Chapter 7: I'm a Mutant?
Leon couldn't believe his eyes, as those ominous words appeared in his field of vision.
"Souls?! What the hell's going on?!" Said Leon. His voice had lost its earlier vigor; instead, it now reeked of panic and fear.
When he said those words, a status screen appeared and seemed to answer Leon's questions.
[User: Leon Morales]
[Race: Mutant]
[Cell Mutation: 30%]
...
[Level 1]
[exp: 0/100]
[HP: 10/10]
[Strength: 10]
[Stamina: 12]
[Agility: 12]
[Immunity: 11]
[Regeneration: 20]
…
"No, no! What the hell is this?!"
Leon's excitement at possibly being a secret beta tester for new technology in systems development had waned. He didn't sign up for any of this. How was he now a mutant? Of course, he couldn't rule out the possibility of the message being a prank of sorts by the system's developers; but that made little sense.
Why would they go through all the trouble of setting up everything just to prank him? Even if 'that man's' opposers were behind everything; there were more direct ways to go about hurting him. In fact, Leon's misfortune most likely wouldn't bother 'that man' at all.
Besides, could the developers even create an artificial mutant? Leon found that hard to believe.
Even more so, because as far as he knew, spontaneous mutation started and ended with the first generation; over a century earlier. Also, neither Leon nor either of his parents were carriers of the SM-Factor. He had heard of late bloomers, but Leon was certain that wasn't the case with him; as he wasn't a carrier to begin with.
'Calm down… experts say only carriers can mutate. There's no way a non-carrier like you could… we're not in the dark ages anymore.' Leon thought.
Despite trying to take a logical approach, a cold sweat runs down Leon's spine as he sees those words once more.
[Devour a soul within 5 days or you will die.]
'It couldn't possibly be real… could it?' he thought.
Because Leon had his limbs restrained, and he was in an unknown place, his thoughts were all over the place. Would he really die in 5 days if he didn't devour a soul? Would he have to kill others to survive from then on? The mere thought sickened him. One thing was certain to Leon; he had to get out there!
It bewildered Leon, as he looked at his wrists when he tried moving his limbs once more. The damage he'd sustained earlier from the tug with the chains was healing at an astonishing rate—he could see his own flesh getting repaired! In mere moments, there was no trace of prior injury; not even a scab!
"No way…" Leon said.
For a regular human to heal at that pace was impossible. There wasn't a shred of doubt left in Leon's mind. It all made sense to him now. How he survived the mortal wounds, the surreal amount of strength he exhibited when tugging on the chains, and even the speed at which he was healing—he was a mutant!
The system was without a doubt real. And somehow, it had appeared as soon as he mutated. As far as Leon knew, that could only mean one thing—spontaneous mutation! And the system was most likely a result of that.
'Is the system my rare ability?'
Because of the knowledge he'd accumulated in school, Leon knew basic things about mutants. He knew they all had physical capabilities that were well above any human's. Some even had rare abilities; like the mutant in the back-alley who could manipulate the rain. If that were the case, he wondered what good the system was.
Leon then took about a dozen slow, deep breaths and collected his thoughts to calm down.
'Even if I'm a mutant now… it's not the end of me. I don't have to kill people… I can always consume the Artificial Soul instead, right?' he thought.
Of course, thinking that didn't make it sound any less sickening. Leon had seen the harsh treatment of mutants for so long that even he was wondering whether he could endure half of what some carriers in his class went through.
However, out of curiosity, and his desire to make the best out of a terrible situation; Leon explored the system even further—the boy within begged him to do so.
…
[Skills]
[0 Skill points available.]
[Locked]
[Locked]
...
It seemed Leon could navigate his way around the system by thinking about a certain option. So despite being shackled, he could look up various tabs with relative ease. As he saw the options, it was looking more like a game—it got Leon excited. The system grayed out the skills tab, and that dampened Leon's mood; but he moved on to the next option soon after.
…
[Soul Count: 0/1]
[Life Expectancy: 5 days.]
"Life expectancy?!" Leon said.
This next tab made his heart skip a beat. Leon thought he had the resolve to live out the rest of his days as a mutant… but he only had days left to live—the irony! On average, mutants could last 10 days without a soul. Any longer than that, and death was inevitable.
'Why only 5 days? Is it because of that purge option which came up? I didn't ask for that!' Leon thought.
The urgency on his face was quite visible as Leon bit on his lower lip in frustration, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. Even a mass murderer would flinch at least once, if told they only had a few days left to live… it was mentally taxing.
'Damn it… how did my life turn into this? Why didn't I just go on that stupid date with Kylie?'
Leon couldn't help but reminisce about his days that were once filled with ignorant bliss. Of course, he wasn't about to cry over spilt milk either. For appearance's sake, he held back tears, even though he was alone. After all, 'that man' would never tolerate weakness.
A few moments later, Leon selected the next tab. And it wasn't any less depressing than the last was. However, something piqued his interest and caused him to raise an eyebrow.
…
[Main Quest: Devour a soul.]
[Reward: ???]
[Daily Quest: Frighten someone.]
[Reward: 5exp]
"Really system… frighten someone?" Said Leon.
He often played a popular virtual MMORPG game called 'Inventory Warfare'. It offered the most immersive player experience of any game. Within the game, Leon had completed his fair share of quests; absurd and miniscule alike—but he found the system's quest hilarious.
"Should I dress up like a ghost?" Said Leon.
Smiling for the first time since regaining consciousness. A chuckle even escaped his lips. It seemed Leon genuinely found the system's quest funny. Of course, the Main Quest served as a reminder that this wasn't a joke.
*Clank*
Out of the blue, the large semi-transparent door to the room Leon was trapped in, parted with a loud wheezing sound, and in flew a flame about the size of a human head.
It all happened so fast that all Leon could see was a blinding light, and then he felt a searing heat near his chest.
"Ugh!" Said Leon.
The flame was so hot he could feel his skin burn. But before it dealt any significant damage, the flame floated away from his chest and remained suspended in the air. And moments later, Leon could hear the uncanny sound of heels striking a floor.
A slight chuckle resounded as a woman's voice coldly said;
"Lieutenant, it appears the killer's finally awake. Requesting permission to burn the scum to ashes!"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
RIKUSAN
RIKUSAN Thanks for reading! :)
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