Chapter 4: Glitch
Emily didn't like this feeling.
She walked away from Daniel without another word, her steps calm… but her mind anything but.
Target unreadable.
Resistance detected.
System interference… unstable.
The words echoed faintly, like a signal breaking apart.
"What does that even mean?" Emily muttered under her breath as she turned into an empty hallway.
Her chest felt tight.
This had never happened before.
Everyone else reacted normally — their attention shifted, their behavior changed.
But Daniel…
He looked at her like she was a puzzle.
Not a queen.
---
"System," she whispered. "Explain."
Silence.
Emily stopped walking.
"System?"
A faint static sound filled her ears.
Then—
…con…nection… unstable…
Her eyes widened slightly.
"Unstable? Because of him?"
No response.
For the first time since it appeared…
the system wasn't answering her properly.
---
Later that day, Emily sat in class, her pen unmoving against her notebook.
Her eyes drifted—again and again—toward the same direction.
Daniel.
He was sitting by the window, looking outside like he didn't care about anything around him.
Like he didn't feel her presence at all.
That shouldn't be possible…
Emily frowned.
Skill suggestion: First Impression.
The system's voice returned suddenly.
Clear.
Sharp.
Too sharp.
Emily blinked.
"Wait… what?"
Skill suggestion: First Impression.
Again.
The exact same tone.
No variation.
No emotion.
Like it was… forcing it.
"I already used that," she whispered.
Error.
Her breath caught.
Error?
That word sent a chill through her.
Recalibrating…
The air around her felt heavy.
For a brief second, her vision flickered—
And then—
She saw something impossible.
---
Daniel wasn't alone.
For just a split second—
A shadow stood behind him.
Tall.
Still.
Watching.
---
Emily jerked slightly in her seat.
The vision disappeared immediately.
Her heart began to race.
"What… was that?"
She looked at Daniel again.
He hadn't moved.
Hadn't reacted.
As if nothing happened.
But something had.
She knew it.
---
Warning.
The system's voice returned, but this time…
it sounded different.
Lower.
Colder.
Unknown variable detected.
Emily swallowed.
"Is it him?" she asked quietly.
Silence.
Then—
…Yes.
Her grip tightened on her pen.
"What is he?"
Another pause.
Longer this time.
Almost like the system didn't want to answer.
---
He is…
Static.
Distortion.
Then—
…a threat.
---
Emily slowly exhaled, her eyes still locked on Daniel.
A threat?
To her?
Or to the system?
---
As if sensing her gaze, Daniel turned his head slightly.
Their eyes met.
This time—
he didn't smile.
He just looked at her…
like he already knew.
---
And for the first time since gaining her power…
Emily felt something unfamiliar.
Not control.
Not confidence.
But—
uncertainty.