Chapter 173: Paying the price of power

Words : 1744 Updated : Sep 19th, 2025

[Void Entropy Syndrome (VES) Detected.] [Analyzing Symptoms...] [Stage 1 Symptoms Identified:] Dark Veins: Faint void-corrupted veins are beginning to spread under the skin. Body Heat Fluctuations: Irregular spikes in temperature, alternating between feverish heat and sudden chills. Fatigue & Disorientation: Brief lapses in focus, increased zoning out. [Why Does This Happen?] [Your Void Energy is more than just a resource—it is a stabilizing force that keeps your body in optimal working condition.] [Unlike other abilities that simply deplete when used, the Void operates under a fundamental rule:] [Void does not tolerate emptiness.] [When you burn through your Void Energy completely, the natural entropy of the void begins consuming you to restore balance.] [To maintain equilibrium, your body becomes the fuel—your vitality, your stability, your very essence.] Read latest stories on My Virtual Library Empire [Warning: If Void Entropy Syndrome progresses to higher stages, further side effects will manifest, including: Increased cellular degradation Cognitive instability Reality drift] [Recommendation: Restore Void Energy immediately to halt further degradation.] [Current Void Energy: 10/950] [Immediate Recharge Required.] Noah stared at the system message, his hands tightening into fists as his eyes darted over the text again and again. He reread every line, looking for some kind of mistake—some way it wasn't real. But it was. And that scared the hell out of him. 'Is this... also Gigarose's doing?' No. That didn't make sense. If she could mess with his system this deeply, she would have just deleted his abilities entirely. This wasn't an attack—it was something internal. Something that had been waiting to happen. His mind raced as he pulled up his stats, trying to make sense of it. 'Why isn't my Void Energy refilling?' His gaze locked onto his HP—10 out of 600. 'Wait... my body is in critical condition. Could that be stopping my energy regeneration?' It made sense. His void energy usually refilled on its own—through sleep, food, passively over time without use of his void energy or his self-regeneration talent. But if his body was too damaged, then the system might be refusing to regenerate void energy until he recovered. His system prioritized survival over regeneration. When his HP drops to critical levels, the system locked void energy recovery because it was trying to prevent complete system collapse. Normally, he cycled void energy without issues, but now that he was near depletion, the system halted automatic recovery to prevent a feedback loop where he burned energy faster than he could gain it. 'So I can't recover because I have no void energy left to fuel self-regeneration...' His stomach twisted at the realization. 'It's a paradox. My body needs void energy to heal, but I can't get void energy because my body is too weak.' His breathing grew uneven. That wasn't the only problem. His hands trembled as another thought hit him—one that made his heart hammer in his chest. 'What if... what if I've been paying for my void energy this whole time?' Not with chi. Not with stamina. But with his own body. His mind flashed back to before he had the system—to the voice he heard when he first received it. "Are you willing to give up your life force in exchange for power?" He said yes. 'No... no, that can't be it. That was just at the beginning, right? It shouldn't still be taking from me...' But what if it had been? What if every time he used void energy, it had been shaving off pieces of him—his vitality, his lifespan, his physical well-being—so small that he never noticed? His natural healing must have been covering for it. But this time, the damage was too much. His recovery cycle was broken, and now the void's real price was catching up to him. He'd never burn through his HP and void energy together at the same time before. His mouth went dry. 'Holy shit. This thing has been eating me alive.' And then came the worst thought. Void energy wasn't like chi. It wasn't just power. It was a force of decay—a fundamental law of entropy. And Noah had been pushing it over and over, using his abilities excessively, pushing beyond his limits. 'What if my body is already corrupted?' That would explain why healing wasn't working. He wasn't just recovering from normal injuries anymore. His body was now fighting the void itself. A chill ran down his spine. The longer he stayed like this, the more the void would consume him. His heartbeat pounded in his ears. His breaths came too fast, too shallow. He clutched his arms, his fingers digging into his skin as he felt the faint ridges of the dark veins under his flesh. 'Am I... dying?' Noah shot up from his bed, pacing, his mind spiraling in every direction. His system—his own system—was trying to kill him. Noah's mind raced. 'How the hell am I supposed to fix this?' His body was barely holding together, his void energy was empty, and if this continued, he didn't even want to think about what Stage Two looked like. Before he could spiral any further, the system responded. [Suggested Actions:] • Absorb living energy (Targets: Humans, Beasts) • Consume decaying matter (Entropy Harvesting) Noah blinked. Then he read it again. Then a third time. '...Huh?' His brain stalled. Absorb living energy? As in... drain life from something that was alive? Consume decaying matter? What the hell did that even mean? His stomach turned. Was the system telling him to start sucking the life out of people? Panic shot through him like ice water. 'Nope! Nope, absolutely not!' His breathing turned shallow, heart hammering in his chest as he forced himself to pace, trying to think. 'Beasts? Okay, sure, maybe I can do that. Except there's just one tiny problem.' There weren't any damn beasts on campus! 'Where the hell am I supposed to find one? A zoo? The nearest wildlife reserve?' And not forget—he was practically a walking corpse. He could barely walk well without feeling dizzy, let alone hunt something. His fingers twitched, dark veins pulsing under his skin. 'And the worst part? The system said these symptoms were Stage One. Stage freaking One. And I already feel like I'm dying.' His stomach twisted. If this was just the beginning, what the hell was going to happen next? His hands were shaking. He clenched them into fists, forcing himself to breathe, but it wasn't working. His mind was screaming at him, every survival instinct telling him that he was running out of time. 'Shit. Shit. SHIT.' He had to do something. But what? Noah's mind raced through his options, but they all felt like dead ends. 'Nyx... I could summon Nyx to hunt for me.' It was a logical plan. His dragon was a predator, an apex one at that. He could tear through beasts effortlessly and bring back enough energy to restore Noah before this Void Entropy Syndrome got any worse. But then reality hit him. 'The moment I let him out of my domain, every hunter, every military base in the eastern sector would be on his ass.' Nyx wasn't just strong—his energy output was off the charts. The kind of presence that couldn't be ignored, especially not by those who spent their lives tracking and controlling beings like him. And even if he ignored that risk? Nyx wasn't free to act right now. 'He's still guarding Storm...' Storm, who was incubating. Evolving. The process left Storm vulnerable, and Nyx had been standing watch over Storm, ensuring Storm was in optimal condition and nothing disturbed Storm's metamorphosis. 'If I pull Nyx away now, I risk Storm's evolution failing...' His pulse pounded in his ears. 'Dammit... What the hell am I supposed to do?' Every option felt like a trap. He was running out of time, but every move carried a consequence. And if he didn't figure something out soon... he might not have a later to worry about. Or... was there a way to use chi to counteract the effects of Void Entropy Syndrome? He could try—at least. The idea came to him suddenly, a desperate grasp at any possible solution. He had chi flowing through his body, a separate energy source from the void. If he could manipulate it properly, maybe he could use it to stabilize himself, even just a little. Without wasting time, he sat up straight, forcing himself into a meditative stance despite the feverish heat pulsing through his veins. His body shook, skin slick with cold sweat, but he gritted his teeth and focused. 'Come on... move. Circulate.' He pulled at the energy within him, guiding it through his body, trying to push back against the creeping effects of the void. Chi was supposed to be a balancing force—if he could just redirect it, maybe he could counteract the entropy. Maybe he could heal. But nothing happened. No energy responded. No relief came. Instead, he felt something else. Something darker. It wasn't just that chi refused to work—it was being consumed. He could feel it, the insidious force of void entropy gnawing at his chi, pulling it apart like a starving beast. Every bit of energy he tried to circulate was devoured before it could do anything useful. His breath hitched. 'Oh, shit.' Not only was he failing to fix himself... he was making it worse. That left him with one last option. He had to reach someone. And as shameful as it was to admit, the only person whose contact he actually had on his phone right now was Sophie. 'Damn it...' If he had Lucas's contact, things would be different. Lucas at least had an idea of the kind of power Noah wielded. He would've been the better option—the safer option. Someone who wouldn't ask too many questions, someone who might even have a way to help. But Noah couldn't afford to be picky. Not now. His hands moved fast, thumbs flying over the screen as he typed out a message to Sophie. [Noah: Can you come back to the hostel? We need to talk.] He hit send before he could second-guess himself. And then he waited, pulse hammering, stomach twisting. Because whatever happened next... it was out of his hands.

Chapter 173: Paying the price of power

Comments (0)