Chapter 1: Prolog
The sky outside the classroom window hung heavy and gray, like a sheet of ash waiting to fall. Inside the stuffy classroom, the scratch of chalk on the blackboard echoed dully, accompanying the endless drone of the math teacher’s explanation.
In the third row from the back, a teenage boy sat still. His deep blue eyes pierced through the monotony of the lesson, staring blankly at the board even as his mind wandered far from the world of numbers and formulas.
Julian Deaw. That was his name.
His black hair fell slightly messy over his forehead and ears. He wasn’t the talkative type, nor the kind who sought attention. For Julian, school was just a routine to endure—until the final bell rang and he could return to his own world.
Today, he thought, he’d try out a new game he bought last night with what little savings he had left. People said it had a grim story, set in a world consumed by chaos and a mysterious outbreak. Julian was curious—what would it feel like to survive in a world that had collapsed?
But he didn’t expect the answer to come so soon... or to be so real.
Drrrriiiinnngggg!
The school bell rang out, sharp and jarring, slicing through the classroom’s silence. Chairs scraped back. Bags were grabbed. Students rose to their feet.
But the teacher at the front, Mr. Rauf, glanced up at the clock, his brow furrowing.