New Features

Chapter 83 - New Features

Nancy lay asleep on the narrow hospital bed, her body finally still after everything that had happened. Her breathing had settled into a slow, steady rhythm, and each quiet breath left her slightly parted lips before fading into the silence of the room.

The dim light from the corridor slipped through the window and spread across the floor, casting a faint glow over the bed and the surrounding furniture. Compared with the tension that had filled the room earlier, the silence now felt almost unnatural.

Mike stood nearby and watched her for several seconds without saying anything. Nancy did not stir. Her breathing remained even, and she seemed completely lost in sleep. Mike's eyes moved toward the foot of the bed, where a clean sheet had been left folded.

He reached down, picked it up, and carefully pulled it across her body. He drew it upward until her chest and shoulders were completely covered, making sure she was properly wrapped beneath it before stepping back.

His attention then shifted toward the small table beside the bed. Nancy's phone was lying there, exactly where she had left it. Mike picked it up and looked at the screen before opening the alarm and setting one for early morning.

He chose a quiet alarm so it would wake her without disturbing the others, then placed the phone back on the table, close enough for her to reach as soon as she woke. He wanted her awake before a nurse or doctor came into the room and discovered her in the state she had been left in.

For a moment, Mike simply stood beside the bed again. He looked down at Nancy beneath the sheet, then slowly leaned forward and pressed a light kiss against her forehead. The gesture was gentle, but it brought an uncomfortable thought with it.

A small wave of guilt moved through him as he remembered why he had stayed with her in the first place. He had done what he had done because of the system and the reward it had promised him. The thought remained in his mind for a few seconds, heavy and unpleasant, before he pushed it away.

It had to be done.

Mike turned away from the bed and gathered his clothes from the chair. He dressed quickly in the darkness, keeping his movements quiet so he would not wake Nancy. Once he was fully dressed, he checked the room one last time before walking toward the door. Nancy remained asleep beneath the sheet, the quiet rhythm of her breathing continuing behind him.

He slipped out of the room and into the hallway.

The hospital was unusually quiet at that hour. The bright lights of the nurses' station remained on, but there was little movement around it. Mike walked through the corridor without attracting attention, keeping his pace steady as he passed the station. Nobody stopped him, and nobody called after him. He continued toward the side exit, pushed the door open, and stepped outside.

Cool night air met him immediately.

Streetlights stretched along the road outside the hospital, leaving pools of pale light across the pavement while the spaces between them remained darker. Mike paused just outside the building and looked around for a moment before turning his attention back to the system. The blue window appeared in front of him as soon as he opened it.

He immediately went to the reward from the last quest and redeemed it.

The system responded by unfolding a new list in front of his eyes. Several names appeared one after another, each one available for him to select and flag. Mike stared at the unfamiliar feature, his eyebrows drawing together as he scrolled through the list.

He had never seen this option before.

“Hey, this feature was not there before,” Mike said, looking over the names. “I could only flag someone by touching them.”

The system answered immediately.

[It's an upgrade, reward for the last quest.]

Mike looked back at the list and continued scrolling. Mia's name was already there, marked from earlier, so he moved past it and kept reading. Claire appeared next, followed by Eve, May, Nancy, Emma, Vanessa, and several other women he knew. The list continued beyond them, eventually reaching the men as well: Sam, Durren, Danny, and several others.

The sight of so many names made Mike pause.

This was different from before. He no longer needed to be standing directly beside someone just to flag them. The system had given him another way to keep track of the people connected to him, and he immediately understood how useful that could become.

His attention returned to the names he needed most.

Claire.

Eve.

Mike selected Claire first and flagged her. Then he selected Eve and did the same. The two names were now marked, giving him the information he needed to keep track of them. He still did not know exactly what was happening with either of them, but at least he had a way to follow them now.

After that, Mike opened the new satellite-view feature.

The display changed immediately.

A detailed map spread across his vision, looking surprisingly similar to the maps from GTA. Streets stretched between buildings, blocks were laid out in clear patterns, and small moving dots could be seen traveling through the area. The amount of detail caught Mike's attention as he studied the screen. It was far more useful than the simple information the system had given him before.

Then he saw Mia's flag which was close to Claire's flag. The marker glowed steadily at a location on the map.

Mike recognized it almost instantly.

He stared at the location for only a moment before realizing that he already knew where it was. He did not need the satellite view to guide him there. The map had simply confirmed what he already suspected and given him a precise point to focus on.

Mike closed the system window.

The blue display vanished from his sight, leaving only the quiet street and the glow of the streetlights around him. He pushed both hands into his pockets and looked ahead. There was no reason to waste time studying the map any longer.

He knew where Mia was.

With that thought settled in his mind, Mike started walking toward the location at a steady pace, his footsteps carrying him farther away from the hospital and deeper into the quiet night.

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