The Loss of Earth's Poles
The catastrophic explosions at Earth's poles—intended to upgrade the limitless energy cores known simply as The Cores—obliterated entire continents.
Each explosion created a 3,000-kilometer radius of utter devastation.
In their place, massive craters formed, each harboring a cocoon of blinding energy.
A luminous dome, over 1,000 kilometers wide, stood at the epicenter of each crater.
From their centers, eternal pillars of light stretched into the atmosphere, casting an eerie, pulsating glow that veiled the sky in waves of energy.
With the explosions came the loss of GAIA, the super-intelligent AI upon which humanity had depended for governance, technology, and survival.
The aftermath plunged society into chaos.
Civilization regressed, forced to revert to primitive energy sources as the world scrambled to comprehend the scope of the disaster.
Investigators were dispatched to the blast sites, desperate for answers.
Six hours after the explosions, the world's surviving leaders and military personnel convened in an emergency summit.
Their findings were bleak: the catastrophic failure of The Cores upgrades had unleashed destruction on an unprecedented scale.
But a more disturbing revelation awaited them.
On the surface of the radiant domes, a countdown glowed in ominous clarity, visible from miles away:
"11:59:59…"
It had started ticking down the moment the shockwave victims regained consciousness.
"What happens when it reaches zero?" a leader muttered, voicing the fear that consumed them all.
No answers came.
The leaders issued directives to investigate the phenomenon, but the countdown hung over the fragile remnants of civilization like an executioner's blade.
The Game Connection
As investigators pieced together the events, a perplexing detail emerged: every shockwave victim shared a common trait—they had all played World of Fantasy.
Initially dismissed as coincidence, further analysis revealed an unsettling truth.
The mysterious user interface described by the victims mirrored the game's UI perfectly.
Every design detail, menu option, and layout was identical.
This discovery sent shockwaves through the investigation. Lizzard Entertainment, the game's developer, became the focus of global scrutiny.
Yet their core members, including the enigmatic founder Emon Lusk, were among the affected, offering no leads.
More unsettling was the timer integrated into the victims' interfaces.
Its countdown matched the one displayed on the domes.
Was World of Fantasy somehow tied to the cataclysm?
And if so, how could a virtual world bleed into reality?
An Hour After the Victims Reawaken
Jin lay in bed, his thoughts racing.
The day's events had shaken him to his core, leaving behind a storm of unanswered questions.
The chime of his phone interrupted his thoughts.
"Ding!"
"Hi, how are you feeling now?" Mari's text lit up his screen.
"I feel fine now," Jin replied, though he couldn't shake a strange sense of vitality coursing through him.
The soreness and fatigue from earlier were gone, replaced by an almost unnatural energy.
"This doesn't feel like recovery," he muttered. "It feels better than normal."
Mari's next message came quickly:
"By the way, aren't you going to buy supplies? You heard what the government said, right?"
"I tried," Jin replied, sighing. "The stores are emptied, and people are fighting over scraps. I don't want to get caught in that mess."
Mari's response lightened his mood briefly:
"Well, my sister somehow managed to grab a ton of stuff. We're stocked! LOL. Why don't you come over instead?"
Her tone grew more serious.
"Plus, don't you think we should be together? That countdown you mentioned… It's creeping me out. I'm scared, Jin."
"Okay," Jin typed. "I'll come by. Just need to sort some things out first."
"I love you," Mari sent.
"I love you too," he replied, setting his phone down.
But his attention was pulled back to the interface—the one only the victims could see.
Moments earlier, a notification had appeared:
"Welcome, Player!"
The countdown had shifted to the bottom of the screen, beneath a new message:
"The World of Fantasy will commence when the countdown ends."
Jin stared at it, the weight of its words sinking in.
"This makes no sense," he muttered. "Is this connected to the game?"
Curious, he reached for his VR headset and launched World of Fantasy.
"Server Unavailable."
Frustrated, he turned to the game's online Discord community, where conversations were ablaze:
User Jack3456: "Hahaha lol the game is coming to life woooah!"
User Cornwall48: "Idiot! This is no time for jokes!"
User Jack3456: "Relax, it's just a game. Chill, bro."
User FriendlyM8: "What about the countdown, though? Anybody got ideas?"
Jin typed in:
User Jinx301: "Anyone manage to log in?"
User YTuser478: "Nope, server's down for everyone."
User Jack3456: "Guess we're stuck with the real deal now, LOL."
Jin sighed, closing the app. Everyone was as lost as he was.
Tossing his phone aside, he lay back and closed his eyes. His thoughts drifted to the cryptic countdown and its possible consequences.
The Internet's Chaos
Online, social media exploded with theories about the shockwaves. Speculations ranged from alien invasions to secret government projects, divine wrath to AI revolts. Amid the noise, one post caught fire:
"When I was under, I saw my dad. He talked in some weird alien way and said something about 'the system' helping me protect MY world."
Replies flooded in:
"Wait, you too?! I saw my mom!"
"No way… my brother told me the same thing!"
Investigators flagged the trend immediately. Many victims described visions of deceased loved ones or mysterious figures delivering cryptic warnings about "the system" and the need to "protect their world."
Officials and scientists were stumped. Was this mass hysteria? A shared hallucination? Or something far more profound?
As the countdown ticked on, one thing became increasingly clear: whatever was happening wasn't random. It was deliberate.
And it was just beginning.
Several Hours Passed…
A thunderous noise jolted Jin awake, the sound reverberating through his apartment like a distant explosion. Heart pounding, he bolted upright, disoriented and drenched in sweat.
"Oh sh$t, did I fall asleep?!" he groaned, slapping his forehead. He glanced at his watch: 06:31 AM.
The faint glow of his interface caught his attention, hovering eerily before him:
"Welcome, Player. The World of Fantasy has commenced!"
Beneath the message, an ominous subtitle blinked:
"Start your journey now to protect your world."
Jin squinted at the words, the last line rattling in his mind.
"Protect… what? From what?" he muttered, the words triggering fragments of a dream—his mother's cryptic words, visions of chaos, warnings about "the system."
But there was no time to linger on those thoughts. A cold realization hit him like a tidal wave.
"Mari!" he gasped, fumbling for his phone.
The screen lit up, displaying 21 missed calls and multiple messages, all from her.
1st Message:
"Jin, where are you now? I thought you'd come?!"
Time Sent: 4 hours ago.
2nd Message:
"Jin, something weird is happening to my sister's puppy—even our neighbors' pets too! I think it's connected to what happened yesterday."
Time Sent: 30 minutes ago.
Jin's stomach turned as he opened the final message:
3rd Message:
"Jin, please help me. My sister is dead!"
Time Sent: 5 minutes ago.
The words seemed to leap off the screen, his blood running cold. His fingers shook as he quickly typed a reply:
"What do you mean dead? What happened? Are you okay?!"
He hit send, his dread mounting as he immediately called her number. The line rang once, then cut off.
Panic clawed at his chest. He tried again, and again, but each time the result was the same. For a fleeting moment, he took solace in the fact that her phone wasn't dead. If she was declining the calls, she was still alive—at least for now.
"Ding!"
A notification lit up his screen.
Mari:
"Where are you? I thought you were gone too! Monsters are all around. Don't call, or they'll hear me. I'm hiding in my room. Please come—I'm scared!"
Jin's breath caught in his throat.
"Monsters?! What the hell is happening?!" he thought, his fingers flying across the keyboard.
"What do you mean? What monsters?" he typed.
Her reply was almost instant:
"I think it's my sister's pet! It transformed into a monster! It attacked her—she's dead! I'm hiding from it now."
The words slammed into him like a brick wall. Jin read them over and over, his mind struggling to comprehend.
"Pets transforming into monsters?" he muttered. The concept was absurd, yet Mari's fear was palpable, and she would never joke about something like this.
She had lost her sister. Now, she was clinging to him as her last hope.
Jin clenched his jaw, forcing himself to focus. He quickly typed:
"I'm coming. Hang in there."
He stood abruptly, his mind racing. There was no time to lose. Grabbing his backpack, he stuffed it with anything useful: a flashlight, power banks, energy bars, and packets of instant noodles. As he zipped it shut, his gaze flicked to the glowing interface still hovering in his peripheral vision.
"Monsters? What kind of monsters? Is this all connected to the countdown?"
The weight of Mari's words bore down on him. He shook his head, focusing on the immediate task—reaching her before it was too late.
The World Outside
Jin threw open his apartment's curtains, but the sight that greeted him froze him in place.
The city below, once bustling with morning life, was unrecognizable. Thick shadows blanketed the streets, an unnatural gloom suffusing the air. Streetlights flickered erratically, their pale glow illuminating shattered roads and overturned vehicles.
In the distance, distorted shapes moved through the wreckage—hulking figures with unnatural gaits and twisted forms. Faint screams echoed in the distance, chilling and unmistakably human.
A thunderous explosion erupted, shaking the building. Jin's gaze snapped toward the horizon, where a plume of fire and smoke rose, casting an orange hue against the darkened sky.
"This… this is real," Jin muttered, gripping the strap of his backpack.
The surreal nightmare unfolding before him was no longer confined to the glowing interface or cryptic dreams. The world had changed.
Jin steeled himself, clenching his fists. He couldn't afford to hesitate, not when Mari was out there—alone, afraid, and surrounded by the chaos.
"I'm coming, Mari," he whispered under his breath, a resolute determination settling over him. "Please, just hold on."
Without another glance, he stepped out the door and into the unknown.