The gas had dissipated.
Dex stood in the wreckage of Malo's uncle's bathroom, his pulse still hammering in his throat. The Lucianos were gone—vanished the moment Valentina's command had crackled through their radios. But the air still stank of bitter almonds and burnt circuitry.
Malo gripped the sink, his knuckles white. "Okay. Explain. Now."
Dex opened his mouth. Closed it.
What could he say? That his eyes were glowing because of some gene he didn't understand? That he'd somehow hacked reality without being Level 50? That Valentina—Valentina, who turned people into puppets—sounded afraid of whatever was happening to him?
"I don't know," he admitted, voice raw.
Malo stared at him. "Bullshit."
"I don't," Dex snapped. "You think I'd be freaking out less if I did?"
A beat. Malo's shoulders slumped. "...Fair."
Dex exhaled, running a hand through his hair. "I need to go home. Figure this out."
Malo didn't argue. Just nodded. "Text me if you figure shit out."
The streets blurred as Dex walked, his mind racing faster than his feet.
[CYBER LORD GENE ACTIVATION: 56%]
The notification hovered in his vision, real in a way Dreamscape's HUD had never been. It didn't feel like a game overlay. It felt like something under his skin, whispering in a language his bones understood but his brain didn't.
'Why me?'
The rules were clear: Reach Level 50, then unlock real-world abilities. He was Level 10. A nobody. A thief who'd stumbled into a war too big for him.
And yet—
His fingers twitched. The streetlamp above him flickered, its light stuttering like a failing heartbeat.
'What the hell am I?'
THE FRONT DOOR
The porch light was on.
Dex stood frozen on the welcome mat—his mat, the one his mom had brought back from Guadalajara last summer, bright red with Bienvenidos stitched in looping yellow thread. His fingers hovered near the knob. The glow from his eyes reflected in the brass, twin rings of electric blue pulsing in time with his heartbeat.
56% now.
He swallowed hard. Act normal. Just—act normal.
The door swung open before he could turn the key.
"¡Dios mío, mijo!" His mom filled the doorway, a wooden spoon in one hand and a dish towel slung over her shoulder. The scent of simmering frijoles and fresh tortillas wrapped around him like a hug. "¿Dónde estabas? I called you cinco veces—"
"Lo siento, ma." Dex ducked his head, slipping past her into the warmth of the house. "Lost track of time at Malo's."
She clicked her tongue, sharp as a whip crack. "Time? Time?" The spoon pointed at his torn hoodie, the blood smeared on his collar. "You look like you fought el diablo himself! ¿Qué pasó?"
Dex opened his mouth—
—and the hallway bulb exploded above them.
Glass rained down. His mom yelped, grabbing his arm as the last shards tinkled against the tile.
[CYBER LORD GENE ACTIVATION: 57%]
The words seared across his vision, brighter than before.
"¡Pinche luz de mierda!" His mom kicked a shard aside, then froze. Her grip tightened. "Dex. Your eyes."
His stomach dropped. 'Shit.'
"Contacts," he blurted. "New gamer thing. Reflects the screen light so you don't get—"
"Mentiroso." She grabbed his chin, forcing him to meet her gaze. Her thumb brushed under his eye, where the skin tingled with unnatural heat. "You think I don't know my own son's mirada? This is no contact."
A beat. Two.
Then—she let go.
"...Shower." She turned back toward the kitchen, her voice suddenly tired. "You smell like a fight and bad decisions. And lávate bien—I won't have you staining my good towels."
Dex exhaled. "Sí, ma."
Steam fogged the mirror before he could see his reflection. Good. He didn't need another reminder of the glow.
The water scalded his skin, turning it pink, but he barely felt it. His mind raced:
'Why can I see the system in real life?'
'What's the Cyber Lord gene?'
'Why 56%? Why not 50? Why not 100?'
His fingers pressed against the shower wall. The tiles warped under his touch, the grout lines shifting like live wires for one dizzying second before snapping back.
[CYBER LORD GENE ACTIVATION: 58%]
'Faster.'
HIS BEDROOM
His mom's voice carried down the hall: "¡Cena en diez minutos!" (Dinner in ten minutes)
Dex flopped onto his bed, still damp, his hair dripping onto the Frida Kahlo poster above his pillow. His phone buzzed—Malo.
[Malo]: dude. u alive?
[Malo]: also ur mom called mine. she's pissed
Dex snorted. "Gracias, cabrón," he muttered, typing back:
[Dex]: alive. eyes still fucked up
[Dex]: gene's at 58% now
[Malo]: the FUCK does that mean
[Dex]: idk but i just bent a tile with my mind
A pause. Then:
[Malo]:
[Malo]: …can u bend spoons
[Malo]: asking for a friend
Dex choked on a laugh.
Outside his window, a shadow moved.
Too fast to be human.
An hour later, after eating dinner, Dex lay on his bed, watching the activation tick closer—99%.
His skin prickled with static. The air smelled like ozone and burnt sugar.
Then—
100%.
Agony.
He barely managed to bite into his pillow before his back arched off the mattress, muscles locking so tight he heard something pop. His veins lit up beneath his skin, glowing cobalt-blue. His scream was muffled by feathers, but his mind—
His mind was rewriting itself.
[REBOOTING SYSTEMS]
[NEURAL PATHWAYS OPTIMIZED]
[TRASH SKILLS PURGED]
Blackness.
AWAKENING
Cold tile against his cheek. Feathers in his mouth.
Dex groaned, peeling himself off the floor. His nose bled sluggishly.
And his vision—
DEXTER "DEX" MARTINEZ
TITLE: CYBER LORD
LEVEL: 20 (+10)
The system screen hovered before him, sleek and pulsing with the same eerie glow as his eyes.
STATS
STR: 30 (You punch like a truck now)
AGI: 20
INT: 15 (Hack radius: 50m)
SANITY: 100/100 (Somehow)
CYBER LORD GENE: LVL 1 (Baby god mode)
SKILLS
ROCKET FIST – Your one (1) original skill. It's… fine.
CYBER HACK (CYBER LORD ORIGIN) – "The first whisper of dominion. The world is a system—you are the admin."
- Door Hacking – Electronic locks open for you.
- Device Control – Phones, cameras, even toasters obey.
- Area Scan – Sense all electronics within 50m.
PHANTOM JUMP (CYBER LORD ORIGIN) – NEW
"The void between signals is your highway. Step into one device, emerge from another."
Range: 200m (INT-based)
Requirements: Linked devices (Wi-Fi/Bluetooth)
Warning: Leaves a 0.5sec trace. Don't get cocky.
Dex's fingers trembled as he tapped Phantom Jump. A holographic map exploded from his palm, showing every connected device in the house:
- Mom's phone (kitchen)
- Smart fridge (20m)
Dex exhaled, watching the blue static curl around his fingertips like living smoke. The power hummed beneath his skin, foreign yet familiar, as if his blood had always known how to sing this way.
Then—
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[UNIQUE HOLDER PROTOCOL ENGAGED]
The air itself seemed to vibrate as the screen before him dissolved, reforming into lines of shimmering gold text that hovered like ancient scripture:
"THERE ARE FIVE. THE WORLD BENDS FOR FIVE."
A three-dimensional map of Dreamscape unfolded before him, rotating slowly. Three pulsating markers burned bright across its surface:
DEX – CYBER LORD
Level: 20
Status: Newly Awakened
Location: Real World – Home
- ??? – [CLASSIFIED]
Level: 120
Status: Active
Last Seen: Sakura River District – Dreamscape
- ??? – [CLASSIFIED]
Level: 70
Status: Active
Last Ping: Shibuya Academy – Real World
The remaining two markers flickered ominously, their details obscured by a shifting veil of static.
Beneath the map, text scrolled like a prophecy carved into the bones of the game itself:
"YOU ARE NOT LIKE THE OTHERS. THE STORY THEY FOLLOW IS NOT YOURS. THE RULES THEY OBEY DO NOT BIND YOU. YOUR PATH IS DIFFERENT. YOUR DESTINATION—THE SAME."
[QUEST INITIALIZED: "CONVERGENCE"]
Objective: Seek out another Unique Holder (0/1)
Reward: Cyber Lord Gene Lvl Up
Note: The Five are drawn to one another. It is only a matter of time.
Dex's breath caught. The weight of what he was reading settled over him like a physical thing.
Level 120. Level 70.
And him—barely scratching Level 20.
Valentina was still out there, still hunting him, still a threat he couldn't ignore. But these others—these were something else entirely. They weren't running from anyone. They were beyond that.
And now, whether he was ready or not, he was one of them.
The screen flickered once more, the gold text dissolving into a final, haunting line:
"THEY WILL TEST YOU. THEY WILL CHALLENGE YOU. AND IF YOU ARE WORTHY—THEY WILL REMEMBER YOU."
Then, silence.
The glow in Dex's eyes pulsed, casting long shadows across his bedroom walls.
Somewhere out there, two people—no, two forces—were waiting.
And it was time to find them.