Twelve Days, Twelve Talismans

Aaron Lim thought university would finally give him a fresh start. After years of bullying, threats, and extortion, the twenty-one-year-old Singaporean has finished National Service and is ready to build a life of his own. Then he discovers that Marcus Koh—the wealthy bully who tormented him through secondary school, junior college, and even his army unit—has entered the same university. Before Aaron can decide how to endure another year, a mysterious system offers him something impossible. One talisman power every twenty-four hours. Survive twelve days to claim them all. There is just one condition the system announces to the entire world: Whoever kills Aaron inherits every power he has unlocked. Every hour or two, it broadcasts his location at that exact moment. The marker never follows him, but the hunters do. His first gift is the Monkey Talisman: the ability to transform into any animal he has physically seen. A bird above a crowded street. A stray beneath a parked car. A fish disappearing into murky water. For now, hiding is his only chance. But governments are mobilising. Private hunters are chasing a prize worth more than money. And Marcus sees an opportunity to turn his favourite victim into the centrepiece of a livestream watched by millions. With each passing day, Aaron becomes harder to catch—and more capable of making his tormentors suffer. Then the hunt reaches his mother. Aaron has spent his life swallowing his anger to survive. Now, every sunrise gives that anger another weapon. The world wants his power. Marcus is about to discover what Aaron wants.