He didn't have time to turn around... A metal pipe pierced his head and emerged from his nose. Another man fell in Noxara, just like dozens before him in other places. The bodies were falling like rain, but no one cared.
A message appeared in a transparent blue window in the air:
"You earned 3 coins for human kills."
Other windows followed, each displaying short words and phrases.
She whispered quietly, "Not your time yet!"
Taking a deep breath, she watched the fog dissipate before her trembling eyes, seeing the blood cover the wet earth.
With some effort, she pulled her weapon from the man's head and quickly left the scene, heading towards the others.
From behind one of the walls, she looked at the group surrounding the girl lying on the ground, drenched in her own blood. Swiftly, she opened the "inventory" list and moved her fingers to select "Two gray pistols with blue lines," extending her hand to manifest the weapons directly in her palm.
After taking a deep breath, she hid the pistols behind her back and stepped out from behind the broken shop with hesitant steps. The three men turned toward her, but she only looked at the girl lying on the ground. From the sound of her breathing, she knew that the girl could die at any moment.
"Another cat!" one of them mocked when he saw her approach without fear. When there were only three meters left between them, she quickly drew her weapons and fired. They couldn't dodge the electric shots, and they fell to the ground, their bodies trembling.
But the shots weren't enough to kill them, so the young woman grabbed a metal pipe and struck their heads with force. The blood and broken skulls didn't stop her, and she kept hitting until she was certain they were dead.
Then, she tossed the weapon aside and ran swiftly toward Elena, who was barely breathing. She placed her hand on her chest, and a warm golden light radiated from her, speaking in a reassuring tone: "Don't be afraid... you'll be fine."
Her hand was warm in a comforting way. Even though she had placed it on a specific part of Elena's body, the warmth spread everywhere, and the pain that had made it hard to breathe—like breathing through glass shards—began to fade, like darkness swept away by light.
Elena turned her head slightly and grasped the hand of the girl with long brown hair, whispering weakly, "What's happening? What are you doing to me?"
The girl answered gently and calmly, "I'm healing you."
Her tone was enough to make Elena stop asking any more questions, at least for now. Minutes passed, though they felt like hours, before the girl withdrew her hand and said, exhausted, "I can't heal you any more than this."
Elena looked into her hazel eyes under the sunlight, briefly admiring her shiny hair, before rising with her help. She pushed the blood-streaked strands from her face and said, "You saved my life... thank you."
The other girl sat down on the ground after having been kneeling, offering a gentle smile. "Don't say that, I didn't do anything worth thanking. By the way, I'm Meryl."
"I'm Elena," she said in a soft voice, then closed her eyes, feeling a faint sting in her head.
"I know," Meryl replied with a warm smile, a strange serenity etched on her features, causing Elena to furrow her brows slightly, puzzled by the comfort and happiness in her tone.
Meryl continued, "We used to work... I mean, we used to work at the same place, at Mr. Robert's clothing recycling factory."
"Really?!" Elena asked in surprise, her gaze drifting off into the distance as she tried to recall this girl's face in her memory.
By nature, Elena was introverted; she didn't mingle with anyone, neither at work nor among her neighbors. So, it wasn't hard for her to remember the people she'd exchanged words with before. And this girl, with the gentle smile, had never been one of them.
Meryl nodded, saying, "Yes. I worked in the sorting department, and you were in the dismantling section. I always saw you, but... you never noticed me!"
Elena didn't quite understand the sadness that seeped through Meryl's last words, but since she wasn't the type to interfere in others' business, she chose to ignore it. She responded kindly, "I was focused on my work, so I didn't have the chance to make friends."
"It's okay..." Meryl replied, then continued in a soft voice as she helped Elena stand and supported her weight with her arm. "The truth is... I wanted to talk to you, but I felt it would be inappropriate."
The two of them walked down one of the winding alleys, with Elena unaware of where their steps were leading them. She had unconsciously decided to place her trust in Mireille and let her lead the way.
After a moment of silence, Elena said, trying to ease the girl's feelings, "Given your kindness, you must have been surrounded by many friends."
Meryl shyly replied, "Actually... I didn't have any friends. The girls used to say I was annoying because I talked too much."
Elena said honestly, glancing at the road ahead, "It so happens that I'm not bothered by chatter. You can talk to me as much as you want. Just don't expect too many answers from me... I can barely pronounce my own name."
She was being completely honest. She had never minded being around a talkative person; in fact, she had gotten used to it. In the past, she had a companion who never stopped talking, and after he left, she had to keep the TV on most of the time to avoid feeling lonely. But now, with the world falling apart piece by piece and no luxury of a television, she didn't mind listening to Meryl, even if the conversations were trivial.
"Really?!" Meryl asked in surprise, and Elena nodded with a slight difficulty. Then she asked, puzzled, "By the way... where are we going?"
Meryl replied, her eyes scanning the surroundings, "To the tunnels... People have turned the train tunnels into shelters."
Elena furrowed her brows at the strange remark, but recent memories suddenly surged into her mind — the blood, the gunshots, the mist, the golden beam... everything seemed like supernatural events. She asked, curious, "What's happening in Noxara?! And how did you manage to treat me? I was sure I was in the hands of the Grim Reaper!"
Meryl answered as she quickened her pace, "I'll answer you when we reach the shelter... It's still dangerous here, and we need to hurry."
"Will you tell me what happened with your mouth or your feet?" Elena interrupted with a scowl, which Meryl found amusing. She burst into loud laughter for a moment before stifling it when their eyes met, sharp and intense. "Sorry!" she said with a cheerful apology. "I just meant we should focus on walking instead of talking, especially since you're still tired."
Elena only hummed in response, continuing to walk with a swaying body and weak steps.
In Noxara, there are thousands of gates leading to a network of tunnels originally designed for train passage. Although the initial idea was to build "train tunnels," the project evolved over time into the construction of a simplified underground city, for various reasons, including Noxara's harsh continental climate.
In the summer, temperatures in Noxara sometimes reach as high as 63°C, and in winter, they can drop to 30°C below zero, and occasionally even 40°C below zero. To adapt to this harsh climate, the inhabitants chose to retreat underground, where they live most of their lives, only emerging to perform work-related tasks.
Noxara serves as the waste disposal site for the rest of the empire's cities, with its primary function being the processing of these wastes in above-ground facilities. If the waste were transferred to the tunnels where the inhabitants live, it would pollute the air, spread diseases, and the earth's humidity would accelerate the decay of the waste, making it an ideal breeding ground for germs and harmful insects.
A few meters away, a massive concrete wall appeared before Elena's tired eyes, with the words "Noxara Tunnel 604" written on it, along with other phrases she ignored. She shifted her gaze toward the large opening below it. There was a long staircase, about ten meters in length, sunken into the ground, lit by sunlight and the hanging lights on the walls.
With Meryl's help, Elena placed her foot on the first step, and a sudden tightness gripped her heart, quickly spreading throughout her chest. But she ignored the feeling, knowing that if this place was truly a shelter, it was the safest option at the moment.
Inside, people were scattered in every corner; women, children, and men. Some were crying, others speaking in hushed tones. Every time Elena passed by a group, noticing their miserable state — bleeding wounds, torn clothes, and injured people lying on the ground with dried blood around their injuries — her certainty grew that the situation was far worse than she had imagined.
Elena sat beside one of the thick murals supporting the ceiling, leaned her back against it, and took the water bottle from Meryl's hand, drinking from it slowly. Then, her anxiety resurfacing, she asked, "What's happening in Noxara?"
Meryl sat beside her, resting next to her, and answered with sorrow, "No one knows for sure."
She then opened her palm, revealing a small bottle filled with turquoise liquid. She drank it in one gulp, then continued:
"Three days ago, the sky suddenly darkened after the daylight hours, then it split open with a glowing light. A hail of meteors fell, piercing the hearts of the people..."
Meryl offered a similar bottle to Elena and said, "Drink this, it's a healing elixir."
Elena watched her drink, then Meryl continued: "It was painful at first, but once the pain faded, a transparent digital screen appeared before me, filled with writings... most of them centered around me. And since that moment, we've gained supernatural abilities."
"Digital screen?!" Elena whispered in astonishment, interrupting her without meaning to.
Meryl looked at her in confusion and asked, "Don't you have one?"
Elena took a few moments to think, trying to remember if she had ever seen a digital screen or felt any supernatural abilities, but she couldn't find anything. No! There was nothing like that. She hesitated, shaking her head in denial, her eyes wandering over the tired faces of the people around her. Then she whispered, "Do... all of them have one? And with it, supernatural abilities?"
Meryl replied calmly, "Yes, but most of them have weak abilities, barely enough to save themselves."
Elena quickly turned her face toward her and asked in astonishment, "That mud that trapped my leg... and your treatment of me... was that an ability?"
"Yes."
A moment of silence passed, and then Elena's curiosity ignited, a seed of hope blossoming in her heart. She asked, "How can I get an ability?"
Her desire wasn't so much for power as it was for protection... to be able to defend herself and ward off those who would harm her.
Meryl thought for a brief moment, then said, "There are creatures called 'the planets.' They possess these abilities, and they are the ones who grant us power when they choose us. But in return, we become embodiments of them, bound by many conditions and restrictions."
Elena hummed thoughtfully, then asked, "And where can I find a planet?"
Meryl answered calmly, her hands clasped on her knees, "You can't. They find you and offer for you to become their embodiment, and you have the freedom to accept or refuse."
She suddenly stopped talking when the sound of an argument broke out among a group of people a few meters away. She glanced toward it for a moment, then refocused on Elena and continued, "You need the system for them to find you... They communicate with us through it."
Elena gasped quietly, her voice trembling as she said, "But... I don't have one!"
Fear was evident in her tone, as the realization hit her. If everyone else had a system and supernatural abilities, that made her the weakest link, perhaps the weakest person in Noxara... no, maybe in the entire Yurss Empire.
But Meryl smiled gently, reaching out to pat her back to soothe her. "It's okay, relax. Maybe you just haven't awakened it yet." Then, with a cautious tone, she asked, "Has a meteor merged with your heart?"
"No," Elena replied immediately, as that was the one thing she was certain of. She had seen with her own eyes the meteors piercing the hearts of the people, while she had run away to the residential area. Not a single meteor had pierced her heart!
Unless... unless it merged with her while she was unconscious at home! But if that were the case, why hadn't the system appeared for her? Why was she the only one among everyone who didn't have one?
She spiraled into a whirlwind of questions and possibilities, until she was jolted out of her thoughts by the sudden sound of distant screaming, followed by urgent calls for help to carry the wounded away. She lifted her gaze and saw people stumbling, some running in panic, while others stood with trembling hands, preparing to face whatever was coming.
"Damn it... they've returned!" Meryl said sharply, her eyes fixed on the chaos beginning
to unfold around them.
Elena sensed the tremor in her voice, and at that moment, she knew... a new disaster was about to strike.