Some minutes had passed and Liam was still in that same position, his head resting on the headrest as he gazed at the monotone sky of the Dimensional Space, lost in thought.
Over the past minutes, he has been thinking about a lot of things, but his thoughts were mostly focused on the direction his life will take if he gets exposed.
But after thinking about extensively, he came to realise something: he was worrying his head too much.
Things he knew for sure wa that no matter how hard he tires, he won’t be hide his equity portfolio from the world forever.
Another he knew was that while things will be heated and probably chaotic at the beginning, but as time passes, everything will fade into the background.
All he just have to do is to survive the onslaught of interview requests, paparazzis and global attention at the beginning, and he will be fine when everything fades. The only problem he will have is how long the whole thing will last.
But he knew that the world won’t stop because of it and people won’t stop living their lives. So, he should stop worrying about things he can’t control and focus on other things.
"Yeah. That’s the best option," he said, letting out a long sigh, as his eyes drifted to the long obsidian table where two new documents sat neatly side by side.
He reached for the first document and picked it up.
Floor 85, Central Park Tower, New York City.
That was the first thing Liam saw when he opened the folio, and his breath caught in his throat as his eyes moved to the glossy photographs inside.
The images showed a sprawling luxury floor with a size of over 7,000 square feet suspended high above Manhattan.
Glass walls stretched from floor to ceiling, offering panoramic views of Central Park to the north, the Manhattan skyline to the south, and the Hudson River glinting in the distance.
The interiors were impossibly bespoke. Hand-carved marble floors, sculpted wood paneling, crystal chandeliers suspended like constellations. The living room alone looked like it belonged to royalty — wide, airy, with plush furniture in warm tones, designed by some of the world’s best names in luxury.
The master bedroom was a sanctuary: soft white linens, panoramic windows on both sides, and a bathroom clad in Italian marble with a soaking tub overlooking the skyline.
Liam went through the property’s document and he saw that it even had a private elevator, biometric security, and 24/7 concierge service.
It was like fortress in the sky.
And it’s value? $150 million.
"Naturally. I would had actually been surprised if the price tag wasn’t that high. Especially with its location and the building it’s located in. It’s worth the price," Liam said to himself, closing the folio, and picking up the second.
He opened it, and for a moment, he forgot to breathe. Almost literally.
San Caerola Key, Caribbean
Photographs of the island filled the pages. It was a private island, with beaches pristine and white as powdered sugar, waves lapping in crystalline turquoise. Dense tropical vegetation swayed gently in the wind, concealing freshwater streams and hidden lagoons. Discover more novels at novel⁂fire.net
The aerial shots showed its sheer scale — 8.6 square kilometers, or about 3.3 square miles.
There were already infrastructures in place: a luxurious villa with wide verandas overlooking the sea, staff quarters tucked neatly behind a grove of palms, a paved five-kilometer airstrip cutting across the island like a hidden runway.
The marina in the photo gleamed with polished wood and steel, large enough to berth superyachts. Solar panels glittered in the sunlight, backed by wind turbines.
And according to the document, there was also an underground freshwater reservoir, ensuring permanent self-sufficiency of the island.
Hmmm... Smart move, system.
He continued reading and his eyes narrowed slightly at the line that followed: "Island coordinates undisclosed. Location hidden from satellites and mapping platforms. Only those you name may know it exists."
"A ghost island," he murmured, as he exhaled slowly.
The island didn’t have a price tag and Liam didn’t bother to put one on it, but he felt that it should cost a minimum of $1b, especially with everything it has. Maybe even more.
With all that done, Liam could finally focus on the new function that was unlocked. He called up his status screen.
[Lifespan: 220 Years]
[Attribute Points: 150]
[Skills: Pro-level Vehicular Operation, World-Class Etiquette, World-Class Culinary Arts, Formless Combat Doctrine, Perfect Memory, Universal Linguistics]
[System Function(s): Sign-in, System Store, Dimensional Space, Transdimensional Travel]
He wanted to ask the system about the new function immediately but he held himself back, deciding to allocate his attribute points first.
He divided the points equally among the three attributes, allocating 50 points to each of them.
The next moment, Liam felt that familiar warm energy as it originated from his chest, before spreading throughout his body like a stream.
But there was a difference this time. The energy flow wasn’t as gentle like the previous times. This time, it was like a flooded.
Liam sucked in a sharp breath as the energy coursed through his veins like liquid fire. His muscles tensed involuntarily and his heartbeat thundered in his ears, faster, stronger, louder. It was as though his chest had turned into a war drum.
The energy raced through his arms and legs, into his bones and tendons. He clenched his fists as veins stood out sharply against his skin.
Raw and undeniable strength welled up inside him until his body felt almost too small to contain it.
"Ughhh..." he groaned, gritting his teeth as the sensation grew heavier.
His senses sharpened at an alarming pace. Every faint vibration in the Dimensional Space echoed in his ears. He could hear the whisper of dust motes brushing across the obsidian table. His enhanced vision rippled, flickering as though his eyes were trying to pierce layers of reality itself.
And then he felt a faint prickling behind his eyes. He frowned, pressing his temples, trying to shake it off. But it didn’t stop, as it grew instead.
The sting spread from behind his eyes to the center of his skull, then radiated outward like cracks in glass. The warmth that had once been empowering now felt sharp, invasive.
"Uhhhnn... ahh!" Liam hissed, clutching his head as the pain flared white-hot.
His knees buckled, and he dropped to the floor, his forehead nearly touching the smooth ground.
The sting became a burn. The burn became a throb. The throb became a splitting agony.
It was as if his skull was being forced open from the inside, every nerve lit up, screaming. His vision blurred. The ground beneath him seemed to tilt, the sky above wavering and bending like molten glass.
"Ghh—hhhnnn!" He ground his teeth, biting back a scream. His hands clawed at his head, fingernails digging into his scalp. Sweat poured down his temples, stinging his eyes, dripping onto the floor.
And yet... even through the torment, he could feel it.
Something was changing in his mind.
"Aaaaahhh—!" He couldn’t hold back anymore and his scream ripped through the silence of the Dimensional Space.
Then what he knew next was darkness, as the pain crescendoed all at once, a blinding spike of white heat that drowned out every thought. His body convulsed once before going completely limp.
Liam collapsed against the floor of the Dimensional Space, his chest heaving once, then going still. His eyes fluttered closed, and his consciousness slipped away into the void.
[Congratulations, Host, you’ve met the stat requirements. You’ve awakened...]