The twins were on their way back home.
It felt about right—by now, their parents should have been finished with their dinner or at least wrapping things up. The streets were quiet as they walked side by side, the fading light stretching their shadows along the pavement.
Both of them felt something stirring in their stomachs.
Jordan felt it far more than Riven, but neither of them said anything. They pushed through the discomfort and kept moving until they finally reached their house.
Riven unlocked the door with their key.
Inside, the table was clean.
No plates.
No food.
The only things left were two candles, still dimly lit, their flames weak and flickering as if they would go out at any moment.
"Mom? Dad?" Riven called.
He walked down the hall toward their parents' room. The door was slightly open, and he peeked inside. At first, everything seemed normal—both of them were on their mat, asleep.
Riven was about to close the door.
Then he noticed something on the floor.
A piece of clothing.
Then another.
Then another.
Riven slammed the door shut so fast it made a loud clap that echoed through the hall.
"What's going on?" Jordan asked, already walking over, clearly ready to step inside.
Riven immediately blocked him.
Jordan frowned. "Did something happen?"
Riven didn't answer out loud. He just mouthed the words.
Clothes. Off. On the floor.
Then, to make his meaning painfully clear, Riven tugged lightly at his own shirt.
Jordan froze.
"No," he whispered, his face twisting in pure disgust. "They are way too old to be doing this."
He sighed deeply, rubbing his face. "Unbelievable."
The two of them tiptoed back toward their own room, convinced they'd already made enough noise.
⸻
Inside the parents' room, their father let out a quiet chuckle.
"That was close."
Their mother turned toward him, her brown hair a complete mess.
"That it was," she said, leaning in to kiss him. "Let's wait to continue until the boys fall asleep."
⸻
"Ugh," Riven groaned later, brushing his teeth with wet hair after his shower. "Why did I have to walk in on that?"
He spit into the sink, expecting to see the familiar dark stain that was always there.
It wasn't.
The sink was clean.
Actually… the entire bathroom was.
There were one or two tiny stains here and there, but overall, it was almost spotless.
"Man," Riven muttered, staring around, "he really did this bathroom justice, huh?"
He made sure to clean up after himself—wiping the sink, drying the floor, even giving the toilet surface a quick wipe. There was no way he was letting Jordan's effort go to waste.
When he stepped out, he saw Jordan in the kitchen. Jordan gave him a simple hand signal.
Your turn's done. Go to bed.
Riven nodded and headed into their room.
As he passed Jordan's side, he grabbed a colorful cube from the floor. While walking to his mat, he turned it over and over in his hands, trying to make all the sides the same color.
But the moment he sat down—
His eyes shut.
Just like that.
The cube slipped from his hands and landed in the space between their mats.
⸻
Seven minutes later, Jordan finished up in the bathroom.
Both brothers had been careful to use as little water as possible—no one wanted the water bill going up again.
When Jordan entered the room, he immediately spotted Riven passed out cold on his mat.
And the cube.
Right in the middle.
"He took it again," Jordan sighed.
He bent down to pick it up—
And suddenly, a strange heaviness washed over him.
It felt like that moment when you lie down after a long day, completely relaxed, knowing you don't want to get back up for anything.
Jordan collapsed onto his mat.
Instantly asleep.
⸻
Minutes later, a sound echoed through the darkness—something no child should ever hear.
Jordan jolted awake in a cold sweat.
"What the hell—?" he shouted internally.
This wasn't his room.
He wasn't on his mat.
He looked around.
There was only darkness.
Endless darkness, stretching on forever.
"Where am I…?" he muttered.
He walked forward, but no matter how far he went, there was nothing.
Nothing but black.
"Complete darkness," he whispered. "Nothing for miles upon miles…"
Slowly, pieces began to fall into place.
"Hello?" he called out. "Is anyone here? Am I… here?"
The question sounded strange—even to him.
But Jordan knew why he was asking.
Riven had talked about something like this before. About meeting another version of himself inside a strange domain.
"I thought that was just because of the game," Jordan said quietly. "Or because Riven has a system…"
He laughed weakly.
"Guess I just want to be like him so bad I'm having the same dreams, huh?"
"Nah," a voice said calmly. "You were right the first time."
A pale red dome appeared in midair.
From it, a figure slowly formed, then gently descended until a boy landed on the dark floor.
"Hi, Jordan," the boy said with a grin. "Wow. You look really young."
Jordan stared.
The boy looked just like him.
No—he looked even younger.
"So… you're me?" Jordan asked. "Like how Riven met himself?"
The red-haired version of him nodded.
"Then who are you?" Jordan demanded. "Why are you here? Why am I here? And what even is this place?"
"Whoa, one at a time," the other Jordan laughed. "First—honestly? I don't know where this place is. After I leave, I won't remember it either."
Jordan narrowed his eyes.
"So your knowledge is limited… because of me."
The other Jordan blinked, then smiled wider.
"Ah. So your Riven already went through this and told you, huh?"
Jordan took note of one detail he couldn't shake.
The other version of him had said your Riven.
Not him. Not just Riven.
Your Riven.
That phrasing alone made it feel like this wasn't the first time he'd met a version of Riven—or even the first version of himself.
"…Yeah," Jordan said slowly. "He did."
He looked up at the red-haired version of himself.
"So are you gonna answer all my questions?"
The other Jordan sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Like I said, some questions I won't have answers to," he replied. "But there's one thing I can explain."
He lifted his gaze, eyes sharp.
"Why you're here."
Jordan frowned. "You don't even know where here is."
"That's the thing," the red-haired Jordan said. "I don't know much about this place either. It's like the answer is right on the tip of my tongue… but I can't quite say it."
He paused, then continued more confidently.
"But there is something I know."
Jordan stayed silent, listening.
"Why you're here can be understood in two ways," the red-haired Jordan said. "The first way is simple."
He gestured around them.
"This place is a reaction."
The brown-haired Jordan—the original Jordan, at least in his own mind—was confused at first. But as the red-haired version kept talking, the pieces slowly started to line up.
"Every action has a reaction," the other Jordan said.
"And every reaction is caused by an action."
Jordan's eyes widened slightly.
"You didn't come here by accident," the red-haired Jordan continued. "Something happened. Something changed. And this place—whatever it is—responded."
"So you're saying this is because of something we did?"
"I'm saying," the red-haired Jordan corrected, "that reality doesn't like unanswered consequences."
He met Jordan's gaze.
"The second way to think about it," the red-haired Jordan said, "is as a premonition."
Jordan stiffened.
"Basically, you're either doing something—or you're about to go through something—that I've already been through," the other Jordan continued. "Think of it like this: I'm a checkpoint."
He tapped his own chest.
"And you're about to reach one of the points I already passed."
The words settled heavily in the air.
Jordan swallowed.
"So…" he said slowly, "…it is true."
He lifted his head, eyes locked onto the other version of himself.
"You're another version of me. A future branch of me."
The red-haired Jordan didn't deny it.
Instead, a sharp ding echoed through the space—loud enough to make Jordan flinch.
The red-haired Jordan's expression changed instantly.
"Damn it," he muttered. "My time's almost up."
He stepped forward, urgency bleeding into his voice.
"Look—listen to me."
Jordan didn't interrupt.
"I know you're about to go to the Academy," the other Jordan said quickly. "Stay on guard. There are people you can trust—but not everyone."
His jaw tightened.
"That's all I know for sure."
He hesitated, then added quietly—
"Just… just be prepared to see death."
The words hit harder than any warning before them.
Before Jordan could respond, the red-haired version of himself began to fade, the space around him distorting like a cracked reflection.
Jordan reached out—
"Wait—!"
But it was already too late.
He woke up in a cold sweat once again Turning his head, he looked toward Riven—half-expecting his brother to be waking up in the same panic.
Instead, Riven slept peacefully.
"…At least one of us had a good night's sleep," Jordan muttered.
He lay back flat on the mat, lost in thought—
—when Riven's upper body suddenly shot upright.
Jordan nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Jeez—! You scared me!"
Riven just stared straight ahead.
"Uh… Riven? You in there?" Jordan asked. He could tell something was off with his brother.
"Huh—oh. Yeah," the black-haired boy muttered. "I'm guessing it's morning."
Riven pushed himself up from the bed, rubbing his face.
"Riven, I've got something I need to tell you," Jordan said.
"Yeah—just… give me a second," Riven replied.
He walked toward the restroom and shut the door behind him. Kneeling down, he reached under the sink and pulled out the old scale. Slowly, he took off his shirt.
His eyes locked onto his body.
Loose skin.
Excess skin.
"What the hell…" he whispered.
Riven ran his hands over his torso, actually feeling it—skin that shouldn't have been there, skin that moved when he did. His chest tightened as he stepped onto the scale.
The last time he checked, he weighed 240.
The number staring back at him now made his breath hitch.
170.
"…170?" he choked out.
"No—no way. That training yesterday shouldn't have done this. Not even close. I literally lost seventy pounds."
Riven wasn't angry.
He was stunned.
More and more impossible things kept piling up. Meeting someone who might've been a future version of himself. Gaining a game-like system. Supposedly meeting a god.
And now this.
Seventy pounds—gone in a single day.
Things he never once thought could happen in his life were happening one after another.
Then a translucent blue prompt appeared in front of his face.
⸻
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
You may be wondering what happened to your body.
The System has decided to give you a small gift.
All physical training you have performed throughout your life was accumulated and applied.
The effects were enhanced by the Potential Potion.
Considering the amplification, losing only 70 pounds is within expected parameters.
⸻
"…What?" Riven whispered.
A tangled bundle of emotions hit him all at once.
Shock—because this was the first time the system had truly altered his body. He'd assumed it could, especially after granting him an evolution ability, but this was different. This was visible. Real.
Embarrassment—because if the system was telling the truth, then every bit of training he'd ever done only amounted to this. And even then, the result had been doubled by a potion.
And finally… sadness.
He felt sad because he hadn't really worked for it.
People dreamed their entire lives of something like this—changing their body, becoming better. And he had it handed to him instantly, without truly earning it.
A knock came from the door.
"Hey, man… you alright?" Jordan asked.
"Yeah," Riven replied after a moment. "Just—come in."
Jordan opened the door.
The moment his eyes landed on Riven's torso, he froze.
"…You've lost weight. A lot of it."
Riven explained everything—the scale, the system message, how it happened. Jordan listened quietly, then stepped onto the scale himself.
Nothing changed.
"Well… guess that answers that," Jordan said, stepping off.
"I kinda wish I had to work for it," Riven admitted. "Maybe if I did, I wouldn't be all… flappy."
Jordan shrugged. "Your skin should tighten up eventually. Or if you build enough muscle, it'll look normal."
"Hm." Riven looked back at his system.
⸻
[SYSTEM STATUS]
Name: Riven Harlow
Level: 1 (5 / 100 EXP)
Strength: 6
Speed: 6
Durability: 6
Race: Human
HP: 11 / 11
Energy: 11 / 11
⸻
His eyes narrowed.
All his stats were up by one.
So improving my body actually raises my stats…
"Okay," Riven said, a spark of energy returning to his voice. A smirk tugged at his lips.
"Let's go knock out that daily quest."
Jordan nodded, but his expression turned serious.
"And while we're out there," he added, "we need to talk."