That night, the sky looked different.
There were no storms.
No dark clouds.
In fact, the sky seemed unusually calm.
Yet across the world—in brightly lit cities, in silent villages, and even over the dark waters of the open sea—people witnessed the same phenomenon.
A golden light.
It appeared without warning.
Not lightning.
Not an aurora.
Not anything science could easily explain.
The light lingered for only a few seconds.
Like a brief breath of gold across the night sky.
Then it vanished.
Most people dismissed it as their imagination.
Others quickly forgot about it.
But not everyone could ignore what had happened.
Because in certain places around the world, energy monitoring systems detected something far more alarming.
A surge.
Massive.
Unprecedented.
And nearly simultaneous.
Inside one of Dominion's underground control centers, dozens of screens lit up at once.
Graphs spiked sharply across nearly every monitor.
Warning alarms echoed through the room.
Technicians immediately rose from their seats.
"Another energy surge detected," one analyst reported nervously.
His fingers flew across the controls.
"Location?"
"Northern Mountains... and Southern Island."
Several displays switched to a world map.
Two red markers blinked on the screen.
A man wearing a black hat stood behind the analysts, his hands clasped behind his back.
His eyes never left the rapidly rising data.
"Two active cores," he murmured.
"Just as predicted."
A few seconds later, the door slid open.
Footsteps echoed across the metal floor.
The Dominion Leader entered.
The room immediately fell silent.
Everyone stood.
"Report."
His voice was calm.
Yet somehow colder than the room itself.
A technician pointed toward the main display.
"Both energy cores have fully awakened."
"Their resonance is spreading through the entire network."
The Dominion Leader studied the screen in silence.
Blue light reflected across his face.
Then he smiled.
"So they actually succeeded."
He pressed a button on the central console.
A massive world map appeared.
Tiny golden lights began blinking across it.
One.
Two.
Five.
Then dozens.
"The awakening has begun."
The room remained silent.
"The resonance from the active cores has awakened the global network."
The man in the black hat leaned forward slightly.
"You mean..."
The Dominion Leader nodded.
"The remaining cores are beginning to respond."
He pointed toward one of the newly activated signals.
It was far from any city.
Far from trade routes.
Deep within an untouched tropical wilderness.
A place few humans had ever entered.
"This one responded first."
His eyes narrowed.
"Interesting."
Then his smile faded.
"There was a reason our predecessors avoided that place."
The analysts exchanged uneasy glances.
No one asked questions.
Thousands of kilometers away, morning had just begun.
Inside the MBG community kitchen in the western district, the smell of freshly cooked rice filled the air.
Large pots rattled.
Knives chopped vegetables rhythmically.
Students would soon arrive for breakfast.
Everything appeared normal.
Yet behind the kitchen—
something unusual was happening.
Arga stood alone.
His MBG lunchbox was open in his hands.
Inside, fifteen glowing rice grains floated quietly.
Normally, their light was calm.
Steady.
Comforting.
Today was different.
The grains pulsed faster.
Almost urgently.
Arga frowned.
"That's strange..."
He had never seen them react like this before.
Then suddenly—
all fifteen grains flared.
Golden light burst from the lunchbox.
Arga stepped back in surprise.
"What—"
His words caught in his throat.
A vision flooded his mind.
Not a dream.
Not a memory.
Something else.
Something real.
He saw an endless forest.
Ancient trees towered toward the sky like colossal pillars.
Their trunks were wider than buildings.
Thick mist drifted between them.
The forest felt ancient.
Older than civilization.
Older than history itself.
Then he saw it.
Deep beneath the roots of that forgotten wilderness.
A golden light.
Larger than the first core.
Older than the second.
And far more powerful.
The moment he sensed it, a chill ran down his spine.
For the first time since becoming a Guardian—
Arga felt small.
As though everything he had experienced so far was merely the surface of something much greater.
His eyes snapped open.
His breathing was uneven.
His hands trembled slightly.
"No way..."
Footsteps approached behind him.
Sinta stepped out from the kitchen doorway.
She stopped beside him.
"You felt it too?"
Arga turned.
"You did?"
She nodded.
"The Nutritional Energy..."
Her expression tightened.
"It's calling to something."
Before either of them could say more, the back door burst open.
Lila ran outside carrying a tablet.
"You need to see this!"
Farhan followed close behind, laptop already open.
"There's a new energy resonance."
Arga immediately understood.
"Another core."
Lila enlarged a map on the screen.
A single golden point blinked steadily.
Far from civilization.
Far from the Southern Island.
Deep within an unexplored region.
An ancient forest.
Kai stepped outside and froze the moment he saw the signal.
A faint golden glow appeared in his eyes.
"This energy..."
His voice lowered.
"It's different."
Bimo arrived carrying a piece of bread.
"What now?"
Dika glanced at the display.
Then sighed.
"Don't tell me."
Farhan nodded.
"Yeah."
"The Third Core."
The courtyard fell silent.
Even the morning wind seemed to pause.
Arga slowly closed his lunchbox.
The glow faded.
But the feeling remained.
Not merely a summons.
A responsibility.
He looked at his friends.
"We need to go."
Sinta crossed her arms.
"If Dominion detected it too—"
"They definitely did," Bimo interrupted.
Kai stared toward the east.
Toward a forest none of them had ever seen.
"That place is different."
His voice was unusually serious.
"The energy isn't like the other cores."
Farhan shut his laptop.
"If we're late..."
"Dominion might reach it first."
Arga nodded.
Then spoke calmly.
"Then we won't be late."
The fifteen rice grains shimmered softly inside the lunchbox.
A new journey was beginning.
And this time, their destination was a place that barely existed on modern maps.
An ancient forest.
A place where the Third Core was awakening.
And perhaps—
a place where something far more dangerous had been waiting all along.