At that moment, I was sitting alone on a worn wooden bench in the back garden of the elementary school.
Dry leaves fell, whispering softly as the evening wind blew through.
The cool breeze, which usually brought a sense of calm, felt strange today—like something was lurking in the shadows of the trees.
Other children played in the distance, their laughter blending with the rustling wind.
That laughter echoed, almost like an invisible mockery, a reminder that I was always alone.
No one came near me, no one wanted to know me.
Deep down, I knew the reason.
They were scared, or maybe they thought I was weird.
Soft footsteps approached from behind, breaking the silence.
I looked up and saw the teacher standing there, wearing a neatly pressed light blue blouse.
Her face was adorned with a gentle smile, but her eyes revealed something she couldn't hide—concern mixed with hesitation.
"Kai..." she called softly, as if afraid to startle me.
"I've noticed you often sit here alone. Is something bothering you?"
I shook my head lightly, looking down to avoid her gaze.
"I'm fine, Miss," I answered in almost a whisper, trying to end the conversation before it began.
But she didn't give up.
She knelt to meet me at eye level, gently lifting my face with her hand.
Her touch was warm, but not enough to break through the thick walls around my heart.
I could feel her empathy, but it was mixed with a sense of not knowing what to do.
"Kai, if something is troubling you, you can talk to me, okay? I promise I'll listen," she said with a soft smile, trying to melt the icy distance between us.
I looked up slightly, meeting her gaze that tried so hard to convey sincerity, along with her emotions.
Something inside me stirred—a rare urge to speak.
"Miss..." I hesitated for a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing.
"Do you believe that ghosts are real?"
She paused for a moment.
Her expression changed, a flicker of emotion flashed in her eyes—confusion, disbelief, and a hint of fear she tried to hide.
She chuckled lightly, trying to sound casual even though her voice carried an odd tremor.
"Ghosts?" She chuckled again, this time a bit louder.
"Why are you suddenly asking about that, Kai?"
I stared at her without blinking, as if trying to convey something much bigger, something only I could understand.
I just wanted to know if she could understand what I saw.
"Because I can see them," I said softly, my eyes never leaving her face.
Suddenly, her eyes widened.
I could feel the tension rising from her body—confusion, disbelief, and subtle fear blending into one.
She couldn't hide her feelings.
But she tried hard, struggling to appear calm.
"Oh, Kai can see ghosts?" She tried to speak with a tone of surprise, but I knew it was just a little lie.
"What do those ghosts look like?"
I looked deeply into her eyes, searching for something more behind her words.
But all I found was empathy that felt so hollow.
No belief, no acceptance.
I didn't answer.
I could only feel the creeping disappointment, breaking my heart bit by bit.
I was used to it.
People always felt sorry for me.
But for what?
"It's okay, Miss. Sorry, I was just making it up."
She looked relieved, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
"Oh, Kai was just joking, huh? I thought you really could see ghosts for a second there." She laughed, but it sounded hollow, like an escape from reality.
"But if Kai like about ghost stories, who knows? Maybe one day you could become a writer of scary stories, huh?" she added with a smile that felt forced.
Since that day, I stopped hoping for anyone.
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Every day, I walked home from school alone, taking the quiet and deserted path.
My small footsteps echoed, as if the world was mocking my solitude.
But I was used to it.
Loneliness was a companion that never left me.
When I reached the front of the house, my tiny hand touched the cold doorknob, the metallic chill seeping into my skin.
I took a deep breath before opening the creaky door, the sound piercing through the silence.
"Mom… I'm home…" I called softly as I pushed the door open.
As the door swung open, the air inside felt heavier.
A dark aura spilled out, like a thick fog wrapping around my body, trying to envelop every inch of my soul.
But I wasn't afraid.
I'd grown too accustomed to this atmosphere.
That aura felt like part of the house—
Part of my life.
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I slowly took off my shoes, placing them neatly on the rack along with my school cap.
No one greeted me.
There was no sound, only a heavy silence hanging in the air.
My steps carried my small frame toward the stairs.
But before that, I passed through the dim living room.
Red candles flickered weakly, their flames trembling in the shadowy room.
A strange smell lingered, a mix of incense and something rotten.
"Mom, I'm home—" my words trailed off.
In the middle of the living room, my mother sat cross-legged on the cold floor.
Her body leaned forward slightly, her head covered by a crumpled black cloth.
Symbols, strange and intricate, were etched into the floor around her, painted with something that looked like red paint.
No sound came, only the candles flickering smaller, as if afraid of something.
I knew this was her routine.
"Oh, Mom's meditating. I'll head to my room, okay, Mom?" I smiled faintly, even though she neither turned nor responded.
I continued my steps toward the stairs.
The wooden stairs creaked softly, their sound like tiny screams trapped within the old wood.
Just as I reached the top, something made me stop.
I felt… a presence.
My eyes caught a shadow at the end of the stairs.
Something was peeking out from the darkness.
I looked up, trying to see more clearly.
"Ah, Uncle!" I called out cheerfully, even though I knew that figure wasn't human.
The shadow stepped out of the darkness, revealing a form that wasn't entirely clear.
It towered over me, its body resembling thick, swirling smoke, with two bright red lights that looked like eyes.
Below them, a long, glowing red line stretched like a mouth curled into a smile.
I grinned wider, stepping closer.
"It's been a while, Uncle. Where have you been?" I asked innocently.
The figure didn't answer—of course, it couldn't.
But I could feel it.
A strange warmth flowed from it, contradicting its terrifying appearance.
It… was happy to see me.
The figure slightly bowed its head, and its mouth seemed to widen—what others might find scary, I knew was its way of showing joy.
I reached out my hand, touching something resembling a hand, though not entirely real, and pulled it into my room.
"Come on, Uncle. I want to tell you something," I said as I opened the door to my room.
"Uncle, did you know? My friends teased me again today. They said I was a liar. Even my teacher doesn't believe me."
I sat cross-legged on the floor while it remained standing, silent like a loyal guardian.
"I told my teacher that I could see ghosts, but she just gave me a pitying smile. I know she didn't believe me."
Silence.
I stood up, walking to my room door.
My hand touched the doorknob, cold as before.
"Uncle," I whispered, my voice barely audible.
"Are you a ghost too?"
I slowly closed the door.
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Hah... that dream again...
I woke up with a lingering heaviness still hanging over me.
The sun had started shining, but somehow it still felt like I was trapped in the darkness of the night before.
Tangled thoughts haunted me, spinning endlessly in my mind.
I tried to force myself to focus on reality—a new day had begun, and this was a chance to set things right.
But it wasn't easy.
Too many things had occupied my mind last night, thousands of possibilities creeping through my head.
I thought about what would happen, what we could do, what needed to be prepared.
Maybe that's why I had such a bad dream.
I hope that's the reason.
Two days had passed since the water issue in the well was resolved.
It felt like there were no other major problems, at least none that had surfaced yet.
However, there was one thing that kept me uneasy.
The tension between Bram and Dirga—they were still at odds, and even though it didn't directly involve the other members, the strain was palpable.
I didn't understand how they could hate each other so deeply.
But I preferred to stay calm and not get too involved.
My focus remained on what truly mattered—survival.
At least food wasn't a major issue.
Each party had its own supply, although I noticed everyone had been rationing more than usual.
Actually, our canned food supplies were enough if we rationed it well and didn't need to catch fish.
But the uncertainty of the future required us to conserve our energy.
We had to stay full, ready for whatever might come.
Oh, by the way, some good news.
The water outside the safe zone had started to recede, and it was now level with the floor of this building.
That means there's hope.
However, the bad news is…
It also made it harder for us to catch fish.
But who cares about fish right now!
One more thing kept gnawing at my mind—Kael.
We hadn't seen him at all in the past two days.
Still, I knew he was here somewhere, hiding and watching.
Mostly watching me.
The last time we left him, it was in the middle of a fight, and since then, he'd chosen to stay out of sight.
I didn't know how he managed to get food or water.
It seemed like he had his own strategy, which meant I needed to be ready for the worst.
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I sat still for a moment, trying to calm my mind.
But more than that, what kept me awake all night was...
Today was the day phase two began.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself, but it was in vain.
My thoughts kept spinning, unraveling what would happen next.
Phase two.
What would we face?
What kind of challenges would be thrown at us this time?
That was the thought that kept swirling in my mind.
Every night, when I was awake outside or in the silence of the night, my thoughts always returned to it—phase two.
'Creatures of the Water Race will join in this new era.'
The most likely meaning was that the previous phase was when the land races, like the voraxes and elves, entered the world.
I remembered when I defeated the queen of the voraxes.
The system announcement back then had said it was for the mid-low races.
What does that mean?
Are races divided into hierarchies?
Does that mean there's something higher than that?
I tried to understand, but the more I thought, the more questions popped up.
I didn't know anything, and it was gnawing at my mind.
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00:29:29
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Half an hour before phase two begins, at 3:30 PM—
We all gathered in the back area. It was me, Ayla, Diego, and Dirga with his party.
Bram with his group was there too, standing in his usual relaxed style, as if the world had never been a problem for him.
But our mood was clearly different.
The tension in the air was suffocating, like the air was too heavy to breathe.
Amid the awkwardness, Kael was there, but as usual, he stayed hidden—away from the crowd, as if not wanting to get involved, even though I could feel his presence.
Then, a man from Dirga's party broke the silence.
"There's no hope... we're going to die..." he said in a half-panic tone, making everyone's attention snap to him.
Their faces, usually hard and determined, were now wrapped in worry they couldn't hide.
I glanced at Dirga.
He's usually the most resolute, full of confidence, but this time... his face was grim.
Concern enveloped him like fog.
And we felt it too. Ayla, Diego, me—our thoughts were getting heavy.
Stress.
But there was one person who seemed unaffected. Bram.
He didn't seem to care at all.
Was he really not scared?
Or was he just pretending to be strong?
The reason was simple—inside the safe zone, the sky seemed clear—no signs of trouble.
But outside the safe zone, the situation had changed drastically.
Heavy rain poured down, accompanied by strong winds that made the waves look menacing.
I stared outside with a blank gaze, unable to believe what I was seeing.
This situation... felt like a nightmare.
"Now you're all giving up?! Where's that bravery you showed this morning, huh?" Bram said casually, arms crossed over his chest.
His voice was sharp, full of sarcasm, as if he enjoyed seeing us suffer.
But no one responded.
They all seemed numb, as if they'd lost their will to fight.
Dirga tried to speak, but no words came out.
While Diego busied himself checking his phone, even though it was clear there was no signal.
There was a void between us, a sense of hopelessness so deep, and even though we didn't speak, the feeling was so real.
I approached him with curiosity.
"No signal?"
Diego looked at me with an empty expression.
There was no hope in his eyes.
He sighed and shook his head, signaling that everything was futile.
Ayla sat on the other side, her body slumped.
Her back was hunched, her legs pulled up, and her face buried in her knees.
Her mood was clear, even without her saying anything.
"Water..." Ayla muttered softly, as if it was a word full of hatred.
"I hate water..."
Funny, right?
Ayla, the water bender from our party, who was meant to be a huge force, has started to hate water.
But maybe, if I were in her place, it's more than just hatred.
It could be a deep trauma.
Bram walked over to Ayla, who was sitting in the corner, trying to grab her attention.
"Hey kid, you. Aren't you the water user? Can't you stop the rain outside?" he said challengingly, like asking someone to put out a fire by blowing out a candle.
Ayla lifted her face, her gaze weak, as if she had no more energy to fight.
"Old man, if it was that easy to stop the rain, why don't you try? Maybe with—well, I don't know—your age power?" she replied flatly.
Bram snorted in frustration, but didn't dwell on Ayla's words.
"What! Age power? Hey kid, you know, back in my day, kids didn't talk like that to their elders. Kids these days, no manners!" he grumbled, his voice full of anger.
"Old man, it's because in your day, dinosaurs were still roaming around," Ayla answered without lifting her head, her tone sharper this time.
No one laughed, they all seemed too drained to do so.
Bram just snorted.
Phase two would begin soon.
We didn't know what was coming, but this tension was a sign that we were all going to be tested harder than before.
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00:15:00
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But suddenly, the system pop-up that hadn't appeared in a while showed up again.
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Cosmic Announcement -
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The Global Leaderboards for Parties and Individuals will soon be open!
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Important Announcement
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This leaderboard officially starts alongside the beginning of Phase 2.
The leaderboard is calculated based on the points earned.
Individuals and party, that rank in the top 3 of the Party Leaderboard, or Individual Leaderboard will receive special rewards.
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Suggestion:
Work hard to get into the Top 3 of the Leaderboard.
The rewards you'll receive will be very helpful in the future!
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