CHAPTER THREE

Perhaps, he had heard wrongly or he must have hit his head somewhere. Whatever the case, he needed to come up with something lest he be certified as crazy.

"Hello, is there somewhere there?" Logan called out.

There was a tingling sensation as his temples began throbbing.

"That's it. I must have hit my head really bad." Logan said as he tried to stand up.

He groaned loudly as he did. His body rocked with so much pain than he could bear. It was all fuzzy as he reached for anything close to him for support.

Eventually, the table closest to him proved the support he needed and he found himself leaning over the table for support.

"Hello, host." The voice from earlier suddenly says.

"Ah! Who's there?" He questioned again.

"Power system uploading in 3...2....1.." Then came the blaring sound in his head as he screamed and placed both of his palms over his ears, covering them to prevent him from running himself over.

It frightened him as much as it was strange. To hear a voice in his head, that had to be his madness at the first stage. He had to do something. What would become of him now? Eleanor would definitely have a good laugh over him alongside her newfound lover and they would make sport of him too.

Logan began to think out loud.

"I have it under control. I'm just going to count from one to a hundred and if I make it successfully, I'll be totally fine." He said and resumed counting.

As he tried to count, he felt really fuzzy and tried to blink it all away but to no avail.

"You might have a slight concussion, host." The voice blared in his head.

"I know that. Look at me, I'm talking to myself! I'm crazy!" He said and slumped to the ground again.

"Far from it. Your entire body has been upgraded to merge with the power system which would take you from a standpoint of zero to hero." It rattled in that computerized voice.

Perhaps, madness was not so bad after all. Like, he was so cool hearing the soothing and promising voice which would save him a whole lot of trouble in the future. He had been through an awful lot trying to merge up with his situation and trying to be the best boyfriend to Eleanor. To think she would betray him with the very person who made his life a living hell.

Compared to what he has gone through, the manner was not as bad as option B.

"Keep speaking. Voices in my head. I'll rather I stay mad than deceive myself any further." He said and closed his eyes.

The instant he did, it felt like an alarm had been let off in his head and he instantly opened his eyes. What was really happening to him?

"I knew it! But who could have said that with great madness comes no sleep." He muttered.

"Logan McCarthy, you are now playing host to the power system. You shall complete your tasks to advance to the next levels. The higher you go, the more rewards of both power and wealth you would attain." The computerized voice went on saying.

"Yeah, right. And tell me, what tasks must I accomplish? Perhaps, I should take a trip to Timbuktu or something? Well, apparently you're playing host to a dead man." He said.

"Activating the first task in 3...2....1..." The system went on now.

"Yeah, keep it up crazy bucks. I know madness when I see it and I have gone totally haywire." He muttered lightly.

"First task activation complete. Host must confront his bully within 24 hours and would be rewarded by being made into a millionaire." The system said to him.

At this mention of a millionaire, Logan instantly sat up. He could not believe his ears right now. It had to be a fallacy. He was going crazy and thinking about the money he wished he had. That certainly was understandable even though the reality remained that no matter what, it can never be real. Being a millionaire was all gone the moment he chose Eleanor's to his own.

"And the time starts now." The system said to him.

"Yeah, right. I should best get home and live off this crazy fantasy. Maybe, when I get home I will analyze the depths of my madness." Logan said.

He groaned painfully as he got up. Soon, he was making his way down the street to the bus stop. As he passed, people around him giggled, some shifted and some whispered as they stared at him awkwardly.

Yes. They probably were all right. Whatever they thought of him had to be the only accurate thing and he would learn to live and deal with it.

He slowly walked until he got to the bus stop when it occurred to him how light his pocket felt and the fact he had not seen his bag after the entire session.

Logan put his hand in his pockets and checked but it all came out empty. He scoffed, feeling humored.

"So much for being the power systems future billionaire. Oh, what was it again? Yeah, I must complete the task of beating up the scariest person on earth." He muttered.

As he did, the woman on the bench at the bus stop shifted away awkwardly. She had her eyes on him as she whispered into her phone.

"....some crazy looking guy. Could be a serial killer though." She said into the phone.

The instant she noticed that he was actually looking at her, she gave him a weird and fearful smile.

Logan returned the smile and she looked visibly shaken up even more.

"First millionaire. Now serial killer. Ain't there lengths to my madness?" He muttered as he waved at her. This time, he was being mischievous as he wanted her to be scared of her bone marrow.

Logan started away from her slowly. It was time for the longest walk of his life and that was not thanks to the fact that I had been robbed by his bullies obviously.

It would be a long walk home though as his place was really far away. However, it was not something he could evade, which means that he would best deal with it.

He cared less about the people around him and to spice up whatever it was they were all thinking about him, he would occasionally smile at them and make things more awkward. This way, he lightened the burden of needing to get home that was sinking in his heart.

Logan got to his apartment eventually, sweating profusely as he entered. He was so tired out that he cared less about seeing to his wounds and bruises or taking a bath. With his shoes still on, he flopped onto his bed.

"Who knows, perhaps when I am awake, the madness will be gone." He muttered as he drifted into his sleep.

It was all a haze when he woke up shortly after and realized it was a new day. There was a beeping sound and his annoying alarm he had probably left on snooze.

He had come home sometime during noon the previous day and now, it was the morning of the next day.

Putting off the alarm, however, did not stop the beeping in his head. Instead, it would come to seem that it was continuous.

"Host is left with ten hours to complete his task." The system said and then it went on to say," Countdown resuming. Host would be reminded of the number of hours left to complete the task every one hour."

This seemed really serious now as Logan sat up. He was still confused but nevertheless went to get ready for his work. What was he to do but keep living his life? He got ready and put ointment on his wounds.

For the past few days now, he has been bunged up into a really bad shape.

He finished up in an hour's time and was true to his word...

"Host is left with nine hours to complete the task." The system said.

Perhaps, it was time he started taking this seriously as obviously, the system was not playing with him at all. Logan got out with two things on his mind.

To either get to work or perhaps, try and see how far he gets with trying to confront Carter.