The puzzles of Fai's memory were now complete. Every missing fragment clicked back into place, one after another, until the full picture stood clear in his mind.
He remembered everything, from the moment he went out to complete his morning grind quest, to the instant he was ambushed by the four other teenagers. Not a single piece was missing, not a single moment lost.
It was already morning now ...ten a.m., to be precise. The sun hung high in the sky, its golden light pouring down relentlessly, bathing the surroundings in warmth. It was the kind of morning that should have felt peaceful, yet Fai felt anything but calm.
When he woke up, the very first question that struck him was simple, yet unsettling: Where am I?
The environment around him was completely unfamiliar. It had nothing to do with the place he had been before he blacked out, and it also had nothing to do with the area where their group had settled the previous day. The more he looked around, the more alien the place felt.
But even that wasn't the most shocking thing.
What truly stunned him,what made his breath hitch...was Johnson.
Johnson's state was beyond disturbing. He was completely unrecognisable. One of his hands was broken, his eyes were swollen and purple, his lips unnaturally enlarged, and strange ball-like swellings covered his head, growing upward almost like grotesque horns.
Six of them were their normal colour, while one stood out, red and inflamed—the clear result of the hit Sarah had given him earlier.
If Fai was being honest with himself, Johnson didn't look human anymore. He looked like some kind of battered, half-formed humanoid monster.
How did this even happen? Fai asked himself, his eyes locked on Johnson.
He remembered clearly what had happened before he lost consciousness. Before the darkness took him. Johnson had the upper hand.
He had been dominating the fight, overwhelming his opponents. From Fai's perspective, it had looked like Johnson would win without even breaking a sweat.
That was how he remembered it.
Yet the scene in front of him told a completely different story. The truth was obvious—painfully obvious. Johnson had been pushed back. He had been overwhelmed. He had been beaten.
And if Johnson had been pushed back, then that could only mean one thing.
He had lost.
Still, that was only an assumption. A possibility. Nothing was truly confirmed yet. If Fai wanted answers, real answers—there was only one thing he could do.
'I guess I'll have to ask to really know what happened.' he thought .
And so, that was exactly what he intended to do.
Fai pushed himself up onto his feet and began moving toward the others. To his surprise, it didn't take much effort. His body felt steady—far steadier than it should have.
They weren't very far away either, having positioned themselves just far enough to keep an eye on him while also making sure the noise Johnson was making wouldn't disturb his rest.
As Fai approached, the crying Johnson...by pure coincidence,he met his gaze. The moment their eyes connected, Johnson didn't hesitate. He seized the opportunity instantly.
"BUDDY! Bhelp! Bthis bgirl is trying to bkill me!"
Johnson cried out desperately, as if his life truly depended on it.
Sarah, hearing his words , instinctively turned around. The moment her eyes landed on Fai, she froze. Surprise flickered across her face, quickly followed by disbelief. She hadn't expected him to be standing—much less walking.
Right now, she was staring at the Fai in front of her and comparing him to the image burned into her mind from yesterday.
Yesterday, she had seen him broken. Bruised. Barely holding himself together. His body had been covered in injuries, his condition miserable and pitiful.
But the Fai standing before her now was nothing like that.
He stood firmly on both feet, his posture strong, as if he had never been injured in the first place. Even the scars from the fight had almost completely healed. In fact, if someone didn't know he had been attacked the day before, they would never associate the faint marks on his body with a real fight. At most, they might think he had fallen or scraped himself somewhere.
This… wasn't normal.
'If I didn't know better, Sarah thought, I would have said Johnson was the one who got attacked yesterday.'
Her eyes narrowed slightly as her thoughts spiraled.
'Could it be a regenerative-type mutation?'
She dismissed the idea almost immediately.
'No… that doesn't make sense. His watch is still glowing red—that's a sign he's still human.'
And yet…
'Still, his healing ability is inhuman. I've never heard of a human with this level of recovery. His body literally renewed itself. Is that even possible?'
Since Fai had obtained the system, countless changes had occurred. Enhanced night vision. Improved speed. Increased stamina. And most notably—his regenerative abilities.
Yet even Fai himself wasn't fully aware of these changes. Over time, they had started to feel natural to him. Normal. Just like growing up—you don't notice yourself growing every day, but one day it suddenly hits you: I've changed.
It was the same as when he realised, just yesterday, that he could see perfectly in the dark. Many of the transformations his body had undergone still hadn't fully registered in his mind.
That was why he had completely forgotten something crucial.
He was supposed to be the victim.He was supposed to be the one in pain , the one who couldn't move ..... But here he was , moving just fine .
Sarah's thoughts continued racing, questions piling on top of questions, questions she had no answers to. Questions better left unanswered, at least for now. Still, a small seed of curiosity had already been planted deep in her heart.
"You're awake," she said, her tone carrying both relief and..... uncertainty. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm good," Fai replied calmly. "Apart from a little headache, I think I'll be alright."
He didn't realise the weight his words carried.
"Good to know," Sarah said, turning her attention back to Johnson.
'I knew it, she thought. From the way he's talking, the way he's breathing—it's clear his internal injuries have healed. But how? There are only two explanations… either he has a powerful healing system… or he's a mutant.'