Layla lay down on her bed and pulled the blanket over her, getting ready to sleep. The wind slipped through the cracks of the ventilation, making the room even colder. Just as she was about to close her eyes, she caught a strange sight. Her eyes widened, and her breath hitched slightly. In the corner of the room where her wardrobe had always been, something impossible appeared. A pixelated screen, blurry and flickering like a glitch in a broken game, slowly consumed the image of the wardrobe. The image blinked once... twice... then disappeared as if it had never existed.
A few seconds after that thing vanished, a holographic screen appeared before her. This time, it read: "System unstable..."
Layla reached out her hand, trying to touch the hologram in front of her—but her hand went right through it. A few seconds later, the screen vanished.
Layla furrowed her brows in disbelief. She knew what she'd just experienced was strange. Starting from time stopping so suddenly and her body being teleported. In her mind, she whispered,
"I've gone crazy since that accident."
She reflexively slapped her own cheek hard.
"Owww, that hurts..."
It hit her—this wasn't a dream. She realized something was seriously wrong with her reality.
Layla's heartbeat quickened again, her mind racing to make sense of everything. Fear crept in, and she tried to distract herself. She lay back down on her bed. Slowly, fatigue took over, and she drifted into sleep.
Birds flew low under the orange sky, their wings brushing against the dewdrops clinging to the wet branches. They perched in a row, chirping in harmony—creating a soft melody that seemed to wash away all the uneasiness from the night before.
The morning air crept in through the ventilation, carrying the scent of damp earth and sunlight that painted her room's walls in warm golden tones.
The alarm rang loudly, making the table shake. Layla reached out to turn it off. As she sat up, the strange event from the night before faded from her memory—she couldn't recall any of it.
She got up quickly and headed downstairs for breakfast. That morning, the house felt warm as usual. Her mother sat at the dining table, waiting for Layla, while the maid cooked breakfast in the kitchen. They chatted like a real family.
"Here, the maid made your favorite soup," said Maya with a warm smile.
"Whoa, this is seriously my favorite!" Layla grinned and sat down to eat.
A few minutes later, she got ready to leave for college.
"I'm heading out, Mom," said Layla.
"See you later, Auntie!" she called from the front door.
She jogged lightly to the bus stop just outside the neighborhood. The bus soon arrived, and she climbed in. Just as she was looking for a seat, a male college student accidentally bumped into her, causing the books in her right hand to fall.
Layla clicked her tongue and started picking up her scattered books.
She grew even more annoyed when the guy didn't even apologize.
The bus moved through the city, weaving through the busy streets. Layla leaned her head against the window, staring blankly at the cityscape.
Ten minutes passed. She finally arrived at her destination and got off the bus, walking toward her campus.
The same guy who had bumped into her earlier walked beside her. Layla wanted to lash out at him for what happened earlier, but before she could, a sharp ringing filled her ears, forcing her to stop.
A bright red holographic screen appeared in front of her.
It blinked wildly and blared an obnoxiously loud alarm.
The screen read:
"WARNING!"
"DO NOT APPROACH THAT MALE INDIVIDUAL."
As if the system already knew who she was about to confront. Layla didn't understand why it was warning her.
A deep curiosity began to grow—about that guy, and about the strange system that had suddenly entered her life.
Seconds later, the alarm and the screen vanished.
Layla looked ahead—the guy was gone.
She had lost sight of him.
"Who are you really, and why is this system so scared of me getting close to you?"
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