Lucien was already back in his apartment, everything locked and sealed. Outside, a severe blizzard covered the entire coastal city of Kaelor, initiating a terrible ice age…

He sat in an armchair in the dimly lit living room, but could still see the many ice crystals forming on the concrete walls of the apartment. If it weren't for the crystal-powered heater in the middle of the room, the ice would have already invaded this place, putting his life in danger…

He not only observed the weather phenomenon, but also numerous system messages, one of which was the completion of the Main Quest, rewarding him for surviving until winter arrived, and another detailing the already completed mission, "Supplies".

[Main Quest:]

[Survive until winter arrives!]

Rewards:

-New Special Recipe!

-Three Level 3 Crystals!

-New item unlocked in the shop!*1

-Obtained 3100 Creation Points!

-Obtained 3100 CE points! *1

[Optional Mission: Supplies completed!]

[Only 2/3 of the mission completed!]

[Obtained 2000 Creation Points!]

[Obtained 2 Level 3 Crystals!]

Due to William's death, his mansion was abandoned, leaving 1/3 of the mission incomplete. Following the system's guidance regarding the widow's fragile mental state, Lucien took the frail and weakened Madame Serena Ceres to Laura and her father's house. After all, she had lost not only her husband less than a month ago, but now also her son.

Concerned about the safety of the others, Lucien also delivered the two Level 3 crystals he obtained to the two people he most wanted to protect in this situation: Laura and Nina.

Laura, who had already recovered from her illness, was quite excited about her new powers and called him at least twice a day on the radio to report her progress in using her Universal Force, even though there hadn't been any real progress yet...

Nina, who had also received the other level 3 crystal, couldn't get excited about her new powers as she was still grieving for William...

Ignoring the many recipes, Creation Points, level 3 crystals, and even a strange new resource formed by an unidentified acronym, Lucien took a deep breath and finally deactivated Nexus Mode once again.

"Blearghh"

A burst of vomit escaped his mouth the moment Nexus Mode was deactivated. The images of the carnage he committed against William's assassins, followed by the sinister and cruel way he killed the assassins' leader, left him with a churning stomach. He knew they deserved it, but it still wasn't easy to overcome the fact that he had taken so many lives…

Tears and snot mingled. Lucien screamed and cried as he felt the pain of losing William again, as if it had all just happened. He could hear Madame Serena's desperate screams after seeing her son's corpse. He doubted he could ever forget those screams...

Just when it seemed like everything was about to pass, blurry scenes of him killing the Doorman and the Building Manager also surfaced again.

But then, less than 5 minutes later, it all disappeared… The grief for William, the empathy for his friend's mother, the disgust at the carnage, the cruelty, the pain. As if a switch had flipped off everything that made him feel bad, Nexus Mode was activated again.

Lucien had been repeating this method since he returned more than three days ago, but he could barely bear all these feelings for a few minutes. If it weren't for that, he doubted he could cope with all that trauma, and he even feared he might give up on everything if he no longer had Nexus Mode.

At that moment, like the ice crystals that seeped into the concrete walls of your apartment, the system dealt him a terrible blow:

[From today onwards, Nexus Mode can only be activated for two hours a day!]

[You have reached the daily two-hour limit for Nexus Mode today!]

[You have now advanced to become a Level 2 mutant human!]

[You survived the first month of the apocalypse without advancing to a Level 2 mutant human!]

[Resilience is rewarded: 3000 CE points have been earned!]

[You protected and kept your father alive throughout the initial period of the apocalypse!]

[Loyalty and willpower are rewarded: 2000 CE points have been earned!]

[Even as only a Level 1 mutant human, you risked your life in the dangerous streets of Jyera during the apocalypse and ensured the survival of two groups of humans!]

[Courage, heroism, and bravery are rewarded: 1000 additional CE points have been earned!]

[New mission issued: Daily Training!]

[New mission issued: Winter Resilience!]

[New mission issued: Adaptation!]

Lucien rose from the armchair in despair. He ignored all the rewards and new missions and shouted furiously:

"WHY? I need Nexus Mode!!!"

[Nexus Mode should be used in times of difficulty and danger, not to help you overcome grief and traumatic experiences…]

"NO! This isn't fair… I… I should… How… How am I supposed to endure all this pain? What am I supposed to do from now on? How am I going to live like this?"

[You must first accept that your friend is gone; grief is part of the cycle of life… Use Nexus Mode only to help you sleep at night. But during the day, confront and mourn your loss. With time, the pain will lessen…]

"But what about all those deaths?" Lucien asked, looking at his own hands, as if he could still see all the blood.

And the system repeated it, in a calm, robotic tone of voice:

[As long as you remember every day, repeat to yourself that they deserved it, and that by eliminating them, you saved many other people who would suffer at their hands in the future… One day you will wake up, brush your teeth, have your breakfast, and when you are in the middle of the day, you will realize that you spent the whole morning without remembering this matter. It is at that moment that you will realize that you are capable of forgetting…]

Lucien remained curled up on the living room floor for almost an hour before finally getting up. After wiping his face, he asked the system another question:

"What should I do from now on?"

[I am not here to guide you on your path… Just remember, what was your goal before all this happened? What did you want to do before?]

"I…"

"I wanted to become stronger, help other people with my system and creations, find the other System Carriers, go to the capital, and look for my mother… I should have hunted more monsters, collected more crystals, and gone to William much sooner… If I had done that, maybe he would still be alive…"

[Then do it, have you looked at all your new missions? They were designed so that even if stuck in this apartment, you can continue training and improving until winter ends. While you do that, I will do what you asked me before and try to fix the incomplete communication system for the System Carriers. But I can only do that if I am sure that you will be okay during my absence!]

While looking at the new system missions, which could easily be done inside his apartment, Lucien's dejected and depressed appearance remained the same, but deep in his eyes a small spark of hope and motivation was rekindled…

****

Author Notes: There are additional notes in the paragraphs of this chapter.

Lucien can now buy level 3 crystals in the shop using Creation Points, just as he could with level 1 and 2 crystals. But again, the crystals are limited in quantity, and level 3 crystals are even more so.

Unlike Creation Points, used to purchase items and recipes in the system's store, CE points are a new feature, and will be explained shortly...

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