Chapter warning: This chapter contains strong language and profanity, used to reflect the intensity and trauma of the characters' experiences. Reader discretion is advised.
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"Help… Help… Help me…" he whispered, overwhelmed by pain and exhaustion. He couldn't move anymore. He closed his eyes, memories of his family and friends flashing through his mind, their laughter, their smiles, all from just days ago. 'How did I end up here? he thought. We were just having fun… and now…'
A swarm of creatures descended upon him like a mountain crashing down.
Raia lost consciousness, and then—
"Die."
After that single word was uttered, the swooning monsters around him became lifeless in an instant. Flying monsters plummeted from the sky, and the giant worms stopped moving, hitting the ground like collapsing trees. Giant locusts rained down, littering the earth with their corpses.
And then… silence. Deafening silence.
Because of the chaos unleashed upon the world, the human population began to dwindle, nearly a billion deaths in a single day. It was the most catastrophic event in human history, claiming billions of lives and reducing infrastructure to rubble.
Everything was in chaos. The world had descended into complete disorder.
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Raia opened his eyes.
It was already daybreak.
His entire body ached, and he felt the crushing weight of the dead monsters piled on top of him. Summoning what little strength he had left, he crawled out of the rotting heap of flesh.
Light peeked through the sky, illuminating the road littered with corpses, both human and monster. Raia looked around, overwhelmed by revulsion. The air was thick with the stench of death, and cars and buildings were torn apart as if a massive earthquake or tornado had passed through.
He suddenly remembered his classmates and ran toward the school. Dead students lay everywhere. Some of them were people he had known well. The sight broke his heart. Desperate, he climbed up the school building. There were eleven classrooms in total. He checked each one, finding only a few bodies. Weirdly, the number of dead was far less than he expected, and he couldn't find his close friends among them.
Devastated, he began to cry.
'Keep your sh*t together! There are still survivors. The army or rescue teams might have already taken them to a shelter,' said the mysterious voice inside Raia's head.
He froze, he remembered that voice. The one that had helped him.
"What are you? Why are you in my head?" Raia asked warily, still unsure if he could trust it.
'Calm down. I'll explain everything.' The voice sounded reassuring.
'I am what you call your Inner Self, your True Origin Power.' Raia blinked, confused by the strange explanation. 'Ugh… This is going to take a while. Go find a mirror,' the voice grumbled. Raia, already close to a restroom, stepped inside and stood before a cracked but intact mirror.
At first, his reflection seemed normal... until its expression changed into something more serious.
"I can communicate to you like this," said his reflection in the mirror.
"So… what do you want to know?" Raia gathered himself and unleashed a barrage of questions.
"What the h*ll just happened? What are those things? What the fck did I eat? What's going on with my body? What the sh*t is that 'Origin' thing? And lastly… what the h*ll are you?"
The reflection sighed deeply.
It was going to be a long explanation.
"Let's start with what happened to the world. What you just witnessed is called the Great Catastrophe. In some cultures, it's known as The Reversion, because it's like the world has reverted to a primal age. Kill or be killed. Hunt or be hunted. It's happening all over the globe, and on the first day alone, billions have died. Another wave will come today."
"What?!" Raia was stunned. The truth seemed unreal but so had everything he'd seen in the past day.
"As for the creatures, you're right, they're mutated. But not in the way science usually describes. Have you heard of 'natural selection'? Survival of the fittest? Those that can adapt to extreme environments thrive and pass on their traits."
"What's happening now is like an accelerated version of that. Evolution and mutation normally take time and energy. That leads me to your fifth question." He continued. Raia listened, still reeling but growing more focused.
"The thing that caused their immediate evolution is called Origin. It's a form of energy that pushes a being's potential beyond its natural limits allowing it to gain new forms and strength. I don't know exactly where the Origins came from, but I know there are three types: The Primal Origin, The Evolved Origin, and The True Origin."
"That thing you ate yesterday, the brain of the Giant Worm was packed with both Primal and Evolved Origins. By consuming it, you absorbed that energy, which made you stronger." The reflection paused, letting Raia absorb the shocking truth.
"And then?" Raia asked eagerly. He was completely hooked now, oddly even excited. The reflection noted it, slightly disturbed by how quickly Raia had moved on from the trauma.
"Right… Each type of Origin has a different effect on the human body: Primal Origin is the most common. It enhances physical attributes; strength, speed, durability, and endurance. Evolved Origin improves the senses and can even extend your lifespan. It's rarer than Primal. True Origin is the rarest and most powerful. It grants supernatural abilities. For plants and animals, Primal and Evolved Origins just make them stronger or more advanced versions of themselves. But True Origin is different, it gives any lifeform, even animals and plants, the potential for supernatural power. That's why it's so important... and dangerous. It's your best weapon to survive this catastrophe." Raia smiled. He looked thrilled.
The reflection blinked. 'Weird,' it muttered.
Then Raia's expression grew serious again.
"One more thing… why were those monsters all chasing me?" The reflection's face turned serious too.