Chapter 29: Sudden Development

Chapter 29: Sudden Development

Cedric swears that he wasn't a narcissistic guy...

He has never been one to pay close attention to what he looks like on a daily basis, that has never been one of his hobbies. He tries to look at least presentable enough whenever he goes out, but beyond that, he doesn't care about how others perceive him.

If anything, this just got worse when he got admitted to this place...

With how difficult life was here, how could he have any time to take care of his personal appearance? He had no space nor time for vanity, he's focused on survival, just that.

Believe him, he's really not that narcissistic. He's merely admiring his reflection in the mirror now since it has truly been a while since he had taken a good look at himself.

His reflection displayed a six-foot-tall man with healthy and glossy blonde hair long enough to tie up in a bun. A pair of golden-colored pupils stared back at him, seemingly seeing right through his soul, exposing even the deepest and darkest secrets he kept.

With a bronzed skin complexion and rippling muscles hiding underneath a very loose shirt and baggy pants, the man was certified to be a head-turner. His face was angular; sharp jawline, high-bridged nose, freckled cheeks, sculpted physique, thin lips, perfect set of teeth...

Tall, lean, mysterious, and extremely handsome. That's the summary of what he saw from his reflection. A guy with a face like this would never have any difficulties scoring a girl or two on a bar. Add the fact that he's far from lacking down south...there's no doubt that he could make any woman happy and satisfied.

Cedric smiled wryly at himself. He could've passed as a perfect young master if it weren't for his status here. It's just a shame that his looks don't help with his Mandatory Service. If it does, then he would've certainly had an easy life with a face card like this.

Shaking off the weird thoughts swirling in his mind, Cedric wiped his face and stepped out of the bathroom.

He sat on the edge of his bed and looked at the Restriction Seal placed on the back of his left hand. Summoning the seal, he saw its display; Lv.9 restriction.

A Lv.9 restriction was enough to completely paralyze a Tier 1 Lv.9 Superhuman from head to toe completely. Of course, that's assuming that they don't possess any method of escaping the restriction itself. Yet, here Cedric was, shrugging it off like it was nothing but a minor inconvenience.

If he were to get rid of this seal, Cedric bets that his speed and explosive strength would reach a mind-boggling degree. Truly absurd considering that he's only still Lv.2.

Of course, this was thanks to his most recent breakthrough in his cultivation. Reaching the Hollow Core Stage of the [White Lotus Core Technique] already gave him this much power. What more on its later stages?

If he wanted to, he could do some serious damage to his room. Give him five minutes and he would be able to completely pulverize it just with his bare fists alone. If his enemies' bones weren't as tough as concrete, there's no way they'd survive a full-powered punch from him.

"True, true."

"His chip is yellow. A few months ago, that was red. It seems that whatever he's doing was working."

"Good for him then. To me though, I'm just glad that he's not crazy like the others were. I'm relieved to see that he hasn't lost hope yet."

"You know, it really makes me curious, what changed? I mean, I'm fairly certain he wasn't like that before."

"By 'that' you mean?"

"I meant hard working. I've seen his records before, a few months ago, he's one of the worst cases we have here. He looked malnourished like he was one gust of wind away from toppling over and dying. He also used to be an emo, yet look at him now."

"If it weren't for the fact that I saw the same reports as you did, I could swear that you're talking about someone else. But yeah...his progress really makes one curious. That being said though, you know our rule about curiosities and all that."

"I know, I know. I never said I'd investigate. I'm just wondering, that's all. Besides, the guy's different in a positive way so I have no complaints."

Cedric subtly shook his head. He didn't overreact because he didn't want to know that he could hear them. Besides, they're just gossiping anyway. It's not like they're harming him through that, so he also has no complaints.

Doing his best to ignore their conversation, Cedric returned his focus to his warm-up. He brandished his sword slowly, allowing his body to adjust to the resistance while maintaining the perfect execution of each strike.

His body acquiesced to his will like a machine, slowly but surely, he could feel his body getting used to the new level of restriction when all of a sudden, dread washed throughout his entire body.

He froze in place. His mental alarms blared dangerously at him as his head sharply shifted through the direction of the center.

It was then followed by the sharp screech of the alarms echoing across the facility.

Cedric almost couldn't believe it. His hands shook as he hurriedly manipulated his field of senses to focus on the interior of the center. He then felt the wave of panic, heard the alarmed cries of his fellow convicts, smelled fear and corruption, and saw several silhouettes jumping out of a newly formed spatial crevice in the middle of the reception area of the center.

It was then that reality truly sunk in for Cedric. Paling ever so slightly, he whispered:

"Somebody just turned into a 'Node'!"