The fireworks illuminated the beautiful night sky.
Ezie stood in the middle of the cheering crowd. The new year had arrived, bringing new hopes for everyone. The city was bathed in neon lights, and the air was filled with the sweet smell of street food being sold along the roads.
Beside him, Hana—the girl who always made his world feel warm—held his hand tightly. Her gentle face radiated happiness as she smiled at him.
"We finally made it through a tough year, huh?" she said, her eyes sparkling as she gazed at the sky with excitement.
Ezie nodded. "Yeah… Next year will be better."
He wanted to believe those words. He wanted to believe that their lives would remain peaceful like this—together, without fear of tomorrow.
His eyes looked up at the sky, filled with a small hope—one where he wished he could live happily with her forever.
But the upcoming New Year's night would not be the joyful moment he had hoped for.
Instead, it would be the beginning of an unforgettable nightmare for many.
At that moment, the sky suddenly changed color.
A streak of purple light tore through the night, as if ripping apart reality itself. A deafening roar echoed from above, shaking the ground beneath their feet. The once cheerful atmosphere turned into a sea of panicked screams.
The air suddenly became heavy, as though something immense was sucking all the oxygen out of the surroundings. Above them, a rift had opened—a swirling black vortex shimmering with an eerie glow, something that had no place in this world.
The first gate had appeared.
People started running, terror etched on their faces. Some fell and were trampled by the frantic crowd trying to find shelter. A monstrous roar came from within the gate, and then—creatures with glowing red eyes leaped out, attacking mercilessly.
"RUN!" someone screamed, but there was nowhere to hide.
Ezie turned to Hana, but his eyes widened in fear. She was no longer beside him—her hand had slipped from his grasp.
"Hana?!"
He frantically searched around, his body shoved by the panicked crowd.
Amidst the chaos, his eyes darted rapidly in every direction, trying to take in everything within his sight.
And then, he saw her.
Hana was being lifted into the air, her body pulled by an invisible force coming from the gate, along with many others. Her eyes were filled with terror, her hand reaching out toward him.
"Ezie!"
He tried to run, to reach her, but suddenly, his body was thrown back as if struck by an unseen force.
The world spun. Pain surged through his head. His vision blurred, but the last thing he saw was Hana being pulled further away, disappearing into the darkness of the gate.
Then everything went black.
Leaving only the screams of terrified people fading into the void.
Two Years Later
BANG!
Ezie jolted awake, breathing heavily. His eyes were wide, sweat trickling down his temple. His hands trembled as he clutched his chest, trying to calm his racing heart.
He glanced around.
Rows of seats, dim flickering lights, and the monotonous hum of an engine. He was inside an old bus, moving slowly along a battered road.
That dream again.
Or rather, that memory.
Ezie let out a long sigh and looked out the window beside him. The world outside was bleak—not because it was night, but because the ruins of destruction still covered the city.
Two years had passed since that night. Since the first gate appeared and changed everything.
The world he once knew was no longer the same.
Along the road, he saw shadows of suffering. People wandered with empty gazes, their thin bodies showing how hard survival had become in this new world.
An old man sat in a corner, staring blankly at a dying fire. A mother cradled her malnourished child, whispering softly as if comforting herself.
Some people lay on the sidewalks, wrapped in tattered blankets, while others rummaged through garbage, hoping to find something to fill their stomachs.
And then, there were those who had lost more than just food and shelter.
Beneath the dim streetlights, a young woman clung to a makeshift gravestone, made from debris, silently weeping.
All of this… because of the gate.
Because of the monsters that came from another dimension, tearing apart their lives without warning.
Ezie clenched his fists. Hana had been a victim too.
He never knew what happened to her. No one knew what lay inside the gate or where the people who were sucked into it had gone.
There were only two possibilities: they were dead, or they were trapped in another world.
Believing that there was still a way to find them was the only thing keeping Ezie sane.
And he wouldn't stop until he found the truth.
Gatez.
That was the answer.
Gatez was an organization formed after the tragedy of that night. Established by the new world government, its purpose was to train a new generation of warriors called Players—people who received special training to enter the gate and fight the monsters that threatened humanity.
Before Gatez was created, the world was on the brink of total collapse. No one knew how to fight against the gate's threats, and millions died in the first few months after the disaster. Cities were destroyed, economies crumbled, and trust in the old government vanished overnight.
A new government was formed under the leadership of the Gatez Council—a group of scientists, former military leaders, and survivors of that fateful night. They didn't just find a way to endure; they developed new strategies to combat the unknown enemy.
Gatez built a special academy to train Players, a place that didn't just teach them how to fight but also how to understand the workings of the gate and the possible existence of other worlds.
Their ultimate goals were clear:
Protect the world from the gate's ever-growing threat.
Unravel the mystery behind the gate's appearance.
Rescue those who were lost.
And that was exactly where Ezie was headed.
The Gatez Academy—the place where new Players were forged. The place where he hoped to find answers to the questions that had haunted him for the past two years.
If there was one place in the world that could give him a clue about Hana's fate, it was there.
The bus slowed down, a sign that he was nearing his destination. Ezie exhaled deeply, trying to steady his thoughts.
He was no longer the same person he was two years ago.
The world had changed, and he had to change with it.
His battle was only just beginning.