Part-8

  James found himself jolting awake, the sheets tangled around him. Sweat g to his skin, a cold cmmy sensatioe the warm night air. He sat up, chest heaving, his gaze falling on his trembling hands. The events of the alleyyed out in his mind – the brutal beating, the chilling indifference of Lemon and his gang, the rain washing over him. It felt so real, so immediate. But was it?

  He snatched his phone from the nightstand, squinting at the date dispyed on the s. It was the same date as the attack – a date forever etched in his memory. fusion washed over him. Was it all just a horrifiightmare? Yet, the memory of returning home, of getting into bed – that was a plete bnk.

  The thought of his mother, of seeking fort in her arms, flickered in his mind. But a wave of apprehension stopped him. How could he expin his injuries? How could he expin the lost night, the gaping hole in his memory? He o uand what happened first, to piece together the missing fragments of his night.

  A strange sensation prickled at James' fiips as he touched his head, no lingering ache or tenderness from the beating. It was as if his body had somehow repaired itself ht, the memory of the attack the only evidence of its reality. fused and disoriented, he gnced around his room, the familiar surroundings little soce. The worn aper with its faded superhero posters, the overflowing bookshelf crammed with fantasy novels – these were the f stants of his life, yet they felt strangely distant now.

  His gaze then nded on something even more baffling – a faint, glowing s h in the air a few feet in front of him. It resembled a heads-up dispy from a video game, its translut blue light casting an otherworldly glow on his worn desk and rumpled bedsheets.

  Blinking rapidly, James rubbed his eyes, unsure if he was still halluating from the shock. When he opehem again, the s remained, dispying a message in crisp, blue letters: "Mission 1: plete 10 Push-Ups. Your STR will increase by 0.1."

  A jolt of adrenaline shot through him. Was this some eborate prank? A teological glitch from a new VR game he hadn't gotten around to installing? Or something more? Hesitantly, he reached out a fihe blue light shimmering slightly as it passed through his hand. It felt real, not a holographic proje. With a mix of apprehension and a strange sense of exhiration, James decided to py along. He lowered himself into a push-up position, his heart pounding in his chest. As he began the exercise, a warmth spread through his muscles, a subtle tihat felt unlike anything he'd experienced before. Was this the system enhang his strength iime?

  Dropping down slowly, he pleted ten trolled push-ups, fog on the burn in his muscles. As he fihe st one, a wave of satisfa washed over him, a subtle sense of improvement in his physical form. Then, with a satisfying chime, the s updated: "gratutions! Mission plete. Your STR increased by +0.1."

  James stared at the message, his mind reeling. STR – that stood for Strength, a stat only found in video games. Could this be some kind of augmented reality system? Was he in a simution? A millioions flooded his mind, but ohing was certain – his life had taken araordinary turn.