It's Friday night, and Takumi walks home from college—three days after Mira's warning.
As he exits the train station, a sudden shift in the city's atmosphere halts him in his tracks. Every monitor, billboard, and screen in the city flickers, hijacked by an unknown transmission. The same is happening across the internet—every website, every streaming platform, every video provider—all forcibly redirected to a single, untraceable channel.
Confused murmurs ripple through the crowd around Takumi. People glance at one another, unsure if this is a glitch, a hack, or something more sinister.
At first, people assume the hack is just a local incident, but Takumi quickly realizes the truth—this is exactly what Mira warned him about. A worldwide broadcast has begun!.
A countdown appears. Five minutes. No explanation, no context. Just time ticking away.
As the numbers reach zero, the broadcast begins.
A figure appears on the screen. Dr. Kenji Sakamoto. The last surviving key member of the Antarctica revelation team. A man presumed missing, likely dead. Yet here he was, very much alive.
The broadcast begins.
Dr. Kenji Sakamoto appears on the screen, his face worn with exhaustion yet burning with conviction. He takes a deep breath before speaking.
"My name is Dr. Kenji Sakamoto, a geophysicist, the last surviving members of the Antarctica expedition. Today, I speak not just for myself, but for those who were silenced—for the truth that has been buried for decades."
The world watches in stunned silence as he continues.
"Our journey began with a question—a curiosity shared among my colleagues. We had studied old maps, forgotten beliefs, records from an era before the Antarctic Treaty and before the so-called moon landing. There were whispers… suggestions that something existed beyond Antarctica. Something that the world was never meant to see."
His voice steadies, the weight of his words pressing down on every listener.
"But curiosity alone was not enough. We needed help. A hidden group, operating from the shadows, provided us with the means to go where no modern expedition was allowed. With their assistance, we embarked on a mission—one that followed the records of Admiral Albert E. Byrd. We set our course south, as far as humanly possible, until the endless ice gave way to something… else."
Takumi's breath catches in his throat. His mind races as he remembers Mira's words.
"They? Edenfall?" he murmurs, his heart pounding as the pieces start to fall into place.
Dr. Kenji inhales sharply, his expression darkening.
"For days, we pushed forward through the endless ice, further south than any map dared to acknowledge. Our compasses failed us, spinning wildly, as if rejecting the very concept of direction. The air changed—thicker, heavier, charged with something unnatural. It was as if we had stepped beyond the world we knew.
And then… we saw it."
His voice lowers, almost reverent.
"A land beyond Antarctica. A continent hidden from history.
It wasn't the desolate wasteland we were told existed. No, what we found was something beyond imagination. Towering mountains of black stone clawed at the sky, shrouded in a mist that seemed alive. Rivers, untouched by time, carved through vibrant emerald valleys. The very air hummed with an energy unlike anything on Earth. And then… the anomalies."
Dr. Kenji leans forward, his hands gripping the edge of the desk.
"Floating islands—great masses of rock, suspended in the sky, drifting effortlessly like forgotten fragments of the heavens. We stood in awe, watching them defy gravity itself.
A desert that moved like an ocean—pockets of gas bursting from the ground, liquefying the sand beneath our feet. And within that shifting sea, we saw them… creatures resembling whales, their sleek bodies cutting through the golden waves, adorned with twin horns that shimmered in the sun.
And the beasts… the chimeras."
His voice trembles slightly as he speaks the word.
"We thought the platypus was a bizarre anomaly on Earth, a contradiction of nature. But in this land, such contradictions were the norm. A bear with skin like rhino armor. A horse, its wings powerful enough to carry it across the sky. Birds that bathed in lava, their feathers forged in the heat of volcanic fire—living phoenixes, igniting the air as they soared.
We saw creatures we had only known through myths—legends, folklore, dismissed as fantasy. But they were here. They existed."
Dr. Kenji shakes his head, his eyes hollow.
"But it wasn't just the life that defied reason. The very laws of physics crumbled here. Gravity fluctuated without warning—some places held us down like an unseen force, while others left us weightless, drifting like dust in the wind. Even the flora refused to abide by the rules of Earth. We witnessed trees that moved—not by the wind, but by their own will, their roots stretching and shifting like tendrils, seeking something unseen."
He exhales shakily, gripping the desk as if to ground himself.
"This was not just a lost continent. This was something else entirely. A world hidden beyond the illusion they created for us. A truth buried beneath deception."
Dr. Kenji's breath trembles as he steadies himself, his eyes darkened with the weight of revelation.
"We finally rediscovered the truth of this world—a truth long buried beneath lies, concealed by those who play god."
His voice falters for a moment. A heavy silence lingers as he closes his eyes, his fingers curling into fists. Memories of his comrades—his friends—flash behind his eyelids. The ones who dared to seek the unknown. The ones who never made it back.
When he opens his eyes again, the fear is still there, but something else burns beneath it. Anger.
"Humanity was meant to be free," he declares, his voice rising with conviction. "To explore, to seek, to uncover the mysteries of this world. But instead, we have been caged! Our minds shackled, our history rewritten, our vision confined to the illusion they created for us!"
His fists slam against the table.
"They play god, these so-called elites. Hoarding power, shaping the world to serve their greed. They print wealth from nothing, turning the world into their personal playground while the rest of us struggle, suffer, and die! They have built their own Eden where only they may rule, and we… we are nothing but pawns"
His voice cracks with raw emotion. His eyes flicker with sorrow, but the fire within them refuses to die.
"My friends, my team, those who sought the truth alongside me… they have been silenced. Erased. Executed in the shadows. But they did not die in vain." He exhales sharply, his lips curling into something between a snarl and a grimace. "They died as heroes… in the name of humanity's freedom."
His breathing grows heavier, his hands gripping the edges of the desk like a man trying to hold back a tidal wave of fury. His gaze pierces through the camera, as if challenging the world itself.
"Oh mankind, awaken! The time to rise is now! The illusion that binds us must be shattered! And what I have told you… what I have revealed today… this is only a fraction of the truth..."
"What lies beyond Antarctica is—"
Gunfire erupts. The sharp crack of a bullet rings through the broadcast. A single shot—precise, merciless—pierces his forehead. His eyes, filled with resolve just moments ago, now stared lifelessly ahead.
The transmission cut to black. the world fell into silence.
As Dr. Kenji spoke, millions—no, billions—of eyes were glued to their screens. In homes, cafes, subway stations, and city streets, people held their breath, hanging onto every word. Some stood frozen in disbelief, their minds struggling to process the enormity of what they were hearing.
Then sharp, merciless crack of the bullet tore through the broadcast like a thunderclap. Gasps filled the air, followed by horrified screams. Some people flinched, instinctively stepping back from their screens as if the violence could reach through the glass. Others fell silent, their faces drained of color, as if the very life had been stolen from them along with Dr. Kenji's.
Shouts erupted from every corner of the city, of the world. Online forums and social media exploded in a firestorm of fury. People flooded the streets, demanding answers, demanding justice. Protesters, already discontent with the state of the world, now had undeniable proof that they had been lied to for generations. Their fear turned into something else—defiance.
Takumi stood frozen amidst the chaos, the crowd's furious shouts crashing over him like waves. His face was locked in shock—eyes wide, lips slightly parted—but beneath it all, there was only hopelessness.
Then—
A girl in a hoodie and mask slipped through the crowd, her grip firm as she seized his hand. Without a word, she pulled him forward, guiding him away from the storm of voices.
He didn't resist. He simply followed, his body moving like a lifeless puppet, his expression hollow, empty.
She led him through the dimly lit streets, her grip unwavering as if afraid he might disappear. Takumi followed without a word, his footsteps heavy, his gaze unfocused.
The world around him blurred—the honking of cars, the muffled chatter of pedestrians, the distant wail of sirens. None of it reached him. He was adrift, his mind blank, his body moving only because she willed it to.
At last, they reached his apartment. The door clicked shut behind them, sealing away the chaos outside. But even in the silence, Takumi remained still, his expression unchanged—empty, lost.
As the door clicked shut behind them, the girl exhaled softly. With slow, deliberate movements, she pulled back her hoodie and slipped off her mask. It was her.
Mira Kurasaki.
Fulfilling the promise she had made—to save Takumi if everything fell apart.
The truth rose. The illusion shattered.