CHAPTER NINE

Starting Line, Part 1

Darkness covered Sam for the longest time, although he imagined he could hear voices beyond the veil of unconsciousness.

“Is he the one Dr. Hearthstone talked about?” asked the deep baritone voice of a man Sam didn’t recognize.

“Ye-yes, Warden,” another man answered. This second voice was raspy. “But please lower your voice, the patient is in an unstable state...”

“When will he wake up, Doctor?” the warden asked.

“We-we’re not sure. He’s in a coma, but he doesn’t seem to have any physical injuries.”

“Let us know when—”

“Get out. This is a private room,” said an imperious female voice Sam was very familiar with.

“Ma’am, this is Wardens business—”

“I said, out!” the woman ordered.

The voices began to fade and Sam drifted off to sleep once more.

When his eyes finally fluttered open, the first thing he saw was the fluorescent lights on the ceiling.

“Wh-where am I?” he asked.

“Shepard!” It was another voice he knew, the same voice that had told him to get some reporting experience at a delta-level extermination zone, a crisis that had turned out to be a calamity in the making. “You’re awake!”

Sam sat up, his eyes blinking to adjust to the afternoon light filtering in through the curtains of the window to his right.

There were two people in the room with him. The first was a middle-aged Asian man with crop-cut black hair and a handlebar mustache. He stood next to Sam’s bedside with a relieved expression showing on his face.

“Nice to see you, Mr. Kim,” Sam greeted the Herald’s Editor-in-Chief. He found he had no difficulty speaking. In fact, he felt great. No aches or sores at all. “What am I doing in a hospital?”

Sam was quick to realize where he was as he had never lived in such an impeccably clean room before. There was usually more of a mess lying on the floor. The beeping monitors behind his state-of-the-art hospital bed were also a dead giveaway.

“You’ve been in a coma for five days and the doctors didn’t know what was wrong with you,” Mr. Kim explained.

Had it really been that long? The memory of the battle was still so clear in his mind.

“How do you feel?” asked the stately elder woman sitting on the couch by the window.

She wasn’t looking at Sam as she’d fixed her gaze on the newspaper in her hands.

Sam knew this woman very well for he’d been indebted to her all his life, although he could no longer count how many times he’d disappointed her. Even now, she gave off an aura that said she was very upset with him.

“I feel fine, ma’am,” he answered.

She still wasn’t looking at him, which was fine for Sam as he’d rather not wilt under her steely gaze.

Other than their sun-kissed complexion, people often told Sam that he also had the same teal-colored eyes as her, although he could never pull off the kind of intimidating glare she gave just about everyone.

The woman tucked a lock of silver hair behind her ear. “I was told that you crossed the police line.”

Sam could hear the judgment in her tone.

“Yes,” he answered, sounding a little stiff.

“I thought you quit.” It wasn’t so much a question as a statement.

“I…” Sam sighed. “My body just moved on its own.”

“I see,” the woman replied.

She folded the newspaper in neat squares before placing it down on the couch.

“Jinseong”—she addressed Mr. Kim by his first name—“I have a board meeting to get to. Please take care of things here.”

As she stood up, Mr. Kim sent Sam an apologetic glance.

“I’ll see you out, Marie,” he said.

Mr. Kim was probably the only man alive who could say Marie Shepard’s first name so casually. Even Sam who’d lived under her roof for most of his life had never called his grandmother by anything other than “ma’am.”

Marie was at the door when she stopped, and Sam noticed how the back of her silver hair was a little less neatly combed than it usually was, almost as if she’d been resting her head on a couch for a long while.

“Are you going to run away again?” she asked.

Sam could hear his heart beating loudly in his chest. What words would convince her? His thoughts drifted to the previous battle and the lessons his new master had given him.

Lesson number one, kid; believe in yourself.

“No,” Sam whispered. Then he repeated the words with a steadier voice. “No. I’m all in this time.”

“Very well,” Marie replied in a tone that suggested she didn’t quite believe him. “Then you’re fired.”

Even though he’d been expecting it, Sam couldn’t help but feel the shock hit his system like a punch in the gut.

“I have taken care of your hospital bills. It is the last help I will provide you as long as you continue to pursue this flight of fancy of yours, Samuel,” Marie stated.

Then, without even looking back at Sam, she opened the door and walked away.

“She’s very strict, but you know she means well, don’t you?” Mr. Kim said. “I’ll be back to fill you in on what’s happened.”

He walked over to the door but paused just before walking out.

“As for your job, we still need freelancers to write for us,” Mr. Kim said, glancing over his shoulder and grinning at Sam. “And I can’t think of anyone more appropriate than a support hero to cover the more dangerous assignments.”

Then he left too, leaving Sam alone with his mixed feelings and the half-transparent window floating beside him that no one else seemed to have noticed.

CONGRATULATIONS! You have completed the mission [Save the Girl, Save the World]. MISSION REWARD: One thousand Golden Drachmas (Used to exchange for items at the Olympian Trading Center. BONUS REWARD: 5 Attribute points (final blow bonus)

Sam's eyes widened. He'd heard of the OTC before, but it was a store only important people could access. It was strictly for the high-ranking heroes and the ultra-rich.

“Sweet,” he whistled.

He knew the value of these points now. Come to think of it, he could have sworn he'd also leveled up after the battle.

Sam pulled up the radial menu and selected [STATUS].

NAME: Samuel Shepard HERO NAME: None LEVEL: 5 RANK: Zeta (ζ)

“Huh... you'd think I'd level up more against an alpha-level horror…”

ROLE: Support TITLE: Loser who has yet to prove his true worth

The sight of his unchanged title didn't bother Sam anymore, because he could almost see that changing soon.

HEALTH POINTS (HP): 360 STAMINA POINTS (SP): 180 FATIGUE: 0%

Sam noticed that his attributes had increased by three this time around, all except Willpower, which had only increased by one.

STRENGTH: 23 DEXTERITY: 14 CONSTITUTION: 36 INTELLIGENCE: 14 WISDOM: 14 WILLPOWER: 10 POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE: 9+5

There were no changes to his power list, though.

ACTIVE:

Healing Hand (ζ)

Herculean (ζ)

PASSIVE: Regeneration (ζ)

“Maybe I'll get new skills if I increase my points some more,” Sam wondered out loud. “Wait a minute...why hasn't that guy contacted me yet?”

Sam glanced around but couldn't find any new messages floating in the air.

“Master?”

There was no reply.

Sam wondered if he'd get a response if he called the master something else. “Chiron?”

It seemed the creator of the system had gone silent on him.

“Seriously, nothing?” Sam asked the empty air. “I could use some advice here.”

“Who are you talking to?” Mr. Kim asked. He'd just stepped back into Sam's hospital room.

“No one,” Sam blurted.

Mr. Kim gave Sam the scrutinizing look of a newsman who'd caught someone in a lie before he shrugged and sat on the couch Marie had been sitting on.

“So... I hear you helped save lives,” Mr. Kim said in a tone that suggested he didn't quite believe it.

Sam thought this was the typical response given to a zeta, even one who was supposedly a healer. He was wrong about his Editor-in-Chief though. He realized it as soon as he saw the curiosity flashing on Mr. Kim's face.

“Tell me about it,” Mr. Kim said eagerly. “And leave no gory detail unsaid.”