[📜System Message]
[🤦 -1000 Aura]
"What?! I lost 1000 Aura for that? For what?!" Nokia shouted.
[📜System Message]
[🤦 Looking in Marco's direction -500 Aura]
[🤦Entertaining Marco's antics -1000 Aura]
[🤦 Marco Anti-Aura Debuff -500 Aura per minute]
Claudia and her men glanced at each other in confusion.
"Is that guy… an influencer? It can't be. Nokia, who is that guy?"
"I have no idea!" Nokia growled.
"C'mon, Nokii! Stop acting all cool just because there's a girl here! Everyone knows we're best—"
"Shut up Marco!" Nokia shouted, hurling his toothpaste bottle. It slammed into Marco's head, knocking him flat on his back. "Any from you more and all my aura will be gone you idiot!"
[📜System Message]
[🤦 Marco Anti-Aura Debuff -500 Aura]
[✊ Putting Marco in his place +500 Aura]
[✨ Total Net Aura: 0]
6:09 AM
"Shit!" Nokia sprang off the bed, vaulting toward his nightstand. "I can't afford to miss any more Aura with him here!"
He plunged his face into a bowl of ice water, steam curling upward as the cold snapped his skin awake.
Claudia staggered to her feet, flustered.
"Wow… even in this situation he really doesn't ever miss the routine. But that will be his downfall!"
[📜System Message]
[❄️ Synthenago Ice-Water Face Bath +2000 Aura]
[🌾 Total Aura farmed: 2000]
"Damn, Nokia, that was harsh, bro," Marco said, tears in his eyes.
As he dried his eyes he came face to face with the soldier with the rocket launcher with the edge of the missile pointed at his temple.
"Wait… uhh, what is this guy with the RPG doing here? That thing can't be real, right?" Marco mused.
As Nokia finished his ice bath, he looked up at the group of soldiers. The one in the corner with the RPG had his weapon raised, toothpaste fully wiped from his eyes.
"RPG, bro!" Claudia yelled. "Let's blow this place!"
"What that thing is real!" Marco shreiked whimpering in the corner
As the RPG soldier took aim, a rush of Aura flooded Nokia's body. The ether streams retracted into him, causing his form to glow.
[📜System Message]
[ Aura fully absorbed System powers unlocked]
[📊 Aura Level: 39]
[Total Aura unlocked: 400,000]
[Aura gained from session: 18,000]
[🎖️ Aura Grade: Stylish]
[By farming 18,000 Aura you have gained one time use of a special ability]
"Lay it on me what special ability did I get this time"
[🏆 Reward: Special Ability — ❄️Freeze Frame-Time stops for everyone, including your body only system menus and thoughts remain active]
[💸 Aura Cost: 100,000 Aura]
"Activate Freeze Frame!" Nokia roared.
[📜System Message]
[⏸️❄️ Activating Freeze Frame…]
[⚠️ Warning: If your next action does not gain Aura, all cumulative Aura will be lost!][Proceed? → ✅ Yes / ❌ No]
"Yes!!!" Nokia screamed.
A coldness ripped through his body, like plunging into the Antarctic. His limbs froze.
"I… can't move," he whispered. "But… my eyes can. Is everything… frozen?"
Around him, time stood still. Bullets hung in the air. Soldiers froze mid-step. Even Claudia's hair was locked in place.
[📜 System Message]
[⚡ Flashback Initiated]
[🗂️ File Loaded: Times Square New York Calendar Year 2025]
"Excuse me! You look like photographer! Can you take a picture with me and my husband!" a woman said to Nokia.
After adjusting the frame of his glasses, Nokia raised his camera to his eye and put the girl and her boyfriend into frame. They were in the center of Times Square, surrounded by digital billboards and bustling New York traffic.
Just as Nokia was about to take the photo, he looked at the time.
11:55
"11:55… in Times Square…" he began to think.
"Is there something wrong?" the man said, confused by his silence.
Nokia hadn't moved since he had raised the camera.
"Yes, actually," Nokia declared. "I'm afraid I can't take this picture until exactly 11:57."
"11:57?" the man said. "What's so special about that!"
"Honey! Let's take it ourselves! This is clearly some sort of scam! He's probably waiting for his accomplices to rob us!" the woman said, crossing her arms.
"Wait!" Nokia said, reaching out in desperation. "Just wait…"
As the cold midnight air hit his lungs, he took a deep breath as he raised his camera once again.
11:56
"If you could wait just one more minute… I'll give you a photo you will never forget. I pride myself in capturing people in their best Aura… and your best will come out… in exactly 60 seconds!"
As they saw the timid and honest expression on Nokia's face, the couple rejoined hands and waited patiently for 11:57.
"This had better be good!" the man said, chattering his teeth. "It's freezing out here!"
"You have absolutely no idea," Nokia thought. "I'm going to capture your best Aura."
11:57
As the clock hit 11:57, all of the lights in Times Square went out.
"What the hell!"
"I knew this was some kind of—"
Before the couple could finish their words, the screens relit themselves, filling the night with a bright blue illumination that made the city glow. All of the screens synchronized with brilliance as they watched a collage of stars dance across the displays.
"This is… beautiful!"
"Honey… this is amazing!"
"I know—I've never seen anything like it!"
"That boy was right!"
"Wait—the boy!!!"
As they turned around, Nokia was standing with his hands by his side.
"You're tourists, so you didn't know. But every night in Times Square at 11:57, the screens synchronize."
"Why didn't you tell us this was going to happen!" the man scowled.
"And ruin the moment? Your Aura is the best when you experience things with someone you love for the first time… I thought a cameraman should not come between that."
"You truly are an exceptional cameraman! We're lucky we ran into you!" the man said, rubbing the back of his head.
"Oh wait—the picture!"
"I took a dozen," Nokia said, handing over an SD card to the couple. "They are all on here. Enjoy."
"These pictures are already processed! And they are amazing quality! Wait—before you go, just who are you!"
"Me?" Nokia said. "I'm just a man who captures people in their best Aura."
[📜 System Message]
[⚡Return to Present]
[Streamopolis Calendar Year WAA-312]
"And now," Nokia said, taking in the situation, he knew what moves he was going to make.
"Now that I am in this other world I'm no longer a nerdy cameraman who makes others look better than they really are! Now it's my turn! It's my time to shine! It's time to capture my best angle! My best moment! My best Aura! This time the camera lens is focused on me! This time… I'm the main character!"