After the photograph burned away, something unusual occurred, as if everything had been swallowed by an overwhelming silence.
The computer screen, once brimming with data on variables and experimental results, now glowed a deep, eerie blue.
The sound of the photograph's burning had vanished entirely, leaving no trace of its existence. The air, once thicked with the oppressive heat of the creeping flames, now carried an unsettling coldness, a sense of chill that sank deeply, made his hand tremble uncontrollably.
"Ayo, what's the heck going on?" he mumbled, his eyes darting around the room, with his mouth agape as his mind struggled to process the inexplicable.
The once steady glow of the light bulbs, which had bathed the room in soft illumination, now flickered erratically before completely shutting off . The flickering lights seemed to respond to the fading flame, strangely.
And just like that, the room was plunged into a darkness deeper than mere absence of light.
Even worse, as the student glanced around the laboratory, a strange sound happened, shattered the suffocating silence.
His shadow, once clear and solid, now seemed to dissolve into the air. As he looked down at his hand, he saw it flickering, trembling, a sensation that made his heart race, his breath quickening with terror.
"You are the chosen one. We--- Love you--." The voice crackled through the stillness.
A strange presence seemed to materialize from nowhere, its tone oddly charming, soft enough to almost make him smile, yet distorted enough to send a violent shiver down his spine. His breath hitched, choking on the fear that seized him. The atmosphere felt as though it were collapsing in on him, its weight pressing down with unbearable force. Every nerve in his body screamed for escape.
"Wait… did I want to be the chosen one?"
His voice faltered, barely a whisper, swallowed by the oppressive air. Was he truly trapped in a delusion, or was this something so far worse? The uncertainty gnawed at him, gnashing at his mind. He was torn, his body desperate to flee, to escape this distorted place, yet his mind rebelled against the inexplicable pull to stay, to understand the phenomenon that had shattered everything he knew. He attempted to move, but his body betrayed him. When he attempted to take a step, his leg trembled and froze, an icy grip locking him in place.
It wasn't enough; the phenomenon had escalated into something far worse. After the initial wave of fear, everything around him began to glitch. The chilling air that once filled the room had vanished, leaving behind an unsettling emptiness.
His gaze shifted to a nearby laboratory desk, which was slowly dissolving into nothingness. A white neon light flickered briefly, illuminating its disappearance. As the desk faded completely, a string of binary numbers, repeating twos appeared, floating in the void where it once stood.
The world around him was becoming more surreal, less like a mere glitch and more like a twisted distortion of reality, bending to forces beyond his comprehension.
"Is this… the end of the world??" he mumbled faintly, his voice barely above a whisper, laced with the helplessness.
A lump formed in his throat as his thoughts drifted.
" Mom… I'm sorry... I'm sorry for shutting myself away before I could fulfill your dream!!!!"
His sobs echoed in the empty laboratory, swallowed by the ever-growing void.
His body trembled, his movements blurring unnaturally. He clenched his jaw, frustration and desperation boiling within him.
"Oh, dang it, Move!" he gritted through his teeth, attempted to move his legs.
Then, amidst the chaos, the computer suddenly flickered to life. His breath caught. For a fleeting moment, hope flickered back into his heart. His determination, buried beneath fear, resurfaced. A faint smile tugged at his lips as he exhaled shakily. At least something still works…
"Finally! She's activated again, rights?"
he mumbled, a mix of relief and disbelief in his voice.
For a brief moment, a fragile sense of calm washed over him. The steady hum of the computer felt almost comforting, a tether to normalcy in this unraveling world.
But that peace was short-lived.
As if fate were toying with him, the screen flickered violently, revealing something entirely foreign. A strange website materialized, one he had never seen before. Its design was eerily unfamiliar, and its presence inexplicably wrong.
The fleeting hope that had anchored him shattered. Unease crawled up his spine, his hands turning clammy.
Then, a whisper, soft yet unnerving, brushed against his ears.
[This world is impermanent.]
The words sent a shiver through him, their weight pressing down with an unbearable truth.
The student, after hearing that, felt his confusion deepen to an insane degree, unsure of the meaning behind the strange sound.
His hand instinctively pressed against his forehead, as the burning tension surged through his mind, overwhelming his consciousness.
A twisted smile tugged at the corners of his lips, followed by a manic laugh, while faint tears bled from his eyes, as if he were on the verge of losing his sanity.
"Haha, I'm hAvIng FuN," he muttered faintly, his breath went shallower, in every time passing, over and over again.
For a brief moment, his mind slipped further into madness, and his eyes scanned the room desperately. He soon realized that the glitch had begun to consume every inch of the space around him. It crept forward, inching closer with each second that passed.
After the glitch crept closer, it finally reached the student's desk, tucked in the corner of the laboratory. The neon white light of the desk flickered briefly before being swallowed whole, consuming everything in its path. Even the closed-air around the laboratory seemed to vanish, turning into a vacuum as the glitch's wave spread rapidly across the room...
He took a deep breath, closing his eyes in a desperate.
There was absolutely no light outside the tunnel, not even the reflected of it.
The student falling to his knees, a twisted smile widening on his face, his sanity slipping as his thoughts overwhelmed him.
Silently, he begged for a chance avoid this distorted phenomenon, hoping if only for a fleeting moment, that he could evade the inevitable.
But it was too late.
The glitching wave surged forward, a relentless tide, swallowing him whole.
The glitch surged forward, swallowing the room. As the last remnants of distortion consumed the space, everything fell still. The once-erratic flickering lights extinguished, leaving only a white canvas. Silence settled in like a thick fog, smothering all sound.
The air, once thicked with tension, now felt oddly weightless, as if the very atmosphere had been stripped away, and everything that had vanished was now reduced to a binary code, a base of 2.
The boy slowly opened his eyes, only to find the background swallowed by emptiness. His fear and confusion had faded, replaced by a strange understanding. He knew what was happening, yet the crushing weight of unfulfilled ambition still lingered. He had failed to achieve his goal to become the greatest scientist, cut short by an unexpected turn of fate.
"Haha... I always wanted to be the greatest," he muttered, a bitter laugh escaping his lips. "I know it was just a dream, but... it's not so bad after all."
His voice carried a mix of relief and lingering ambition, as all the fears he once held had now unfolded, and he had already prepared himself for it.
From the vast emptiness, a geometric shape began to materialize. A stygian-blue light radiated from its edges, gradually fading in from each corner. After a brief moment, it fully solidified before him.
The student stood frozen, confusion gripping him. What had just happened? His gaze locked onto it, and he soon realized the shape, he saw was a cube, its surface glowing with a deep, stygian-blue hue that seemed to pulse with energy. Suddenly, the sound of a laser blast echoed through the void, but it was the cube's oddly charming appearance that truly captured his attention, its surface adorned with a pair of innocent, glowing eyes, and a cute face that radiated a strange yet undeniable charm as it spun in the emptiness.
"Bruh! What's going on now?" he muttered, his voice barely audible, swallowed by the vast silence.
His eyes lingered on the cube's endearing features, and a smile tugged at his lips.
"Wow! such a cute box~" he said, his voice filled with curiosity. His thoughts raced, desired to understand what this thing was surging through him, but as much as he wanted to move closer, his body remained still, uncooperative, as if a force beyond him kept him rooted in place.
_____________________________
What's the cube? It's might be attractive shape? If u wanna know, u can add my book to collection and vote me with power stone, thanks