Chapter 2 – The Day the World Stopped
It took less than an hour for the news to reach every corner of the globe.
Joshua Vail — the man who united nations, rebuilt economies, and ended wars — was gone.
The scene left investigators speechless: a gaping hole in the side of the tower, shattered glass everywhere, and no trace of what should have been a crime.
No engine fragments.
No logical explanation.
Only tire tracks — and a CCTV recording that looked more like a movie edit than reality.
A truck appeared from nowhere, hit him, and vanished through the opposite wall of the building.
There was no reason to believe such a thing possible — except for the undeniable proof:
the body of a once-great man lying peacefully, as though he'd fallen asleep smiling.
The first breaking-news alert flashed across every screen within minutes.
> "Emergency bulletin: The founder of Novice God HQ, global innovator Joshua Vail, was found dead in his private office earlier today…"
Reporters gathered outside the skyscraper despite the storm, cameras battling rain and flashing lights.
Helicopters hovered above.
Drones circled like mechanical vultures, searching for answers.
The replayed footage was the same everywhere:
The elevator doors opened.
A blinding light.
Shattering glass.
Commentators called it a "technological anomaly."
Priests called it "divine summoning."
Scientists replayed the footage again and again — pausing, enhancing, freezing frames — but the truth never changed:
a flash of light, then nothing.
Across the world, people stopped what they were doing.
Factories fell silent.
Trading floors froze mid-transaction.
Even the slums that once raised him lit candles and prayed.
Children whispered his name like a legend.
Old men bowed their heads, murmuring,
> "The man who changed the world has returned to God."
That night, the city went quiet.
Every building dimmed its lights for sixty minutes.
Neon reflections bled into the puddles, painting the streets in mourning colors — red, blue, and gold — like the tears of a mechanical heaven.
For one hour of darkness, the metropolis he built seemed to hold its breath.
Far from the skyscraper, in a quiet villa on the outskirts — a place he built for peace, not politics — a woman stood on the balcony, rain dripping from her hair.
The scent of wet earth filled the air; the soft wind tugged at her nightgown.
She looked up at the storming sky and whispered, her voice trembling between pride and heartbreak:
> "You really did it, Joshua… you changed the world."
Her fingers curled around the cold iron railing.
In her hand, she held his wristwatch — cracked, but still ticking, each second echoing like a heartbeat refusing to stop.
> "You once told me that when you'd finished your mission, God would call you for another one."
A tear slid down her cheek.
Another followed.
> "I thought it was one of your crazy fantasies… but it turned out to be real."
Her lips quivered, yet a faint smile tugged at the corner — the smile of someone proud, but unwilling to let go.
> "Then go. Go finish it… just don't forget to come back… for me."
Her voice broke on the last word.
The wind carried it into the storm.
Lightning flashed — white and pure — splitting the darkness for a heartbeat.
Thunder rolled softly, almost like an answer.
And somewhere beyond the clouds, in a place no one could reach, a faint laugh echoed in the void — deep, calm, and satisfied.
> "Mission complete… huh?"
The light swallowed everything.
And in that endless glow, time itself seemed to pause —
as though the heavens were preparing for his next beginning.