The moment the book opened, the odor of old, dusty paper permeated the air. He took a close look at the pages, flipping one by one, inhaling deeply. Strange runes seemed to glow in a rhythmic pattern flooded the pages, as if they were breathing. He was able to understand the characters clearly, as if reading any other book.

Is this also part of the system?

Of course, the system never answered to his whims and fancies.

After reading mountains of books, his thought process and memory had reached an unprecedented level. After ten minutes, he got up and launched the system console on his laptop. Without even realizing it, he started to type at an incredible speed, constantly jamming the keys. His fingers danced across the keyboard, yet they seemed robotic. Another five minutes later, a notification sounded, snapping Bryan out of a trance.

VIRUS CODED +10 EXP

He laid back in his chair crossing his arms collecting his thoughts, his index finger tapping on his arm.

What was that? I didn't even know I was typing until halfway through. Maybe it's like the “zone” athletes have.

The “zone” is the pinnacle state of mind athletes enter when they are completely focused at the moment. It allows them to reach the peak potential their bodies could muster. The mind and body connect simultaneously who's only task is in achieving one goal resounding in the brain constantly. Scientists have researched this field extensively to pontentially allow the brain to access the 'zone' at will. He read this in the library at some point during his cramming of Java. Again, Bryan was not a diligent main character who focused on something for days at a time. He took breaks often to read other books in the library to ease his mind. Reading was a luxury he could not afford in his previous life, and now a heap of books lying around, he was going to take full advantage of it.

When Bryan was thinking about the “zone”, a knock came on his door.

“Come in.” He said in a slight hoarse voice.

The door creaked open, creating a crack which an eye poked through. A deep-sea blue flooded the crack, he called out, shaking his head.

“Emily, just enter my room normally.” A tired response answered Emily.

Emily entered with a large stride before standing in the middle of his room. She had a serene look, staring at Bryan. Before he could ask, she interrupted him.

“Mom wants you downstairs for something.” She quickly turned around and attempted to leave the room. When she was about to leave, the old dusty book caught her eye. She walked over and asked.

“What's that?”

Bryan and Emily maintained the same, if not further, distance from each other. Emily became less aggressive, but colder. In fact, he thought it was better than before. Although his relationship with Emily was still bad, he started to appreciate her presence along with Lily, slowly but gradually.

With a blank look, he pointed towards the pile of books around his room.

“I was reading. I started getting into computers, so I'm studying.”

His answer left Emily astonished. With a weird expression, she responded.

“Computers? I'd never think you'd be interested in something like that.”

Before he could respond with his prepared excuse, she spoke again.

“Are you planning to do it in college? You know Mom can't pay all the fees herself. You're going to have to work for it.” Emily said in an agitated tone.

Bryan thought for a while about her nonchalant inquiry.

I think going to college is a good idea. I can major in computer science and have more freedom for my activities. It will give me more knowledge on my foundations and I could get a decent job which would be a good cover for me. It's decided then.

“You still didn't answer my question. What's that?” Emily pointed towards the old book, bringing Bryan back from his thoughts.

“It's an ancient text I found while looking for coursework, want to take a look?”

Bryan didn't think much when he said this. He was certain she couldn't understand those bizarre runes. Even if she could, she couldn't understand the terminology anyway. Emily happily trotted over, seeing his slight nod to his desk, picking up the book. After looking through the first page, her expression drastically changed.

“What's wrong?” Bryan asked unconcerned.

He was expecting her to say she couldn't understand the runes or didn't understand half the words. To his surprise, she said neither, as her eyes started to water.

“The text is constantly changing, There's weird symbols, letters, and numbers…” She said, rubbing her eyes.

An ominous feeling lurched at his gut, snatching the book away from her in an instant. He pondered before pulling up the source code of the virus he just programmed.

“What about this? What do you see?”

Emily looked at his screen before speaking once again.

“It's the same thing, there's a bunch of random scrambled symbols and numbers, and it's blurred.”

“Hm, okay, go get some rest. I think you're seeing things.” He said in a sarcastic tone, which irked Emily.

“I can get there myself. Goodbye.” After her curt response, she left the room, slamming the door shut.

“What's wrong with her now?” He mumbled to himself before focusing his thoughts to what just happened. He stared at the source code, preoccupied, his thoughts wandering.

Scrambled symbols, numbers, and letters… She even said the book and program was blurred. Maybe no one else can see anything related to the system. Or maybe…

His thought halted there. He didn't even want to entertain the idea manifesting in his head. Suddenly, he grabbed his leather jacket and put on his shoes before heading out of the main door. Lily caught a glimpse of his back before he headed out, but she didn't worry. She knew Bryan had changed in the past half a year, becoming much more confident and mature. She trusted he knew what he was doing.

....

Bryan walked aimlessly for half an hour before finding a quiet riverbank. He walked over and sat down on the slope. He observed the setting sun over the horizon. Rummaging through his pockets, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes he got off Wayne from the fight. Along with the cigarettes, he took out a worn out lighter and lit up the tobacco in his mouth. Inhaling slowly, savoring the estranged flavor. He watched the golden glow disappear off the horizon, before puffing out a cloud of smoke, vanishing in the rivers of the wind.

I need a Zippo…

Since a young age, Bryan smoked a lot in his previous life. He found cheap cigarettes off the bodies of other gangsters, smoking them up. He'd also win packs from bets with his buddies. Although they weren't close, they were still friends, being in the same gang. He decided to quit smoking in his new body, worrying he would alert Lily and Emily. However, he decided otherwise. It relieved a lot of his stress, which he had a lot of at the moment.

With a cigarette in one hand, he pulled a few strands of grass and smelled the fresh grass with a hint of dirt. The wind blew against his face as the moon started its ascent. The sky continued to grow darker and darker. He thought about the system, him coming back, and what took place with Emily. Incredulous, he thought,

This is real, right?

It was the next morning, Bryan, Emily, Noah, and Elina were walking to school together chatting away. Emily led the conversation, leaving Bryan out as usual.

“I heard there was a new teacher going to replace Mr. Rogers for physics.” Emily said in an excited tone.

“Yes, I heard it was a female teacher who is friends with the principal.” Elina said in a dignified manner.

“How do you know?” Bryan inquired.

“My father told me, I don't know who he heard it from, though.” She said with a sweet smile.

Bryan knew she wasn't lying, meaning her family have some elusive information channels. Not to mention, Mr. Otters was most likely part of the Dark Net. This gave Bryan some conclusions about the influential family.

Maybe Elina is innocent, but her family definitely isn't. I should be careful around her.

Bryan stared at her for a couple of beats before returning to his blank look. Emily noticed his stare and glared at him before turning away. Before things could escalate, Noah chimed in.

“Really? Do you think she'll be a beauty, Bryan?” Noah asked with a knowing smile.

The two girls rolled their eyes at his remark yet perked their ears up for Bryan's response. For the past couple of months, talking with Bryan, Elina discovered Bryan never talked about himself at all. She also never heard him talk about relationships or women like the other boys in the class. He didn't ogle at her like Noah and the other boys obscenely, either. In fact, there was a wariness in his eyes which she found interesting.

Emily was also curious. She gave him the cold shoulder most of the time, so she didn't know much about him. It was her own thoughts that led her to believing he was an irresponsible wastrel. Thus, she didn't pay much attention to anything else about him.

Bryan liked to keep to himself. Not to mention, he had changed drastically in the past six months. Emily felt like he was a total stranger, not knowing a single thing going through his head. She also felt extremely curious about his type of woman, for no particular reason.

In Noah's case, he was just plain curious. His honesty and straightforwardness always landed him into trouble. However, with his charming face, he got away most of the time. This frustrated ninety percent of the guys in school, but they could only sigh helplessly, seeing his charming disposition. He was just born good-looking.

Meanwhile, Bryan was thinking about what Elina had said about the new teacher's identity. He was uneasy Mr. Otters may have called for someone to investigate what had happened. While deep in his worries, he noticed it was abnormally silent. He looked up and found three pairs of curious eyes staring him down.

With all three of them staring, he felt a little uncomfortable, but still gave his trademark blank look.

“I don't care. Let's hope she's qualified to teach, unlike Mr. Rogers.” He walked straight ahead without a single change in expression, leaving the three behind.

The three students had wry smiles plastered on their faces, hearing his brusque answer. They looked at his back for a couple of seconds before catching up with him. Although they expected it already, they were still disappointed. They felt Bryan really had no emotions, including Emily, who found him smiling at her once in a blue moon.

At the lobby, they said their goodbyes before heading to their classrooms. Noah and Bryan were in the same class, so they walked towards their home room also their physics class. They sat down and watched their classmates fill the room one by one until it was full. When the bell rang, a figure walked in a timely manner.