The "Diamond Dorms" weren't apartments; they were sensory paradises. Built on the highest peak of the Academy grounds, they were encased in a transparent dome that simulated whatever weather the resident desired. As Ren stepped into Suite 001—the room formerly belonging to the Thorne family heir—the air shifted to a crisp, mountain pine scent.
[System: Location Secured.] [Integrating with 'Diamond' Smart-Home Grid...] [Defense Systems: Online. Surveillance Privacy: Absolute.]
Ren dropped his bag on the floor. For the first time in years, he didn't have to check the locks or worry about a debt collector kicking in his door. But as he looked in the floor-to-ceiling mirror, he saw the truth. He was still the same scrawny kid, just wrapped in better fabric.
"System," Ren muttered, his voice echoing in the marble foyer. "Sterling mentioned people 'above' him. If I'm going to hold this position, I can't just rely on blackmail. What happens when I meet someone who doesn't care about their reputation?"
[Calculating...] [Answer: You will be deleted. Current Physical Combat Rating: 0.8 (Below Average).] [New Function Unlocked: The Sin Market.] [You may now spend 'Sin Points'—earned from breaking the will of others—to purchase 'Taboo Augmentations'.]
A menu flickered into life. It looked like a dark web marketplace, filled with flickering icons of cybernetic organs and forbidden combat subroutines.
Option 1: The Viper's Reflex (Rank E): Nervous system overclock. Cost: 200 SP.
Option 2: Bone-Density Lattice (Rank E): Reinforced skeleton. Cost: 150 SP.
Option 3: Phantom Step (Rank D): Temporary invisibility to electronic sensors. Cost: 500 SP.
Ren looked at his current balance: 350 Sin Points (earned from Seraphina and Sterling). He chose the Viper's Reflex.
The transformation wasn't painless. It felt like his veins were being filled with liquid fire. He collapsed to his knees, his vision fracturing into a thousand different perspectives. He could see the wings of a fly beating in slow motion across the room. He could hear the hum of the electricity inside the walls.
[Augmentation Complete: Reflex Speed increased by 400%.]
Just as the notification faded, a silent alarm pulsed red in his vision.
[Warning: Perimeter Breach. Stealth-Cloaked Units detected on the balcony.]
Ren didn't panic. The "old" Ren would have hidden under the bed. The "Sovereign" Ren simply picked up a heavy crystal decanter from the side table and poured a glass of water.
The glass doors of the balcony didn't shatter—they dissolved, melted by a high-frequency thermal cutter. Three figures in matte-black tactical gear rolled into the room. They weren't students. They were "Erasers"—black-market mercenaries hired by someone with a lot of credits and very little patience.
"Julian really is predictable," Ren said, not turning around.
The lead Eraser didn't waste time with dialogue. He raised a silenced needle-gun and fired three rounds aimed at Ren's spine.
To the mercenary, Ren should have been a stationary target. But in Ren's world, the needles moved like snails through thick syrup. He tilted his head a fraction of an inch, the needles hissing past his ear and shattering against the wall.
Ren moved.
To a normal observer, he was a blur. He appeared in front of the lead merc, his hand snapping out to grab the man's throat. The Aura of the Forbidden poured into the contact point.
"Who paid you?" Ren asked.
The mercenary tried to trigger the self-destruct chip in his jaw, but Ren's fingers moved faster, pinching the nerve that paralyzed the man's face.
[Eye of Avarice: Active.] [Target: Mercenary #1] [Secret Debt: Has a daughter in a corporate orphanage. If he fails this mission, her 'maintenance' will be cut off.]
Ren's expression softened into something even more terrifying: pity. "Julian Vane didn't tell you who I was, did he? He sent you to die so he wouldn't have to pay your contract."
Ren looked at the other two mercenaries, who were frozen in shock. "I have a better offer. I'll buy your contracts. I'll pay for the girl's maintenance—permanently. But in exchange, I want Julian Vane's head. Not literally... I want him brought to me, alive, in the school basement by midnight."
The mercenaries looked at each other. They were professionals, but they were professionals who lived in a world of numbers.
[System: Initiating 'The Great Buyout'.] [Transferring 10,000 Ghost Credits to Mercenary Escrow...]
The lead merc's HUD flickered. He saw his bank account balance skyrocket. He looked at Ren, not as a target, but as a god.
"We work for the highest bidder," the merc rasped. "And Julian Vane just went bankrupt."
Ren let go of his throat and turned back to the view of the city. "Tell him I'm waiting. And tell him to bring the 'Blackwood' files. If he forgets them, don't bother bringing him at all."
As the mercenaries vanished back into the night, Ren felt the weight of the Sovereign's Sin System growing. He wasn't just a student anymore. He was a Warlord in a suit.