The Next Day, National Park Service
The morning sun filtered through the ridges of the Grand Canyon, and the air was filled with the fresh scent of earth.
But Ethan and his friends weren't in the mood to enjoy the beautiful scenery. The events of the previous night were still fresh in their minds. When Rex and his crew's bodies were discovered, the entire camp descended into chaos.
The National Park Service staff and local police quickly arrived on the scene, cordoning off the area.
Ethan, Samantha, Liam, and Charlie were pulled aside for questioning.
A uniformed officer, Officer Daniels, sat across from Ethan, notebook in hand, his expression serious.
"So, you're telling me a meteor fell last night, and then these people just… died?" Officer Daniels' tone carried a hint of skepticism.
Ethan nodded, trying to stay calm. "Yeah, when the meteor hit, there was a huge explosion. We were all knocked out. When we came to, they were already… already dead."
Officer Daniels frowned, clearly unsatisfied with the explanation. "You didn't see anyone else? Didn't hear any gunshots or anything suspicious?"
Liam jumped in, "No, nothing. We were all knocked down by the blast. We didn't see what happened."
Samantha squeezed Ethan's hand tightly and added in a low voice, "We don't know how they died… but we didn't do anything."
Officer Daniels was silent for a moment, jotting down a few notes before looking up, his gaze sweeping over the group. "Alright, for now, we'll classify this as an accidental death, but you all need to stay in the area for the next few days. Keep in touch. If we find anything new, we'll reach out."
With that, he stood up, signaling that they were free to go.
Ethan let out a sigh of relief as he and his friends walked away from the temporary police camp.
Even though they were out of immediate trouble, Ethan's mind was still filled with doubt and unease.
What happened last night was far more than just a meteor shower. He could feel it. Something had changed with his eyes.
Back in Mesa, at East Valley Ophthalmology
A few days later, Ethan returned to Mesa and decided to visit East Valley Ophthalmology to get his eyes checked.
Ever since the meteor fell that night, his vision had become unusually sharp. Sometimes, while walking down the street, he'd suddenly see strange things—like people with "HP" and "SP" bars floating above their heads, along with odd descriptions.
Like the girl walking toward him on the sidewalk right now…
[HP: 99%, SP: 60%, Soul Energy (SE): 10, a relatively weak ordinary woman. Seems like she had some intense activity last night, resulting in a torn hymen. Currently recovering her stamina.]
"Torn hymen? What the hell?" Ethan muttered under his breath.
He didn't dare tell anyone about these strange visions, not even Samantha. He was afraid people would think he was crazy—or worse, that he had something to do with Rex and his crew's deaths.
In the clinic's waiting room, Ethan sat nervously, his fingers tapping on his knee as the events of that night replayed in his mind.
"Ethan Morales?" A nurse's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
Ethan stood up and followed the nurse into the examination room.
The doctor, an older man with thick glasses named Dr. Harris, had Ethan sit in the exam chair and began a series of vision tests.
"Have you noticed any blurriness in your vision lately? Or any discomfort in your eyes?" Dr. Harris asked as he adjusted the equipment.
Ethan hesitated, deciding to keep the strange visual phenomena to himself. "Uh… sometimes it's a little blurry, but nothing too bad."
Dr. Harris nodded and continued the examination. After a few minutes, he frowned, as if he'd found something unusual.
"Your eyes… are a bit strange," he muttered, picking up a magnifying glass to take a closer look at Ethan's pupils.
Ethan's heart raced. "What do you mean? Is something wrong?"
Dr. Harris was silent for a moment, then set down the instrument, his expression a little conflicted. "On the surface, your eyes seem perfectly fine. In fact, your vision is excellent—better than most people's. But… I'm seeing some odd reactions deep in your pupils, like some kind of abnormal light refraction."
Ethan's stomach dropped. "Light refraction? What does that mean?"
Dr. Harris Shook His Head
"I'm not sure either. I've never seen anything like this before. It could be some rare physiological phenomenon, or maybe it's related to what you've been through recently."
Ethan didn't respond. His mind flashed back to that night—the unnaturally bright meteor, Rex and his crew's deaths, and the strange, unexplainable power he felt inside him.
Suddenly, Ethan noticed something moving quickly above him, accompanied by a faint buzzing sound. A small text box appeared in his vision…
[HP: 60%, SP: 89%, Soul Energy (SE): 0.01, Insect, in a weakened state.]
Smack!
Dr. Harris clapped his hands together, killing the mosquito with pinpoint accuracy. He immediately pulled a disinfectant wipe from his pocket, meticulously cleaning his fingers and palms as if he had just touched something filthy.
The status bar changed:
[HP: 0%, SP: 0%, Soul Energy (SE): 0, Insect, deceased.]
The status bar then disappeared from Ethan's view.
…
Dr. Harris finished wiping his hands and pulled a small bottle of hand sanitizer from the inside pocket of his lab coat. He carefully squeezed a bit onto his hands, rubbing them together while giving Ethan a serious look.
"I recommend you get some more detailed tests done, especially on your nervous system," Dr. Harris said, folding the wipe and tossing it into a small bag he carried with him. His eyes held a hint of caution. "If you continue to feel discomfort or notice more visual anomalies, contact me immediately."
Ethan nodded, still in shock, but his mind was swirling with confusion and unease. He knew that whatever was happening to him, it was far more than just a vision problem.
Walking Through Mesa
After leaving the clinic, Ethan wandered down the streets of Mesa, replaying Dr. Harris's words in his mind. His gaze drifted over the people passing by, and suddenly, his eyes locked onto a man jogging hurriedly down the street.
A text box appeared above the man's head.
[HP: 100%, SP: 85%, Soul Energy (SE): 10, a relatively weak ordinary man, rapidly losing stamina, seems to be looking for a bathroom…]
Ethan blinked, trying to focus, but as soon as the man entered the restroom, the status bar vanished, as if it had never been there.
"What is this Soul Energy? It seems like every normal person has an SE of 10…"
Ethan turned his head toward the street, and his jaw dropped in shock.
Pedestrians, taxi drivers, police officers—people were everywhere.
[HP: 81%, SP: 90%, Soul Energy (SE): 10], [HP: 92%, SP: 76%, Soul Energy (SE): 10], [HP: 67%, SP: 85%, Soul Energy (SE): 10]…
Status bars filled his vision, one after another.
He stopped in his tracks, taking a deep breath, trying to calm the rising panic inside him.
"What the hell is going on…" he muttered under his breath.
Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a shadow. Ethan whipped his head around and saw a blurry figure standing at the corner of the street, surrounded by an eerie black aura. It wasn't human—at least, not like any human he had ever seen.
Above the creature's head was a red status bar, accompanied by a skull icon, as if warning him that this was something extremely dangerous.
Ethan's heart raced, and he instinctively took a step back.
"What… what is that thing?" he whispered.
The creature seemed to sense Ethan's gaze and slowly turned its head, revealing a twisted face with glowing red eyes.
Ethan's breathing quickened. He felt that strange power inside him stir again, as if it was responding to the threat in front of him.
"I… I can see them…" Ethan suddenly realized. He wasn't just awakening to some kind of power—he could see things that normal people couldn't, things that were hiding in plain sight.
But what was this power? Why had it awakened after the meteor fell? And what were these creatures?
What was the point of being able to see these status bars?
Ethan knew he had to find answers.
And this was only the beginning.