The silence was choking.
Adam sat upright on his bed, posture a little stiff, his fingers laced over his lap. Laylee had taken the chair across from him—straight-backed, arms crossed, legs crossed, her expression unreadable. She hadn't said a word since sitting down. Neither had he.
He tried not to fidget.
The tension between them was like taut string pulled to its limit, one wrong twitch away from snapping. She stared at him not with disdain anymore, but with something far more dangerous: curiosity. And curiosity, especially from a genius older sister who used to fantasize about lighting the world on fire, was terrifying.
He swallowed and lowered his gaze.
Status, he mouthed.
The system responded immediately. A crisp chime rang in his mind, and the translucent window opened before him.
[Status]
Strength: 20
Physique: 20
Speed: 20
Endurance: 20
Wisdom: 20
Charm: 20
Mana: 100
Aura: — Locked
School of Magic: Color Magic
Colors Unlocked: Red, Yellow, Blue
Mana Gates Opened: 1/100
He breathed in.
The difference was subtle, but real. His thoughts were clearer. His reflexes sharper. He could feel a lightness in his muscles, a spring in his bones, like his whole body was finally tuned to the right frequency. Physique and Strength had improved his posture and endurance; Wisdom made his thoughts organize themselves more neatly; Charm… well, he didn't have a mirror right now, but Laylee hadn't commented on his smell this time. So that had to mean something.
His gaze flicked to the Mana line. Still at 100. Still brimming. Still there.
The memory of yesterday's pain slithered through him like a cold needle threading through nerve. The backlash from opening just one gate had nearly made him foam at the mouth. He'd lain twitching on the ground for an hour, unable to move. The pain hadn't been sharp like a stab—it had been electrical. Like his body was being rebooted, rewired, like the mana was forcing every cell in his body to wake up from a lifetime of sleep.
And that was only one gate.
He would have to open ninety-nine more.
He closed the window and exhaled.
Still worth it.
Anything to rewrite Adam Blake's doomed story. To drag this character—this cursed, fat villain who was fated to die early and miserably—kicking and screaming out of his pathetic death flag.
Before Laylee had arrived, he had done some tests.
Just small things. He didn't dare try a real spell with all the risk of Mana Poisoning, but he had carefully activated two of the seven colors he knew Color Magic offered: Red and Yellow.
Strength and Speed.
And only at a 2x multiplier at that.
Disappointing, but expected.
It wasn't just about mana quantity—Color Magic was tied to emotion. Resonance. A lesson hidden deep in Sodom's lore and confirmed in several rare quests. Red required anger or resolve. Yellow demanded focus and excitement. The other colors? They were still locked. He'd get them eventually.
What mattered was that it worked. He could really use magic.
He, a man, was casting spells in a world that executed men for even pretending to manipulate mana.
No one could know.
No one.
If the Empire found out, if the Tower caught wind, if the Church caught his scent, he wouldn't be praised or celebrated. He'd be dissected. Caged. Worshipped and destroyed in the same breath.
He couldn't afford even a whisper of exposure.
Not yet.
Not until he was ready.
A rustle across the room broke his thoughts.
Laylee shifted slightly in her chair. Her arms had uncrossed. Her lips parted.
"...Thank you."
Adam blinked. His eyes rose to meet hers.
"For what?" he asked, trying to keep his voice light.
"For what you did," she replied, her voice soft, almost reluctant. "Solving the problem I couldn't. For... fixing me."
She paused, as if the words still tasted strange in her mouth. "It's been so long since I used flame magic without a migraine. I'd almost forgotten what it was supposed to feel like. And to think… all it took was meditation. Just one hour a day to calm my state of mind."
Adam smiled gently.
"I'm glad I could help," he said, and he meant it.
It wasn't just a quest. Laylee had been in pain, and now she wasn't. And the fact that he had been the one to relieve that pain, even if it was through a lie, felt… good. It felt right.
"Those visions of yours," she continued, leaning forward slightly, eyes narrowing. "Are they always so… accurate?"
He nearly flinched. Shit.
"Oh, no," he laughed nervously. "Not at all. They're random. Fragmented. Sometimes they're just feelings. Sometimes they don't even make sense until later."
Laylee studied him for a moment. He couldn't tell if she believed him. But she nodded anyway.
And then—
[New Quest Received!]
[A Blast to the Past!]
Reconnect with your sister Laylee. Restore the bond you once shared as children.
Reward: +10 Charm
Progress: 0%
Adam nearly choked. He blinked rapidly to dismiss the window before she saw anything.
Of course. Of course the system wanted to push this angle. Emotional restoration for stat gain. That was Male God 1.0 in a nutshell—rom-com mechanics wrapped in a fantasy apocalypse. At this rate, he'd be charming his whole family back into shape like some wholesome housewife MC.
He looked at Laylee.
She wasn't smiling. But her expression had softened. There was something in her eyes—not warmth, but maybe… recognition?
He exhaled quietly.
He could work with that.