Emotion Hunter: System Awakening.

Twenty-seven hours....left.

The system timer pulsed in the corner of Riven's vision, counting down to some undefined catastrophe labeled "psychological fragmentation."

He'd been staring at it for the past three hours, ever since returning from Professor Logan's lecture where Jake and Maya had bombarded him with questions he couldn't answer.

His phone buzzed with another text from Marcus: "Jake keeps asking me what's really going on with you and Maya thinks you're on some kind of experimental drug trial. We need to talk.... Now."

Riven closed his eyes and made the decision that would change everything.

He typed back: "Come over. There's something I need to show you."

The response was immediate: "On my way."

Twenty minutes later, Marcus stood in Riven's tiny apartment, his blonde hair disheveled as always and his gray eyes bright with concern and curiosity.

He looked around the cramped space...taking in the family photos, the neatly made bed, the complete absence of anything that might explain his friend's mysterious transformation.

"Okay," Marcus said, settling onto the edge of the bed since there was nowhere else to sit. "Talk to me. And this time, I want the whole truth. Not just the parts you think I can handle."

Riven took a steadying breath. The system interface flickered to life without him calling it, as if sensing the moment's significance.

"What I told you about entering the Veil was true," he began. "But there's more. A lot more."

"I figured." Marcus leaned forward, his expression serious. "Jake said Maya ran some kind of medical analysis in her head after class. Something about your pupil response and skin elasticity being off the charts. She thinks you're either on performance enhancers or you've had some kind of genetic therapy."

"It's neither of those things." Riven moved to his closet and pulled out the wooden Veil Crate, setting it on the small table between them. "When I survived that Gray Veil, I didn't just get lucky. I got something else."

Marcus's eyes fixed on the ancient-looking crate with its intricate carvings and silver clasps. "What the hell is that?"

"Proof." Riven opened the crate, revealing the Resonance Blade in its neutral rod form, the remaining health potions, the Rusted Goblin Dagger, and the manual fragment. "When someone survives a Veil, they sometimes awaken what's called a system. Special abilities that help them fight monsters."

"Sometimes?" Marcus's voice was barely a whisper.

"Most people die. Some become corrupted and turn into monsters themselves. The lucky few get systems and become Hunters." Riven lifted the Resonance Blade, feeling its familiar weight. "I got something different."

Marcus stared at the metal rod with obvious confusion. "That's... a stick."

"It's a weapon that responds to emotions." Riven focused on the memory of fear...that moment in the cave when the goblin had nearly killed him. The rod flowed like liquid mercury, separating and reshaping into the twin daggers of Whisper form.

Marcus jerked backward so violently he nearly fell off the bed. "What the fuck!"

"My system is called Emotion Looting," Riven continued, letting the daggers shift into the massive battle axe of Devastator form. "I can steal feelings from targets and convert them into power. Fear gives me speed, rage gives me strength. I can even loot spatial positions...swap places with people or objects."

"This is insane." Marcus was on his feet now, pacing the small space like a caged animal. "This is completely insane. You're telling me you have actual superpowers?"

"Not just that." Riven let the weapon return to its neutral form. "The system has been pressuring me to tell someone the truth. It gave me a seventy two -hour deadline, and if I don't find what it calls a 'confidant,' I face something called psychological fragmentation."

Marcus stopped pacing. "How long do you have left?"

"Twenty-seven hours."

"And you chose me."

It wasn't a question, but Riven nodded anyway. "You're the only person I trust with this. Jake and Maya are great, but they're civilians...well same as you... They don't need to know about monsters and systems and dimensional rifts. But you... you've been there through everything. You've seen me at my worst, and you still give a damn."

Marcus was quiet for a long moment, staring at the Resonance Blade. "Show me more."

"What?"

"The emotion looting. Show me how it works."

Riven hesitated. "Marcus, I don't want to steal your emotions. It's not... it doesn't feel right."

"What about your own emotions? You said you looted your fear in the Veil."

That was true. Riven focused inward, finding the anxiety that had been building about this conversation, about Marcus's potential reaction to learning the truth. The system interface responded immediately.

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**[Emotion Detected: Anxiety (Self)]**

**[Do you wish to Loot this Emotion?]**

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"Yes," he whispered.

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**[Anxiety Looted Successfully]**

**[Effect: Mental Clarity - Confusion resistance increased for 15 minutes]**

------

The change was immediate and obvious. His shoulders relaxed, his breathing evened out, and the tight knot in his chest dissolved. He felt calm, centered, completely at peace with the situation.

Marcus's eyes widened. "Your whole posture just changed. You look like you took a sedative, but alert."

"The anxiety is gone," Riven explained, his voice steady now. "Converted into mental clarity. I can think more clearly, focus better, resist confusion effects."

"Jesus Christ." Marcus slumped back onto the bed. "This is real. All of it. You actually have superpowers, and you've been carrying this secret for days."

"I wanted to tell you sooner, but I was scared. Scared you wouldn't believe me, scared you'd think I'd lost my mind, scared you'd get hurt if you knew too much."

"Hurt how?"

Riven gestured to the manual fragment. "That's part of a guide to advanced emotion looting techniques. It suggests that what I'm doing...stealing emotions....might not be the right way to use these abilities. There could be other emotion system users out there, people who wouldn't want me learning alternative methods."

Marcus picked up the parchment, scanning the neat handwriting. "This talks about emotion looting like it's supposed to help people, not steal from them."

"Exactly. My system presents it as theft, but this manual suggests it should be symbiosis. Taking on others' negative emotions to give them relief while gaining power." Riven's mental clarity made the contradiction seem less troubling than it had before. "I don't know which version is true."

"Have you tested the manual's approach?"

"Not yet. I was planning to try it during my next Veil ascent."

Marcus looked up sharply. "Your next what!?"

"I have to go back in, Marcus. My family is still out there somewhere, and the only way to find them is to get stronger. I need to explore more Veils, gain more levels, master these abilities."

"*We," Marcus said firmly.

"What?"

"We need to explore more Veils. You said I could be your partner, remember? I'm not letting you do this alone."

The mental clarity effect was still active, so Riven could consider the proposition objectively. Marcus had no system, no supernatural abilities, no combat training. Taking him into a Veil would be like bringing a civilian into a war zone.

But Marcus also had something Riven desperately needed: someone who knew the truth, someone he could trust completely, someone who could help him stay grounded in his humanity while he developed abilities that literally required stealing pieces of other people's emotional lives.

"It's dangerous," Riven warned. "More dangerous than you can imagine. The goblins I fought were the weakest monsters that exist, and they nearly killed me before I figured out how to use the system properly."

"Then we'll be careful. We'll start small, maybe find another Gray Veil. You said you have something that can locate them?"

Riven pulled out the Veil Compass, watching its needle swing to point northeast. "It can find rifts within five kilometers. But Marcus, you don't have a system. You don't have any way to protect yourself."

"I have you. And your emotion looting abilities." Marcus's expression was determined. "Maybe I can't steal feelings, but I can watch your back, help you strategize, keep you from losing yourself in all that stolen rage and fear."

The mental clarity made Riven realize that Marcus was right. One of the biggest dangers of emotion looting wasn't physical...it was psychological.

How many emotions could he steal before he forgot what his natural feelings were supposed to be like? How many pieces of other people's emotional lives could he carry before he lost track of his own?

Marcus could be his anchor. His reminder of who he used to be.

"Alright," Riven said finally. "But we do this smart. No rushing into Red Veils or Black Veils. We start with Gray Veils, weak monsters and with controlled risks."

"Agreed." Marcus grinned, and for the first time in days, it looked completely natural. "So when do we start?"

The system timer showed twenty-six hours and forty-three minutes remaining. But the pressure was gone now, the countdown no longer a source of anxiety.

He'd found his confidant, shared his burden, gained a partner who could help him navigate the impossible balance between power and humanity.

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**[Confidant Protocol Complete]**

[Partner: Marcus Chen registered]

[Psychological fragmentation risk: Eliminated]

**[New feature unlocked: Emotional Anchor - Partner can provide stability during intensive looting sessions]**

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Riven smiled as the notifications faded. "How about we start with some basic training? I need to test these weapon forms properly, and you need to understand exactly what we're getting into."

Marcus stood up, energy radiating from every line of his body. "Lead the way. I've got questions, and apparently we've got all the time in the world to get answers."

For the first time since entering that Gray Veil, Riven felt like he wasn't carrying the weight of his secrets alone. He had a partner, a friend, someone who knew the truth and chose to stand with him anyway.

The family rescue mission had just become a team effort.

And somehow, that made the impossible seem merely difficult.