Theo didn't know why he had the System, nor did he understand the full extent of what it could do.
But as he stared at the holographic screen hovering before him, one thing became clear.
The possibility of revenge... of bringing justice to his wife... had become real.
There had to be a reason the System had chosen him. A condition. A purpose. Maybe even a price.
He still didn't know what it was.
But right now, only one thing mattered.
Enzo Vhal.
Theo's eyes hardened as he accepted the case.
[Synchronizing case data...]
[Reviewing collected evidence...]
[Evaluating primary target...]
[Calculating case resolution progress...]
[Case Progress Calculated.]
Case Resolution Progress:80%
Case Status: Judgment Pending
Primary Target: Enzo Vhal
Primary Guilt Assessment: Confirmed
Judgment Eligibility: Authorized
Resolved Conditions:
Victim identified
Primary suspect identified
Cause of death established
Contradictions in suspect testimony confirmed
Primary evidence recognized by System
Remaining Condition for Completion:
Deliver judgment upon Primary Target
Optional Judgment Extensions:
Expose Hermes Guild interference
Identify corrupt judicial participants
Uncover additional parties involved in suppressing the verdict
Reward on Primary Completion:
Authority +1
Skill Unlock
Verdict Authority
Title Progression
Bonus Reward Conditions Available.
Theo's eyes narrowed.
Eighty percent.
The System had already recognized almost everything he had uncovered on his own.
Theo studied the window in front of him.
"Case Resolution Progress..." he muttered under his breath.
His gaze lingered on the number for a few seconds before understanding slowly settled in.
"This isn't measuring how much I know," he said. "It's measuring how close the case is to being finished."
That made sense.
If the progress had only been about uncovering the truth, then it should have been complete already. Theo had the evidence. He knew what Enzo had done. He knew Lara had been abandoned. He knew the court had buried it.
But the case was still incomplete.
Because the truth alone wasn't enough.
His eyes moved to the next line.
Case Status: Judgment Pending
Theo's jaw tightened.
"So this is my mission."
Judgment.
Not evidence.
Not suspicion.
Not theory.
Judgment.
The system had already acknowledged the truth, but it would not consider the case complete until punishment had been delivered.
Theo slowly shifted his eyes downward.
Primary Target: Enzo Vhal
Primary Guilt Assessment: Confirmed
That line made his chest tighten.
Confirmed.
Not suspected.
Not probable.
Confirmed.
For the first time since Lara's death, something beyond the broken court, beyond the guilds, beyond the lies of men in power, had recognized Enzo's guilt exactly as it was.
Theo stared at the words in silence.
Then his eyes dropped to the next line.
Judgment Eligibility: Authorized
His breathing slowed.
"Authorized..." he repeated.
That word felt heavier than the rest.
It sounded official. Absolute. Like a verdict already stamped and sealed.
Theo quickly pieced it together.
The system wasn't telling him to investigate whether Enzo was guilty.
It had already accepted that.
It was telling him he now had the right to act.
His gaze shifted to the list below.
Resolved Conditions:
Victim identified
Primary suspect identified
Cause of death established
Contradictions in suspect testimony confirmed
Primary evidence recognized by System
Theo read through each line carefully.
Victim identified.
That was Lara.
Primary suspect identified.
Enzo.
Cause of death established.
A goblin's attack, yes, but only because Enzo had chosen to abandon her.
Contradictions in suspect testimony confirmed.
Theo had already proven that in court. Enzo lied about not noticing Lara, lied about responding to another urgent area, lied about doing everything he could.
Primary evidence recognized by System.
Theo's eyes sharpened.
That was important.
Very important.
It meant the system wasn't blindly giving him power just because he was angry. It had reviewed the evidence he had gathered and acknowledged it as valid.
In other words, the system itself had standards.
It needed proof.
Theo slowly exhaled.
Good.
That made more sense.
If this power really was tied to justice, then it shouldn't move based on emotion alone. Rage could point a man toward the truth, but rage by itself could also make him blind.
Then Theo looked at the next part.
Remaining Condition for Completion:
Deliver judgment upon Primary Target
A dark light entered his eyes.
He had already done the investigation.
He had already uncovered the truth.
He had already identified the killer.
Now the final step remained.
Judgment.
Theo's gaze shifted again.
Optional Judgment Extensions:
Expose Hermes Guild interference
Identify corrupt judicial participants
Uncover additional parties involved in suppressing the verdict
This time, he frowned.
Optional.
So the system was separating Enzo from the rest.
That meant one thing.
Those people might be guilty, but their guilt was not equal to Lara's killer. They were branches of the case, not the heart of it.
Theo thought about the judge. The court officials. The guild hands moving in the dark behind Enzo.
His expression turned colder.
"If they were part of it," he said quietly, "I can deal with them later."
But Enzo came first.
He always had.
Finally, Theo's eyes lowered to the reward section.
Reward on Primary Completion:
Authority +1
Skill Unlock
Verdict Authority
Title Progression
Bonus Reward Conditions Available.
Theo went silent again.
Authority.
Skill Unlock.
Verdict Authority.
Title Progression.
The words were unfamiliar, but they told him one thing clearly.
The system rewarded completed justice.
Not slaughter.
Not random violence.
Not blind revenge.
Justice.
His fingers curled slightly.
That meant the more cases he solved, the stronger he would become.
Theo stared at the window for several long seconds before a faint, bitter smile touched his lips.
He didn't know exactly what those rewards would do, but he had an inkling they were tied to his Status Window and his skill.
Every Hunter possessed a skill. Weak or strong, it always appeared in the Status Window, and the more it was used, the more it grew. But his seemed different.
What was Authority?
What was Verdict Authority?
Aside from the meaning of the words themselves, he had no idea what their actual function was.
Then again, Theo had only just obtained the System.
He was a detective, not an all-knowing being.
Still, the mention of skills stirred his curiosity.
With a thought, the Case File Window vanished and was replaced by another translucent screen.
Theo's breathing turned ragged as he read the contents.
His eyes widened.
"This..." he whispered. "So this is how I'm going to deliver judgment?"
His stats didn't surprise him nearly as much as the skill listed before him.
First of all, there was no rating.
That alone was enough to shock him.
Every Hunter's skill carried a rank. F, E, D, C, B, A, or higher. Strength, rarity, potential, all of it was reflected in that rating.
But Theo's skill had none.
Because every skill displayed on his screen was labeled with a single word.
Absolute.