Chapter 4: hmm Toasty

[THE BIOSHOCK SYSTEM HAS BEEN ACTIVATED.]

[CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE RECEIVED 500 POINTS.]

Lukas's jaw dropped.

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"

The screen shifted.

[CONDITIONS MET: FIRST KILL.]

[SYSTEM UNLOCKED.]

[WELCOME, LUKAS. WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCESS THE SYSTEM STORE?]

His heart pounded.

His mind spun.

It finally happened.

His cheat system was here.

Lukas almost screamed in relief.

Then—

A voice. Too close.

"The fuck was that noise?"

Lukas's breath caught.

The other two thugs.

They were coming.

No time to celebrate. No time to think.

"OPEN THE GODDAMN STORE!" Lukas hissed.

A new menu popped up.

[STORE]

→ Plasmids

→ Weapons

→ Equipment

His eyes locked onto the first category.

[PLASMIDS]

Most were locked. The ones that weren't? Way too expensive.

Except one.

[ELECTRO BOLT - 400 POINTS]

Lukas's breath hitched.

That was it.

That was the one.

"I'LL TAKE IT."

[CONFIRMED.]

A syringe spawned in midair.

The liquid inside glowed blue.

Lukas barely even hesitated.

His fingers wrapped around the syringe. His grip tightened.

Then, without a single second of doubt—

He slammed it into his arm.

-------------

Pain.

White-hot, burning, mind-shattering pain.

Lukas barely had time to process it before his nerves caught fire.

The moment the Electro Bolt plasmid entered his bloodstream, his body convulsed.

"AAAAAGGHHHHH—!!"

Electricity surged through his veins, his muscles locking up, his vision flashing white as every single nerve in his body screamed at once.

His fingers twitched violently, blue sparks arcing between them. His teeth clenched so hard it felt like they were about to shatter.

His bones felt like they were vibrating.

His skin felt like it was about to peel off.

And worst of all?

He could feel the plasmid rewriting him—his body rejecting it, breaking down at a molecular level before painfully rebuilding itself into something new.

His hands hit the ground as he collapsed to his knees, gasping for air. Sparks crawled up his arms, thin tendrils of electricity dancing between his fingertips like wild snakes.

Then, through the sheer agony, a mechanical ding echoed in his head.

[CONGRATULATIONS. YOU HAVE ACQUIRED: ELECTRO BOLT (LVL 1)]

The pain began to fade, leaving behind an exhaustion so deep it felt like his soul had been wrung out like a wet rag.

Lukas gasped, trembling, his fingers still twitching from residual shocks.

"H-holy… fuck…"

That hurt more than anything he had ever felt in his life.

His heartbeat was still erratic, his breath uneven. Did I just have a goddamn seizure?!

But there was no time to recover.

Because as soon as he looked up—

The other two thugs had arrived.

And they did not look happy.

"What the fuck—?!" The first one froze, staring at the corpse of his fallen friend. His dead friend.

The second one's eyes snapped to Lukas. His gaze locked onto the bloodied crowbar in his hands, then flicked back to the motionless body on the ground.

"You…" His voice dropped, filled with something cold, something murderous.

"YOU FUCKING KILLED HIM!"

Lukas barely had time to breathe before the first thug charged at him, face twisted in pure rage.

"You little SHIT—!"

His body moved before his brain could process it.

His right hand snapped up, instinct taking over.

Sparks danced between his fingers.

A bolt of lightning shot forward.

BZZZZZT!

The electricity slammed into the charging thug's chest, lighting up his body like a broken neon sign.

"GRRRUUAGHHHHH!!"

The man convulsed violently, his arms snapping to his sides as his body locked up. His muscles spasmed, his eyes rolling back, and a horrible burnt smell filled the air as smoke rose from his twitching form.

Then, with a final jolt, he collapsed.

His body hit the ground hard, motionless.

Lukas stared, chest heaving. His hand was still crackling with electricity, the blue glow reflecting in his wide, disbelieving eyes.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

Did he—?

Did he just electrocute someone to death?

The second thug took a stumbling step back, horrified.

"W-what the fuck—?! What the FUCK was that?!" His voice cracked, pure fear overtaking him.

Lukas turned to him, still panting.

He couldn't believe it either.

One second, he was about to die. The next? He had turned some fully-grown bastard into fucking fried chicken.

The remaining thug dropped his weapon.

"N-no… no, fuck this, I ain't fighting no goddamn mage!"

He turned and bolted.

Lukas's brain froze.

Wait. Wait.

I can't let him get away.

If this guy told anyone about what happened, if word got out that some random kid had just wasted two people with a fucking lightning bolt, he was fucked beyond belief.

His muscles tensed.

His instincts screamed.

No witnesses.

His hand snapped up again.

BZZZT!

The bolt hit the running man square in the back.

"AGGHHHHH!!"

The thug jerked violently, body locking up mid-stride. His legs gave out, his knees hitting the ground with a sickening thud.

For a brief, horrible moment, he twitched—his whole body convulsing, smoke rising from his clothes.

Then—

He stopped moving.

Lukas stood there, chest heaving, fingers still sparking.

The smell of burnt flesh filled the air.

The alley was silent.

The only sound was his own ragged breathing.

Three bodies.

Three dead bodies.

Killed by his hands.

His grip on the crowbar tightened. His arms shook.

What the fuck…

What the fuck did I just do?

His stomach twisted. His breath came out shaky.

The realization hit him like a freight train.

He had just killed three people.

In less than five minutes.

And worst of all?

He was still alive.

A tremor ran through his fingers. His legs felt weak.

A bitter, hollow laugh escaped his throat.

"This is the worst fucking day of my life."

Then, as if the universe itself had been waiting for the moment, a ding echoed in his head.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: YOU HAVE RECEIVED +750 POINTS]

Lukas blinked.

His mind snapped back to reality.

Right.

The system.

If he was gonna lose his shit, he could do it later.

Right now?

He needed to move.