Would you like a tutorial on how this works?

I found myself agreeing. I've learned since Kira and her bodyguards departed an hour ago that this peculiar system doesn't require verbal commands. A thought's all it takes - quite intuitive really.

You might ask why I'm not losing it like any regular Joe would. The thing is I'm so far down the abnormal rabbit hole that I've lost sight of what a normal reaction even is. Plus, my current situation leaves me with little energy to act shocked. So, I simply went along with it.

And honestly, it's quite handy. It tells the time, keeps me updated with the latest cricket scores, and can even read an audiobook in the most soothing voice imaginable. It doesn’t have full internet access, though, just bits and pieces.

A new window pops up. The sight isn’t unfamiliar. It's reminiscent of the role-playing games from my time as a lad. There's a large section showing my stats: Strength, Agility, Endurance, Intelligence, and Ki. Below that, a section for skills. But that's it, surprisingly. I expected more from this player stat menu - something more comprehensive, with additional sections. Sensing my bewilderment, the system responded.

As the user synchronicity increases, more sections will be available to him such as Titles and Inventory. Currently synchronisation is at 5%. 20% synchronisation is required to unlock Inventory.

Okay so that explains a lot. I figured it must be the way the systems been designed. Then, a very interesting question bloomed, one that I might not have the answer to yet. Who made the system and why?

Error! synchronisation isn’t high enough to access that information. Please wait until it reached 100% However, would you like to see if your Stats?

Well, that answers that question. But there’s a lot more I could learn about this system. System explain what these stats mean.

Apologies, before that I will need to absorb information about your world and how beings progress and evolve. Please give me a moment.

Taking a moment to adjust, I soon realized it was going to take longer than expected. Alone in the room, mere minutes after their departure, I took in my surroundings.

The bindings, now undone, granted me the freedom to move. Trying to stand was a challenge, my legs wobbled, buckling under their own weight, and forced me back onto the bed. I couldn't recall how long it had been since I was knocked out, but it was obvious some time had passed. Taking it one step at a time, I tried standing again. Progress was evident; I was getting the hang of it. I circled the room, steadying myself, stumbling once in the middle, but persisted. Eventually, after a few more laps, my stride found its rhythm. Then, a sudden "bling" shifted my focus.

I have finished absorbing the information about your world. I will now display what the stats of your world mean:

Movement: Measures the users speed and agility

Strength: Measures the users strength

Will: Measures the users willpower

Ki: Measures Ki, (in years)

Perception: Measures the users vision and how quickly he is able to see and perceive objects.

Hmm, intriguing was my simple response. Not exactly what I was expecting, given all those RPG games from my childhood, but it's not all alien either. You've got Movement, measuring speed, Strength for, well, strength. Will for willpower, I suppose. Kira mentioned that, I think. Not sure what Ki is, but Perception, that's how well I can see, right? Pretty basic, right? But is there more to it, or is this it?

For the version of the Nexus System you’re using this is the limit to the stats. More stats can be added, if you upgrade the system.

And how can I upgrade the system?

You will need to achieve 100% synchronisation to unlock this information.

Synchronisation. That word again. If I want to unlock more features, I need to figure out how to up my sync. But how? How do I increase my synchronisation?

To increase synchronisation, please use the Nexus System more. For example, once storage unlocks, add more items in the system. Once you level please add the stat points received to your individual stats. The more you keep using the system, the better you Synchronisation rate will be.

So, if I level up and boost my Synchronisation, could I fight back against my abductors?

The system didn't answer right away, but took its sweet time before it responded.

User is advised against fighting selected targets as they are above level 100. User’s level is too low to show their exact levels.

So a current confrontation isn’t possible. But it can be later? Can I grow stronger using this system? I figured if this was like an RPG system or similar then I would be able to grow strong like the characters in an game. Like a zero to hero progression.

Yes you can.

Well, at least there's hope. I think it's about time I checked my stats.

Show my profile screen, I commanded.

A cool blue screen popped up, listing my name and a bunch of numbers that could come in handy.

Name: Josh Sanders

Level: 1

Stats:

Movement: 10

Strength: 5

Will: ♾️

Ki: 0 (years)

Perception: 5

Class: Not selected yet.

The numbers didn't seem half bad, but they were just numbers. They needed something to be compared to in order to really mean something. System what’s the base stat for an average human and what do my stat mean.

The base stat for the average human is 10. For you Strength and Perception you are below average. Your Movement is average. Your Ki is nill and Your Will is infinity.

Wait! What does infinity mean and how does my will matter?

Your Will being infinity means you have unlimited Willpower. Will is an abstract concept and it has many uses as a state, one of which is to block mental attacks.

That's probably what everyone was fussing about earlier. My willpower seemed off the charts. Seriously, I didn't even have the words to describe it. No wonder she couldn't charm me. I'm essentially charm-proof. Wait, that didn't sound quite right.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Tip: Should the user want to get stronger, he can exert his body, kill enemies or complete quests given by the Nexus System.

This felt like some kind of game. But honestly, it felt too surreal, too dream-like. I couldn't help but wonder if I just needed a good pinch to wake up from this nightmare. And so, I pinched myself. The first time stung a bit. The second time, I went in harder and it hurt even more. And the third time, I just straight up slapped myself. Not that it changed anything. If there was any lingering doubt before, there wasn't any now. This was real.

Not some pizza-delivery gone wrong dream.

It seemed like I'd accepted my fate. But deep down, I was holding onto the hope that this was all some drunken haze from a night out with Sumi, and I'd actually just passed out in a broom closet or something. With a sigh, I realized there wasn't much I could do. I was in over my head. I remembered Kira's warning about my collar. Sure, I felt like poking the bear, but I resisted. No way was I going to ignore a warning from someone who could flick me across the room.

Having nothing better to do, I hit the floor for some push-ups. It was rough at first, seeing as I hadn’t done any in ages. My joints creaked and protested, straining under the sudden workout. I could almost feel my muscle fibres ripping apart in the process, but it seemed to clear the lingering fog in my head, as dopamine came rushing in.

After an hour, I checked my stats again. My Strength had barely budged. Disappointed but not deterred, I vowed to do another two-hour stint. Once I completed that, I checked again. My strength stat had crept up by one. To six. I felt marginally stronger, nothing transformative as I'd hoped, but enough to spark a glimmer of hope.

As I was gearing up for bed after an exhausting three-hour exercise session, the door burst open. In strolled Yeonju, the Asian guy I'd met before.

"Ever heard of knocking?" I shot back.

He glanced over his shoulder. A minor dent marred the metal frame, courtesy of his entrance. "Ah, the door can handle it."

He then lobbed some clothes my way. "Get dressed. You are about to earn your keep."

I caught the flying garments against my chest, unfurling them to reveal a simple white oversized shirt and brown cargo pants. A clear step up from my current tattered attire. The memory of my torn clothes made me chuckle. If Mr Choi saw me now, he'd probably dock my pay and somehow pin the blame on me - as if I asked to be kidnapped.

I turned to Yeonju, "I'm gonna need you to step out while I change."

He agreed without a fuss, defying my expectations for a showdown. He simply respected my privacy and waited outside.

"Oh, by the way," he said, his voice echoing around the room. "I’ll leave the door open. No worries, nobody's going to stumble in on your family jewels. It's just us here. Once you're done, meet me outside."

I did as I was told, and within minutes, I was standing outside the room, face-to-face with Yeonju. If I were to describe myself, I’d probably say I resembled a hobo from the early 2000s dressed in oversized shirts.

He led me through a somewhat narrow tunnel, ending in a flight of stairs. He moved quickly and I did my best to keep up. At the end of our brisk journey, we emerged onto the open deck of the ship.

Staring out into what seemed to be an oceanic abyss, my eyes met nothing but pitch black. Only the gentle lap of waves against the hull of the ship broke the eerie silence. No signs of life were discernible. Well, that was until Yeonju suggested otherwise.

"There's a pack of sharks circling a dead whale about three hundred meters out," he casually mentioned as he, too, gazed into the darkness.

I was puzzled. "How do you know?"

"Ki," was his cryptic response.

Ki. I had seen that term before. Ah, yes! It was on my profile screen which indicated my Ki as 0 years. I had to know more.

"What's Ki?"

"Ki, huh? I suppose you wouldn't know, not being a Murimin. But Ki is the energy within us and around us. We use it to fight, evolve, and grow stronger."

"So, Murimins are always focused on getting stronger?"

He clicked his tongue, "Not always. But there's definitely an unhealthy obsession with strength. It consumes them."

I blinked, and Yeonju had vanished. For a moment, I stood there, dazed. Then, I started scanning my surroundings. He was nowhere in sight.

A whistle from above grabbed my attention. And there he was, leaning on the railings, smirking down at me.

"This is what you can do with Ki, once you learn to control it," he shouted down at me.

Then he vanished, only to pop up again right in front of me.

“And this, my friend, is what you could do too, once you've got the hang of it.”

Waves of blue energy seemed to spring out of nowhere, being drawn into a tiny ball in his palm. It grew bigger and bigger as it absorbed more energy, finally becoming as big as a basketball. With a simple, slight push, it zipped past me into the void, illuminating the surrounding water and predators, before exploding into oblivion.

The thought hit me like a lightning bolt. If I were to be on the receiving end of that, I’d probably end up six feet under.

Yeonju’s smirk caught my attention.

“I know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering if that hit you, you’d be pushing up daisies.”

I shot him a surprised look, “Wait, you can read minds with Ki?”

He let out a hearty laugh, “Me, personally? Nah. I don’t think anyone has that kind of power, regardless of their level of mastery. Probably not even the Supreme. But, what I can do is...well...I'm pretty good at reading people.”

He shrugged casually. “You sort of pick up this skill while on the job, I suppose.”

I was in awe, to say the least. This power, the ability to blink in and out of existence at will, or to fire off an energy blast from your hand - it was like something from a comic book. Surely, something so extraordinary couldn't stay hidden for long.

There must be some sort of record or evidence out there, something the media's picked up on. I shot Yeonju a puzzled look. Could there be?

He sighed heavily, “I know what you are about to ask. Why isn't the world aware of people like us, especially in the age of social media? One snap of you shooting a fireball out of your hand and you're an instant internet sensation.”

“We prefer to stay under the radar. We are few in number, and those who don't belong to Murim vastly outnumber us. These are the people who can’t utilise Ki, but they have got modern machinery. Sure, we might be able to harden our skin against bullets and deflect missiles with a flick of a wrist. But we can't do that all the time. We don't have an endless supply of Ki. What happens when a Murimin can't use Ki anymore? He’s just a slightly stronger human being, that's all.”

For a moment, I found myself deep in thought, trying to process everything. The information that Yeonju was giving me about Murimin’s vulnerabilities seemed crucial to my escape. The fact that they could be hurt, albeit at the wrong place and the wrong time, filled me with a glimmer of hope, even though the odds seemed almost non-existent.

"Also, there's more," Ki continued, "most of the world's governments are clued up on Murim. Over the years, Murimins have established a mutually beneficial relationship with them. They get assistance, and in return, any information related to Murim is suppressed by the government. Of course, it wasn't always this secretive. I'd say a millennia ago, there was a kind of coexistence between ordinary folks and Murimins. But that world has faded into the shadows over time, and now, they're regarded as nothing more than myths."

So, even the government is in on this. Somehow, I'm not surprised. Perhaps the CIA knows about the existence of Murim. That probability now stands at a solid ninety percent. I quickly dismissed the thought, not wanting to waste my energy on wild speculations.

Yeonju and I ventured into another narrow tunnel, significantly shorter than the previous one. It led to the second floor, where Yeonju had vanished earlier when showing off his power. We ended up in what appeared to be a combined lounge and kitchen area.

The room was surprisingly spacious, featuring two L-shaped sofas arranged into a U. A woman who seemed a tad older than me was sprawled on one, furiously typing away on her phone. Her attire, shorts and a tank top, unabashedly flaunted her curvy figure.

"Man, she really believes Patrick's some sort of bargain-basement model. The guy's had double spreads in Vogue for crying out loud. He's got more fame than your gossipy mom back in her tiny hometown."

"That's Ashley over there," Yeonju noted, his Katana resting by his side.

"Hey," I greeted her.

"Hey," she echoed, her attention glued to her current task.

"She's pretty infatuated with this model from Albania. His name's Patrick."

"He's half-Albanian," Ashley corrected sharply, looking up.

"And just so we're clear, I'm not merely infatuated. I love him to pieces."

Yeonju just rolled his eyes. "Women, am I right?"

In return, Ashley presented him with a middle finger.

Then, a sun-bronzed, well-built man sauntered into the room.

His bulging biceps seemed ready to rip his shirt seams. You could even make out the outline of his abs through his rust-colored shirt, and his calf muscles strained against his cargo pants. His traps looked as though they were trying to burst free. It made me question why the man bothered with clothing at all. He'd be just as good walking around without, avoiding the illusion of his outfits being a second skin.

Yeonju's katana drifted towards the new arrival. "This is Hector."

"Sup," he greeted nonchalantly.

"Hector, this here is Josh Sanders. He'll be your— no, our errand boy for the foreseeable future. Laundry, ammo, dry cleaning; you name it."

Hector offered his hand, which I tried to shake. But instead, he ended up shaking me, arm and all, leaving a mark on my skin.

Let me tell you, it was far from a pleasure.

"Finally!" Ashley exclaimed. "I've been nagging Kira to get us some help. I always end up on cleanup duty after missions. It's so not fair."

"That's an unfair conclusion," Yeonju interrupted, "You've only done it twice since joining the team. I was doing it before you came and continued after you arrived."

"That's not true," Ashley protested.

"Well, ask Hector," Yeonju shot back.

All eyes pivoted to Hector who simply nodded, his hand cradling a steaming coffee mug.

"Anyway, there's work to be done." He gestured towards the sink, piled with dirty dishes. "Start with that."

"Okay," was all I said, feeling no need to add anything else.

The sink wasn't overflowing, but the few dishes there were grimy, seemingly untouched for days. I grimaced, an unsettling sense of deja vu creeping up as it took me back to the morning I was kidnapped, washing dishes exactly like these, left unattended for days.

I looked around for gloves on the countertop, but found none. Almost as if reading my mind, Yeonju directed me, "The gloves are under the cabinet."

I opened the cabinet to find a pair of yellow rubber gloves in a packet. Thankfully, they were disposable, not reusable. I started on the dishes right away.

Meanwhile, Yeonju and Ashley resumed their bickering in the background, debating over who Kira preferred. Their conversation soon veered towards Patrick's exes. At one point,

Yeonju even claimed Patrick's exes were superior to her. This sparked Ashley's rage, and she lashed out at Yeonju, initially trying to grab him, then throwing punches when she couldn't.

Her punches were strangely loud, like a grenade exploding, causing me extreme annoyance. I had to yank my gloves off and cover my ears to dull the noise. If one of those punches landed on me, a concussion would probably be the least of my concerns.

Hector tried to calm the situation, grabbing Ashley and pulling her back. But she wriggled like a kid in his arms, lobbing insults at Yeonju. He responded by making silly faces, which only stirred her up more. I was surprised. Yeonju didn't seem like the type to joke around. Usually, he was quiet, talked in proper English, and behaved like a lead character straight out of a Korean romantic drama.

Watching them argue over washing dishes didn't feel like observing a bunch of super-powered terrorists. It was more like seeing siblings bicker. I found myself internally grinning at a memory that bubbled up. It was a scene from my past, my siblings fighting over who would play on the PS5 next. And me, the older brother, holding my younger sister back from unleashing her fury on our brother, who was doing nothing to defuse the situation—much like Yeonju at that moment.

What should've been a twenty-minute task stretched into an hour. My back was aching fiercely from washing dishes. I didn't rest after doing those push-ups; I just moved from one activity to the next. Four hours of non-stop movement was taking its toll, and I felt like I might keel over any second. Just then, a system notification diverted my attention.

Your strength stat has increased to 7.

What the hell? How is that possible? I was just doing the dishes.

Constantly exerting your body increases your stats faster.

I was gobsmacked. It felt like cheating. Here I was, gaming the system to build up my strength. Technically, I could scrub dishes for a full day without a wink of sleep, leveling up in the process. Sure, I'd probably pass out, teetering on the edge of exhaustion, but it was an option. Once that '6' flicked over to '7' on my profile, a sliver of extra power sparked in my muscles. They tensed, growing just a fraction stronger. It was a good sensation, gratifying in its own way. Out of curiosity, I peeked at my synchronisation rate, which had jumped to 8% from 5%.

The door was thrown open yet again, and in walked Viktor, the Russian man from earlier. “What the hell are you guys doing,” he boomed.

Everyone froze. Ashley ceased her fidgeting, Yeonju smoothed his expression, and Hector straightened up. The playful vibe that had filled the room dwindled as they all snapped to attention.

“Enough with the childish antics, we've got a job to and the situation's taken a serious turn,” he said, pivoting to look at me.

Their faces were etched with concern, mirroring the gravity in Viktor's expression. Clearly, something was wrong. Yet all I could muster was a nervous gulp.