Infinite Evolution: My Idle Evolution System

Adam and Sasha Steele reclined on the living room couch, the soft glow of the flatscreen TV casting faint shadows across the walls. The news anchor's urgent tone recounted the Sudden Gate incident, but neither parent seemed particularly rattled. Sasha sipped her tea with a calm that only years of navigating crises could cultivate, while Adam's gaze lingered on the door.

"She'll be fine," Sasha reassured, noticing her husband's preoccupied look. "Aya's tough, and she knows better than to get involved in something beyond her abilities."

Adam nodded slightly, but his thoughts were elsewhere. He wasn't worried about Aya. His mind kept circling back to Cassius, to the rapid changes in his 'son', and to the unease that churned in his gut like a storm brewing on the horizon.

— Meanwhile, Aya Steele —

Aya moved like a blur through the dark streets of Hoshito, her D+ Rank Agility propelling her faster than most cars. Streetlights flickered past in a haze, and the faces of stunned pedestrians became indistinct blurs in her periphery.

Her heart pounded as the towering bluish-orange Gate came into view. It loomed over the hospital like an ominous beacon, its crackling edges sparking with uncontained energy. The sheer size of the Gate—roughly the height of a small building—made her breath catch in her throat.

"It's bigger than I thought…" Aya whispered, her voice trembling.

Gates varied in size, but their dimensions didn't necessarily correlate to the strength of the monsters inside. Still, the sight of this one was enough to send a chill down her spine. Her legs faltered for a moment, fear creeping in like an unwelcome shadow.

"No!" Aya shook her head, forcing herself to stand tall. "I must stay strong!"

With renewed determination, she surged forward, weaving through the crowds of panicked civilians evacuating the area. Her smaller frame allowed her to squeeze past the masses, though the occasional elbow or frantic shove reminded her of the chaos unfolding around her.

She pushed through the packed entrance of the hospital, where the interior was a cacophony of noise. Nurses scrambled to wheel patients out, security personnel barked orders, and the cries of frightened visitors filled the air.

Aya darted to the front desk, her voice raised above the commotion. "Can you tell me where patient Cassius is?!"

The receptionist, a woman with weary eyes and a trembling voice, glanced up from her computer. "Patient Cassius? Hold on," she said, fingers flying across the keyboard.

After a moment, she shook her head, her expression apologetic. "He hasn't been discharged with the others, but… it says here he went missing during the evacuation."

Aya's heart sank. "Missing? What does that mean?!"

The receptionist hesitated before offering a sliver of hope. "His room is 406. You can check there, but hurry. The Sudden Gate's first wave will begin in less than fifteen minutes. Don't stay after that!"

Before Aya could respond, the receptionist grabbed her belongings and joined the tide of people fleeing the hospital.

Alone in the chaotic hallway, Aya clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms. The fear gnawing at her was overwhelming, but so was the resolve burning in her chest. Cassius was family, and family meant everything.

"I just need to find him and leave," Aya muttered to herself, her voice firm despite the quiver in her hands.

She took off toward the staircase, her footsteps echoing sharply against the linoleum floor. Racing up flight after flight, she ignored the burning in her legs and the pounding in her chest. The urgency in her heart drowned out everything else.

When she reached Room 406, she flung the door open, her breath hitching.

Empty.

The bed was neatly made, untouched. The sterile room smelled faintly of disinfectant, a cruel reminder of Cassius's absence. Aya's heart clenched as she searched the room, her eyes darting to the window.

She ran over and pulled back the curtains, but there was no sign of a daring escape. No rope made from bedsheets, no broken glass. Just the faint reflection of her pale face staring back at her.

Her legs buckled, and she collapsed to the floor, tears welling in her eyes. "W-Where are you, Cassius…?" she whispered, her voice breaking.

— Deep Within the Savage Jungle —

SHING! SHING!

Razor-sharp claws sliced through the air, their gleaming edges missing Cassius by inches. Several strands of his jet-black hair floated to the ground, severed by the deadly attack.

Cassius darted to the left, his breath steady despite the tension crackling in the air. His icy blue eyes remained locked on the massive black panther before him, its sleek body crouched low, ready to pounce.

[Deadly Panther (E)]

The name floated above the beast in a menacing orange hue. Its presence radiated danger, the kind that sent a primal chill down Cassius's spine.

"If this were twenty minutes ago," Cassius muttered, dodging another swipe, "I'd already be dead."

But he wasn't the same person he had been twenty minutes ago. After killing dozens of Savage Monkeys, Cassius had leveled up twice, reaching Level 5. His stats had improved, but the Deadly Panther was still a formidable foe.

The panther lunged, claws outstretched, its predatory grace unnerving. Cassius rolled to the side, a shallow scrape forming on his arm as he barely evaded the attack. He gritted his teeth against the pain, his mind racing.

"There's a pattern…" he murmured, his sharp eyes following the panther's movements.

The beast's attacks, while fast and powerful, followed a predictable rhythm. But Cassius's eyes struggled to keep up, with the panther's speed pushing his reflexes to their limit.

'It's not my reflexes—it's my Perception stat…!'

Cassius opened his system interface mid-dodge, his fingers flying to allocate three points into Perception.

[Perception: +3 → 18]

The change was immediate. The panther's movements slowed—not in reality, but in his heightened perception. What had been a blur of claws and muscle now became a clear sequence of motions.

Cassius smirked. "That's more like it."

The panther lunged again, its body twisting mid-air, but Cassius sidestepped effortlessly. With a cold glint in his eyes, he drove a jagged nail—harvested from a Savage Monkey—into the beast's exposed underbelly.

Blood sprayed across the jungle floor as the panther let out a guttural roar. Cassius didn't flinch, his expression calm and detached as he twisted the nail, ensuring the fatal blow.

The panther convulsed before collapsing, its body lifeless.

*Ding!*

[You leveled up!]

[You obtained 1 Stat Point in all of your Main Attributes!]

[You obtained 2 AP!]

The system's antics cut through the grim silence.

[P.S. The 'Main Attributes' do not include the Charisma stat, so if you think you can become the sexiest man alive overnight, think again! You require more Character Development!]

Cassius rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the reminder."

He turned to the corpse, grimacing as he began prying out the panther's claws. Each one was as sharp as a dagger, their edges glinting ominously.

Just as he was about to stash them in his Inventory, another notification appeared, its glowing letters casting an eerie light in the dark jungle.