Chapter 3 - Evolution System
"Now... what do we have here?"
Floating in front of Zane was a translucent, glowing blue box suspended in midair. Its surface shimmered faintly, as though made from light itself. Bold letters hovered inside the box, their contents fixed despite the box's ethereal appearance. Zane narrowed his eyes at the odd sight, then reached out instinctively to touch it.
His finger passed through the hologram as though it wasn't even there.
He stared, mildly perplexed. "Of course it would do that," he muttered dryly. At this point, after all he had experienced in the past half hour, the bizarre barely surprised him anymore.
Floating in dark voids. Waking up in a strange, messy apartment. Finding himself in the body of a teenage boy he didn't recognize. And now, he was apparently interacting with something called an 'Evolution System.'
Despite how surreal it all seemed, there was an odd sense of clarity in Zane's mind. He wasn't panicking. On the contrary, there was something deeply engaging about this whole experience. It was strange, yes—but also exhilarating. For someone like him, whose previous life was a void of emotion and purpose, this chaos was oddly refreshing.
He tilted his head and read the glowing words again. "Evolution System," he repeated slowly. "Some kind of advanced tech interface? Or is this just some next-level hallucination?"
[Ding!]
[Open the menu to check your options.]
Another box appeared, overlapping the first, almost as though the system had grown impatient with him. Zane raised an eyebrow, amused.
"Alright then. How do I open this menu you're so insistent about—"
Before he even finished the sentence, the screen shimmered again and transformed. A new, larger interface appeared in front of his eyes, more elaborate this time.
[Menu]
Profile
Storage
Tasks
Store
Zane blinked. "Responsive. Great. Guess I don't even need to press anything."
As he stared, he felt a tug in his memory. He'd seen something like this before—not in real life, of course, but in fiction. Books. Games.
He had always loved reading. When his old life became too dull, too mechanical, he would disappear into novels for days. There was one particular story he remembered, where the protagonist interacted with a system not unlike this one. A world filled with leveling up, skill points, quests... just like a video game.
"Feels like I've stepped into one of those worlds now," he murmured, rubbing his chin.
"Let's try... Profile."
The moment he said the word, the system responded immediately.
[Name: Zane Vicroft]
[Age: 14]
[Gender: Male]
[Level: 1]
[Awakening: Locked]
[Mutations: Locked]
[Stats: (Average: 10)]
Strength: 4
Agility: 5
Stamina: 4
Mutation Resistance: 6
Blood Energy: 5
Bonus Points: 0
Zane stared at the numbers, unimpressed.
"Below average across the board," he muttered. "Fantastic."
He sighed. So the body he was in—this Zane Vicroft—wasn't just physically unimpressive, but also statistically weak. Then again, it was better than nothing. At least he had some way to measure his growth now.
"Awakening… mutations…" he murmured. The words were familiar but mysterious. He could guess their general meaning, but in this context, they hinted at something far more extraordinary. Something possibly tied to the kind of power this world had.
There was still too much he didn't understand. The system felt like a guide, but it wasn't exactly throwing him a manual. At best, it was like a game dropping you into the first level without a tutorial.
Still, he had to start somewhere.
"Let's go back to cleaning this dump."
[Ding!]
[Tasks have been updated!]
He paused again as a new window appeared.
[Tasks]
1 - Objective: Clean the entire apartment
Difficulty: F-
Reward: 1x Training Elixir
Zane raised an eyebrow, mildly entertained.
"Even the system agrees this place is a disaster," he said with a smirk. "Alright, point taken."
The task seemed simple enough, and the reward—"Training Elixir"—sounded like something potentially useful. If it helped improve his stats or condition in any way, then the task would be more than worth the effort.
Rolling up the sleeves of his shirt, Zane stepped out into the apartment's mess.
He started in the kitchen. Rusted utensils were scattered across the counters, and the sink was overflowing with dirty dishes. The stench was enough to make his eyes water. He rummaged through cabinets until he found some half-used cleaning supplies, a sponge, and garbage bags.
Piece by piece, he worked methodically, collecting trash and wiping down surfaces. Rotten food, soda cans, moldy bread—he found it all. One particularly unpleasant surprise was a dead rat curled up beneath the fridge. He disposed of it with minimal reaction, though a part of him was grateful the smell hadn't made him gag.
About forty-five minutes later, the kitchen was finally clean. The counters sparkled, the floor had been mopped, and the dishes washed. It wasn't perfect, but it was a massive improvement.
Zane sat down for a moment, wiping sweat from his forehead. "This body tires easily," he muttered, his breath a little shallow. "Even basic labor feels like running a marathon."
He stood again, steeling himself. Next up: the bathroom. Thankfully, it was a small space. With a bit of elbow grease, he managed to scrub the grime from the toilet, sink, and shower. The whole process took just under half an hour.
But the real monster was the bedroom.
When he stepped back into it, he stared at the sheer volume of filth. Old clothes littered the floor, stained with who-knew-what. Trash bags had never even been opened. The air felt heavy, almost oppressive.
Still, he powered through. As he picked up one item after another, Zane couldn't help but reflect.
"Whoever lived like this… they were suffering," he whispered.
It wasn't just laziness. It was depression—crippling, soul-deep depression. The state of the room told the story of a boy who had given up. On school. On relationships. On life.
He remembered the girl from earlier. The one who'd spoken of an engagement. She'd mentioned Zane's father, too, in passing. Was he gone? Or just neglectful?
As he picked up a stack of damp papers, something caught his eye.
A small, dust-covered book lay beneath the clutter. Curious, he bent down and picked it up, brushing off the grime.
It was a photo album.
His brows drew together slightly. The cover was worn, its edges frayed. He flipped it open.
Inside were pictures. Dozens of them.
One photo showed a smiling boy—pudgy cheeks, messy white hair—hugging a man who looked like his father. The man had tired eyes but a gentle smile. Another showed the same boy next to the black-haired girl from earlier. They looked happy. Content.
Zane stared in silence.
These were memories. Fragments of a life he now inhabited.
"You weren't always like this, huh?" he said softly, flipping another page. "Something must've happened to make you spiral."
The photo album told him more than any system interface could. It gave him a glimpse of the person who had come before. A broken kid who once had joy, family, and love—only to lose it somewhere along the way.
Zane closed the book and set it aside gently.
"I don't know what brought me here," he said, standing up again, "but if I'm in your place now, I'll carry it better than you did. I'll find out what happened, and maybe… just maybe… fix what was broken. I don't particularly like living a ruined life."
With that, he continued cleaning and mopping the entire room using all his effort. The entire process took him over an hour of work before he could finally stop and stare at the results. The entire room smelled a hundred times better and looked a hundred times cleaner. Zane felt truly proud of his work.
As if on cue, the system chimed again.
[Ding!]
[Task Complete: Apartment cleaned.]
[Reward: 1x Training Elixir has been added to storage.]
Zane grinned. "Now we're getting somewhere."
He stood tall in the center of the room, now spotless and smelling faintly of lemon-scented cleaner. The sun filtered in through a cracked window, casting golden rays on the floor.
And for the first time since waking up in this new body, Zane felt a quiet sense of purpose.
There were still questions. Mysteries to solve. A new world to understand. But one thing was certain:
This was a very decent first step into uncovering what happened.