A thousand needles pierced into his brain. That’s the closest his dysfunctional mind could come to describing the sheer agony overtaking his senses. He foolishly thought Ellie’s lessons were cruel torture, but this was worse. Far, far worse. He held his skull together, clutching it between his arms so as to keep it from breaking apart. It was consolation gesture if anything, just as any other instinctive reaction. He tried to scream, as if that would somehow alleviate the pain. It didn’t, and he barely let out a ghastly screech before his ears were plugged and he lost hearing as well.His reflection in the mirror was comical at least. It showed a grown man clawing at his face while silently screaming like a tormented wraith. Just the sight of this image could inspire a dozen horror movies.He didn’t doubt that Ellie found it funny and even stored a recording of it somewhere. It was no joking matter to Murphy, however. He was stuck counting seconds, each one lasting longer than an a

The following two weeks turned out to be an upheaval in Murphy’s life. He had never taken off such a long time off social media and the internet. He found the experience strangely soothing, and for his first time in years his mind laid still.No dopamine to chase after. No comments or new shiny headlines drawing his eyes left and right. Just the silence of his own mind, and Blinkie, I suppose. Though, even the latter was more subdued as of late. As long as he completed his daily routine, she had little to nag about. As such, they didn’t converse until the very end of their challenge.His brother had never stopped ringing him since the second day, overly enthused about the small gains he was making. When they crossed the 100 grand threshold, he was outright spooked and thought Murphy was in some trouble. How else would he know what pump and dump scheme would fail or rise to the moon?After a million, he even forgot he’d been sworn to secrecy and shared the news with his family. As a

« I believe it is a sound plan, Murphy. The hard part will be acquiring enough credibility and the means to contest QiE-Novel in court. But, you are on the right path. » “Hm, you’re right. It only sounds simple on paper…” Whipping out a stack of papers, Murphy proceed to jut down his ideas. While he was much faster on a keyboard, he found himself much more easily engrossed while penning things down the old fashioned way. Each stroke required a conscious effort, allowing him to sink into the mirage of words without anything holding him back. In that hypnotic rhythm, he wrote and discarded paper after paper, each new plan a little more viable than the rest. « Reminder, you have a pending sub-meeting with Elend. It starts in five minutes. » “Hm? What the hell is a submeeting?” Rotating his wrist, he noticed only now how sore it felt. His eyes required some rest too, so he resigned the work for latter. « Two weeks ago, you decided to share with her your dreams in exchange for her

Murphy spent the night entangled with his muse. When dawn came, he finally obeyed his tired body and took a break. Though, while his muscles protested, his mind had never been more acute. He felt refreshed, and savored his tea with a renewed taste for life. One could even go as far as to say he was happy.‘Me? Happy?’ The thought gave him pause, “For the life of me, I can’t remember the last time I felt like this.”« That’s nice and all, but we have a problem. Check your emails. »“Another love letter from QiE-Novel?” « Indeed. I would take this one a little serious, though. »Curious, he read through and laughed, “Just empty threats. It’s Europe we live in.”Seeing as Murphy didn’t relent even after his ads were taken down, they took the next step any reasonable entity would. Death threats.Next to his address, they attached a few other tidbits they scoured about him on the internet. He didn’t take them seriously, though. Their doxing didn’t pick up any more than he would have ma

Like a past illusion, the flames searing his flesh vanished. Unsure if his nerves were fried or if he was dreaming, he squinted his eyes open, then closed them back up in fright.‘I’m still burning!’« Open your eyes, Murphy. The flames can no longer hurt you, but you will definitely choke to death if you linger there. »‘What do you mean they can’t hurt me? What did you do?’« It’s best if you felt it on your own. »He was choking and wouldn’t be able to hold much longer anyway, so he could only trust her and open his eyes again. This time, he took reign over his fear and stared into the depths of crimson hell. Then, he realizes he wasn’t burning. The flame was merely embracing him, shrouding him in warm and amiable comfort. Like a return to one’s home, he felt strangely at peace in their midst.Only when his lungs protested again did he snap out of his reverie and jump to the floor. « Congratulations on unlocking Pyrokinesis I. Other than heat resistance, it will also allow you to