The mask's voice slithered into Leo's consciousness once again, a haunting mix of tones that made it impossible to tell if it was male or female. The sound was unsettling—a strange, shifting melody that echoed as though it was coming from both near and far.

You need strength, fast, it urged, the cadence of its words swirling like smoke in his mind.

Give in to the shadows, and the power you seek will be yours.

The power to protect... the power to rule.

The words snaked through him like a parasite, tempting him with the promise of overwhelming strength. Yet Leo’s eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched as his presence, his very aura, began to flare. It wasn’t anger—it was control, pure and absolute.

The dark energy around him thrummed with life, responding to his will as if it were an extension of his own body. It coiled and uncoiled like a living force, bending to his command.

A pulse of power radiated from him, pushing back against the voice that dared to tempt him. His aura thickened, a palpable manifestation of his will. His eyes gleamed dangerously in the darkness, and the mask could feel it—the raw power he had yet to fully unleash.

"I'm thankful for your help," Leo said, his voice slightly muffled from behind the mask, but the weight of his presence dominated the space.

"But let me make something clear."

The air thickened as he spoke, his aura pressing down on the mask, making its presence recoil slightly. "You, mask, are nothing more than a tool—useful for now, but disposable if you overstep." The black energy seemed to bow to his authority as he continued, his voice like steel. "Try to control me again, and I’ll destroy you myself."

There was a silence, thick and weighted, as if the mask itself had faltered under the sheer weight of Leo’s words. The strange, converging voice of the mask gave a sound, an eerie shift of tone, almost like a flinch from shock.

As you wish... the mask whispered, its tone trembling with a quiet defiance, though the submission in its voice was clear. Beneath the agreement, there was a lingering promise—this was far from over.

Satisfied, Leo dismissed the presence of the mask from his thoughts, though a lingering chill remained in the air. He took a slow, deliberate breath before turning his attention to the system, knowing the next step would demand just as much control.

With a sharp flick of his wrist, he gestured toward his system. Flickers of light shimmered in the black void around him, and with a soft hum, Ai appeared at his side, followed by the familiar forms of the cats.

The cats, floating and swatting at the air, their usual grace now a comical struggle against the formless dimension, seemed almost out of place in the heavy atmosphere.

Ai, her holographic form floating seamlessly in the strange dimension, seemed calm, though there was a slight flicker in her projection as she adjusted to the unfamiliar space.

Leo's mind remained sharp as he focused on the system interface in front of him, his aura still buzzing faintly around him. He navigated the interface with precision, his eyes narrowing as he scrolled purposefully through the Share the Pain section, stopping when he reached the Targets List .

His fingers hovered briefly before selecting a name that had been etched into his mind: Silva .

Leo's heartbeat slowed, his breathing steady, as the interface brought up the familiar options. Without hesitation, he dragged the slider to its maximum value: 4,260 years . His fingers moved with purpose, unwavering as he tapped Activate using gold coins .

A message box blinked into view, glowing faintly in the blackness.

You are about to use 426,000,000 gold coins to raise the success rate to 100%. Do you want to continue?

There was no hesitation. He pressed Yes .

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

But then, another message appeared.

Selected sync value is higher than the calculated syncable years. You will only receive rewards based on the calculated years. Would you like to use the syncable years instead?

A faint frown creased Leo’s brow as he absorbed the new information, irritation flickering at the edges of his mind.

"Syncable years are part of the latest system update, Leo," Ai explained, her voice steady. "The system now limits syncing to significant milestones in your target's life. These critical years are what you can sync with, ensuring you gain the most crucial experiences and abilities."

"Syncable years..." Leo’s frown deepened, but he quickly dismissed the thought. As long as he could tip the balance against Silva, the limitations were a minor inconvenience.

He drifted back to the message, his mind sharp despite the tension in his muscles. He tapped Yes again, then without hesitation, tapped Activate using gold coins once more.

You are about to use 30,000,000 gold coins to raise the success rate to 100%. Do you want to continue?

He pressed Yes .

Syncing 300 years for about 60 seconds. Please secure your location before proceeding.

Without a pause, Leo tapped Proceed .

A timer appeared, its numbers counting down with relentless precision.

Before he could even take a breath, a wave of paralysis slammed into him, locking his muscles in place as if he were caught in an iron vice. The sensation was overwhelming—his entire body seized, immobilized, as his mind was thrust into a whirlwind of distorted visions.

His vision fractured, the world around him shattered into a thousand swirling images, each one a fragment of Silva's memories. They came at him in rapid succession, disorienting him with their intensity.

He saw it—a mimic in its slime-like form, wriggling through the shadows of a dark place, the howling of nearby monsters echoing in his mind like distant screams. The mimic crawled deeper into the unknown, hiding itself in the recesses of the dungeon.

Another memory struck him, this time with more violence. The mimic's form was nearly destroyed, caught in the maw of a massive beast, its treasure box body crunched between serrated teeth. Leo felt the terror, the raw desperation of survival as the mimic fought for its life, twisting free and retreating into the depths.

Then came another flash. The mimic began fighting back. Leo watched as it wrapped its malleable form around unsuspecting monsters, absorbing them into its gelatinous mass. The mimic grew stronger with each kill, its form shifting and contorting as it consumed everything in its path.

More memories followed, each one brutal and unrelenting. The mimic lay in wait, perfectly still in its treasure box form. Leo felt the excitement and fear of an adventurer—a young girl—opening the chest, only to be consumed by the mimic’s monstrous maw in an instant. Her terror resonated through the memory, but the mimic showed no hesitation, only hunger.

The sync twisted and churned through Leo’s mind, the experience almost unbearable. His body twitched uncontrollably, his muscles spasming from the overwhelming torrent of Silva’s life flashing before him. But unlike his first sync, Leo managed to stay conscious. He gritted his teeth, refusing to faint as the visions continued to rush at him. His breathing came in ragged gasps, his body tensing as he fought through the process.

Each scene felt repetitive—the mimic either fighting off other monsters or devouring adventurers drawn to its treasure box disguise. But there was something more, something lurking beneath the surface of these memories. There was a familiarity in one recurring image, a scenario that played out over and over again.

The mimic faced a colossal monster—a beast of terrifying size and power. Time after time, the mimic fought the beast and lost, each defeat a brutal reminder of its limitations. But the pattern shifted. A new memory surged forward, unlike the others.

The mimic faced the same colossal monster once more. But this time, the outcome was different.

Leo watched, heart pounding in his chest, as the mimic's power surged. It transcended beyond its previous limitations, its form warping into something incomprehensible. The once-familiar shape of the mimic twisted, overlapping with fragments of other creatures it had absorbed, its essence expanding into a new, formidable entity.

The victory was decisive. The mimic overwhelmed the colossal beast, consuming it entirely. As the memory unfolded, Leo could feel the mimic’s power reaching a level that was almost incomprehensible, a power that transcended the physical and reached into the very fabric of reality itself. The overlapping visions made it difficult to fully grasp the details, but there was no denying the importance of this event. This was Silva's defining moment.

Leo’s pulse quickened as he relived the mimic’s failures, the brutal reality of its limitations searing into his mind. Yet there was something deeply unsettling about watching the mimic’s growth, as if Silva’s power wasn’t just physical—it was a survival instinct forged in desperation, and it gnawed at his own sense of purpose.

His body shuddered as the sync continued, the weight of Silva’s experiences pressing down on him, threatening to drown him in the torrent of memories. But amidst the chaos, one thing became clear—Silva was no ordinary mimic. Its power had reached a level far beyond what Leo had originally anticipated.

With the final images swirling in his mind, the sync came to a close, the memories fading into the void as Leo's body was released from its paralysis. He gasped for breath, his heart racing, but he had survived the sync. The knowledge—and the power—he had gained from Silva’s life was now his to wield.