Present Time — China
Chaos had spread across nearly half of China.
Cities that once buzzed with life had turned into scenes of horror.
People collapsed in the streets, laughing uncontrollably.
Some laughed until they couldn't breathe.
Some collapsed from exhaustion.
Others simply… stopped moving.
Above one of the cities, Franklin Tyson hovered in the air.
Around him, a massive force field barrier shimmered faintly, protecting thousands of civilians inside it.
But the barrier was weakening.
Cracks of energy flickered along its surface.
Franklin clenched his fist.
"…Damn it."
He could feel the strange phenomenon spreading.
Whatever was causing the madness wasn't ordinary.
He stepped outside the barrier.
The moment he did, the overwhelming laughter echoed louder across the streets.
Franklin narrowed his eyes.
Is this some kind of magic…?
He raised both hands.
More barriers appeared across nearby districts, protecting clusters of civilians.
But it wasn't enough.
Even with his abilities, he couldn't cover an entire nation.
Some people continued collapsing.
Some were already gone.
Franklin sighed in frustration.
"This is getting out of hand."
He shot into the sky.
Flying across the country faster than most aircraft.
Cities blurred beneath him.
Finally—
He saw the source.
Standing calmly in the distance.
John.
The strange man with blonde hair.
Franklin didn't hesitate.
He launched forward like a missile.
His body breaking the speed of sound.
In the next instant—
His fist aimed straight at John's face.
But before the punch could land—
John's hand moved.
He grabbed Franklin's fist effortlessly.
The shockwave from the collision exploded outward.
Entire city blocks shattered from the impact.
Franklin's eyes widened.
What the hell…?
But something even stranger began happening.
John's body started changing.
His eyes bulged outward.
Bones twisted at unnatural angles.
His limbs warped grotesquely.
Energy poured from his body like a storm.
It looked less like a transformation…
And more like something opening a door.
As if his body was becoming a gateway.
For a greater being to descend onto Earth.
Franklin's expression darkened.
Then—
Thousands of needle-like structures erupted from John's legs.
They spread rapidly.
Covering his entire body.
His form floated into the air, wrapped in a grotesque shell of spikes and pulsating energy.
Franklin stared at the monstrous figure.
"…Don't tell me…"
"This belongs to the higher beings."
Without wasting another second, he raised his hand.
"Disintegration."
Ancient symbols appeared around Franklin.
Thousands of glowing runes filled the sky.
They surrounded John's mutated body.
A violent energy field formed.
The power attacked the atomic bonds of John's body, destroying the electric forces that held matter together.
The creature screamed.
The sound was horrifying.
A scream so loud it shattered every window across entire cities in China.
Glass exploded everywhere.
Some materials didn't even shatter.
They simply disintegrated.
The attack continued for several seconds.
Then—
Silence.
John's twisted body collapsed.
The energy faded.
The monstrous transformation stopped.
And John fell lifelessly to the ground.
He was dead.
Franklin floated silently above the ruined city.
The laughter phenomenon slowly faded.
People across China finally began breathing normally again.
But Franklin's mind remained heavy.
He looked up at the sky.
"…If this continues…"
"…Humanity won't survive what's coming from the cosmos."
Meanwhile In Yangon, the streets were crowded as usual.
Vendors shouted from small food stalls.
Motorcycles weaved between cars.
People walked along the sidewalks under the humid afternoon heat.
Among them was a teenage boy.
Nikhil Ranjan.
He wore a simple cap and a loose tracksuit, walking casually through the crowd while drinking a bright-colored smoothie.
He took another sip and looked at the drink thoughtfully.
"Humans sure know how to make things like this."
A beggar sat beside the street.
Without much thought, Nikhil tossed the empty cup toward him.
The beggar looked confused.
A man standing nearby frowned.
He stepped forward and pushed Nikhil slightly.
But Nikhil didn't move even a millimeter.
The man grew irritated.
"Kid, do you have no manners?"
Nikhil looked up slowly.
Before he could respond—
SLAP.
The man struck him across the face.
"I'll beat some manners into you."
People nearby suddenly started shouting.
"Hey! Why are you beating a kid?!"
"That's too much!"
"Stop it!"
But something strange happened.
Instead of just arguing…
The crowd suddenly rushed toward the man.
They began hitting him.
Punching.
Kicking.
Dragging him to the ground.
The man screamed, trying to defend himself.
But the crowd didn't stop.
Within minutes…
He stopped moving.
Dead.
Standing at a distance, Nikhil watched quietly.
Then he smiled.
Slowly, he raised his hand.
Something invisible appeared above the corpse.
A faint glowing shape.
The spirit of the man.
But the spirit couldn't move.
Nikhil had already grabbed it.
Preventing it from returning to the realm of souls.
The spirit trembled in fear.
Nikhil's eyes slowly changed.
Black sclera.
Purple pupils.
He stared directly at the terrified spirit.
"Well?"
He tilted his head.
"What happened, mister?"
"Weren't you going to beat some manners into me?"
The spirit shook violently.
It had already realized something horrifying.
This boy was not human.
Nikhil looked at the chains wrapped around the spirit.
These chains represented the natural passage between life and the spiritual realm.
The laws of existence.
The balance between life and death.
Nikhil grabbed one of the chains.
And snapped it.
The moment it broke…
Reality itself trembled.
Because destroying such a chain was equivalent to breaking a cosmic law tied to existence.
Nikhil smiled wider.
"Congratulations."
"You're not going anywhere now."
The spirit trembled helplessly.
Nikhil leaned closer.
"You slapped me earlier."
"So here's your punishment."
He raised his hand.
Space warped.
A strange dimension opened before them.
A place where nothing felt normal.
No time.
No space.
No death.
No reality.
Just endless darkness.
Nikhil threw the spirit inside.
"In this dimension," he said coldly, "there's no concept of anything."
"Time doesn't move."
"Reality doesn't exist."
"You'll just remain there."
"For thousands of years."
The spirit screamed in terror.
But the portal closed instantly.
The voice disappeared.
Silence returned to the street.
People continued walking normally.
Unaware of what had just happened.
Nikhil placed his hands in his pockets.
He looked toward the sky.
Then he started laughing.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA…!"
The sound echoed through the street as he walked away.
Somewhere in the cosmos…
Something had begun noticing him.
And that attention might soon bring something far worse to Earth.