Chapter 2: Bane of existence, Truck

Light surged within Grey’s eyes as his consciousness slipped away, dragging him into a trance.

A vast starry sky stretched endlessly before him, boundless and silent. Constellations shimmered like scattered diamonds upon an eternal canvas, each radiating a distant and untouchable majesty. The cold stillness of the cosmos pressed against him, numbing his breath and thoughts alike. In that moment, he could only stand there, gazing as billions of stars burned with a brilliance so overwhelming it made him feel insignificantly small.

Then, without warning, a lotus of pure flame bloomed in the starry void. Its petals flickered with a mysterious power, sacred and ancient. Before Grey could comprehend its nature, the lotus shattered into countless specks of light that shot toward him, piercing straight into his mind.

Whoosh—!

The vision collapsed.

The heavens split apart as if torn by unseen hands, constellations crumbling like fragile glass. One star after another dimmed, vanishing into the void until only darkness was left.

Before Grey could even process what he had witnessed, everything faded away.

Blue Star.

Clear daylight returned. Wind brushed against his skin, carrying with it the ordinary clamor of the world. The sharp blare of honking filled his ears.

“Huh?” Grey’s eyes snapped open.

Only then did he realize he was standing in the middle of a busy road. From the corner of his vision, he caught sight of a massive truck barreling toward him, its steel frame glinting beneath the sun, its tires screaming against the asphalt.

“…” Grey’s breath caught in his throat. His body stiffened. The truck was too close—far too close. Even if he moved now, there was no way he’d escape in time.

For a fleeting instant, despair weighed on him like chains. His eyes, wide with terror, reflected the truck’s looming shadow.

And then—something shifted.

His pupils contracted, flashing with an unnatural speed which almost seemed glitching as if time itself had slowed.

“Hey watch out!”

A passerby on the sidewalk cried out in horror, sprinting desperately to push Grey away. But the effort was futile. The truck was already less than a meter away. It was far too late!

Then, something unbelievable happened.

“What?!” The passer by witnessing this scene widened his eyes in disbelief.

Whoosh!

[Your comprehension defies the heavens! From a near-death experience you comprehend the “Instant Recoil Step”!]

Wind surged from the place where Grey stood as time itself slowed down for him.

Badum! Badum!

His heart pounded like a war drum, each beat hammering blood through his veins. Adrenaline flooded his body, scorching its way into every muscle and tendon. His joints loosened with a sharp crack, ligaments pulling taut like drawn bowstrings.

His hips twisted, knees bent, shoulders wrenched back, every segment of his body firing in ruthless sequence. The air boomed from the violent recoil, a hot gust erupting as his frame blurred away from the truck’s path.

The truck went right past the place Grey once stood, however Grey was no longer there and even the truck driver was slightly confused before continuing on his path without stopping, If he stopped here it would definitely spill more trouble and as a hardworking middle-class citizen he didn’t want any trouble!

Meanwhile, the other nearby ordinary people who were witnessing the scene were equally as dumbfounded as the passer by who tried to help Grey.

They were looking in awe and disbelief. Sure, they have seen evolvers roaming around but seeing Grey in action just hit different.

“Woah! Big brother Is so cool! I want to be like big brother!” A child clapped happily seeing this scene. The kid had seen similar scenes in movies and videos before but seeing it in real life was extremely exhilarating.

“That guy must be an evolver.” Another person mentions.

“Of course, he is, how else do you think he dodged the Truck? Dodging from that distance is not humanely possible at all! Only those who transcended their mortal limitations can achieve such reaction and speed!”

Huff!

Grey took deep breaths as he collapsed to the floor with a slightly dumbfounded look on his face.

As of now, literal beams of smoke were erupting out of Grey’s body, He took deep breathes as a feeling of exhaustion assaulted him.

He had just gone beyond the limit of human body!

The sheer power from it left smokes coming out from his body.

Just then, the shocked passer who tried to warn Grey appeared beside Grey.

“Are you okay, friend?” The passerby asked in a slightly concerned voice as he crouched down beside Grey.

Grey took a glance at the person from the corner of his eyes.

The man had short black hair and deep yellow eyes, a lean yet well-built frame, and a handsome face no girl could resist.

Then, the guy quickly ruffled through his pocket and a huge bottle appeared in his hand with blue liquid inside, “Here friend please take these.”

Seeing this, Grey looked strangely at the guy, how did he take out a huge bottle like that out of his pocket?

He then slightly glanced at the ring in the guy’s hand and realized. It was a spatial ring!

Spatial rings were rather rare in Nova City and only the rich could afford such a thing, the person he was dealing with might be a young master of some famous clan in the city.

A rich young master was a rare sight in Sector 6, as most of them resided in Sector 1 alongside the City Lord.

He then looked at the blue liquid. “What is this? Is this muscle numbing potion? Are you gonna kidnap me? I-I smoke daily and drink heavily my organs are not that good!”

A shocked expression appeared on Grey’s face as he suddenly stood up from the ground and drew some distance between him and the handsome guy.

The handsome guy seeing this was dumbfounded, then with a wry smile, he got up and explained. “This is a Energy potion; it can help with quickly regenerating lost energy. I don’t mean no harm.”

“Is that so?” Grey asked with a suspicious gaze. Then, he swiftly took it from the guy’s hand and drank it.

First thing he noticed was that it was fizzy and it tasted like sweet lemon juice. Satisfied with the flavor, Grey swiftly gulped it all down.

Instantly, he felt all the lost energy restoring in his body, right now he had just utilized all his muscles in the maneuver of dodging the truck and he knew he was definitely going to be sore all over tomorrow. Now with this potion he didn’t have to worry about that.

After shamelessly taking it from the person who tried to help him but he grew suspicious of and drinking it in one gulp, he let out a satisfied look on his face.

Indeed, all his exhaustion was gone and now he was brimming with energy.

“This taste really good, better than those soda available on market. How much does one cost?” Grey inquired with a satisfied smile.

“Huh…? Soda?” The person shook his head speechlessly and then spoke. “Each one costs a 100 Union Credits.”

“Huh? A 100 Union credit?!” Grey was stunned.

This world used Union credits as a form of currency and on average someone gets 500 Union credits as salary. His father who worked in a factory till day and night likewise only got 500 Union Credits per month, so buying just 5 of these can completely make them poor.

“Long way to go, long way…” Grey said speechlessly.

He instantly liked the taste of the energy potion, but he couldn’t even afford one…

“My name is Evan, nice to meet you.” Then, the handsome guy took the initiate and introduced himself. “I almost thought you would be get hit, but luckily you were an evolver.”

“Haha, evolver?” Grey had a wry smile on his face.

What this fellow didn’t know was that this technique he just comprehended was completely within the limits of what a human body can achieve without any assistance of evolutionary energies.

This technique allowed him to perfectly control his body and control his adrenaline in a way which significantly boosted his power without completely breaking down his body while in that state.

It was a precise and perfect control technique which no normal human can fully comprehended and utilize without failure unless they train this for day and night for at least 80 years straight and even that is risky enough.

Shaking his head, Grey also introduced himself. “I’m Grey Lockhart, nice to meet you and I appreciate your help. Without you giving me the energy potion, I would’ve most likely had to call a taxi which is quite expensive these days I can’t lie.”

“Lockhart?” A slightly surprised look appeared on Evan’s face. “My friend’s last name is also Lockhart, what a coincidence.”

Hearing this, Grey merely shrugged. “There are a lot of Lockhart’s in Nova City, especially sector 6, nothing new.”

Hearing this Evan silently nodded. “If you don’t mind asking, what kind of evolver are you?”

“What kind?” Hearing this, Grey’s lips twitched slightly. He had a hurt look on his face.

What evolver!

I can’t even sense cosmic energy! How will I become an evolver!!

Still, he couldn’t just say that he was not an evolver, so he decided to think of one evolutionary path which could in theory let him dodge a truck at the Pseudo level of first rank.

After thinking for a bit, he finally found one. “I follow the uh… Martial Evolutionary Path.”

“Is that so…” Evan nodded.

“Yes.” Grey affirmed.

Then, he checked the time, it was almost 6 PM in the afternoon and he was rather hungry and he still needed to check out his amazing new cheat which let him comprehend things. Since that was the case, he decided to head out. He swiftly said his thanks to Evan once and left.

Evan silently watched Grey’s figure disappearing from his view with a slightly confused look on his face. “How did he it? He’s an ordinary mortal!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep