Chương 2: [System Initialized]

The transition from the pub garden to the High Street felt like stepping into a different town. The midday sun beat down on the back of Leo's neck, the air thick with the smell of hot tarmac and food wafting over from a local cafe where the doors had been left open when people came out to join the crowd. Cars sat in the middle of the road, dead masses of metal that people were already starting to walk around like they were just boulders in a path.

A woman with two shopping bags was halfway to the bus station, shouting at her phone.

"Work! Why won't you just fucking work!" When the screen stayed black, she didn't stop; she just shoved it into her bag and kept marching, her face set in a mask of pure frustration.

"You think it's just us?" Phil asked. He was walking with a slight limp, his eyes scanning the dark shop windows.

"Town-wide power cut? Phones dead? It's a bit too coordinated."

"Could be an EMP," Luka said, his hands shoved deep in his hoodie pockets.

"Takes out tech. It's a thing, right?" Phil didn't buy it.

"An EMP wouldn't just mess with phones, mate. And it doesn't explain the hole in the sky." Leo didn't join in. He was rubbing his thumb against the palm of his hand. It was weirdly hot; it felt like he'd been holding a hot cup of tea too long. A strange, electric hum settling under his skin. A fuzzy pressure sat in the back of his head, giving him the feeling he may have stood up too fast.

Near the old off-licence, a car sat stalled in the road with its driver's door open, boot half shut like they'd been in the middle of loading it. The driver, red-faced and annoyed, was arguing with a woman in the passenger seat.

"We can't get back to Trimdon if the fuckin' engine won't start, can we! Just try the key again!" Parmo stopped for a second, watching the man twist the key in a dead ignition.

"Reckon they're walking," Parmo muttered, more to himself than the others.

"Hell of a hike to Trimdon in this heat." Sam didn't reply. He was looking toward the town square, where a bloke in a faded yellow high-vis was standing on a bench. He looked like he'd been doing some DIY or gardening and had just stepped out to see what the fuss was about, but the vest made him think he was in charge.

"Can I have your attention, please!" he shouted, his voice cracking.

"Everyone just... stay calm. Head down to the Civic Centre or the war memorial. I'm sure the council's got people looking into it. Probably just a major grid failure!"

"They're working on it when the fuckin' sky just turned off, aye?" someone shouted from the edge of the crowd. A few people let out a sharp, nervous laugh that died almost instantly. The high-vis guy opened his mouth to reply, but no one was really listening anymore. They were already turning back to their dead phones or muttering to the people next to them. The air felt thin, charged with a tension that made Leo's skin crawl.

People were talking about terrorists, or some new weapon the Russians had, or aliens—everyone acting like they knew more than the person standing next to them. Phil elbowed Luka gently.

"Still reckon it's just an EMP, mate?" The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Luka didn't answer immediately. He was staring at the digital sign above the Post Office. It had frozen mid-scroll, pixelated orange letters stuck halfway through a reminder: Heatwave advisory in effect.

"Well," Luka muttered, nodding toward the glowing letters.

"Looks like the electric's not entirely out, even if the sign's fucked."

"Everything else is," Phil said, gesturing to the dead cars and the dark shopfronts.

"Maybe that thing's on a different circuit."

"Anyone else feel like this is just the start?" Sam asked, running a hand over his bald head.

"Feels too weird for a power cut. Honestly, the alien shout doesn't even feel as stupid as it should, and that's what worries me." Leo didn't say anything. His phone was still in his hand, the screen a black mirror. His fingers were starting to tingle—a faint, rhythmic pulse in his fingertips, like he'd just clapped his hands hard. He shook them out, but the feeling stayed. Just ahead, an old woman was gripping the arm of a younger man.

She was saying something too soft to catch, her eyes wide and fixed on the empty blue sky. Leo tensed. The world felt like it was holding its breath, the silence from the street starting to ring in his ears. It was the same feeling as the drop at the top of a rollercoaster—that split second where everything stops before the fall. Then the pain hit. It was a spike, like a hot needle driven directly into the center of his brain. All down the street, people winced and staggered.

The woman with the shopping bags dropped them, eggs cracking on the pavement. Further down, someone fell to their knees, clutching their head. Leo stumbled, catching himself against the brick wall of the pharmacy. His stomach twisted and his jaw ached, a weird pulse throbbing behind his eyes that felt less like pressure and more like a heartbeat that wasn't his.

"What the fuck—" Phil started, but the words died in his throat. The hum returned, chilling and bone-deep. It was deafening without making a single sound. Then the pulse hit. There was no light and no noise, just a sheer, invisible force that swept through the street. It felt like standing waist-deep in the sea when a massive swell rolls past—a heavy, inescapable weight that pushed through his chest and out the other side. Leo stood there, mouth hanging open, his skin prickling as the "wave" moved on.

Before he could even draw a breath, the light arrived. It was a blinding white glare that lasted only a fraction of a second before it dimmed, bleeding out into a shape right in front of his face. He flinched and swiped at it, but his hand passed straight through the glow. It wasn't in the air; it was in his eyes. The light cooled into sharp, blue-white lines. Angular text and shimmering symbols hovered over the street like a hologram layered over reality. SYSTEM INITIALISING… USER DETECTED.

INTERFACE CONFIGURATION IN PROGRESS. Phil took a step back.

"What the fuck is this? What is this?" There was no answer given. Dozens of people stood in the street, some on the pavement, some in the middle of the road. Whatever they had been doing was forgotten. They were wide-eyed, turning their heads, all of them watching something invisible to everyone else. Leo blinked. The UI flickered slightly, responding to his movement. The words shimmered. WELCOME, USER. PRIMARY LINK ESTABLISHED. STATUS: BASELINE. AWAKENING COMPLETE. Just like that, the noise stopped.

No hum, no flash. Just the floating screen, waiting. Leo stared at it, his jaw slack.

"You've got to be shitting me," he muttered.

"No fucking way. This is like something straight out of Solo Leveling." Phil glanced at him.

"What?"

"It's an anime. A manga," Sam said, the same shocked look on his face as Leo's.

"It's fantasy bullshit. That's what this is. Tell me you guys are seeing this too?"

"Yeah man, I see it," Luka replied.

"It's like something from a game." Leo shook his head and half-laughed, his mouth dry.

"This isn't a game. This isn't some RPG where the characters get sick powers and level up. This is real life. So how the fuck is this happening?" Parmo was still staring at the thing in front of him.

"Mate. I think we're in it. A game, I mean. Or something like that at least. Fuck knows." Leo looked back up at the glowing UI. It was still there. Still real. And weirdly, beneath the fear and the shock, he didn't feel worse. He felt lighter. Like maybe, just maybe, this was the thing he hadn't realized he'd been waiting for. The start of something that could change everything.