Chapter 2 — The World After the Crack
The sky did not heal.
By morning, the fracture remained—a thin silver scar splitting the heavens like a blade mark across glass. It shimmered faintly, pulsing once every few minutes, as if something on the other side was breathing.
Kai hadn't slept.
He stood on the rooftop of his apartment building, cold wind brushing against his face, eyes locked on the scar in the sky. The air felt different now. Thicker. Alive. When he inhaled, something cool and electric slid into his lungs and settled deep in his chest.
Below, the city had changed overnight.
Car alarms blared in distant streets. Sirens wailed. Power flickered across entire districts. People gathered outside, pointing upward, whispering in fear.
And beneath it all—there was pressure.
A faint, invisible weight pressing down on the world.
Kai closed his eyes.
Breathe in.
The strange energy responded.
It flowed toward him.
Not violently.
Not wildly.
But willingly.
Like it recognized him.
Suddenly—
A pulse exploded inside his body.
His veins burned. His bones vibrated. The rooftop beneath his feet cracked as invisible force rippled outward.
Kai gasped, dropping to one knee.
Information flooded his mind.
Not words.
Instinct.
Circulation paths.
Breathing rhythms.
A method.
A cultivation technique.
He understood it without learning it.
The energy in the air had a name.
Spiritual Qi.
And his body—
Was absorbing it.
Fast.
Too fast.
Across the city, screams erupted.
People were collapsing.
Some bleeding from their noses.
Some convulsing.
Others… changing.
Kai gritted his teeth and forced himself to calm down.
Breathe slow.
Guide it.
Control it.
He sat cross-legged on the rooftop, ignoring the chaos below. The technique in his mind unfolded like a map.
Energy gathered around him, forming a faint spiral.
A small vortex.
The scar in the sky pulsed again.
And this time—
It answered him.
A thin thread of silver light descended from the crack and struck his body.
Silently.
No one noticed.
But inside Kai—
Something shattered.
A barrier he didn't know existed broke apart.
His senses expanded.
He could hear heartbeats in nearby buildings.
Feel movement through walls.
See faint streams of energy flowing through every living thing.
He opened his eyes.
The world had color now.
Not visible to normal sight—
But layered.
Spiritual veins ran beneath the earth like glowing rivers.
The sky shimmered with drifting currents.
People below were flickering embers.
And Kai—
Was a rising flame.
Suddenly—
A roar shook the city.
Deep.
Ancient.
Not human.
Kai turned toward the sound.
In the distance, a building collapsed.
Something massive moved within the dust cloud.
His heartbeat quickened.
The world wasn't just awakening.
It was changing.
And not everything waking up—
Was human.
Kai stood slowly.
Energy surged within him, more stable now. Controlled.
But far from mastered.
The crack in the sky pulsed again.
Stronger.
Wider.
And for the briefest moment—
Kai felt something look back.
Watching.
Measuring.
Judging.
A cold certainty settled in his chest.
This wasn't random.
This wasn't natural disaster.
This was arrival.
And somehow—
He had been chosen first.
The roar came again.
Closer.
Kai stepped toward the edge of the rooftop.
Below, panic spread through the streets.
Above, heaven fractured further.
And in his chest—
Spiritual Qi gathered like a storm waiting to break.
Chapter 2 End
The world has awakened.
And so has he.