Chapter 3: Disaster
Unseen Eyes
William's pupils constricted sharply!
But when he blinked, the blood-red characters on the floor vanished as if they had never existed.
An hallucination?
William stood frozen, those words seared into his mind, impossible to forget.
[WE ARE WATCHING YOU]
William spun around abruptly!
In the empty living room, it felt as though invisible, scarlet eyes were observing him. This sensation of being watched was identical to his nightmare.
He stood rigid as a statue for a long time, then forced himself to breathe deeply.
"Perhaps it's just exhaustion from preparing for the Enforcer exam, too much stress..."
"But that was the original owner of this body's problem, it shouldn't concern me... Unless something went wrong when the two souls merged, damaging my mind?"
"I've heard severe schizophrenia can indeed cause indistinguishable hallucinations..."
William managed to momentarily quell his inner fear, trying to explain everything scientifically. A fierce hunger gnawed at him. He grabbed a grilled sausage from the cutting board and devoured it in a few bites, finally feeling a bit steadier.
"Perhaps I need a psychiatrist."
Startled, William didn't even bother washing his face. He quickly threw on a black cotton coat and pushed open the door. Even so, the blast of cold air that rushed in made him shiver.
This was William's first formal encounter with this world since regaining consciousness. He took a deep breath, ready to face whatever unknown challenges awaited him.
However, when he casually looked up at the sky, an involuntary curse escaped his lips.
The first rays of dawn scattered from the east, and countless ethereal blue ribbons floated above the small town, seemingly within reach, yet impossibly distant.
The Aurora Borealis.
The aurora... in broad daylight.
William stood at his doorstep, staring at the sky-filled aurora for a long moment, muttering to himself:
"What the hell... is this world?"
The Graveyard's Secret
"Damn it, why is this road so difficult?"
"It's freezing, and it just rained heavily last night. The mountain path is all frozen. Be careful."
"We've been dawdling, and now it's already daylight." The man wiped sweat from his brow. "How much further do we have?"
"That mass grave is just ahead... We should be close."
Two stumbling figures clambered over a hill, finally spotting the scattered mounds of earth in the distance. These mounds, some new, some old, mostly lacked gravestones, marked only by crude wooden plaques or items belonging to the deceased.
But after last night's downpour, many of the mounds had been washed away, wooden stakes and other items strewn chaotically. The scene was a complete mess.
To their surprise, the mass grave was now cordoned off with yellow caution tape, and over a dozen figures moved within the restricted area, their expressions grim.
"Enforcers?"
Seeing their distinctive black and red uniforms, the man's eyes widened. "Why are they here?!"
"They've already found out?" The woman's face turned ashen. "Is it... is it William? Did he go to the Enforcers? He's really not dead?"
They thought they had killed William, only for him to return the next day, coupled with the sudden appearance of Enforcers at the burial site... There was almost no other explanation.
"No..." The man stared intently at the figures. "Even for a criminal case, the Enforcers from Sector Three would only deploy a maximum of three people! To send out over a dozen like this, it can only mean..."
"A Calamity... has appeared?"
The woman's eyes widened as if a horrifying thought had struck her, cold sweat instantly soaking her back!
"Could that monster in the bedroom be..."
"Run! Now!" The man grabbed the woman's wrist, turning to flee from the area.
Just then, a cold voice came from nearby.
"Halt."
Their bodies stiffened instantly.
An Enforcer ducked under the caution tape and slowly approached them, eyes narrowed. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"I... I..." The woman stammered, unable to speak.
"We came to visit our son," the man said, trying to sound calm. "He's buried here. Today's his death anniversary."
"Then why were you running?"
"...Because we were afraid."
"Afraid?"
"With so many Enforcers deployed, it means a Gray Convergence has happened here, right?" The man swallowed hard. "Maybe a Calamity has even crawled out... We were afraid of being caught in the crossfire."
"Oh? You seem to know quite a lot." The Enforcer raised an eyebrow in surprise.
The man forced a pale smile.
"Officer," the woman cautiously asked, "did a Calamity really crawl out of the Gray Convergence?"
"That's classified." The Enforcer replied blandly. "You won't be able to visit your son today, go home... Anything you saw here, you are not allowed to speak of outside. You understand the rules, correct?"
"Yes, yes, we understand."
"Go."
Hearing that word, a wave of relief washed over the man. He immediately turned to leave.
"Wait."
Their hearts skipped a beat.
"Your names and addresses, please." The Enforcer pulled out a pen and paper. "It's required by confidentiality regulations, please understand."
"Lily and Vito, 128 Frost Street, Sector Three."
After recording the information, the Enforcer let them go. He then crossed the yellow tape and approached a man in a long black coat, handing him the file.
"Beker, confirmed. They said they were here to visit their son."
Beker took a deep drag from his rough cigarette, the acrid smoke mingling with his breath, dissipating into the cold wind. He casually glanced at the file, speaking calmly:
"Send a few people to follow them discreetly. They're suspicious."
"...Huh?"
"Frost Street is at least ten miles from here. For them to arrive at this time, they must have left no later than four in the morning... The rain hadn't stopped then. Who would brave a torrential downpour before dawn to pay respects on a mountain?"
"And this is a mass grave, a place for those without family or who died far from home. As parents, why would they bury their child here?"
The Enforcer, Cotton, froze, then slapped his forehead. "You're right, why didn't I think of that?"
"...Cotton, how exactly did you pass the Enforcer exam?"
The Enforcer called Cotton gave a sheepish chuckle, immediately changing the subject. "By the way, Beker, did a Calamity actually crawl out of the Gray Convergence last night?"
Beker didn't answer. Instead, he pulled a palm-sized device from an inner pocket of his coat. In the center of the device was a compass-like needle, with different colors clearly marking different danger zones.
"Is that the Calamity Compass?" Cotton peered at the instrument curiously, reaching out to touch it, but his hand was sharply smacked away.
"This thing is precious. You'll get to touch it when you get promoted to Enforcement Officer."
Cotton rubbed his hand, wincing. "How exactly does this thing work?"
"This device detects the danger level of 'Calamities.' Once I turn it on, whichever zone the needle points to indicates the magnitude of 'Calamity' fluctuations nearby. If it's just a simple Gray Convergence with no 'Calamity' crawling into the real world, it won't react."
"The higher the level of the Calamity, the more violently the needle will swing."
Cotton nodded, speaking with some worry: "Beker... there won't be a 'Calamity' crawling out, will there?"
"Most likely not. After all, if a 'Calamity' had truly manifested here yesterday, Sectors Two and Three would already be in chaos."
"That's good."
"To be safe, we still need to perform the scan."
Beker spoke as he activated the Calamity Compass. The other Enforcers watched with curious anticipation.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
The Calamity Compass showed no reaction.
Just as Beker breathed a sigh of relief, the needle on the compass began to tremble violently!
The needle swept wildly across the different colored zones, and a piercing screech emanated from within the device. Beker's pupils abruptly constricted, and he instinctively dropped the Calamity Compass!
BANG—!!
Countless parts exploded into the air, and a sharp, broken shard of the needle grazed Beker's cheek, leaving a crimson streak of blood!
The Calamity Compass...
had exploded.