent, cold.
He drove the truck quietly, but his mind drifted elsewhere. His thoughts wandered… to where he could never return.
He remembered his mother—those gentle eyes that calmed the entire world.
He remembered his father—that deep, confident voice that could erase doubts with a single word.
He remembered the cold December nights… coming home from work, exhausted, drained, only to find the warmth of family waiting with a simple meal and an honest smile.
A tear slipped from his eye without him noticing. The cold air froze it before it reached his chin. He wiped it away silently, then murmured:
"Can warmth be born twice?"
Arriving home, he paused at the door for a few seconds, breathed deeply, then stepped inside.
The scene was familiar—like time looping back again. Charlie and Bella in the kitchen, dinner being prepared, warm chatter, and the air filled with the fragrance of family.
"Déjà vu? No… a new life with old features."
He sat at the table with them. They ate in comfortable silence. Glances, smiles—no words were needed.
Then he tested his new ability.
Kain directed his gaze toward Bella. Beside her, a faint transparent button appeared, visible only to him. A mere thought of pressing it, and a screen opened:
[Status Analysis — Entity: Bella Swan]
✦ Type: Human
✦ Classification: High School Student — Human
✦ Threat Level: Very Low
✦ Innate Ability: None
✦ Current Mood: Confusion… Curiosity… Inner Tension
✦ Physical Condition: Low Energy — Faint Activity
✦ Basic Stats:
[ Strength ]: 5
[ Agility ]: 5
[ Intelligence ]: 8
[ Vitality ]: 6
[ Defense ]: 4
[ Endurance ]: 7/3
"A completely ordinary girl… or so it seems."
But something was wrong.
The Dragon's Eye showed nothing. No glow, no ability. Just an empty screen.
❝…Where is the mental shield?❞
He froze. From everything he knew of his previous world, Bella should be immune to mental reading—a rare, innate ability that could not be ignored.
He frowned and pressed the evaluation button again.
Same result. Nothing.
❝Either my presence here has already caused ripples—the butterfly effect has begun,❞
❝or the Dragon's Eye cannot yet detect latent human abilities…❞
❝Or—what truly worries me… events here have already started changing in ways I don't yet understand.❞
❝Either way… this silence is not normal.❞
Then he turned his gaze to Charlie. Another button, another screen:
[Status Analysis — Entity: Charlie Swan]
✦ Type: Human
✦ Classification: Adult Human — Civilian
✦ Threat Level: Low
✦ Innate Ability: None
✦ Current Mood: Calm… Responsibility… Mild Concern
✦ Physical Condition: Stable Energy — Average Activity
✦ Basic Stats:
[ Strength ]: 10
[ Agility ]: 8
[ Intelligence ]: 10
[ Vitality ]: 12
[ Defense ]: 9
[ Endurance ]: 10/4
"Perfectly fitting for a middle-aged policeman… decent, but incomparable to what I'll face later."
They finished dinner, and Kain went upstairs. Exhausted, body aching, mind full of thoughts—but he didn't need to study or revise.
"The world repeats itself… and I am the one being rewritten."
He fell asleep instantly.
The next morning, Kain woke at six.
He opened the list of daily quests:
✦ [Daily Quests]
– Run 1 km
– 15 Push-ups
– 25 Squats
Duration: 24 hours
Reward: 6 FP
"Oh, they increased the push-ups a bit… fine."
He went downstairs, greeted Charlie, ate something light, then told him he was going for a run. The air was still cold, but Kain had grown used to Forks' chill.
He ran, pushed, squatted. Completed the training, then waited…
[Quest Completed!]
[Congratulations, Host — 6 FP Acquired.]
He opened his status immediately and distributed the points evenly, as always:
✦ Host's Basic Status
Name: Kain Swan
Race: Human
Level: 3
[ Strength ]: 15
[ Agility ]: 14
[ Intelligence ]: 17
[ Vitality ]: 15
[ Defense ]: 13
[ Endurance ]: 14/12
Available FP: 0
Available SP: 0
Current XP: 0/25
He looked at his status with a satisfied smile.
Then he returned home to prepare for another school day…
but deep inside, he knew the coming days would no longer be ordinary.
The school day began.
The first classes passed like heavy clouds in a gray sky—no rain, no light. Kain sat in class, answering questions without even glancing at his paper.
"How boring it is to relearn what I already know… and worse? To relearn something useless."
"My God, I thought programming in college was boring… but this? This is torture!" he muttered, staring at the clock, watching its hands move as if mocking him.
But everything changed at lunch break.
[ Ding! ]
[New Quest Generated]
[Quest Details]
✦ Anger a member of the Cullen family.
✦ Time Limit: 30 minutes.
✦ Reward: 30 XP and 30 SP
✦ [Warning: Failure will result in no quests generated for two days]
"Huh?!
Kain froze in place. The message was short, simple… but heavy as danger.
"Thirty minutes?! What do you think I am, a professional comedian? And how am I supposed to anger them without getting ripped apart and dumped in the forest?"
He sat at the table with Bella, who was busy chatting with Jessica, Mike, Eric, and Angela.
He tried to look natural, but tension was eating him alive.
Bella noticed.
"Kain? Are you okay? You look really distracted."
"Ah? Ah, nothing… just… lack of sleep, maybe."
She gave him a sympathetic smile, then quickly returned to her conversation.
Ten minutes passed.
Ten minutes of useless thinking.
Then… a bold idea struck him.
"System… can you temporarily disable the mental shield?"
[Yes, if the Host desires.]
"Do it."
Edward wasn't present that day.
Kain knew he would disappear for two days, just like in the original story, so he wasn't surprised.
But there was someone else he was suspicious of… someone watching silently… Iliana.
From the very first moment, when she looked at him in genuine shock, she couldn't read his thoughts.
Was she like Edward? Did she have the same ability? If so… maybe this was his chance.
He began focusing his thoughts, gathering emotions.
He thought of Edward—tried to hate him, to amplify anger… but it didn't work.
"Angry, but not enough…"
He focused again, but this time differently. He tried amplifying his negative feelings toward Iliana. From the start, he felt she was constantly watching him. Her way of thinking, her silent stares—that's what made his heart pound violently. He didn't hate her like Edward, but the anger came from the idea that she was still watching everything. Those stares, the silence, the constant surveillance—that's what infuriated him most.
Then he looked at Alice Cullen, speaking with Rosalie. He didn't care for her beauty, nor did it anger him. But her very presence felt uncomfortable, like a reminder that they were always watching, that their eyes never left him. That sense of helplessness—that they knew everything about him—ignited his anger more than anything.
Suddenly, Iliana sensed the shift in his aura, like a flame lit in his heart. The anger wasn't directed at anyone in particular—it was anger at his situation, at the constant surveillance. And that was exactly what the system needed.
[ Ding! ]
[Quest Completed!]
[Congratulations! 30 XP and 30 SP Acquired]
[Level Up!]
Kain felt a tingling crawl up his spine, like a surge of energy sneaking into his body. He clenched his hand under the table, suppressing the reaction.
"System… did you re-enable the mental shield?"
[Yes, it was disabled only temporarily. It has been restored after quest completion to avoid detection.]
Kain exhaled in relief.
"That was close…"
He opened his new status:
✦ Host's Basic Status
Name: Kain Swan
Race: Human
Level: 4
[ Strength ]: 17
[ Agility ]: 16
[ Intelligence ]: 19
[ Vitality ]: 17
[ Defense ]: 15
[ Endurance ]: 16/16
Available FP: 0
Available SP: 30
Current XP: 5/30
"Just one more level… then I'll get the new skill…"
He smiled quietly, then stood up after lunch, ready for what was coming—unaware the system had another surprise waiting in physics class.
Classes after lunch passed uneventfully.
Even the teacher lecturing about the American Civil War sounded like she was speaking underwater.
But…
the moment Kain entered physics class, he felt something different.
The first to notice him? Alice.
She sat alone in the second row, smiling at him as he approached.
Kain hesitated, then made his decision: he sat beside her.
[ Ding! ]
[New Quest Generated]
[Quest Details]
✦ Arouse Alice Cullen's curiosity about your power.
✦ Time Limit: 60 minutes.
✦ Reward: 30 XP and 10 SP
✦ [Warning: Failure will result in no quests generated for two days]
Kain froze, holding his breath.
"What's wrong with you, damned system? Trying to kill me? I'm barely strong now… and you want me to expose myself?!"
Alice stared at him with curiosity, her left eyebrow slightly raised, as if asking, "What are you hiding?"
"Are you okay?" she said playfully, testing him.
"I'm fine… almost." He smiled, but his eyes stayed cautious.
"You're different today. Not just calmer… but something in your aura. Did you change something? Perfume? Hidden power? A dark secret?"
Her last words carried a teasing lilt, her violet eyes sparkling oddly.
Kain chuckled softly:
"Nothing like that… just a little meditation."
"Meditation?" she echoed, as if tasting the word.
"I bet it wasn't ordinary meditation. You have that look… the look of someone who discovered something. Something big."
"Or maybe you're just good at reading faces?"
She shrugged lightly, tilting her head even more:
"I'm good at reading many things. But you… you're strange."
"Strange?"
"In a good way. Like someone trying to hide a volcano behind a shy smile."
She whispered, low and teasing:
"And I like volcanoes…"
A shiver ran down Kain's spine—not fear, but that sharp internal alarm when you know the one before you is not ordinary, that they see more than they should.
But he replied calmly:
"Maybe you're imagining it… or maybe you're just trying to analyze me."
"Am I succeeding?"
Kain smiled without answering.
[ Ding! ]
[Quest Completed!]
[Congratulations! 30 XP and 10 SP Acquired]
[Current XP: 35/30 — Level Up!]
The familiar numbness spread through his body, but this time it wasn't just a level-up. Something else… something hidden… was approaching.
*"The time for the new skill is near…" Kain whispered to himself, unaware Alice was still watching him. With her usual smile, she murmured softly:
"Very interesting… Kain Swan."
She whispered with playful amusement.
But as Kain smiled wordlessly, feeling the level-up fade from his body, a sudden thought struck him like an arrow.
"Wait a second…"
He stiffened, then muttered:
"How did I forget this?"
At lunch, five of the Cullens were gathered in one place. And the Dragon's Eye was ready… yet he hadn't used it.
"I was distracted by the quest, sure… but I'm a fool. I missed the chance to see the stats of five non-human beings!"
Frustration surged inside him. A man like him, who relied on information, systems, analysis… how could he waste such a moment?
His gaze shifted to Alice, still close, still waiting as if daring him to see more.
"Fine… let's make up for it now."
Without hesitation, he activated the Eternal Dragon's Eye, focusing on Alice.
[Status Analysis — Entity: Alice Cullen]
✦ Type: Vampire — Elite
✦ Classification: Pinnacle of the Elite
✦ Threat Level: Extremely High
✦ Innate Ability: Future Vision (Probability Foresight)
✦ Current Mood: Curiosity… Amusement… Observation
✦ Physical Condition: Stable Energy — Calm Activity
✦ Basic Stats:
[ Strength ]: 142
[ Agility ]: 176
[ Intelligence ]: 159
[ Vitality ]: ∞ (Unmeasurable)
[ Defense ]: 148
[ Endurance ]: 171
Kain felt the air around him grow heavier.
"This… isn't just superiority. These numbers are monstrous."
"Even her defense alone is higher than the sum of all my stats combined."
His eyes widened as he realized every member of this family likely had such overwhelming stats.
"And I've been around them… without knowing."
"I should have scanned them all… especially Emmett and Edward… damn it."
He also noticed there was no stamina counter—and concluded simply that vampires never tire.
But when he looked back at Alice, who still wore that enigmatic smile, another troubling thought struck him…
"Did she notice I used the skill?"
Before he could sort his thoughts, Alice blinked, one eyebrow rising as if to say:
"I was wondering when you'd try it."
🌀[End of Chapter Five]
✦ Next Chapter: "The Dragon's Eye… and the Breath of Lightning"