Kai’s pulse raced as the whisper echoed in his mind. "It has begun." The words reverberated through his chest, as if they had originated from within his very bones. He looked at Mara, who had gone eerily still, her eyes wide, as though she had heard it too.

"Mara..." Kai started, his voice trembling. "Did you—did you hear that?"

She blinked rapidly, pulling herself out of her daze. "I—I don’t know. I didn’t hear anything, Kai. But I saw it. Something... shifted."

Kai felt a cold sweat begin to bead on his forehead. The air in the café had become unnaturally still, thick with tension. A soft hum seemed to vibrate in the walls, a sound that wasn't coming from the café’s equipment. It was something far deeper, resonating from the earth itself.

The laptop on the table before them flickered, its screen glitching as if struggling to maintain its form. Then, to both their horror, the runes began to shift once more. But this time, they weren’t just moving on the screen. They were appearing in the air around them, glowing faintly like phosphorescent mist.

Kai reached out instinctively, his hand trembling as he swiped at the air in front of him. His fingers brushed against something solid, and his eyes widened in disbelief. It wasn’t just an illusion. The symbols were real.

Mara stood up abruptly, knocking her chair backward. “Kai! What the hell is happening?”

Before he could answer, the café’s lights flickered once, twice—then went out, plunging them into darkness. A moment of eerie silence passed, broken only by the soft hum that now filled the entire room. It felt as if the world itself had taken a deep breath, waiting for something to happen.

And then, something did.

The air around them seemed to ripple, as though it was distorting under an unseen pressure. Kai’s breath caught in his throat. His mind raced. Was this the platform’s doing? Was it influencing the physical world now?

Suddenly, the café’s walls began to shake, not violently, but with a steady, rhythmic tremor that felt almost deliberate. The hum became louder, sharper. It wasn’t coming from the machines—it was coming from everywhere.

Mara grabbed his arm, her voice frantic. “Kai, what the hell is going on?!”

Kai could barely form words. His eyes locked on the swirling symbols now filling the air, becoming more defined, more tangible. His fingers itched to touch them again, to trace the glowing patterns. They beckoned him, an irresistible force pulling him closer to the truth he wasn’t prepared to face.

And then, as if in response to his thoughts, the room began to shift. The café—the walls, the tables, the very floor beneath them—faded away, dissolving like mist in the wind. Kai blinked, feeling a sickening lurch in his stomach, as the space around them stretched and twisted.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

He was no longer in the café.

They stood in a vast, endless landscape of black sand. The sky above them was a swirling, tumultuous mass of dark clouds, crackling with energy. The air smelled ancient, almost metallic, like something primordial that had been forgotten by time.

Mara’s voice trembled. “Where are we? This—this isn’t real.”

But it was real, and Kai knew it. He could feel it. The symbols had taken them here—somewhere beyond the fabric of their world. The platform had merged with something much older, something much more powerful. It wasn’t just a digital space anymore. It was a doorway to something far beyond comprehension.

The whispers grew louder now, louder than ever before, until they filled Kai’s mind completely. His head throbbed with the intensity of it. The whispers were no longer fragmented; they were now coherent, calling out to him.

“You are the heir.”

“You have opened the gate.”

“The power is yours to command.”

Kai’s heart pounded in his chest. His mind was racing. “No, no! This isn’t what I wanted!” His voice broke the silence, but it did nothing to stop the onslaught of noise, the relentless pull of the runes in the air.

Mara backed away, her eyes wild. “What did you do, Kai? What have you done?!”

Kai couldn’t answer. He was paralyzed by the overwhelming force that seemed to be closing in on him from all sides. The air was thick with energy, and his body felt lighter, as though gravity itself was no longer holding him down. He could feel his thoughts slipping, his mind becoming a blur as the power of the platform consumed him.

Suddenly, the swirling clouds above them parted, revealing a figure.

It was humanoid in shape, but its features were shrouded in darkness. Its form flickered like a shadow, shifting and warping as though it was made of smoke. And yet, Kai could sense its immense presence—the power that radiated from it was unlike anything he had ever felt before. It was ancient, eternal.

“You have awakened me,” the figure intoned, its voice like the rustling of leaves in a forgotten forest. “I am the one you seek. The one who has waited for centuries.”

Kai could barely breathe. “What—what are you?” His voice was barely a whisper, but it echoed in the vast emptiness around them.

The figure’s form twisted and shifted until it took on the semblance of a person—a man, tall and imposing, with eyes that glowed like molten gold. He stepped forward, his feet sinking slightly into the black sand with each step.

“I am the Guardian,” the figure said. “The keeper of the ancient power that lies within your platform. You, Kai Carter, have unlocked the code, the door to the forgotten. And now, the power is yours. You are the heir to this legacy.”

Kai staggered back, his mind reeling. “No… I didn’t—I didn’t mean to—”

The Guardian raised a hand, and in an instant, Kai felt the air around him shift. The symbols that had been floating in the air merged together, forming a complex pattern before him. They weren’t just symbols anymore. They were keys—keys to something immense.

“You are not alone, Kai,” the Guardian’s voice echoed. “There are others who have come before you, and others who will come after you. You have unlocked a cycle, a force that transcends time. The power is not just in the platform—it is in you. And now, it is your destiny to wield it.”

Kai felt the weight of the words crash into him, his knees buckling beneath him as the world around him spun. “I—I can’t do this,” he whispered, his voice breaking.

But the Guardian only smiled, a slow, eerie grin that sent chills down Kai’s spine. “It is too late for choice. The power is already inside you, Kai. The ancient code has chosen you. And now, you will either rise… or fall.”

Kai’s vision blurred as the figure stepped closer, his golden eyes gleaming with an unsettling promise. The power—the true power of the platform—was now in his grasp. But with it came a responsibility far greater than anything Kai had ever imagined.

And in that moment, he realized: the real game had just begun