Chapter 18: Normalcy

Duke resumed his delivery work the next day, determined to maintain a sense of normalcy. He had moved out of his old apartment after a week to avoid any further encounters with Dominique and was cautious about accepting new deliveries that might take him near Dominique's vicinity. Duke had also replaced his lost bike with a more reliable motorcycle, although it wasn't as sleek as the overpriced one the system had offered him.

As he made his way through the streets, he noticed two girls on the sidewalk eyeing him. They stopped walking and whispered to each other as he approached.

"He's so lucky!" one said. "Being the only one who does hard labor has made him find favor in the government's eyes. He's even doing far better than us with the Tierany system..."

The first girl hushed the second. "Shush! If you love yourself, you'd never say that out loud."

Duke slowed down, pretending to adjust his bike's mirror, but he was actually eavesdropping on their conversation.

"I know, right?" the second girl replied. "I heard he gets special treatment and extra rewards. No wonder he's always smiling."

The first girl nodded. "Yeah, and he's so confident now. I remember when he used to be so timid and introverted."

Duke felt a pang of uneasiness, realizing they were talking about him. He didn't want to draw attention to himself, especially not now that he was trying to lay low.

As he started his bike and rode off, the girls watched him with a mixture of admiration and envy. Duke knew he had to be careful; he didn't want to arouse any suspicion or make people think he was getting special treatment.

When he arrived at his next delivery location, he noticed a group of people gathered near the entrance, whispering among themselves. One of them spotted him and nudged the others, pointing in his direction.

A guy walked out from their midst and came to collect the item from Duke. Duke collected his cash before going back to his bike. He still had enough cash on him, but he was determined to work extra hard so that when he started acquiring a lot of things for his apartment, no one would suspect a thing.

Talking about suspicions, he couldn't help but wonder why no one had reported the men he had dealt with as missing. Despite their notorious reputation, they were still human beings who had been acknowledged by society. But with the city's rapid decline and dwindling population, Duke realized that people had become desensitized to disappearances. It had become a grim new norm, with people vanishing daily without anyone batting an eye.

Duke's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his bike's engine, a reminder that he needed to keep moving. He accelerated, weaving through the sparse traffic, his mind still preoccupied with the strange circumstances.

Duke couldn't even ask the system if he wanted to. He didn't receive any orders from the system, which worried him slightly. The icon in his vision had also disappeared, leaving him unable to check if it was still functioning. He tried to brush it off, but he couldn't help missing the 3D girl's cleavage that used to pop up—he had grown accustomed to seeing it.

The system's silence was unsettling, and the lack of concern from the authorities was equally disturbing. It was as if they had given up on finding answers, or perhaps they were hiding something.

Duke's senses suddenly went on high alert as he detected an incoming car hurtling toward him from behind. He had stopped at the red light, lost in thought, and hadn't noticed the light change. With lightning-fast reflexes, Duke leaped from his bike, performing a graceful backflip in mid-air to avoid the oncoming vehicle. He landed effortlessly on his feet, his eyes fixed on the car as it sped away into the traffic.

Duke let out a sigh of relief, grateful for the system's allowance of his physical abilities. His advanced senses and agility had saved him from what could have been a disastrous collision. He couldn't help but feel a sense of gratitude towards the system, despite its mysterious and often unsettling nature.

"How'd you do that?" a youthful voice asked, and Duke turned to see a young boy standing behind him, eyes wide with wonder.

"Lots of exercise and vegetables," Duke replied with a small smile, trying to downplay his exceptional abilities.

As he walked over to retrieve his bike, which had been swerved to the roadside, Duke sensed a presence approaching him from behind. He rolled his eyes, expecting it to be the boy, eager to learn the secrets of his acrobatic feat. But as he turned, his words of dismissal hung on the tip of his tongue.

It wasn't the boy. It was Nadia.

"Hello, Duke," she said, her voice low and mysterious, her eyes fixed intently on him.

Duke frowned. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Nadia responded, "The last time I checked, you don't own this city."

Duke shrugged. "Alright, I'll leave you to it," he said, getting on his bike. But Nadia rushed to hold his wrist, stopping him. "Wait!"

Duke's frown deepened as he glanced at her hand on his wrist. "I need your help," Nadia said, her eyes pleading.

"So, you were following me?" Duke asked, his tone skeptical.

Nadia quickly denied it. "I wasn't! But I've been looking for you."

"Why?" Duke asked, his curiosity piqued despite himself.

"Could you cut me some slack with the nonchalant attitude?" Nadia asked, her voice laced with desperation.

"No," Duke said firmly. "If that's all, I'll be on my way."

He started his bike and drove a few meters away, but stopped abruptly when Nadia shouted, "They took my sister!"

The icon in his vision, absent for a while, suddenly reappeared, its presence silent but unsettling. It didn't display a message or order, it just popped up, leaving Duke wondering what it meant.

But Duke couldn't shake off the question that lingered in his mind: Did the system solely exist for retribution? Was its purpose solely to punish and exact revenge, or was there something more to it? The icon's sudden reappearance, coupled with Nadia's desperate plea for help, only added to the mystery.

Duke's thoughts swirled with uncertainty, but he knew one thing was certain: whatever the system wanted him to do this time around, it would be far more sinister and alarming than anything he had faced before.

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