Alex hated routine.
Same road.
Same noise.
Same pointless conversations.
Every day felt like a copy of the last.
He walked down the crowded street, hands in his pockets, half-listening to the chaos around him—vendors shouting, cars honking, someone arguing loudly over nothing.
"People really have too much energy," he muttered.
His phone buzzed.
He didn't check it immediately.
Probably another useless notification.
It buzzed again.
And again.
"…Alright, relax."
He pulled it out.
The screen was black.
No lock screen.
No apps.
Just a single line of white text:
TIME SYNC ERROR
Alex frowned.
"Great. Now my phone thinks it's a scientist."
He tapped the screen.
Nothing.
He pressed the power button.
Still nothing.
"Dead?"
He shook it slightly.
The text flickered.
Then changed.
RECALIBRATING…
"Yeah, sure. Do whatever you want," Alex sighed, slipping it back into his pocket.
That's when something felt… off.
The noise.
It was fading.
Not suddenly—slowly.
Like someone was turning down the volume of the world.
The honking softened.
The voices blurred.
Footsteps disappeared.
Alex stopped walking.
"…What?"
He turned around.
The street was still there.
But something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The cars—
Were gone.
The road—
Looked cracked and uneven.
The buildings—
Older. Worn down. Different.
Dust floated in the air like it hadn't moved in years.
Alex blinked once.
Twice.
"…Okay."
He looked around again.
"…Okay, this is not normal."
A metallic sound echoed behind him.
Clang.
Alex froze.
Slowly… he turned.
Standing in the middle of the road—
Was a man.
Not just any man.
He wore full armor.
Old. Heavy. Scratched metal.
A sword rested in his hand.
His eyes scanned the surroundings with confusion… then locked onto Alex.
For a moment—
Neither of them moved.
Then the man said something.
A language Alex had never heard before.
"…Yeah," Alex raised his hands slightly.
"I don't speak… whatever that is."
The man frowned.
Tightened his grip on the sword.
And took a step forward.
Alex took a step back.
"Okay—listen—we can talk about this—"
The man suddenly raised his sword.
"…Nope. We cannot talk about this."
Alex turned to run—
And the world glitched.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
Everything flickered.
Like a broken screen.
The air distorted.
The ground shifted.
Reality cracked for a split second—
And snapped back.
Sound exploded back into existence.
Cars honked loudly.
People shouted.
The heat returned.
Alex stumbled forward, catching himself.
Breathing fast.
He turned around.
The man—
Was gone.
The road—
Normal.
The buildings—
Modern again.
Everything…
Back to normal.
"…What…"
He stood there, frozen.
Heart pounding.
Mind blank.
"…What just happened?"
His phone vibrated again.
Slowly… very slowly… he pulled it out.
The screen was still black.
But the text had changed.
ERROR LEVEL: 2
PHASE SHIFT DETECTED
Alex stared at it.
A chill ran down his spine.
"This isn't funny anymore."
The text flickered again.
One final line appeared.
NEXT EVENT INCOMING
Alex's grip tightened around the phone.
"…Next event?"
A loud crash echoed somewhere down the street.
People started shouting.
Not normal shouting.
Panicked shouting.
Alex looked up.
And for the first time—
He saw it clearly.
At the far end of the road…
The air itself was… tearing.
Like invisible cracks spreading across reality.
And through those cracks—
Something was coming through.
Alex swallowed.
"…Yeah."
He slowly stepped back.
"I think my life is officially over."
The cracks widened.
The world trembled.
And whatever was on the other side…
Was about to enter his world.
End of Chapter 1