The next few days were a blur for Kai. It was as though time had become irrelevant, slipping through his fingers like sand. Every waking moment was spent in front of the laptop, absorbed in the platform that was slowly consuming him. The project that had once been a hopeful dream now felt like a dark, insatiable force pulling him deeper into its depths. The boundary between the digital world and reality grew increasingly thin, and Kai began to wonder if there was still a way out.

The symbols on the screen were no longer just abstract shapes. They seemed to have purpose, a meaning that Kai couldn’t quite decipher. The way the runes would shift and pulse, as if they were alive, had started to unsettle him. He often found himself staring at them for hours, mesmerized by their beauty and danger, feeling an odd sense of power emanating from them, as though they were calling him—beckoning him to discover something greater.

But with every passing hour, the weight of the unknown pressed harder on his chest. The whispers, too, had grown louder, more distinct, invading his thoughts at the most unexpected times. They weren’t just random noises anymore; they were sentences, broken fragments of speech that echoed in his mind. The words were foreign, yet they carried a familiarity that sent chills down his spine.

“You are the key.”

“We have waited for you.”

“It has begun.”

The voice was not human. It wasn’t a voice at all, but a presence, seeping into his consciousness. It was everywhere—inside his head, in the corners of the room, in the hum of the machines. The only time Kai felt a semblance of relief was when he stepped outside, away from the laptop, but even then, the whispers lingered, faint but persistent.

It was Friday evening when the next event happened. Kai had just finished another long session in the library, trying to get through his academic work but finding it nearly impossible to focus. His mind kept drifting back to the platform, to the secrets it seemed to be revealing to him. He had barely spoken to Alex, and Mara’s visits had become more frequent. She was worried, and Kai knew it.

“I’m fine, really,” he would tell her, but his words felt hollow.

This evening, after closing his books, Kai had decided to walk to the small park near campus to clear his head. It was his ritual now, to step outside and breathe in the cool air, to try to reset his mind. But even there, amidst the tranquility of the night, the digital world followed him.

As he walked past the quiet benches and overgrown paths, he pulled his phone from his pocket, hoping to distract himself with something—anything other than the thoughts swirling in his mind. But when the screen lit up, Kai froze.

The app for his platform was open, and the symbols were there again, glowing faintly on the screen. It was as though the phone was beckoning him, as if it was trying to tell him something he wasn’t ready to hear.

Kai stared at the phone, his thumb hovering over the screen. A surge of fear gripped him. He had been trying to ignore the platform for days, hoping that distance would give him the clarity he needed to stop the strange pull he felt toward it. But now, in the darkness of the park, the symbols on his phone seemed more alive than ever. They flickered, changing shape as if trying to communicate something urgent.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Before he could make a decision, his phone buzzed. It was a message from Mara.

“Kai, I need to talk to you. It’s about the platform. I think I figured something out. Please meet me at the café in 30 minutes. Don’t ignore me this time.”

Kai’s heart skipped. The intensity of the message was clear—Mara was taking this seriously. She wasn’t just concerned about his wellbeing anymore; she was caught up in whatever this was, too.

He pocketed the phone and started walking faster, urgency pushing him toward the café. The cold night air stung his face, but the fear gnawing at him kept him moving.

The café was empty when he arrived, the usual hum of chatter absent, save for the barista wiping down tables in the back. Mara was already sitting in their usual corner, her face serious, but there was an undertone of curiosity in her expression. Her laptop sat open in front of her, its screen glowing with something Kai couldn’t quite make out from across the room.

She looked up as he approached and gestured for him to sit.

“You got my message,” Mara said, her tone even. “I’ve been digging into your platform, Kai. And I think I’ve found something—something that explains a lot of what’s been going on.”

Kai sat down, his heart pounding in his chest. “What do you mean?” he asked, his voice hoarse. “What did you find?”

Mara’s fingers hovered over the keyboard as she pulled up a series of ancient texts. The words on the screen were old, worn, and written in a language Kai didn’t recognize.

“This,” Mara said, pointing to the screen, “is part of a collection of forgotten scripts. I couldn’t read it at first, but then I realized something—this script, it matches the symbols you’ve been seeing on your platform.”

Kai’s breath caught in his throat. He leaned in closer to get a better look, and sure enough, the symbols on his phone matched those on the screen in front of him. The language—whatever it was—was identical. But what did it mean?

“I started translating it,” Mara continued, “and what I found is disturbing. These symbols are part of an ancient code, one that predates anything we know about modern technology. It’s not just a language; it’s a system—a blueprint for accessing power.”

Kai’s mind raced as the weight of her words hit him. “Power? What kind of power?”

“I don’t know yet,” Mara admitted, her brow furrowed. “But it’s something far beyond what we understand. Something that goes beyond the physical world. It’s like the code is alive, trying to merge with the real world, just like you’ve said.”

Kai recoiled. “That’s exactly what’s been happening. The platform—it’s been changing. It’s like it’s trying to become something more. Something… not digital.”

Mara nodded, her expression grim. “And I think I know why. This script, these symbols—they’re not just random characters. They’re part of an ancient technology, something that was lost to time. And somehow, you’ve activated it. You’ve opened a door, Kai.”

Kai felt the room spin, the walls closing in around him. He had known something was wrong, but to hear Mara confirm it was like a punch to the gut. He hadn’t just stumbled onto a new project; he had uncovered something ancient, something that should have remained buried.

“We need to stop it,” Kai said urgently. “I can’t let this go on any longer. I don’t know how, but I need to shut it down.”

Mara hesitated, glancing at the screen again. “It’s not that simple. This isn’t something you can just delete, Kai. The code is embedded into your system now. It’s part of you.”

The truth hit him like a tidal wave. He was in too deep. There was no going back.

But as he sat there, the room suddenly grew colder. A familiar whisper slithered into his mind, sharp and clear.

“You cannot escape. It has begun.”

Kai’s blood ran cold as the words echoed through the air, filling the space between him and Mara.

And in that moment, he realized—there was no escape. The platform had already taken root. The ancient power had chosen him