The moment his consent was given, horror followed. An indescribable pain exploded in his head, as though millions of needles pierced every nerve at once. The information he thought would flow in like water instead crashed into him like a tsunami, overwhelming every barrier of his mind, tearing down the walls of his sanity.
Kaivan screamed without a voice, his throat locked tight. A faint cracking sound echoed inside his skull, like glass beginning to shatter. Blood trickled from his nose and eyes, a chilling testament to the destruction raging within his mind. Each word, each symbol that appeared on the pages of the Omnicent Tome became an unbearable torment. Every letter seemed to sear into his consciousness, feeding an agony that felt endless.
The Tome, however, remained cold and merciless. "Ordinarily, a human undergoing this would die instantly, their brain bursting apart," whispered the book, its tone devoid of any shred of pity, as though death itself were trivial.
Kaivan writhed violently. His body convulsed as though struck by thousands of volts of electricity, joints straining as if they would tear free from their sockets. His screams warped into a ragged, inhuman shriek, veins bulging grotesquely at his temples and throat as if ready to burst. Thick, dark-red streams poured from his eyes, carving grotesque trails down his pale face, now etched with lines of unbearable tension.
The harder he thrashed, the more his muscles and bones seemed to rip apart from within. His spine arched unnaturally, trembling under the crescendo of pain in his skull. Blood seeped from his ears, signaling that his body was nearing its breaking point. His wide, bloodshot eyes lost their color, as though life itself was being dragged from him. His mind was no longer his own, it was a battlefield consumed by chaos, every nerve and muscle rebelling against the torment.
At last, Kaivan could no longer withstand it. Gasping raggedly, he surrendered to the excruciating pain. The world around him faded into darkness. Beneath the dim glow of the moon, his body collapsed limply onto the cold balcony floor, surrounded by a pool of his own blood.
In that instant, an entity emerged from the Omnicent Tome, a figure bathed in radiant white light, yet its eyes gleamed with abyssal darkness. It stood graceful, yet terrifying. The purity of its glow clashed violently with the pride radiating from its gaze.
The being's eyes studied Kaivan's limp form with fascination. "His body did not break. His organs and brain remain intact, even though I raised his capacity to twenty percent… not ten, as before," it murmured, its voice cold yet tinged with genuine wonder, as though astonished that Kaivan still endured.
Beneath the suffocating silence of the night, Kaivan lay motionless, his body sprawled in the unseen war between life and death. His breaths came shallow, nearly imperceptible, while blood slowly seeped from his nose and ears, staining the floor in crimson despair. He resembled a puppet whose strings had been cut. By his side, the Omnicent Tome lay silent.
The entity lingered, its form glowing faintly with a pale, cold light that seemed to weigh down the very air. Its outline remained indistinct, nothing more than a hazy silhouette drifting above the ground. A whisper slithered through the stillness.
"Ah… exhausting. My energy is spent. I must conserve what remains."
The words carried a chilling satisfaction, as if savoring some grotesque triumph. Slowly, the blood pooling around Kaivan was drawn back into his body, merging with the pale light. The figure then faded away, leaving only suffocating silence in its wake.
Time slipped by like an unending nightmare. The suffocating darkness had been replaced by the sterile silence of a hospital. In a ward filled with the sharp scent of antiseptic, Kaivan's body lay motionless on the medical bed. Machines around him beeped in steady, monotonous rhythms, an ever-present reminder of the fragile thread between life and death. Yet, something extraordinary stirred.
Slowly, his body began to move. His eyelids, sealed tight as though locked in an endless dream, trembled faintly.
Across the room, Radit stood with his arms crossed, his tall frame taut with worry. His gaze never left Kaivan. Nearby, Zinnia sat in a chair, her slender fingers clutching the edge of her skirt in restless tension. Her eyes shimmered with tears, but the instant she saw Kaivan's eyelids flutter open, hope lit her expression like dawn breaking after a storm.
Zinnia's voice trembled, caught between relief and fear. "Kaivan… you're awake!"
She rose to her feet in an instant, steps brisk yet careful as she closed the distance to his bedside. Her eyes, shimmering with both joy and worry, never left his face.
Kaivan slowly lifted his hand, brows knitting as if wrestling with something invisible inside him. There was a strangeness lingering in his body, a sensation he couldn't quite explain. Without sparing Zinnia or Radit a glance, he reached for the IV line and began pulling it free.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing? Why are you pulling that out?!" Radit barked, his tone sharp as he strode forward, hand half-raised to stop him. His broad shoulders stiffened, his body torn between action and hesitation.
Kaivan gave no answer at first. He only met Radit's eyes with a calm, icy gaze. Finally, he spoke, his voice low yet unshakably certain. "I'm fine. My body… it doesn't hurt anymore."
"Kaivan, please…" Zinnia's hand closed gently around his arm, her words fragile, almost a whisper. "You just woke up. You can't push yourself like this."
"I feel incredible. My head… it's clearer than ever." His eyes glimmered with a new, unsettling strength, leaving Zinnia and Radit exchanging uneasy glances, shaken by what they saw.
With a deliberate motion, Kaivan threw aside the blanket and swung his legs down. His first step was firm, unhesitating. The frailty that had bound him was gone, he stood tall, unwavering, as if no trace of weakness had ever existed. Crossing the room, he pulled open the curtains, flooding the ward with the soft radiance of morning sunlight.
"So… what day is it?" he asked suddenly, his gaze fixed on the world outside.
Zinnia swallowed hard, her voice hushed but steady. "Today is June 1st, 2009. It's been nearly two weeks since…" Her words faltered, choked by the weight of emotion.
Kaivan inhaled deeply, the morning air filling his lungs as if it were the first true breath he'd taken in years. The seconds slipped past like a quiet breeze, yet within his mind, something vast was stirring. He turned then, meeting their eyes with a look so resolute it sent a shiver down their spines.
"We've already lost enough time," he said firmly. "Now, I have to continue what was started."
After a moment of stillness, Kaivan decided it was time to return to the life that had once been put on hold. He stepped out of the hospital with steady strides, leaving behind the white walls that had felt like a cage around his freedom.
Once home, Kaivan went straight to his room and faced the Tome Omnicent , the book that had been both his guide and the source of deep suffering. His gaze was sharp, filled with questions still unanswered.
"What have you done to me?" Kaivan asked, his voice no longer lost in confusion but firm, demanding clarity.
The pages of the Tome Omnicent stirred as if responding with quiet grace.
"I only helped you enhance your brain's capacity, so knowledge could settle within you more easily."
Kaivan felt a strange vibration inside, as though every word he heard could now slip neatly into place in his mind. Information that once felt alien was suddenly clear, perfectly arranged. "So, what's my next step?" he asked.
"Find a man named Frans," the book whispered. "Help him approach a girl , and bring scissors."
Kaivan paused, turning over the peculiar instructions. They made no sense, yet he knew that every direction from the Tome carried meaning hidden behind its veil of mystery.
As his new life unfolded, Kaivan felt the Tome's mysterious energy ever present. This time, its guidance led him toward a man named Frans, someone entangled in a complicated love story.
Kaivan walked along a narrow path toward the bustling city park. His footsteps were quiet amid the lively hum of people passing by. Under the rising sunlight, his eyes swept the surroundings until they caught sight of a man at the end of the path, clutching a small bouquet.