Infinite Evolution: My Idle Evolution System

Cassius hit the floor with a grunt, his toothbrush bouncing once before rolling pitifully across the cold wooden boards. His arms screamed with fiery pain as he struggled to push himself back up, bloodshot eyes glaring at nothing in particular.

"This system is the absolute worst!" he screamed internally. His thoughts were a boiling mix of outrage and desperation. "What kind of garbage system forces push-ups just to earn a single measly point in Perception?"

His veins bulged under the strain of each rep, a fiery heat coursing through his limbs as if his body was trying to burn away the humiliation. The Idle Evolution System, as it was mockingly named, gleefully dangled stat increases in front of him like a carrot on a stick, demanding physical suffering in return.

"I swear to every deity listening," he growled, sweat dripping from his nose onto the floorboards, "one day, I'm going to program some goddamn emotional trauma into you. Just you wait, system. Just. You. Wait."

The system, of course, offered no response. It didn't need to. Its smugness radiated in silence, unbothered by his threats.

Twenty minutes later, after air-humping the floor with the fury of a man betrayed by his own destiny, Cassius collapsed. His chest heaved as he gulped in air, and sweat slicked his body like he'd just crawled out of a river. His limbs twitched, a reminder that even lying still was now painful.

*Ding!*

The system's notification chimed brightly, at odds with the utter misery in his chest.

[Side Quest Completed: +1 Perception Point Earned. Congratulations! Your suffering has paid off!]

Cassius glared at the words floating before him. If murderous intent could be digitized, the system would've disintegrated on the spot. Still, a part of him knew better than to fully despise the gain. As the Perception point sunk into his stats, the world around him shifted subtly but unmistakably.

The morning birds outside sounded sharper, every chirp perfectly distinct from the next. The hum of distant car engines became a symphony of mechanical chaos. Even the air carried a strange clarity—a sharper sense of the space around him.

And then, there was a sound far more... distinct.

Cassius froze, his enhanced senses locking onto the faintest trail of what could only be described as a sultry, feminine moan.

He squinted at the wall. "Moaning? This early in the morning?" His curiosity surged, mingled with suspicion. It wasn't every day you encountered such brazen noises before breakfast.

Driven by both concern and an unhealthy dose of morbid curiosity, he stood. His legs wobbled but held firm as he followed the sound down the hall, eventually stopping in front of a familiar door. Aya's door.

Her door was cracked open just enough to offer a glimpse inside.

Cassius stopped. This was a line. No matter how ridiculous the situation might be, he wasn't the kind of guy to peep. He'd never live it down. Besides, Aya was his stepsister, and the mere thought made his stomach churn with awkwardness.

But then, another moan slipped out, this one laced with unmistakable pleasure. His feet hesitated. His mind raced. What if she was hurt? In distress? Surely, it was his duty to make sure everything was okay. Right?

Peeking wasn't perverse, he reasoned—it was responsible.

Taking a deep breath, he leaned forward, his eye aligning with the gap in the door.

What he saw struck him like lightning.

Aya, his stepsister, lay sprawled across her bed, entirely uninhibited. Her fingers danced between her thighs with shameless intensity, her back arching as her breath hitched in rhythm with each motion. Her skin glistened under the morning light, curves etched with a perfection Cassius had no right to notice.

"Ahn~! Mhmff~!! OHhHhh~ YES~~!!!"

She moaned again, louder this time, her body trembling as she reached an undeniable peak. A sound escaped her lips—a cry of bliss—and Cassius bolted back, stumbling into the wall like he'd been shot.

His brain screamed at him to stop replaying the image, but it was too late. It was burned into his mind, a permanent scar.

"What the actual hell…" he muttered, shaking his head as if to rattle loose the memory. "Why is she doing that with the door open? What kind of perverted—" He stopped himself. This wasn't helping. None of this was helping.

Desperate to escape the situation, he turned for the stairs, moving as quietly as possible. But as fate—or the system—would have it, the back door betrayed him with a creaky groan when he pushed it open.

"Who's there?!" Aya's voice rang out, sharp and full of suspicion.

"Oh, crap!" Cassius bolted without hesitation.

The world blurred as he sprinted down the street, feet slapping against the pavement. He pushed himself harder than ever before, adrenaline propelling him far faster than he thought possible. Blocks passed in seconds, and when he finally stopped, his chest heaved with exertion.

"She couldn't have seen me," he muttered, trying to steady his breathing. "No way she could've known it was me."

Aya might've been a D-Rank Hunter, leagues above most people, but even she couldn't have identified him from a creak and a glimpse. At least, that's what he hoped.

Cassius leaned against a lamppost, his thoughts swirling. As absurd as the morning had been, it was a stark reminder of his place in the world. Out of everyone in his family, he was the only one who hadn't awakened as a Hunter. Aya was a prodigy, a rising D-Rank. His father and stepmother were both E-Ranks, modest but respectable.

And then there was Cassius, the unawakened black sheep.

But maybe, just maybe, the Idle Evolution System could change that.

"This system is garbage," he said aloud, glaring at the faint interface that hovered in his vision. "But it's my garbage. And if I can wring power out of it, then so be it."

The day's earlier reward flashed again, the promise of +3 AP hovering before him. He grinned despite himself. All the pain, the humiliation, and the ridiculousness of this morning had culminated in one singular truth: He was getting stronger.

"All into Agility," he declared, hammering the stat increase button with fervor. "Let's see someone catch me when I'm faster than light!"

The numbers ticked up, and a warmth spread through his limbs, a testament to his newfound potential. Passersby glanced his way, disturbed by his manic laughter, but he didn't care.

Cassius was done being the outlier. He might be starting from the bottom, but he was climbing now, one stat point at a time.