[Name: Adam | Planet: SS4E | Strength: 100 Agility: 49 Endurance: 1 Perception: 1]

[Free Status Points: 0]

Adding points to Agility was a different kind of pain. Adding Strength had pierced through him violently, raw, like every part of his body was being crushed over and over again, followed by the sweet relief of release. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Agility was nothing like that. The pain here was steady, insistent, crawling through joints and sinew, burrowing into the insides of his limbs. And after? There was no relief. Only numbness, like he’d spent days exhausting his body, and it had simply... learned to endure.

Adam exhaled deeply and gazed down at the baby in his arms.

"Hold him," he said, turning to the mother and gently handing the child back. The crowd was a moment away from chaos, shoving and stepping over each other, ready to turn the space into a stampede.

The Forger was right, Adam. These people were sheep, lost and dumb, in desperate need of guidance.

"Calm down!" Adam shouted, his voice cutting through the murmurs and shuffles. Every foot that was about to flee, every hand that was about to shove, froze in place. "I want all of you to help each other! Don’t run. Look out for yourselves first, but help if you can!"

The crowd stared at him, hesitating, uncertain.

"Go!" he said, and that was enough. Nods rippled through the mass of people, and almost like clockwork, they moved together. Some people still pushed, but a single glance from Adam, a single tilt of his head, was enough to correct it. Within moments, the area around the Leak cleared with efficiency he’d never seen from strangers, even in the life-and-death chaos of the Games.

Adam gave himself a small nod, the weight in his chest lightening slightly, and refocused on the portal. He looked up, expecting the Crystal to materialize above him—but... there was nothing.

It’s... not a Survivor-mode Leak?

It would seem so. The edges of the portal shimmered and twisted into a Purple hue, and in the next instant, a shadow stepped out. The hesitation in Adam’s mind vanished as though it had never been. He rushed toward the Leak, and for the first time in moments, the movement felt effortless. He felt light, almost untethered.

Agility is... useful. Of course, it is. Stupid. Stupid fucking—what?!

He suddenly stopped—and this time, due to his increased agility, he did so without any effort at all. He stopped, because the shadow that had emerged was...

...human.

"Huh?"

It was human... and it sounded like it, too.

"Huh...?"

***

"Mr. Sang Moon Park."

Several minutes ago, in France, Clementine was in a conference room, facing a large screen and was in a call with an old, balding Asian man.

<The younger Ms. Rousseau. What can I do for you?> The old man smiled.

"I’ll be blunt. I think we’ve only met once, and from a distance, but—"

<Don’t be so modest, Ms. Rousseau,> Sang Moon Park chuckled, waving his hands at the camera. <Please, be as blunt with me as possible. You and your sister are... very good friends with the Endless—anything you ask, I will provide.>

"Very well. Adam is asking you to call off the gathering happening in Los Angeles," Clementine said, sighing as she sat on the table. "There’s something you must know about Adam, Mr. Sang Moon Park—he hates people looking up to him."

<I’m very aware of the Endless’ refusal to be worshipped, Ms. Rousseau. But I am one man.> Sang Moon Park sighed, shaking his head. But even then, the smile on his face didn’t falter or fade away. <I do not control the members of the church.>

"What’s your endgame here?" Clementine’s voice dropped. "Are you trying to use Adam for some sort of political move? Because I’m telling you now... you’re messing with the wrong person. Adam might be too kind for his own good, too kind... but his friends are not. My sister has taken a liking to him. You know my sister."

<I am also very aware of your sister’s strength. But I assure you, the last thing I want—the last thing any of the people in the Church wants is to harm the Endless. It—excuse me for a moment.> Sang Moon Park suddenly stood up, and Clementine watched as he snuck a glance at the window. <I believe I need to go.>

"Where... even are you?" she asked.

<Where else would I be, Ms. Rousseau?> Sang Moon Park once again smiled. <I suggest you watch very carefully the things that are about to happen today—everything will change after this. Everything. I have seen the future, Ms. Rousseau. A new messiah would rise, the likes of which the world has never seen before. No—he is already here. He is already risen. And unlike the messiahs who came before...

...He is Endless.>

"What—"

Clementine then watched as Sang Moon Park snapped the windows open wide, and the sound of people shouting and murmuring seeped into the room.

<Everyone! The Endless has graced us with its presence! Adam the Endless!>

<...Adam the Endless! Adam the Endless!>

"Wait..." Clementine’s eyes widened. "...You’re also in the Los Angeles Cathedral?!"

Sang Moon Park glanced back. There was still a smile on his face, but it felt... different now. Somewhat crazed.

<I have seen it, Ms. Rousseau. I have seen the future of Adam the Endless—and it is not for you, nor for me, to ever question it,> he said, his voice trembling in excitement. <Contrary to what you might be thinking, I am not the one who guides, but the guided. You are the same. You, and more so, your sister. We are all but pieces of a board in the game of Adam the Endless. Rejoice, Clementine. Rejoice that you are a part of the board! Ha... Hahaha!>

Sang Moon Park’s laugh was... not something Clementine expected to come from someone his age. Like the smile on his face, it was... insane. And soon, the call cut.

Clementine was left there, her mouth slightly open from what she had just witnessed. She could may very well just chalk it up to the ramblings of a crazy, old, demented man—but old was the only thing that applied to Sang Moon Park.

If anything, Clementine started shaking. How could she not, when Sang Moon Park’s Hero title gave his words more meaning than they possibly could?

[Sang-moon, the Warrior Prophet.]

Yes. Sang Moon Park... can see the future.

"Shit..." Clementine got off the table, quickly pulling out her phone to check on Adam. But then, she was shocked to see all the missed calls from her sister. "What is..."

She was about to call Sylvie back, but Sylvie sent her a link which she tapped almost instantly—and it showed the moment the Leak appeared... and a human stepped out of it.

"What... the fuck is happening in this world?"

***

Adam was completely frozen, and he had every reason to be. But he wasn’t the only one. The man who had stepped out of the Leak was frozen, too. Neither of them moved; their only action was to stare, to study each other.

For Adam, there wasn’t much to study. The man in front of him wore ordinary clothes—a little unusual in style, maybe even archaic, but clearly crafted from materials salvaged from Leaks. For a moment, Adam wondered if that was all. But the man’s eyes didn’t linger on him for long. His gaze flitted past Adam, over the massive crowd behind him, and then beyond that, toward the buildings around them... and the man gasped.

Adam couldn’t really discern what this meant before more figures emerged from the Leak. Unlike the first man, they didn’t hesitate. Their weapons rose immediately at the sight of Adam and the crowd.

Adam also moved, but only to raise his palms.

"Can you understand me?!" he called. The humans from the Leak gasped at the sound of his voice.

Unfortunately for Adam, their reply was incomprehensible, a language he had never heard.

"Intin mu ak...?" they said, glancing at one another.

"Damn it..." Adam clenched his teeth and closed his eyes for a brief moment before shaking his head.

"I’m not a threat. Please..." His voice softened. "I don’t want to fight anymore. Please... please lower your weapons. My people are scared, and yours are, too."

He gestured gently toward one of them whose legs trembled.

"Please..." he repeated, letting his tone carry an almost pleading whisper. "I don’t want to fight anymore."

And slowly, painstakingly, the humans lowered their weapons.

"Hah... ha..." Adam’s breath caught in his throat, stuttering unevenly. He nodded weakly, taking a step back. "Thank you. Thank you."

Some of the Leak humans dropped their weapons entirely, the one with the weak legs collapsing to his knees, tears streaming freely. Others clung to each other, relief flooding their faces—relief even more obvious than Adam’s.

Yet the one who seemed to be their leader remained still, standing apart from his companions. And perhaps, more than anyone, he felt the weight of relief, though it manifested differently.

He could see what the others couldn’t.

He could see it.

Behind Adam, the shadow stretched across the sky like wildfire. An aura so immense it seemed to devour the horizon itself.

He understood. He knew with certainty that if they had challenged this Champion from another world... they would have perished before even realizing what hit them.