The disorienting vortex of light and color snapped into focus.
The sounds of beeping machines and the scent of antiseptic vanished.
Adam found himself standing on cool rough concrete. He looked down.
He was still in the vacant construction lot. The rusting machinery stood like silent metal sentinels around him. He was still wearing Sophia's clothes—the simple blouse and the skirt.
The synthetic hair of the wig was still tangled around his shoulders. He was back.
So it shifted my timeline forward he thought. A sense of wonder mixed with relief.
This is my new return point. I can come back here now. I don't have to go through the whole day again. I don't have to see James. I don't have to deal with Philips. I start here.
The implications were enormous. This new checkpoint gave him a massive advantage.
It was a head start he had never had before. He could prepare he could plan he could act without the constraints of school and the constant threat of his known enemies.
A new question immediately surfaced in his mind. Could he still choose to return to the old timeline? Could he go back to the moment he woke up in his teacher's office? The system had asked for his permission this time.
That suggested he had a choice. He filed the thought away for later.
Before he could ponder the mechanics of his ability any further a series of familiar blue windows began to materialize in front of him.
They demanded his attention a cascade of rewards from his last violent encounter.
[Congratulations Host. You have successfully eliminated four hostile targets in the previous loop.]
[You may now claim a reward for each elimination.]
[Please select one attribute from each of the defeated targets listed below:]
A new longer list appeared. It displayed four sets of choices a testament to the carnage on the hill.
[> Andrew's Skill]
[> Andrew's Stats]
[> Bobo's Skill]
[> Bobo's Stats]
[> Samba's Skill]
[> Samba's Stats]
[> Policeman's Skill]
[> Policeman's Stats]
Adam read the names. Andrew Bobo Samba... he deduced. Those must be the names of the other two boys I dealt with on the hill. The tall athletic one and the one who ran.
The final option "Policeman" was self-explanatory.
It was the officer he had taken down with the hammer.
He was slightly surprised that the system counted rendering someone unconscious as an "elimination."
But he wasn't about to question the logic that worked in his favor. A kill was a kill whether temporary or permanent.
He considered his options carefully. He needed more power but he also needed more utility.
His last confrontation had been a chaotic messy affair. It had ended with him being riddled with bullets.
A frontal assault was reckless even with his enhanced abilities. He needed to be smarter not just stronger.
I'll take the policeman's skill he decided. And everyone else's stats.
It was the most logical choice. The students were young and athletic.
Their physical attributes would be a significant boost.
Andrew was the captain of the kendo club. He was strong.
The other two were his lackeys but they were still young men in their physical prime.
Their combined stats would make a huge difference.
The policeman on the other hand likely possessed a skill that would be far more useful than another marginal increase in strength. A skill born of experience and training.
He made his selections. His finger tapped the corresponding options on the translucent screen.
[Selection Confirmed. Integrating Target Attributes.]
[Host stats and skills are being updated...]
[Reward: Policeman's Skill]
[Reward: Andrew's Stats]
[Reward: Bobo's Stats]
[Reward: Samba's Stats]
The windows vanished. His personal status screen appeared the numbers already updated. The change was dramatic.
[HOST STATUS]
Name: Adam
Species: Human
Strength: 68 (Previously 36) (+32)
Agility: 69 (Previously 37) (+32)
Stamina: 70 (Previously 38) (+32)
Perception: 71 (Previously 39) (+32)
Skills:
Hand-to-Hand Combat (Mediocre)
Investigation (Novice) [NEW]
His stats had increased by a staggering thirty-two points.
He felt the familiar surge of power but this time it was on a completely different scale. It wasn't just a warming sensation. It was a flood. A tidal wave of pure energy.
His body felt incredibly light almost weightless.
His senses sharpened to a razor's edge.
He could see the individual grains of dust on a distant piece of machinery.
He could hear the faint rustle of leaves from a tree outside the lot.
He could smell the faint scent of rain in the air even though the sky was clear.
His mind felt clearer his thoughts faster and more organized. The world was a stream of information and he could process it all instantly.
And then there was the new skill: Investigation. It had come from the policeman.
As he focused on the new skill a wealth of new information a new way of thinking seemed to download directly into his brain.
It wasn't a memory. It was an instinct. He instinctively understood how to look for clues.
How to assess a situation from a tactical perspective. How to notice things that were out of place.
He looked around the construction lot. He saw things he had missed before.
The pattern of footprints in the dust.
The way a piece of discarded plastic was positioned. A faint scuff mark on a concrete block. His mind automatically began to construct a narrative from these small details.
With this new clarity he re-evaluated his last loop. He realized just how foolishly he had acted.
He had rushed headlong into Andrew's group driven by pure rage.
His plan was simple and brutal but it had no subtlety.
Getting caught was inevitable.
Even if he had managed to neutralize all of them on the hill the police were already on their way.
The screams had alerted them. He would have been cornered a killer in a girl's dress with nowhere to run.
It had been a losing battle from the start. He had traded his life for theirs but it had been a poor trade. He had gained power but no answers.
He looked down at the clothes he was wearing.
The simple blouse the pleated skirt the clothes Sophia had given him.
He looked at the wig lying on the ground.
The disguise that was now useless. He needed a new plan. A much much smarter plan.
This new checkpoint gave him time. Time to think time to prepare. He would not rush in again.
He would use his new skill. He would investigate. He would understand his enemy.
He would find their weaknesses. And then when the time was right he would strike not as a rampaging monster but as a calculating predator.
He reached down and picked up the wig shaking the dirt from it.
His mission was the same. But his methods were about to change completely.