The holographic screen hovered before me, its cool blue glow reflecting on my face — a face etched with confusion.
Every detail on that display felt too vivid to be anything but real.
This wasn't the world I knew anymore.
My mind spun, trying to make sense of what was happening.
Beside me, Diego stood frozen.
His usual carefree grin was gone.
His eyes were locked on his own screen, still loading slowly, the flickering light dancing across his furrowed brows.
"Diego," I said, voice quiet but strained.
"Have you tried opening it?"
He hesitated.
I could see the tension in the way his hand moved, trembling slightly as he reached out to touch the screen, like it might explode on contact.
"This is messed up," he muttered.
"It looks like a game, but it feels real. You can see yours too, right?"
I gave a slow nod and swallowed hard.
My own hand hovered in front of the screen for a moment.
Then, cautiously, I tapped the air. The display changed instantly.
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Character Profile
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Name : Kailendra Ador Saputra
Birthdate : 16 November 2005
Class : Being determined...
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I stared at it.
My name. My birthdate.
Staring back at me in glowing letters.
How the hell does it know that?
"Name, birthdate, class," I murmured.
Diego looked up from his screen, brows knit.
"Same here. What does this mean?"
Around us, people were no longer marveling at the celestial alignment.
Every person had their eyes locked on their own hovering screens, expressions mirroring ours: confusion, fear, disbelief.
Then, new words appeared on mine.
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Class: The Seeker
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Description:
Early-stage Awakened individuals gifted with psychic sensitivity. Can perceive brief glimpses of the past and receive urgent whispers from higher-dimensional entities.
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Skill: Locked until class upgrade.
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I froze.
I read it twice.
Then a third time.
The Seeker.
It sounded… ominous.
Or prophetic.
What the hell does it mean to receive whispers?
I turned to Diego, whose face had gone pale under the glow of his screen.
"I got a class—" he began.
"Not here," I interrupted quickly, lowering my voice.
"Remember what it said. We're not supposed to share this."
He blinked, then nodded slowly.
Still clearly shaken.
Then, before either of us could speak again, the screens changed once more.
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Phase 1 – Jakarta Zone
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Earth has begun evolving.
Dimensional rifts have merged parts of other worlds into your region.
Jakarta is now sealed. You cannot leave until the countdown ends.
Mission:
Survive the first 30 minutes of cosmic transition. Safe zones will be revealed at the fifth minute.
Suggestion:
Do not fully trust anyone or anything.
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The words were direct, cold.
Survive.
Don't trust anyone.
Time is ticking.
I read it again, trying to force it to make sense, but my mind was racing.
Jakarta… sealed?
The evolution process?
"Did you get this too?" I asked Diego, trying to keep my voice from shaking.
He nodded.
"Yeah. But... this can't be real. This has to be a prank. A huge AR stunt or something."
His voice cracked on the last word.
We locked eyes for a second, but there were no answers between us. Only fear.
Then suddenly — cheers.
The city lights flickered back to life.
People clapped.
Some laughed.
Others sighed with relief.
"The power's back! See?" Diego said, his tone desperate for normalcy.
"Maybe this was all just a weird digital hoax."
I tried to believe it for half a second.
But then the screens above the buildings flickered again — not with celebration, but with news.
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"This is an urgent broadcast from NHK Japan. A massive tsunami is expected to strike the eastern coast within minutes.All citizens are urged to evacuate to higher ground immediately."
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I froze.
A tsunami?
Diego looked back at me, face draining of color.
"This isn't a prank, is it…"
Another screen lit up — this time, America.
A news anchor stood in a swirl of wind and debris.
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"...Hurricane Atlas has intensified into a Category 5 superstorm.Winds exceeding 300 km/h are devastating the Florida coast.Citizens should seek immediate shelter if evacuation is no longer possible..."
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Then static.
The screen distorted, then died.
People screamed.
"The internet's down!"
"I can't reach my family!"
"Why is this all happening at once?!"
A woman clutched a child, sobbing.
"Is this the end? Is this the apocalypse?"
Chaos spread like fire.
"Kai…" Diego's voice was faint.
"I don't like this. This is—this is real."
Then it hit.
The ground beneath us shook violently, splitting open like it was breathing.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the streets.
People fell.
Screamed.
Ran.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" someone yelled.
The air was thick with fear.
And the countdown?
It started moving.
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00 : 29 : 59
00 : 29 : 58
00 : 29 : 5...
...........
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I grabbed Diego's hand.
"RUN!"
We dashed through the panicking crowd, trying to dodge cracks in the asphalt, falling signs, toppling streetlights.
Screams echoed. The city was collapsing around us.
I pulled him toward a nearby park—open ground, fewer buildings—but we barely made it before something else began to change.
Massive roots burst through the earth, twisting into bizarre, otherworldly trees — thick, dark, pulsing like veins.
And the sky—
The sky filled with flying shapes.
Not birds.
Insects.
Thousands of them.
Huge. Alien.
Their wings buzzed with a sickening frequency as they flooded the skyline like a black tide.
My breath caught in my throat.
"This… this isn't our world anymore…"
One of them spotted us.
A massive black insect, red eyes glowing like coals.
Its wings hissed as it dove.
I froze.
I couldn't run. Couldn't scream.
This is it.
Then—
"GET DOWN!!"
Diego shoved me aside and punched the damn thing straight out of the air.
It crashed into a nearby building, which collapsed in a shower of debris.
I sat up, stunned.
"Diego… what—what the hell was that?!"
His eyes locked on his own hand like it belonged to someone else.
"I don't know what just happened," he muttered.
"I hit it and… it flew like a ragdoll. I shouldn't be able to do that."
I studied him.
"Your class?"
"Yeah," he said, still stunned.
"It mentioned something about enhanced strength. But I didn't think it meant this."
I hesitated, watching him wrestle with the reality of it.
He wasn't just scared—he was amazed.
Like something had just woken up inside him.
"I got one too," I said, quietly.
He glanced at me, curious.
"It's called The Seeker," I continued.
"It says I'll start… hearing things. Whispers. Clues."
He looked at me for a moment, thoughtful, then gave a small nod.
"Guess we're both part of this mess now," he said.
"At least we won't face it alone."
That hit me harder than I expected.
I didn't say anything, just gave a short nod in return.
I wasn't even sure I trusted myself yet.
And then it happened.
A sensation in the back of my mind—soft, cold, almost like breath against my ear.
Not a sound.
Not a voice.
Just one word.
North—
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I blinked.
"I just heard something," I said, glancing at Diego.
"A whisper?"
I nodded. "It said… 'north.'"
Diego was silent for a moment, then looked at me with confidence.
"Then we go north," he said, without hesitation.
I hesitated.
He didn't.
We ran.
The screen beside me kept ticking.
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00 : 17 : 49
00 : 17 : 48
..........
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Fifteen minutes had passed, and we were still running — avoiding fallen buildings, dodging patrolling insects.
The city was unrecognizable.
Dead.
Mutated.
And then—
Another whisper.
Underground—
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"Now it says underground," I muttered.
Diego slowed. "You think… maybe the subway?"
I nodded.
We scanned the area — ruins everywhere. Then Diego pointed.
"There! That entrance—blocked, but not completely."
We pushed through the rubble.
The opening was narrow, but we made it through.
The air was damp, cold, and still.
The emergency lights flickered dimly along the walls.
It was silent.
Too silent.
"Why is it empty?" I whispered.
"Shouldn't this be a safe area?" Diego asked.
No one else had made it here.
Our footsteps echoed as we moved deeper into the corridor.
And then…
We saw it.
A massive figure standing at the end of the tunnel.
Dark.
Hulking.
Silent.
I grabbed Diego, pulling us behind a pillar.
He peeked around the edge, then looked back at me.
His face was pale.
His voice shook.
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"Kai… what is that?"