Chapter 69: Origin State (2)

Chapter 66

"This..."

Orion swallowed before speaking again.

"This is absolutely insane."

For a moment, he couldn’t help wondering whether the system was deliberately trying to play with his emotions by displaying such a ridiculously overpowered ability before him.

First, it had given him five treasures that could make countless powerful individuals lose their minds. Now, it was showing him a state that could potentially multiply his strength by an absurd amount.

Was there a limit to how broken things could get?

Orion wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.

Nevertheless, curiosity soon overwhelmed his hesitation. He wanted to test it.

No... He needed to test it.

Perhaps the system was exaggerating the effects. Perhaps there were hidden conditions he hadn’t discovered, or maybe the ability wasn’t quite as powerful in practice as it appeared on paper.

Whatever the case, there was only one way to find out.

Orion slowly straightened his back before activating the Origin State with a mental command.

The change happened almost instantly.

His black hair began to transform, the dark strands gradually turning into a pure, snowy white that radiated an indescribable sense of majesty. The transformation spread throughout his appearance, and his blue patient robe turned completely white, with everything else he wore following suit. Even the buttons on the front of his robe changed color, becoming as white as freshly fallen snow.

In the blink of an eye, the familiar appearance he had possessed only moments earlier was gone.

Everything about him had changed.

Well... almost everything.

His eyes were the sole exception. Rather than turning white alongside the rest of his appearance, they transformed into mesmerizing rainbow-colored eyes.

Within those iridescent depths rested an overwhelming sense of calmness and majesty, accompanied by a domineering presence that seemed utterly out of place in an ordinary hospital room.

The aura surrounding Orion changed completely, making it almost seem as though he had ceased to be an ordinary human and had instead transformed into some kind of godly being.

There was no visible explosion of power, nor was there any dramatic burst of energy that shook the entire room, and yet the difference was unmistakable. His presence alone seemed to carry a weight that hadn’t existed before.

At the same time, the restless beating of his heart gradually settled. The curiosity, excitement, and lingering agitation that had been stirring within him faded away, replaced by an extraordinary sense of calm.

His thoughts became clear, and everything seemed to fall neatly into place, as though the countless distractions that normally occupied his mind had suddenly disappeared.

Nothing seemed capable of frightening him, and nothing seemed capable of startling him. Even the possibility of facing an overwhelming enemy no longer stirred the same restless emotions within him.

He simply understood.

He could think, observe, and act without allowing unnecessary emotions to interfere with his judgment.

"Oh..."

Orion’s lips parted slightly.

"So this is the Origin State."

Even his voice had changed. It sounded calmer and more composed, carrying a restrained yet overwhelming majesty that perfectly matched the aura radiating from his body.

There was no unnecessary excitement in his tone, nor any hint of the restless curiosity that had characterized him only moments earlier. His words were simple, yet somehow, they carried a weight that made them sound almost authoritative.

Orion lowered his gaze toward his status screen.

The numbers remained unchanged.

His Strength was still 40, his Speed was still 40, and his Defense, Constitution, and Stamina remained at 40 as well. His mental attributes were still sitting at 50, and his MP remained at 10,000.

Nothing had changed.

However, Orion wasn’t surprised. After all, his current level was only one, and with Origin Multiplication, all his attributes were multiplied by his current level. Since multiplying his attributes by one wouldn’t change their values, the numbers displayed on his status screen were exactly what he had expected to see.

That didn’t mean the Origin State wasn’t working.

Quite the opposite.

Orion could clearly feel the effects of Origin Mind, and everything seemed so much clearer now.

His surroundings, the objects in the room, and even the smallest details that he might normally have overlooked all appeared to stand out with extraordinary clarity. It was as though his mind had suddenly become capable of processing information at a completely different level.

And the most remarkable part was that he didn’t even need to consciously struggle to understand what he was observing. His eyes alone seemed capable of revealing an astonishing amount of information.

The Origin Eyes were truly something else.

Complex structures could be broken down before his gaze, their individual components becoming easier to understand. Even when something wasn’t immediately explained to him, Orion had the distinct feeling that its secrets would eventually be laid bare if he examined it closely enough.

It was a strange sensation.

He wasn’t merely seeing things; he was understanding them.

The information seemed to flow naturally into his mind, allowing him to grasp details that would otherwise have required considerable effort to uncover. And when combined with Origin Mind’s heightened concentration and battle awareness, the effect became even more extraordinary.

His eyes could gather information, his mind could process it, and his body could respond with remarkable efficiency. The three seemed to work together almost perfectly.

Orion couldn’t help but smile faintly.

His Origin Eyes and Origin Mind alone were enough to make the Origin State worthwhile.

No...

Calling it worthwhile was an understatement.

Without exaggeration, he felt as though he had become at least five to ten times better as a fighter than he had been before activating the Origin State.

And that was without any increase to his displayed attributes!

His raw physical strength hadn’t changed, yet his ability to control and apply that strength had improved tremendously. His movements could become more precise, his reactions more effective, and his skills could be executed with greater efficiency.

Even the way he perceived a battle had fundamentally changed.

Orion slowly raised one hand and examined it before clenching his fist.

He could feel the strength contained within his body. It was the same strength as before, yet somehow, it felt entirely different.

He knew how to use it, understood how to control it, and, more importantly, could instinctively recognize how to apply it with the least amount of wasted effort.

Orion opened his hand again before slowly closing it into a fist.

The sensation was strange, but not unfamiliar in the way one might expect. Rather, it felt as though he had always possessed this understanding, only for it to have been buried beneath layers of unnecessary thoughts and inefficient habits.

Now, all of that had been stripped away.

He knew what he needed to do, he knew how to do it, and he could focus entirely on the task before him.

Orion’s eyes gleamed.

He suddenly felt an intense urge to go out and fight someone.

Anyone.

He wanted to test the full extent of this state, to experience the difference between his current self and the version of himself that existed outside it.

This was perfect!

And if he eventually reached a higher level, the third facet of the Origin State... Origin Multiplication... would make everything even more ridiculous.

At Level 1, the multiplier was effectively useless, but that wouldn’t remain the case forever. As he grew stronger and his level increased, the ability would become increasingly terrifying.

The thought alone was enough to make him excited all over again.

Orion clenched and unclenched his hand, his mind already wandering toward the possibilities that awaited him once he could properly test his new abilities.

Then...

CRASH!

The sudden sound of something hitting the ground shattered the silence.

Orion’s hand stopped moving as a familiar sensation of déjà vu washed over him.

He frowned slightly.

That sound...

He slowly turned toward the doorway.

Standing there was the nurse from before.

Nurse Iryn.

She had apparently just entered the room carrying a tray of food, but the moment her eyes landed on Orion, her entire body froze.

The tray slipped from her hands, and the food and utensils scattered across the floor as the metal tray struck the ground with a loud crash.

Yet Iryn seemed completely oblivious to the mess she had just made. Her face, which had only recently regained some of its color, was rapidly turning pale once more.

Her eyes were wide, her lips trembled, and her gaze remained fixed on Orion’s face.

More specifically...

On his eyes.

Those mesmerizing rainbow-colored eyes.

The very same eyes that seemed to radiate an incomprehensible majesty and calmness, yet somehow carried a presence so overwhelming that looking directly into them made it difficult to breathe.

The mesmerizing eyes of the devil.

Orion stared at the nurse, and the nurse stared back at him.

For a brief moment, neither of them moved.

Then Orion finally understood what had happened.

He had done it again.

He had completely forgotten that he was still in a hospital room, surrounded by ordinary people who had absolutely no idea what was going on with him.

And now, after everything that had happened earlier with the beds, he had gone and transformed his appearance into something that looked even less human.

Orion’s expression remained perfectly calm on the outside, but somewhere deep inside, he couldn’t help feeling a little awkward.

Oops.

He had messed up again.

---

Author’s Note:

Sorry, I forgot to include the description of the Origin Eyes!

The Origin State has three effects: Origin Multiplication, Origin Mind, and Origin Eyes.

Origin Eyes: These eyes allow the user to track and analyze the very flow of evolution itself. They possess an extraordinarily powerful analytical ability, elevating the user’s perception far beyond normal limits and allowing them to perceive and analyze things that would otherwise be impossible to comprehend.