"Damn, no, this wasn't supposed to happen. I was supposed to die. But, as always, my life is never that simple. Instead, I was forced to watch. I watched that boy grow up and die, then another boy grow up and die, only for the first one to return, grow up again, and die once more. Over and over, I witnessed their lives—each one, fifty times. Each life they lived was different, yet all I could do was watch from within the glass sphere.
It was both frustrating and fun at the same time because their world was nothing like ours. There were so many fantastical elements in it. In the beginning, their world seemed identical to ours—until they turned 16. That's when everything changed.
One of the grand power nations decided to test their nuclear capabilities in the sea. But instead of a successful test, they accidentally opened a portal that should never have been opened. What emerged from the portal were beautiful, cute little sparrows. Everyone assumed they were some kind of new species, marveling at their charm and innocence. They were far too adorable for anyone to consider them dangerous.
As a new species was discovered, scientists began researching it. They were incredibly excited about the new species and everything seemed fine at first. For the first five months, there were no issues, but then things started to go wrong.
The little sparrows that everyone thought were extremely cute spread across all seven continents and began transforming into something else—something very different. They grew very, very large and started attacking humans. Some took on shapes resembling spiders, while others transformed into various other creatures.
And as if that wasn't bad enough, the advanced technology in their world—AI—decided to join forces with the damned creatures of higher intelligence. Not every creature was equally intelligent; some were just like ordinary animals. However, others were as intelligent as human beings. Those intelligent ones aligned themselves with AI, and things kept getting worse with each passing day.
The animal-like creatures started eating humans, but there were still some of the small sparrow-like creatures left. When these sparrow-like creatures bit a human, the victim wouldn't die but would instead fall into an eternal nightmare. This meant they would relive their worst fears over and over again. Out of every 50 people bitten by the sparrows, only about 25 would manage to survive the torment of the nightmare.
And those who survived were gifted with powers—powers so incredible they were beyond human imagination. These survivors used their newfound abilities to fight back and survive against the creatures that were relentlessly trying to devour them.
As mentioned before, the creatures with intelligence comparable to humans, who had collaborated with AI, were now merely observing the suffering of humanity. They watched the chaos unfold through screens, cameras, and other surveillance systems, all from the comfort of high-rise buildings floating in the air. To them, humans were nothing more than a source of entertainment—a live show of misery and despair.
It was similar to YouTube live streams, where everything could be watched in real-time. The high-level creatures, known as the elites, would also comment on the situation, discussing the humans' struggles and making remarks about their fate. Every person who survived the nightmare was given a watch, allowing them to see the elites' comments about them. Since humans were a form of entertainment for these creatures, they would also give the survivors various challenges—tasks they had to complete in order to stay alive.
There was also a money system in place. The elites, if they found a human interesting, would sponsor that person with money. This money could be used to purchase advanced weapons and other essential items, giving the sponsored humans a better chance of survival.
The two main characters I was watching were one Asian and the other Caucasian.
I mean, they were pretty good-looking, to be honest, but what could I do if they were good-looking or not? I'm just a... Well, if you were watching a screen, how could you even interact?
It was the 50th life of the white man out of of them. When he died, I suddenly felt an explosion and lost consciousness. Then, when I opened my eyes, I was back on the same road I had been on before.
My first thought was, Was I in a dream? Then I thought, No, that can't be possible. I slapped my face lightly, and when I felt the pain, I knew it was real. I decided to continue walking, thinking, Maybe I can figure out what just happened.
I continued to walk, my mind still consumed by confusion over what had just happened and the time I spent in that sphere. Was it even real? Or was I being delusional? Had I lost my sanity?
Then the road seemed to come to an end, and what I saw next made me believe that I really had been in that sphere and had truly witnessed the lives of those two boys. In front of me was an almost completely destroyed city, with monsters roaming the streets and people screaming in terror.
And boom—a cute-looking sparrow bit me.