Sil sat on the balcony, eating cold dumplings straight from the plastic box.
Music played from his phone—some old Chinese song he'd been looping for the past three days. He didn't know the singer's name. Didn't care. The lyrics weren't even important. It was just… quiet.
The sunset was slow today. Like it forgot what it was supposed to do.
He liked that.
Peaceful, boring days were his thing. Wake up. Watch the market. Trade a little. Eat. Watch the market again. Maybe sketch something. Maybe nap. That was life.
Simple. Empty. Easy to repeat.
Until she showed up.
They met a year ago.
She was sitting on a bench at the riverside, holding a cane and looking like she didn't know whether to cry or laugh. The wind kept blowing her hair into her mouth. Sil almost walked past her—almost.
But he didn't.
He stopped, turned, and asked if she was okay.
She said she'd dropped her phone somewhere. Couldn't hear where it fell.
He found it under the bench. Wiped off a leaf. Handed it to her.
She smiled.
That was all.
He didn't even ask her name that day. Just left after nodding once. But for some reason, he couldn't forget her face.
Maybe it was pity.
Maybe it was because she was really pretty.
Maybe it was just one of those things that happen to guys sometimes.
She stuck in his head.
Now, she was part of his life.
Three months together. Still felt unreal.
Sil never thought of himself as someone who'd end up with a girlfriend—much less one like her. She was loud. Messy. Always playing music in the background. Always asking questions.
And blind. But she never let that be the interesting part of her.
Her name was Li Mei.
She said it like she was daring people not to remember it.
Tonight, she was coming over.
Sil glanced at the clock. 6:11 p.m.
She usually showed up at 6:30, earlier if she got tired of arguing with her sister. Mei hated being fussed over. Hated hospitals more. But the surgery was coming.
Two months.
The doctor didn't promise anything. Could go either way.
She acted like she didn't care.
But Sil knew she did.
And honestly… he cared too much.
He went inside. Cleaned the little apartment. Changed shirts. Lit the lavender candle she liked.
At 6:28, she buzzed from downstairs.
Sil opened the door without saying anything.
A minute later, her steps padded up the stairs.
He opened the door.
"Yo," Mei said, already pulling off her shoes. "Your neighbor still smokes like his lungs are rented."
"Yeah."
"Gonna kill me before the surgery does."
Sil smiled faintly. Took her bag.
She walked in like it was her place. Dropped onto the couch. Kicked her feet up.
"Smells like lavender," she said.
"I lit it for you."
"Liar. You just like it now too."
"Maybe."
She leaned her head back and sighed.
"You cook?"
"No. Want noodles?"
"Only if you're making it."
Sil went into the kitchen.
She didn't say anything for a while. Just listened to the water boil.
After a moment, she called out.
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"When I get the surgery…"
He paused, hand on the spice jar.
"…What?"
"If it works, you'll be the first thing I see, right?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Then, quietly:
"I hope so."
She smiled. "Good."
Sil woke up before the alarm again.
It was one of those mornings where the air felt wrong but not in a way you could explain. Like the sky was watching. The curtains moved a little even though the windows were shut.
He checked the market halfheartedly. Red again.
Whatever.
He opened the fridge, drank straight from a half-full bottle of soy milk, and stared at the news playing silently on the laptop screen.
Big words in all caps. Headlines bouncing around like rubber balls.
"ONE-MILE-WIDE PORTAL APPEARS IN MONGOLIA""MILITARY BLOCKS ACCESS TO RIFT SITE""WORLD LEADERS HOLD URGENT MEETING""IS THIS FIRST CONTACT?"
Sil rubbed his eyes. Sighed.
He'd heard something about it last night, but now it was everywhere. Every feed, every phone, every damn conversation on the street.
Some kind of glowing hole in the sky. Just… opened. No warning. Just there. Like a window someone forgot to close.
He muted the tab.
Mei shuffled into the room wrapped in his hoodie, hair still damp from her shower.
"You left the water running," she mumbled.
"Did I?"
"You did."
She sat down next to him on the couch without asking. Her cane was leaning against the wall, but she didn't need it in here. She knew the room better than he did.
"Is it cold today?" she asked.
"A bit."
"Feels weird."
Sil didn't say anything.
She leaned into him lightly. He let her.
"Did something happen?"
"…Kind of."
"Is it about that crack thing?"
He looked at her, surprised.
She grinned. "Just because I can't see doesn't mean I'm offline."
"Right."
Mei rested her head on his shoulder.
They sat like that for a while.
The sky outside was too still. Even the birds were quiet.
Later, when they were eating instant noodles by the balcony door, Mei asked:
"Do you think it's aliens?"
"No idea."
"Would be kind of funny if they came here and then left because the food sucked."
Sil laughed a little. "Yeah. Or maybe they came for the food."
"Then they're already smarter than us."
He watched her slurp noodles and wipe her mouth with his shirt sleeve.
She didn't seem scared.
But he knew she felt it too. The shift in the air. That weird static hum under everything. Like the planet was holding its breath.
And then, the peaceful moments broke
It started with nothing.
Just silence, like every other moment with Mei.
She was resting her head on my shoulder. I could feel her breathing, slow and steady.
Then—
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Pain.SO MUCH PAIN.
Liquid. Moving. Ripping. Like someone dumped molten metal into my veins. Like lightning was chewing its way through every bone, every nerve, every goddamn corner of my body.
I don't even remember falling.
One second I was sitting.
The next—I was on the floor, arms flailing like I was drowning in air, my body twitching, kicking, breaking itself.
Mei was screaming. I think.
I couldn't hear her. My ears were ringing. Buzzing. No, not buzzing—roaring. Like something was inside my skull, trying to break out.
I felt her grabbing my face. Calling my name over and over. Crying.
But her voice was underwater now. Distant. Warped.
I couldn't scream anymore.
Slowly....I couldn't even feel my body anymore.
Beep… beep… beep…
I opened my eyes.
Ceiling tiles.
Too white. Too bright.
I blinked. My throat was dry as hell.
Tried to speak.
Didn't work.
My body felt… off. Not broken. Just—light. Like I was floating but tied down.
Memories came back like waterfall
"So, did I become a mutant or something?" I murmured, trying to crack a joke to ease my nervousness. "Hopefully, I don't get sliced up for research." Not even ten seconds passed before a strong wave of sleepiness hit me, and I couldn't help but fall asleep.
When I woke up the second time, Mei was asleep, head resting on the edge of the bed. Her hand still holding mine.
There was a faint buzzing sound. Not the machines. Something else.
The window was cracked open. From outside, I could hear shouting. Sirens. Cars honking like traffic had stopped moving altogether. Helicopters somewhere in the sky.
I turned my head slowly. Mei feel the movement and woke up.
"You're up again," she mumbled, not opening her eyes. "You scared me. Twice now."
"What happened?" I asked. My voice a little shaky
Mei sat up, rubbed her face. "I don't know. Everything's... insane."
She fumbled for the remote and turned on the hospital room's old TV.
Static.
Then signal.
News.
Every channel was on the same thing.
"Awakenings continue to rise across multiple countries—""Military forces are on standby—""One in a million, experts say—those who survive are changed forever."
The screen cut to shaky phone footage. A man on a street corner screaming, before erupting into blue flame. Another clip—someone's arm splitting open and growing a hard, scale-like shell. One woman turned to stone mid-conversation, caught mid-step. Another video: someone hovering off the ground, unconscious, surrounded by floating objects.
"This footage was taken just hours ago in Paris.""This one's Seoul. This one's Delhi.""And this… this happened in downtown Tokyo."
Every place. Every continent.
Mei listen to the news. Her face was pale.
"They said it's because of the crack," she said quietly. "The energy coming through. It's changing people. Warping us."
She looked at me.
"You think that's what happened to you?"
I didn't answer.
I turned my head toward the window.
Paused.
There was a building across the street. About twelve stories up. I could read the numbers on the side of a truck parked near it. Some delivery logo. A license plate. I could read the text on a soda can in the hand of some guy leaning on a bench far down the block.
I sat up slowly. Mei looked at me with concern, as if asking, "What's wrong?" "Don't worry," I reassured her, patting her head. "I just want to take a look."
I looked down at the floor. My glasses weren't there.
I touched my face. Nope. Not wearing them.
I used to be nearly blind without them.
I looked back outside. Narrowed my eyes. Watched a pigeon land on a metal railing across the street, easy fifty meters away. Could see the scratch on its beak. Could see dirt on its feathers. Could even see a piece of bread it had stuck to its foot.
"…The hell."
I leaned back into the bed. Quiet. Staring at the ceiling now.
Didn't say anything for a while.
I stared at the saline bag. Focused on the clamp holding the tube shut. Not thinking much. Just staring.
Then my stomach got tight. Breath slowed without meaning to.
Something in my vision locked in. Like my eyes held onto the object. There was no glow. No sound. Just pressure behind the eyes. A weird feeling like something was connecting.
A moment later, my chest felt heavy. Like I was about to do something, but hadn't moved.
And in his head—
I felt something click.
A question.
"Do you want to extract?"
It wasn't a voice.
Just the idea. Clear and cold.
I blinked hard. Pulled my gaze away.
The feeling vanished.
I exhaled, suddenly realizing I stopped breathing
I wiped my face with my palm.
"God , If this is a dream , this shit is too realistic! Mei , I think I turn into human telescope!"
"Better than Samsung's zoom 100 times?" Mei cracked a joke
"Umm... I don't think so"
"Also sorry" I said
"For what?" Mei reply while cutting fruit for me. Don't ask , Mei can use knife proficiently even if she can't see.
"To make you worry and miss your show,"I replied, feeling terrible. Mei was an incredible pianist. She'd poured her heart into practicing for this chance to play at the national talent show. I was supposed to be there with her, but now it was almost night and the show was nearly over. Even if we rushed, we wouldn't make it in time.
"Say 'I love you' at a time like this. My one and only lovely boyfriend is screaming in pain, then lying on a hospital bed not knowing what happened. There's no way I can leave you and just mind my own business. Anyway, I don't think that show matters anymore after all these alien things." Mei said. While feeding me the apple she cut
"I love you Mei" I can't help but said aloud
"I love you too" Mei chuckles and lean into kiss
______________________________________________________________________________________
Awakened Ability: "Eyes of Miracles"
This is a bloodline-type ability that grants the wielder extraordinarily enhanced vision. Their eyesight becomes remarkably strong, allowing them to see everything in detail and clearly without correction. With focus, they can perceive objects clearly from distances of up to half a mile.
The core power of the "Eyes of Miracles" is the ability to exchange anything and everything out of nothing. This exchange requires an equivalent price in energy. The value of an item is determined by its inherent energy. This energy cannot be drawn from the air; it must be contained within an item, person, or object.
To utilize this ability:
The wielder converts an object into pure energy by establishing a static link with it. During this process, neither the wielder nor the object (if it's not a living, uncontrolled entity) can move. If move , it will be fail.
The harvested energy can be stored within the Eyes of Miracles and used at any time.
This stored energy can then be reshaped to manifest any desired object.
The more complex, detailed, or "law-breaking" the desired object is, the greater the energy cost. If you know the working principles of an object u desire , u can lower the cost.