Survival Requires Emotional Detachment and Ruthless Logic.
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It took me approximately seven days to fully recover from fatigue, much longer than expected. During that period, I rejected all meetings with members of the Black extended family and nerdy childhood friends.
In my opinion, they were an unnecessary burden I didn't need to deal with. The boy they shared a relationship with was dead.
The less humans you interact with, the less bullshit you have to deal with. I'm better off alone.
For the rest of the week, I engaged in light exercise. This body's greatest weakness is its feeble limbs, which I'm eager to eliminate as soon as possible.
_____ Day 8______
Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, I felt disgusted by this body's appearance. The old Adam preferred the bowl haircut, which exposed his bony face and gave him a nerdy look. His high cheekbones stuck out while his skin latched onto his bones tightly.
To an extent, he looked emaciated… like someone suffering from malnutrition.
Why?
Because Adam was a vegetarian.
This body was so disturbing to look at, it pissed me off each time I remembered a beauty would try and this. It reaffirmed my suspicion that I was nothing but a meal ticket in her eyes.
"This explains why no one bullied him. They were scared they might kill him by mistake." I sighed.
Judging based on Adam's memories, his friend group was the usual targets for school bullies back in high school. Strangely, he never got picked on and always ignored while they messed with his friends.
Adam never understood the reason for this, even though the answer was glaring.
"The former owner of this body is pathetic," I concluded.
With a sigh, I left the bathroom and returned to my room, where my clothes were laid out on the bed. It was a white T-shirt with a purple cross symbol. Alongside that, I got black jeans, running shoes, and a leather jacket.
"I'll get a haircut later," I told myself while putting on my clothes.
As soon as I was done, I walked out of the room, and as promised, the two agents were patiently waiting for me outside.
Johnson, the bald agent, approached and held my shoulder firmly, causing my knees to wobble. His grip was strong as that of a gorilla—just a little bit of pressure, and he would have snapped my bones like a twig.
"Are you ready?" He asked, and I nodded silently.
No other words were exchanged as we headed for the exit under the countless eyes, eager to see what the new Limitless looked like. Camera flashes came from all directions, with loud whispers. Every patient and staff member in the hospital wanted to see my face.
This explains why they had kept me hidden off in that room all this time. We took the elevator to the ground floor, but it wasn't what I was expecting.
At the ground floor, the commotion was worse.
The wide lobby overflowed with people—doctors, nurses, patients in gowns, even staff from other departments who had no reason to be there. Some stood on chairs, others pressed against glass windows just for a glimpse. Armed security officers in dark vests formed a tight circle around us, clearing a path as the tension thickened like fog.
"Keep moving," the bald agent said under his breath, eyes scanning for threats.
I didn't flinch. I kept walking.
For some reason, I was calm under pressure… under the gaze of many…
A voice suddenly broke through the chaos. Familiar. Warm.
"Adam? Adam, it's Uncle Jay! Please, look at me!"
My steps slowed—just slightly—but I didn't turn. I didn't even blink in his direction. I suspected whoever Adam was before, this uncle must've meant a lot based on my instinctive reaction.
I walked like I didn't recognize a single soul.
The black Jeep awaited just outside the hospital entrance, its sleek body polished and humming quietly. Two matte-gray military vans flanked it, their engines already running. More armed personnel stood watch, rifles gripped, eyes alert.
Doors opened as we approached. The crowd behind the barricade screamed louder, but none of it mattered. I climbed into the Jeep without a word.
The door shut with a heavy thud, and for a second, the world outside became a silent blur.
Only then did Ray, the blond agent, speak.
"Welcome to your new life, Limitless."
The Jeep purred to life, rolling smoothly onto the road. I sat in the backseat, silent, flanked by tinted windows that gave the world a dim, bluish tint. The agents up front murmured now and then into comms I couldn't hear.
Outside, the world looked… different.
Glass towers lined the streets, their sleek, curved forms glowing faintly with embedded Aether veins—threads of pulsating energy that powered the entire city.
Sky rails hovered above the roads, carrying pods that zipped silently between districts. Holographic billboards floated in the air, displaying government alerts and corporate ads, all bathed in soft neon hues.
"Do you know how this beautiful city was built?" Ray's voice stole my attention for a moment.
I glanced in his direction, noticing their eyes on me through the rear-view mirror.
"Through the mass acquisition of Aether. A rare energy source which can only be acquired from the dungeons." I responded.
In this world, a pinky-sized aether crystal was worth more than bars of gold. This was the reason countries went to war against each other.
Ray nodded while Johnson looked over his shoulder with an impressed smile.
"I read a lot." I shrugged, to which he nodded.
"If you know this much, I trust you understand how crucial Limitless is to every nation. That is why, here in the ISA, we take good care of our own..."
ISA stands for Imperial States of America
The last part sounded more like a bribe. It felt like he was giving me a reason to stay loyal to the empire, as if I had a choice.
We passed a police outpost—hover bikes parked in rows, officers in energy-woven armor. On the right, a public plaza buzzed with automated drones handing out supplies to civilians. A statue stood tall at the center of it: a Limitless warrior in full combat gear, arms raised, flanked by stylized energy wings.
"Things move fast when survival depends on it," Agent Johnson muttered without turning. "Fifty years ago, none of this existed."
I said nothing, but the landscape outside spoke volumes. These dungeons had turned this world into something I couldn't recognize.
We moved into the outskirts, where the structures thinned, and the roads stretched into rolling green hills. Wind turbines spun lazily in the distance, feeding the grid. Every building shimmered faintly—proof that nothing here ran on fossil fuel or traditional tech. Just pure, refined energy.
Eventually, the road ended at a pair of colossal gates—twenty feet high, forged from reinforced alloy and humming with a subtle blue light. Etched into the metal were the words:
Lone Star Limitless Academy.
The gates slid open with a soft hiss, and we passed through.
Security drones immediately swarmed overhead, scanning the vehicle. At the checkpoint, guards stepped forward, clad in bodysuit armor, visors covering their faces. One scanned my face through the window. A beep confirmed my identity.
"He's clear. Let them through."
The Jeep rolled into the campus proper, and my eyes widened.
The academy was enormous—almost like a city within a city. Massive structures rose on both sides. Some looked like training arenas, others like research towers.
"Looks bigger than I thought," I muttered.
"Wait until you see the inside," Agent Ray said with a smirk.
We curved onto a private road that led toward the administrative wing. It was the tallest building on campus—glass and stone, with energy conduits running across its surface like glowing vines. A massive emblem floated above the entrance: a silver triangle with a blue core, pulsing gently.
The Jeep stopped. Doors opened.
"Let's get you registered," the bald agent said as he stepped out.
I followed.
The elevator chimed softly as it stopped on the third floor. Agent Ray led the way down a hallway, each step echoing against the polished floor. We stopped at a reinforced door. A panel scanned Ray's palm, then opened with a faint hiss.
"This is where we evaluate your Aether Resonance," he said, stepping into a sterile room filled with humming machines.
Cables snaked across the floor and connected into a single cylindrical chamber in the center, tall enough to stand in, with glowing lines running along its sides. In front of it was a large glass wall that separated the chamber from a control room, where several scientists and technicians were already watching.
"Step inside," Ray instructed.
I walked into the cylinder without a word. As soon as the door shut, the hum of the machines deepened. Lights flickered along the glass, scanning me head to toe.
Then came a soft pulse—deep, almost like it was echoing through my bones.
"Aether resonance scan initiated," a calm voice said overhead.
A holographic gauge appeared in front of the glass wall, labeled from E to S.
The dial spun, slowed, then stopped at C Rank.
It didn't detect the [Gatekeeper] talent…
I stepped out once the scan ended, wires unlatching from the chamber. The moment I was out, I turned to Agent Ray.
"Well?" I asked.
He tapped the tablet in his hand before answering.
"You scored a C. Not bad," he said. "Average… but solid."
I nodded and remained silent. I wonder what they would think when they find out the door skill was nothing compared to the SSS-ranked talent I possess.
Well, it would be stupid to boast about something I don't know what it does. I still have no information on the [Gatekeeper] talent, so I won't put too much thought into it.
I noticed Ray raised an eyebrow, probably expecting more of a reaction from me. But why would I be shocked?
The system already determined it was C-ranked from the start, so it's not shocking the academy findings aligned with it.
We moved down another corridor until we entered a much larger room. This one was stark white, with soft padded walls and thick flooring clearly designed to take a hit. Cameras and sensors were mounted in every corner.
It reminded me of the room within the door, except the padding was soft, and there were no cameras.
A man in a gray coat greeted us from the side, flanked by a few armed guards and instructors. His eyes were hidden behind his glasses, but the wrinkles on his face exposed his age
"This is your second test," he said. "We'll assess your ability now. Don't hold back."
No introduction or short speech, just straight to the point....
'I appreciate people like this...' I mumbled.
The examiner gestured towards the center of the room and walked over there without hesitation.
At the center, the space between me, the examiner, and the observers was considerable, but they all instinctively took a step back.
Without uttering a word, I raised my hand and snapped.
A ripple of distortion sliced the air. Everyone watched, silent and still, as the space before me tore open with a low shhhkkk. It sounded and looked like someone had drawn a zipper in reality and pulled it open.
Within the tear I created in space was a swirling darkness. I casually reached in and pulled out a toothbrush.
Dead silence followed.
Then a single cough.
"Is that… a toothbrush?" Agent Johnson muttered in disbelief and slight disappointment.
My delivery was superb, so it made sense, they expected something more... Entertaining.
But I wasn't going to give them that. I don't plan to show them the true power of my [Door] skill, talk more about the [Gatekeeper] skill.
Why?
I'm not sure.
I'm just a distrustful person by nature. Maybe it has something to do with my past life. The extreme desire to hold some sort of leverage over everyone and everything was too hard to deny.
I just had to keep my powers hidden. Should I see no reason to keep things this way, I will reveal more over time and claim they are new discoveries. But until then, I will keep my blade hidden.
My paranoia is my greatest shield.
"Yup." I responded with a shrug.
Agent Ray leaned in with an intense gaze. He seemed more knowledgeable than his counterpart.
"You tore space to retrieve that... Meaning there are two possibilities." He said with a thoughtful expression while rubbing his chin
It felt like he was speaking to himself.
"It is not teleportation. It's a pocket dimension." I said before he could speculate further.
Raising the brush to where everyone could see, I continued.
"I can store things and summon them at will."
Everyone's eyes brightened as they heard my explanation. The reaction was much more positive than I expected.
"How much can you fit in there?" the gray-coated examiner asked, finally finding his voice.
I smirked
"I think we can throw in a car or two..."
Buzz!
That got them. Even Ray's eyes widened slightly.