The turning

"Derek, why are you sleeping? You're late for school!" Derek's mother shouted as she burst through the door. Upon entering, she saw her son just waking up from the floor, stretching his arms up in the air. "Mom," Derek mumbled.

Ann, looking surprised and concerned, glared at Derek and then at the floor before asking, "What happened?" Avoiding the truth, Derek replied, "Uhh... it's nothing, Mom. I just fell from the bed while waking up." Annoyed and incredulous, Ann retorted, "You're eighteen, Derek. Adults don't just fall out of bed."

Ignoring his mother's comment, the young adult quickly changed the subject, "Mom, what time is it?" Ann glanced at her watch and replied, "It's 7:53 am." Derek's face showed a hint of worry, "I'm going to be late." With a hurried determination, he scrambled to find his school uniform, dressed quickly and grabbed his school bag before rushing out the door, all while wondering about the strange glasses he had encountered.

Huffing, Derek finally arrived at the classroom door. He spotted a woman in her early twenties, standing at 5 and a half feet, adjusting her round glasses before she turned her head toward the door. "Derek, you're late AGAIN," she admonished. Attempting to offer an explanation, Derek began, "Mrs. Mary, it's just..." but he was abruptly cut off, "Get in, I don't want to hear your excuses."

"Derek, I've got a ton of questions, but first, what was in that box the man gave you?" Ben asked, curiosity piqued. Trying to keep his composure and hide the strange incident, Derek replied casually, "Oh, it was nothing." However, his thoughts were instantly pulled back to the events of the previous day. Upon wearing the glasses, he had seen a floating screen with notifications:

[ The werewolf system activated. ]

[ The heir has acquired the system. ]

The shock of it all had sent shivers down his spine. Derek had immediately tried to remove the glasses, only to realize they had vanished. Although mysterious, their disappearance had brought him some relief. Yet, another notification had appeared, even more unsettling than the previous ones:

[ The turning process has begun. ]

[ The turning duration is 9 hours. ]

[ 09:00:00 ]

[ 08:59:59 ]

Staring at the countdown, Derek's vision had blurred, and he collapsed beside his bed, unconscious.

As he recalled the incident, he inadvertently opened the system interface, and his anxiety grew as he read:

[ 00:00:23 ]

The countdown was nearly over. "What will happen when it ends?" he wondered, his mind racing. Ben noticed his friend's distress and the sweat forming on his forehead. "Derek, what's wrong? Are you feeling okay?" Ben inquired, concerned.

"I'm fine," Derek replied, forcing a smile and accepting the handkerchief that Ben offered. Just as he took it, a notification appeared:

[ 00:00:00 ]