Akkeyito ran as fast as he could. Because of the wolf's sudden attack, he had dropped all his hard-earned loot and some of his tools and weapons, leaving him with only his knife.

  ‘Damnit, that damn wolf.’

  Wincing in pain, Akkeyito pushed himself up to his feet, clutching his injured shoulder.

  ‘I must get out of here. Who knows how long it’ll take for that crazy wolf to catch up to me? But… That wolf was so fast, yet it still hasn’t caught up to me…’

  Akkeyito hesitated for a moment, shifting slightly to glance over his shoulder. A dark, ominous aura seemed to permeate the air, sending chills down his spine.

  ‘This is so strange… The forest feels strange… I’ve spent my entire life here, yet this is the first time I’ve ever seen creatures like those two. Even Grandpa never mentioned anything about them.’

  With one final glance over his shoulder, Akkeyito bolted to the forest

  ***

  Akkeyito had been running for about more than an hour already, taking sharp turns and detours hoping the possibility of throwing off the wolf. Ever since the attack, he had mistakenly run in the opposite direction from where he’d originally come, leaving him stranded and forcing him to circle the area to avoid the wolf.

  His wound, now covered with thick, large leaves acting as a makeshift bandage, throbbed with every movement as he carefully threaded his way through the forest.

  'Damn, it’s already been an hour. If I don’t make it back in another hour, Grandpa might come looking for me. If Grandpa encounters that damn wolf... it’ll be dangerous, even for him. And with his age, he won’t be able to run away.'

  Knitting his brows in worry, Akkeyito quickened his pace, scanning his surroundings for any signs of the wolf or a path that might lead him back home.

  But as soon as Akkeyito took a step. The ground began to tremble.

  Akkeyito’s body froze, his chest tightening as his heartbeat thundered in his ears. The trembling grew stronger and stronger, turning into a full-blown earthquake.

  The massive and peaceful forest trees swayed violently, their roots straining against the shifting earth. Leaves rained down in a chaotic cascade, and distant crashes echoed like rolling thunder throughout the forest.

  With a trembling voice, he whispered.

  ‘What's happening?’

  Cracks split and ran through the ground where Akkeyito stood. Panicking, Akkeyito jumps back to safety and looks ahead.

  There is something incomprehensible happening before his eyes. A faint, glowing spark hovered in midair, growing brighter and larger with each passing second. Little by little, it stretched, rising high into the sky.

  Forming what looked like a jagged wound torn through the fabric of reality.

  The crack radiated an aura so ominous that Akkeyito forgot to breathe. It pulsed, as if it was alive, beckoning Akkeyito to come near it sending shivers down his spine, every instinct screaming for him to stay away and immediately run away.

  For the first time in his life, Akkeyito felt fear.

  Not of the forest.

  Not of the creatures that lurked within it.

  But of the unknown.

  And this… was only the beginning.

  ***

  At the foot of a small mountain in the dense forest, a small cabin stood, nestled among the trees.

  Inside, an old man sat, quietly his hands moving.

  In one hand, held a machete, its blade catching the dim light. On the other hand, a clean cloth, which he used to carefully wipe the weapon.

  The man wore a simple vest and underneath it was a white shirt, and a sleek trouser made of a plain fabric.

  His face was lined with deep wrinkles, a testament to the years he had lived. Yet, despite the passage of time, his demeanor still radiated confidence, unwavering and resolute.

  This old man is Akkeyito’s grandfather.

  He shifted slightly, his gaze looking at the clock hanging on the wall. Below it mounted in a careful display, hung a well-worn hunting rifle.

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  With a sigh, he muttered.

  “That brat, he sure is taking his time.”

  The old man knitted his brows, his expression hardening. After all, it's already been a few hours since Akkeyito left and hunted on his own.

  Even tho he knows that Akkeyito is quite skilled remarkably so for him only being in his late teens. He still can't help but worry about his grandson.

  With a quiet sigh, he placed the machete and cloth down on the wooden table in front of him.

  The room fell into silence.

  Then, with a creak of the old wooden chair, he pushes himself up.

  Just as he was about to step forward. The ground slightly trembled beneath him, the mugs displayed on the shelves rattled, and then it gradually turned into a violent earthquake. Mugs crushed onto the floor, shattering on impact. The clock hanging on the wall swayed widely before plummeting and hitting the ground.

  He immediately leaves the cabin, after leaving through the front door. The forest, the peaceful forest is now in chaos, with birds flying frantically in all directions and some convulsing as they fall.

  “What.. is going on?”

  In the distance, a massive cracked stood tall tearing the sky apart, can’t believe what he was seeing the old man took a step back. Remembering something, his gaze darted to the side, landing on his dog.

  “Inu! Let’s go!”

  But Inu didn’t move. The dog lay motionless on the ground, completely unresponsive.

  As he knelt beside him, he reached out his old hands to caress Inu.

  “He’s alive...” He breathed in relief, he called out.

  “Hey, Inu!”

  He shook him gently but to no avail. Having a bad feeling about what's happening,

  He didn’t wait for another second, he bolted back inside the cabin, grabbed his machete, the rifle that had fallen on the ground, and dashed toward the forest. Whatever was happening, he first must find Akkeyito.

  But as soon as he was just about to enter the forest. His vision blurred, and a sudden wave of dizziness crashed over him.

  Before he could take another step, his body collapsed.

  Just as he was losing consciousness, all he thought about was his grandson.

  His dog Inu who is at the doorstep lying around suddenly convulsed.

  ***

  The once quiet forest had descended into chaos. Even after the rift manifested, the earthquake showed no signs of stopping. The ground trembled violently beneath Akkeyito’s feet as he stood near the ominous crack.

  A suffocating fear gripped his chest. It felt as if an unseen force was reaching out, holding him in place whispering to him, urging him to stay.

  Beads of sweat trickled down his face. He had no idea what lay beyond the rift or what was about to emerge from it, but every instinct screamed at him to run.

  Mustering every ounce of willpower, he broke free from his paralysis and runs into the forest.

  ‘What the hell is that!? I need to stay away as far as I can to that thing! Just looking at it feels like I’m suffocating!’

  As he ran, panic gripping his chest, he noticed an even more unsettling sight. The animals around the area were behaving strangely.

  Deer rammed their heads into trees, its movements erratic and frenzied. Some other animals collapsed to the ground, motionless, as if dead. Birds fell from the sky, their bodies convulsing before they even hit the ground.

  While witnessing the scene around him Akkeyito feels even more dread.

  After putting a considerable amount of distance between himself and the ominous crack, he continued his escape through the forest. But his body, pushed to its limit betrayed him, taking also into consideration the blood he lost due to the wound on his shoulder. He stumbled forward crashing onto dirt.

  Gritting his teeth, he forced himself back up, only for a sudden, sharp pain in his head to assault him.

  ‘My head… it hurts.’

  As if the world was spinning, his vision blurred as a wave of dizziness washed over him. His limbs felt heavy, his breath, shallow. He steadied his feet and pushed himself forward to keep running, but his body refused to obey.

  Darkness crept into the edges of his vision. His legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the cold ground.

  Fighting to stay awake, he lifted a trembling hand as if reaching for something—someone.

  A single thought surfaced before everything faded to black.

  ‘Grandpa…’

  ***

  Unbeknownst to Akkeyito the very same phenomenon he experienced was unfolding across the world.

  Catastrophic earthquakes shook the planet, triggering devastating landslides along towering cliffs, tsunamis that swallowed coastal cities, and cracks of void manifesting in countless locations across the globe.

  Beneath the depths of the ocean, where no sunlight could ever reach, massive rifts split open on the seafloor. Different entities slithered through the dark abyss, their forms twisting and shifting as if awakening from an ancient slumber. The ocean stir violently, sending monstrous wave after wave toward the shores.

  High in the sky, the heavens themselves seemed fractured. Floating cracks of void shimmered ominously among the clouds, their presence distorting the very air around them.

  Aircrafts are pulled toward the unknown, vanishing into the cracks of the void, never to be seen again.

  Asia's largest metropolitan city, where millions of people live their daily lives, is now in chaos. Skyscrapers swayed violently against the quaking earth. Roads split open, entire buildings collapsing into the gaping chasms.

  The same happens in North America and other continents, Cities descend into panic. Even in the frozen wastelands of Antarctica, where life was thought to be untouched by civilization, the ice cracked open with deafening force. Cracks of void split through the endless white, devouring everything in its path.

  Nowhere was safe.

  Massive and small void cracks manifested indiscriminately, tearing through the land, sea, and sky. These rifts, regardless of size, were identical. Yet, there was one thing no human could see the eerie aura seeping through them.

  Mankind was completely caught off guard. No one knew what would happen next, and even more so, no one knew if they would survive long enough to find out.

  After what felt like an eternity, the earthquakes finally ceased, leaving cities in ruins.

  But eerily, after the destruction, silence reigned. There were no birds, no engines, no bustling voices, only an unsettling stillness.

  Strangely, every human lay motionless, as if the world itself had stopped.

  The aura seeping through the cracks had spread, enveloping nearly all of Earth.

  A silent shift rippled through the world, an unseen force rewriting the very fabric of existence.

  And with it—began the dawn of a new era.