‘Fhshhhhhhhhhh’

The sword accelerated towards the Earth.

‘Khshhhhhhhhhh’

It didn’t take long for that sword to reach the atmosphere of Earth.

The sword looked like a mysterious laser beam traveling from space towards Earth. Even though the sword didn’t travel as fast as a beam. The speed wasn’t that much less when compared to the speed of light.

Soon it hit the surface of the Earth. Nobody was around that place. As if a knife cutting into butter, the sword sliced into the Earth till only its hilt was visible from the outside.

Right then,

Everyone felt it. As if an announcement to everyone. No matter where one was, he felt that rumble.

The people who felt that rumble thought that they were the only ones who felt that core shaking vibration.

Some thought,

‘Was I the only one who felt that? Am I going to die?’

Everyone had a question.

‘Were they going to die?’

This was the state of the current World. Nobody knew the answer. But soon everything became clear.

After a shaking rumble that every person felt from their core. The world they once knew was going to change.

‘ Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ‘

A beast cry was heard to everyone which came from the core of the Earth. And the broken Earth in just name started to break.

Cracks began to appear everywhere.

Buildings fell. The people inside died. But some lucky ones survived.

Cracks appeared on the surface of the Ocean floor. But the water didn’t go inside the cracks which were supposed to happen instead mountains rose from the cracks of the deep sea. As if the cracks were a mountain summoning portal.

The same happened on the land. Mountains rose from the cracks which appeared on the surface of the land. The same thing was happening all over the World.

The World was changing shape.

As if growing, the Earth now was ten times larger than the Earth people knew.

The peaks of the mountains which rose from the cracks were flat. These peaks were so spacious that if one was born up there he wouldn’t know that he was living on a mountain peak. These peaks had houses and big temples which looked like the huts of ancient times like the one build by the ancient civilization.

People were living on these peaks which were like cities on the summit of these mountains.

The cities were surrounded by walls.

With only one gate through which a person could enter the city.

The people who survived were on a rollercoaster of feelings.

From fear to confusion. From confusion to bewilderment. They saw everything happen right in front of their eyes.

Right then when everything stopped. Everyone heard a mighty voice in their heads.

‘Welcome to the new era.’

The voice said.

‘This will be the start of the New World.’

After saying that the voice went silent.

The people who were still together and survived stared at each other with a questioning look.

‘ Do others hear this too?’

The answer was simple.

‘Everyone can hear me.’

The voice answered.

‘Now what you all have to do is simple. Climb the stairs of the mountain in front of you and live.’

The voice said in a calm tone.

‘Otherwise, after ten days, the ones who still haven’t climbed to the top will be killed’

The voice said in a ruthless tone after which nobody heard that voice again.

Everyone knew that what they heard was true and if they didn’t do as the voice said they will be killed.

One after another, everyone started climbing.

**********

While everyone was climbing the stairs.

A capsule could be seen with all the rubble on it. Even though nobody from the outside could see inside the capsule. But someone was sleeping inside. Or that is what one would see who could look inside the capsule.

That, someone, was Zhao Luo.

The reason why the capsule didn’t open was because of all the rubble on it. Even though the capsule was sturdy enough to not break with all the rocks on it. The same couldn’t be said for its opening mechanism.

Zhao Luo was already awake for many days now. Now he heard a voice in his head.

Right after that voice stopped talking in his head, Zhao Luo’s mind went blank.

‘WOW. First that Takuma puts me in this capsule. Now, this guy is talking in my head. I can’t even move. How am I supposed to climb some mountain??’

Zhao Luo thought.

‘ Wait. This voice must belong to Takuma. That bastard is playing games with me.’

Zhao Luo played the detective in his mind and reached a decisive conclusion.

‘If you can see my thoughts then let me out. I have slept enough.’

Zhao Luo talked to Takuma in his thoughts.

The progression of a mental disability was already in progress for Zhao Luo.

Time passed while Zhao Luo kept on sending messages to Takuma in his mind.

Waiting for a response from a person who is most likely no longer in this World.

Time passed like lightning and soon the deadline was at the door.

Ten days later.

On all four zones of the New World.

The people who didn’t climb the stairs of the mountain heard a command in their heads.

‘ Die ‘

Right after they heard the same voice which talked to them before, a sharp wave passed and all of them were sliced. The sharpness was comparable to the sharpest sword. Some had their heads fall off while others had their bodies cut in half.

The ones who were still climbing were left alive. They reached the gates on the wall at the peak of the mountain.

After reaching the gates these people hear a voice in their head.

‘Congratulations’

The voice spoke to them. Then the gates in front of them opened. The remaining people entered through the gates.

While Zhao Luo who was still in his thoughts didn’t hear the ‘die’ instead he heard the ‘congratulations’.

Without doing anything. Not even climbing a single stair. Zhao Luo did sleep for 100 years. Maybe sleeping was like a cheat code for him.

‘Congratulations for what?’

Zhao Luo thought.

‘Maybe I made some unbreakable record in sleeping’

A serious thought passed through the mind of the trapped Zhao Luo.