Chapter 5: Demon-Touched
Yin Zhe stared at the wheel in front of him. The thin clock-hand pointer still moved a little, like it was warming up before the real spin. His chest rose and fell in small sharp breaths and anticipation. "Hmmm…" he let out. His whole body felt rather tight, like he was trying to carry too much inside.
He studied the options again.
Active. Adaptive. Resonant. Reflective. Reactive. Recursive.
They all floated around the wheel like labels on a simple game UI, each one glowing with soft light. He frowned a little. "hmph…" His voice sounded like someone trying to think while drowning in confusion.
He tried to make sense of each option the only way he knew how.
Which was through Earth's logic.
"Active… that one feels like a skill I can control," he whispered under his breath. The words came out slow. He pressed a thumb against his palm. "In games… active skills are always better. You can choose when to use them. You don't just wait."
He nodded to himself, then shook his head right after. "But what if this system doesn't work the same way? What if I choose it and regret it later? No… I can't take the short end again." His heartbeat thumped. thump… thump… thump…
He looked at Adaptive next.
"Adaptive…" he muttered. "That sounds like a passive. The kind that triggers after something happens. Like being able to adapt to a situation" He squinted at it. "But that also means I don't control it. It controls itself. And I don't even know what the system wants from me… or what it plans to do."
He swallowed hard. And noticed that His throat felt a little dry.
He looked at the rest.
Reflective.
He imagined it like reflecting something back. Maybe damage. Or spiritual energy.
"Sounds useful but… it also sounds like it depends on the enemy. I can't wait for the enemy to attack me for me to become stronger. What if I get killed in one strike," he mumbled. "If the enemy is weak, then it's useless. If the enemy is strong, it might save me… or kill me. Hmmm… well not completely useless to weak enemies. Weak enemies just mean weak reflection"
Reactive.
He pressed his lips together. "The word scares me. Reactive means I have to get hit first or triggered first. I don't want that. I don't want to gamble my life."
Recursive.
He stared at the term. It was the one that made the least sense to him.
"What do you even mean… recursive?" he whispered. "Repeating something? Looping something? Or Doing something over and over?"
His eyebrows tightened. "This one feels risky. Or too confusing. I wonder If it levels up as I continuously use a particular skill"
But when he looked at Resonant, his heart flickered with a strange warmth.
"Resonant…" he whispered again. "That one sounds… good. Like something that connects. Something that matches me. Something that… echoes. Hmm. Even my own words aren't making sense to me. I feel rather dumb right now" His chest loosened just a little as he let out a soft chuckle. Hehehe. "It feels safer. It feels like the one option that won't stab me in the back or anything. Well hopefully. Not sure"
He rubbed his temples in frustration. "Ahh… I don't know. I don't know. But… it feels right."
He decided to aim for Resonant.
He placed his hand on the lever at the side of the wheel. The lever was shaped like something out of an Earth arcade machine, with a wooden handle and metal base. It hummed a little as he held it.
"Alright…" he muttered. "Let's try this. Let's hope this world gives me one thing that doesn't destroy my life."
He drew in a deep breath. "whizzzz…" The sound left his chest as he yanked the lever down.
The wheel jerked. And The pointer snapped upward. Then The entire thing spun with a sharp tick... Tick... tick... It sounded like gears moving at high speed.
Inside the wooden carriage cell, Yin Zhe suddenly dropped to his knees.
This sudden action from him made everyone flinch.
He bent himself into a full prostration posture. while his palms slapped against the wooden floor.
thud!
Suddenly he shouted, "Oh great Buddha! Bless me!.. Whoever is listening, please don't mess with me this time!"
His voice bounced inside the small cell, echoing against the wood. He used his forehead to touch the floor again and again. thud! thud! thud!
Bao Zi's jaw dropped. "What… is he doing now?" he whispered.
One of the other prisoners Wen Chong pressed into the corner, staring at Yin Zhe with wide, nervous eyes. "Is he trying to summon something?. Oh my God. Is he sick?. Or maybe he's going insane?"
A thin man in the far back Tian Zuo whispered, "Maybe he's one of those spirit-burned ones…"
"People like that were talked about in small villages. those who saw things that weren't there because of a demon spirit passing through them and burned their mind" Tian Zuo said.
Ren Tie scoffed "Demons are far more complicated than that. Keep your mouth shut if you don't know what you're saying."
"The term for such people was Demon-Touched.
People avoided them because Demon-Touched usually grow insane because they're mind couldn't withstand the possession of the demon. To weak hosts like them the demons were like parasites that slowly killed them. Instead of power." Ren Tie sat up straight as he continued.
"because their bodies aren't strong enough to host such demons without wasting their life forces."
"When the demons are still in them they're called Demon-host. And they're usually very powerful." Ren Tie drew invisible circles on the floor with his fingers.
"They're even more powerful if they are compatible with the demon and can host it properly. While Incompatibility results in Demon-Touched."
Another prisoner Wen Chong spoke from the other side of the cell. "He might be Demon-Touched…."
Bao Zi shook his head. "No… no… earlier he was clicking the air. Now he's praying. I don't know what's wrong with him."
Yin Zhe ignored all of them. He didn't even hear them.
His focus was on the wheel spinning inside the system space.
Tick… tick… tick…
He shut his eyes tight. "Please… please… just give me something good," he whispered. "I don't believe in gods but I believe in luck… I believe in something out there. Just give me a chance."
He lifted his head and stared at the system screen again.
The pointer had started to slow down. Even the wheel begun to slow. The sound shifted from tick to click.
Click… click… click…
It looked like it was about to land on Active.
Yin Zhe gasped. His eyes widened. A small smile tugged at his lips. "tsk.. yes… yes… please…"
The pointer slowed even more.
It touched the Active section.
It looked like it was about to stop.
Then suddenly.
The carriage rolled over a bump on the Rough road.
THUD!!!
The entire cell shook from the impact. Carriage bouncing up cursing the woods to groan.
Everyone's bodies bounced slightly from the impact.
The wheel inside Yin Zhe's system shook with the same timing.
The pointer jerked.
"Wait— wait— WAIT— NO!" Yin Zhe shouted.
The pointer slipped out of Active.
It slid into Reactive.
The sound it made felt like a soft punch to the chest.
click!!!.
Yin Zhe's smile shattered.
"What— why— HOW—?!" he shouted. His voice cracked. His shoulders trembled. "No— no— no— that's not— that's not fair! Sub— sub—!"
He grabbed his head with both hands.
His fingers tangled in his own hair as frustration poured out of him.
He kicked the wooden floor. thud!
Then he slapped the bars. thud!
Yin zhe banged his forehead against the side of the cell. thud! thud! thud!
Bao Zi covered his face. "Brother… please stop. You're scaring me…"
One of the other prisoners Tian Zuo whispered, "He's gone. His mind is broken."
Wen Chong muttered, "He's not normal. Something is wrong inside him."
Yin Zhe let out an angry "Hpmh!!" and kicked again. Thud!!!. "Why?! Why?! Why do I always get the short end of the stick?!"
Yin Zhe looked like a guy wrestling invisible ghosts. His arms flailed they felt weak. Even his legs felt like spaghetti as his knees hit the floor with a loud thud!!!.
He pushed the air as if trying to grab the wheel and force it back.
Everyone watched him like he was the strangest thing they had ever seen.
All four of them in the cell, except Yin Zhe, shared the same confused frightened stares.
They didn't understand anything he was doing.
Then suddenly. The atmosphere rippled. And the presence of a new eight stage of the spirit awakening realm was felt. Everyone turned their heads as Ren Tie's voice cut through the noise.
"Silence"
It was evident that Ren Tie had broken through because of the frustration.