Monday morning arrived with a vengeance.
Arthur stood in front of his mother's apartment, checking his Samsung. The interface was different now. In the corner of his vision, a translucent violet HUD (Heads-Up Display) flickered.
[SPIRIT VISION: ACTIVE]
The world looked different. He could see the "auras" of people passing by. Most were a dull, flickering gray—the color of exhaustion and routine. But as a sleek, black SUV pulled up to the curb, a vibrant, jagged red aura stepped out.
Sarah Vance was wearing a sharp, black tactical suit under a tailored overcoat. She looked less like a gym rat and more like a high-level corporate assassin.
"Nice car," Arthur said, eyeing the armored vehicle.
"It was your million dollars, Boss," Sarah replied, holding the door open for him. "If we're doing this, we're doing it with style. Besides, after Friday... I don't think a bus pass is going to cut it anymore."
[The Arrival]
The SUV pulled into the parking lot of St. Jude's High School exactly five minutes before the first bell. This was Julian Thorne's territory—the place where the "Golden Boy" ruled with an iron fist and a designer smile.
As the heavy door opened and Arthur stepped out, the bustling courtyard fell into a deathly silence.
Students froze mid-sentence. In their memory, Arthur was the guy who wore hand-me-down hoodies and followed Julian like a lost puppy. The person standing before them now was wearing a charcoal-wool coat, Italian boots, and carried an aura of absolute authority.
And then there was Sarah. She stood six inches behind him, her eyes scanning the crowd like a hawk. Every time a student moved too quickly, her hand twitched toward her coat.
"Is that... Arthur?" a girl whispered. "Who's the girl with him? She looks like she could kill us with a look."
[The Hallway Confrontation]
Arthur walked through the main doors, his Spirit Vision scanning the lockers. Suddenly, the hallway turned a toxic, sickly yellow.
Julian Thorne appeared around the corner.
His ribs were still taped, and he walked with a slight limp, but he was surrounded by his usual clique of sycophants. He had spent the weekend planning how to humiliate Arthur for the football "accident."
"Vance!" Julian shouted, his voice cracking with rage. "You think because you got lucky on the field and stole some suit that things have changed? My father is going to—"
Julian stopped mid-sentence. He finally looked at Sarah.
Sarah didn't say a word. She simply stepped forward, invading Julian's personal space. The "Golden Boy" took an involuntary step back, his face paling.
"Julian," Arthur said, his voice calm and terrifyingly low. "Your father is currently busy signing his retirement papers and liquidating his Greenwich assets. If I were you, I'd stop worrying about me and start worrying about where you're going to live next month."
"You're lying!" Julian screamed.
Arthur reached into his pocket and pulled out a stack of legal documents—the trust transfer he had forced the Senator to sign. He tossed them at Julian's feet. "Read the fine print. The Thorne Estate now belongs to a public trust. And I'm the chairman of that trust."
The hallway gasped. The social hierarchy of the school didn't just crack; it shattered.
[The Man in White]
As Julian scrambled to pick up the papers, Arthur's Spirit Vision suddenly spiked. A blinding, violet light erupted from the far end of the hall.
Standing by the trophy case was the Man in White. In the middle of a crowded school, he looked like he was in a different dimension. No one else seemed to notice him—except Arthur.
He wasn't a student. He wasn't a teacher. He was a Glitch in the System.
He held up a hand, and the world around Arthur froze again. The students became statues. Julian was frozen in a pose of humiliation.
"You're moving too fast, Arthur," the Man in White said, walking toward him. "You've broken the social balance of this node. The System doesn't like it when the 'Loser' becomes the 'King' in seventy-two hours."
"I don't care what the System likes," Arthur said, his hand glowing with Ghost Reach. "I'm here to win."
"Then let's raise the stakes," the Man in White smiled. He pointed to the classroom behind Arthur. "In ten minutes, a 'Random Event' will occur in that chemistry lab. A fire that kills thirty students—including your mother, who just happens to be here for a parent-teacher conference she forgot to tell you about."
Arthur's heart stopped. My mother?
"You can save the school," the Man said, "or you can keep your million dollars. You can't have both. The System demands a sacrifice for every life you've already changed. What's it going to be, Ghost?"
The world snapped back to life. The bell rang.
[NEW QUEST: THE SACRIFICE]
• Objective: Prevent the Lab Explosion.
• Cost: All current Assets ($1,020,000).
• Reward: Unlock 'Timeline Manipulation' (Minor).
Arthur looked at his phone. The 'Transfer' button was glowing.