The rooftop was quiet again—too quiet.
Kai stood over the spot where the monster vanished, his pulse still racing. He stared at the flickering system window hovering before him.
[You Are Not Alone.]
"Great," he muttered. "Comforting and ominous. Thanks, mysterious sky voice."
He tapped at the air, half-expecting it to do nothing.
Instead, a map blinked open.
[Awakened Detected: 1.2 km away]
[System Message: Proximity Event – Convergence Begins in 05:00 minutes]
"Someone else?" Kai whispered.
He didn't have much time to decide. Either he waited around and hoped for more answers to fall from the sky, or he followed the signal.
Naturally, he ran.
It led him to an abandoned warehouse district near the train station—an area fenced off and left to rot years ago. Kai ducked through a hole in the fence, breath catching in his throat.
A ring of scorched earth greeted him. And in the center of it, surrounded by charred monster corpses, stood a girl.
She had short black hair, a long red coat, and a baseball bat crackling with flames.
She turned the moment he stepped into view.
Her eyes blazed—literally—with embers of power.
"You're one of them," she said flatly.
Kai raised his hands. "Whoa. Let's start with names before we swing flaming bats around, yeah? I'm Kai. Definitely not here to fight."
The girl lowered the bat slightly, though the fire didn't go out. "Mina. Level 4. I've been Awakened for a week."
"A week?" Kai blinked. "I just got my screen today."
Mina studied him with curiosity. "Then you're early-stage. Probably unstable. Any system corruption yet? Time distortion? Visions?"
"I fought a smoke demon and learned to blink across rooftops. Does that count?"
She smirked, just a little. "Yeah. That counts."
[System Link Detected: Kai ↔ Mina]
[New Objective: Join or Compete]
[Convergence Begins: 00:30]
Kai saw it too and frowxdrowned:zned. "Join or compete? What does that mean?"
Before Mina could answer, a rumble shook the ground. The air shimmered, like heat waves on asphalt. A hole tore open in the sky above them—larger than the one from before.
[CONVERGENCE EVENT: RIFT MONSTER – CATEGORY B]
[Warning: Danger Level Exceeds Player Threshold. Escape Advised.]
A monstrous claw reached out of the rift.
Kai stumbled back. "That's... bigger than the last one."
Mina's hands lit with fire. "You said your name was Kai?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't die, Kai."
And with that, she charged.
The rooftop was quiet again—too quiet.
Kai stood over the spot where the monster vanished, his pulse still racing. He stared at the flickering system window hovering before him.
[You Are Not Alone.]
"Great," he muttered. "Comforting and ominous. Thanks, mysterious sky voice."
He tapped at the air, half-expecting it to do nothing.
Instead, a map blinked open.
[Awakened Detected: 1.2 km away]
[System Message: Proximity Event – Convergence Begins in 05:00 minutes]
"Someone else?" Kai whispered.
He didn't have much time to decide. Either he waited around and hoped for more answers to fall from the sky, or he followed the signal.
Naturally, he ran.
It led him to an abandoned warehouse district near the train station—an area fenced off and left to rot years ago. Kai ducked through a hole in the fence, breath catching in his throat.
A ring of scorched earth greeted him. And in the center of it, surrounded by charred monster corpses, stood a girl.
She had short black hair, a long red coat, and a baseball bat crackling with flames.
She turned the moment he stepped into view.
Her eyes blazed—literally—with embers of power.
"You're one of them," she said flatly.
Kai raised his hands. "Whoa. Let's start with names before we swing flaming bats around, yeah? I'm Kai. Definitely not here to fight."
The girl lowered the bat slightly, though the fire didn't go out. "Mina. Level 4. I've been Awakened for a week."
"A week?" Kai blinked. "I just got my screen today."
Mina studied him with curiosity. "Then you're early-stage. Probably unstable. Any system corruption yet? Time distortion? Visions?"
"I fought a smoke demon and learned to blink across rooftops. Does that count?"
She smirked, just a little. "Yeah. That counts."
[System Link Detected: Kai ↔ Mina]
[New Objective: Join or Compete]
[Convergence Begins: 00:30]
Kai saw it too and frowned. "Join or compete? What does that mean?"
Before Mina could answer, a rumble shook the ground. The air shimmered, like heat waves on asphalt. A hole tore open in the sky above them—larger than the one from before.
[CONVERGENCE EVENT: RIFT MONSTER – CATEGORY B]
[Warning: Danger Level Exceeds Player Threshold. Escape Advised.]
A monstrous claw reached out of the rift.
Kai stumbled back. "That's... bigger than the last one."
Mina's hands lit with fire. "You said your name was Kai?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't die, Kai."
And with that, she charged.