After this painful episode, the world did not turn out the same way for Glenn. He had resumed a semblance of normal life; he had returned to school; and he had made new friends.

  But when he went home, it was not the same. Before, he would come home sighing, but he was happy to see his family; now it was not the case; his sister lived in her own house with her husband, her son, and little Anna. Glenn only had his mother, who only spoke to him at dinner time; otherwise, she didn't say a word.

  She did not help him fill the void in his heart. But time passed; he had finally finished high school and was about to choose his future direction. He didn't know what to do. He wanted nothing more than to sit at home and brood over his regrets.

  After a few weeks of reflection, he chose science. Since he had to make a choice, he chose to become a researcher to find the origin of the curse that affected him.

  Two years of hard work followed, trying to find his place in the world—the place he had lost long ago. However, a problem arose, one he had not expected. He did not age; his body was still the same as the teenager he had been when he returned from the caves, although four years had passed.

  At first, he thought it was a side effect, but now the problem had become quite serious, and people around him began to wonder how he was doing this and how he stayed so young. Glenn didn't understand either.

  But he continued to live; he was getting more and more tired, and he didn't want anything more; his father's death had affected him too much.

  Five years later, the problem became more than critical; he was still young—too young for a person who had just finished seven years of medicine. He became known in the community as the Immortal. And very quickly, he became the center of attention in the whole region.

  'The boy who never gets old, eh?'

  But the one who least understood the situation was himself. No matter how he thought about it, he wasn't

  His body remained like that of a seventeen-year-old. Except that he had been past that age for a long time—a very long time indeed.

  Strangely enough, the state did nothing, even though the whole country had heard about the situation, perhaps because he had not yet passed the age that a human could not pass.

  As a result, Glenn lived a quiet life, like a 17-year-old child.

  But his mother's condition was getting worse; an unknown disease was affecting her, as was old age. She had already passed the average mortality rate for some time.

  This was the atmosphere in which the other ten years passed. Glenn had become a researcher at a small university and still looked like a 17-year-old. The whole world had heard of his existence; still called the immortal child, he lived his life in total indifference.

  Those closest to him, if he had any at all, considered him as cold as ice and hard as stone. He seemed to feel nothing.

  But of course, it couldn't be that simple; one morning someone rang the doorbell, and when Glenn opened the door, he found himself in front of a woman, taller than him, in a suit. She was dark-haired with eyes of the same color; she wore glasses and had a serious and disinterested expression, perhaps with a touch of amusement.

  "Um, what can I do for you?"

  Contrary to what he was letting on, Glenn was not open to discussion and wanted to be left alone as soon as possible. The woman, however, didn't seem to share this opinion.

  "Mr. Hanta, isn't it?" she asked, but before Glenn could even answer, she continued. "My name is Lucy Clayton; I'm an officer and representative of the State Research Department. I'd like to talk to you about something important and, most importantly,...".

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  The woman paused for a second and then moved her head closer, and then she spoke very quietly so that no one else could hear her.

  "...Confidential."

  Glenn flashed a polite smile at the young woman before quickly closing the door, but before he could get there...

  "Wait!"

  The young woman, Lucy, held back the door to keep it from closing.

  "This is an official request from the state; please at least listen to what we have to say!"

  Glenn slowly opened the door again, then froze.

  'The State. She had indeed mentioned the State Research Department, but…'

  Wondering why the state would be looking for him, she looked down and observed himself.

  'Ha... how could I have forgotten?'

  Sighing deeply, Glenn opened the door fully and invited Mrs. Lucy in.

  "Ho! Thank you very much!" She sounded rather cheerful and seemed happy to be here, but Glenn was still wary; if the state was asking for it, it probably wasn't for nothing and certainly not for little.

  After they had both sat down face-to-face, Mrs. Lucy began to speak.

  "So first of all, you're probably wondering why the state itself is contacting you, right?"

  Glenn thought for a second and then answered.

  "To be honest, yes, although I must admit I have a good guess.

  Lucy looked at him with an amused expression, and Glenn felt a strange chill run through his body. He felt like prey in front of a predator, or rather, a kind of fairground animal in front of an audience.

  "Oh, and what is she?" My young lady seemed even more amused, which accentuated Glenn's initial unease.

  "Well, I suppose it's about my body and the fact that I don't age."

  The smile on the researcher's lips was so big that Glenn wondered for a moment if his jaw would stay in place.

  "Yes! Yes! Yes! That's exactly it; to be more precise, it's the constitution of your body that interests us. Why don't you age? Is your body only aging from the inside? Or has it stopped growing altogether? That would make you an immortal! For decades, mankind has been searching for a way to become immortal; perhaps you are the solution?"

  Before Glenn could say anything, she continued.

  "So we would like you to participate in one of our experiments as a subject. What do you say?"

  Glenn sensed something was wrong; it wasn't clear, but he didn't feel it. Something was going to happen. But without thinking too much, he replied to the young scientist.

  "Uh, thanks for the offer, but I have to decline; I have obligations as a scientist; you should understand, right?"

  The woman kept that smile for a few more moments before she abruptly lost it, which made Glenn shudder violently.

  "Except, you see, it wasn't a question."

  Lucy stood up quickly and snapped her fingers; instantly, a group of men armed to the teeth entered the room. They all immediately pointed their guns at Glenn. Meanwhile, Lucy continued her tirade.

  "You see, we've been watching you for a long time before we concluded that you'll probably be very useful for our experiment—a body that doesn't age, my God! It will be very useful for our research, I guarantee it."

  She turned quickly to one of the armed men.

  "Catch it! I just want him alive and in one piece; otherwise, don't damage him too much, that's all!"

  Immediately, a six-foot-tall man, so strong he could hardly move, charged at Glenn. When he came within a meter, Glenn felt a strange force running through his body, and in an uncharacteristic reflex, he kicked the giant in the jaw with a huge circular kick.

  A second later, the giant was embedded in the wall, five meters away from Glenn. Everyone seemed shocked, even Lucy, who quickly turned her surprise into a gaping smile. The most shocked of all, however, was undoubtedly Glenn, who had just sent a monster flying five fucking meters away.

  However, the shock quickly passed, and another man came along. This one was only a little thinner, but the difference with the first was huge; he was much faster and managed to reach Glenn's left leg. Instantly, he felt a titanic pressure and pain invade his leg, but it didn't break.

  "Ha?"

  The man himself looked shocked, and this time Glenn grabbed him by the collar and sent him flying towards his friend. Then he too crashed into the wall, right next to the first one.

  Glenn quickly gauged all the options he had and, without hesitation, jumped through the window of the room. Obviously, he was only on the second floor, so the fall was only painful.

  As he landed, he turned to meet the young woman's eyes; she was still smiling despite the situation.

  "Hahaha! Run all you want, cockroach! You'll come back to us soon, very soon."

  The young woman left her sentence hanging. With a shock, Glenn realized something and dashed east.

  "Fuck! What the fuck! Fuck!"

  Then a wild laugh echoed from behind him. But this time he didn't shudder; he was swept up in an even stronger whirlwind of emotions They had planned everything, they knew he was going to refuse and so they prepared the men, and if he managed to run away, well...

  'Shit! Mum!'

  He hoped he was wrong, but if he really was, they wouldn't have let him go so easily.