Chapter 69: Still Crazy

Adam just stared at Smor.

He understood the young man’s turmoil, more than Smor probably realized. And that was precisely the problem. Adam didn’t know how to answer.

He couldn’t say the truth.

I awakened a cheat ability. Now I’m strong.

That kind of answer wouldn’t just disappoint Smor, it would crush him.

It would turn everything into something ugly and unfair, something impossible to accept. And staying silent would be even worse.

Adam didn’t owe Smor an explanation. He knew that.

Yet… he still wanted to give one.

There was no grand reason behind it. No moral obligation. Just a simple, almost stupid thought.

I don’t want to watch a grown man break over something like this.

No matter how irrational it was, that was enough for Adam.

All eyes were on him, but he didn’t see them. His thoughts turned inward, circling the same question Smor had asked.

Why did you change?

Had he actually changed?

Yes, he had awakened a special talent.

Yes, that special talent had perfect synergy with what he already had.

Yes, he had become absurdly strong because of it.

But was that change?

If you stripped away power, took away talents, rankings, numbers, would the Adam of the past be any different from the Adam of now?

Would he train any less?

Would he push himself any softer?

Would he abandon the path he chose just because the world told him it was pointless?

At that moment, the answer clicked.

Adam finally lifted his gaze and looked directly at Smor.

“I didn’t change.”

The words weren’t loud, but they carried weight.

“I was always like this.”

He paused, choosing his words carefully.

“The only difference is that before, no one could see it. Not you. Not even me.”

Adam’s eyes sharpened slightly.

“Back then, I trained because I believed, somewhere deep inside, that I was capable of much more, and that effort would eventually matter even if the world didn’t reward it.”

“Now that it finally does, I realize I had to hit rock bottom just to truly start climbing.”

He exhaled softly.

“That doesn’t mean the past was wrong. And it doesn’t mean the limits you saw were fake.”

Adam met Smor’s gaze fully now.

“It just meant they weren’t truly mine.”

The truck remained silent.

Smor didn’t respond immediately, but his expression shifted, confusion, frustration, and something else slowly mixing together.

Adam leaned back against his seat.

“That’s all there is to it.”

Adam’s answer was simple.

He hadn’t changed.

He had always been like this.

The limits that once seemed to bind him were never truly his to begin with.

They were assumptions, imposed by others, reinforced by circumstance, and accepted by the world as truth.

But truth didn’t care about perception.

No matter how one looked at it, Adam’s potential at this moment was effectively limitless.

With [Equip] and [Connect], the possibilities branching before him were countless.

Trying to place a fixed ceiling on that was meaningless. A limit could not exist where the path itself kept expanding.

The restrictions placed on him in the past had never belonged to him.

That was the reality.

And that was the answer Smor had been searching for. Smor thought Adam had changed, but Adam hadn’t. He was still the same person, only now, his true capabilities had finally surfaced.

In a way, he had simply uncovered his hidden potential, and judging him before that point had always been premature.

Some might argue that awakening [Connect] itself was proof of change.

Adam didn’t see it that way.

According to his panel, [Connect] existed because another soul had merged with his.

But that soul wouldn’t have merged if Adam hadn’t been on the brink of death. He wouldn’t have been on the brink of death if he hadn’t entered the rift.

And he wouldn’t have entered the rift if he hadn’t already awakened.

In the end, everything circled back to the same point.

Him.

Adam could list a thousand reasons explaining why he hadn’t changed, but frankly, he wasn’t interested in doing unpaid labor.

Smor stared at him in silence for a long moment. Then he let out a slow breath, shook his head, and said,

“You’re still as crazy as ever.”

Adam wasn’t offended.

“I told you. I didn’t change.”

Smor smiled faintly.

“Yeah… I can see that now.”

He scratched the back of his neck, then added,

“Sorry for the way I acted earlier.”

“It’s fine,” Adam said easily.

“I have that effect on people.”

“…”

After that, the journey continued without interruption.

The Wildzone was vast, but it didn’t take long to confirm what everyone already suspected: the barrier fully encapsulated both the sector and a large portion of the surrounding Wildzone.

The fact that Siren Swamp itself lay under its influence was proof enough. Whatever Henry had triggered hadn’t been localized.

Their task was clear: investigate the edges of the barrier.

Thanks to Alliance technology, the rough boundaries had already been mapped. Even so, the results were grim.

The barrier didn’t just cover the Sector, it extended far beyond it, swallowing a large stretch of the surrounding wild zones. Worse still, several of those wild zones contained active incursions.

That alone was enough to make the situation volatile.

Technology, however advanced, had its limits.

This was where boots on the ground mattered.

The group’s assignment was to collect data from the four cardinal points of the barrier to determine whether there were inconsistencies or a focal weakness.

So far, everything had gone smoothly.

The northern edge had been calm.

The eastern side yielded nothing unusual.

The western boundary was just as quiet.

As they gathered their data without any incident.

Adam and Abigail exchanged glances more than once during the journey.

Neither of them said it out loud, but they were thinking the same thing.

By the time they reached the southern boundary, the air inside the truck felt heavier.

Even before the vehicle slowed, Adam felt it. A pressure that didn’t exist elsewhere. The truck rolled to a stop.

****

[Authors Note]

Thank you for reading your power stones, golden tickets, gifts, reviews and comments will be really appreciated as they keep me motivated.

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