Invasion Day 14Wonosobo, Central Java, IndonesiaIn the middle of Lake Wadaslintang, a teenage boy stood surrounded by the water. The ghastly beasts of huge crocodiles, sea snakes, and other supernatural beings had long gone. He was alone, but that didn’t make it easier for him.His name was Artha, and he wouldn’t stop saying the chants in his head, even if the infectores attacked and the world ended. He had to keep meditating to complete this ritual.Well, that was the plan, anyway.On his third day in the lake, he heard someone asking for help. Right in his ears.“Help.”“Help!”“HELP!”There was no one.There was no one beside him, all alone in the middle of the lake. Surrounded by still water, and nothing else was there.“Help.”“Help!”“HELP!”But they screamed.They screamed,
Invasion Day 15Queens, New York, USABeatrice walked into the busy John F. Kennedy International Airport with her head held high. She looked at her surroundings, noticing that the usually great place was nothing more than a huge garbage now. Littered with infectores and some unmoving corpses.[3 people detected in the control room.]Thankfully, she was invisible to them due to using one of her skills. It allowed her to look like an infected person in the infectores eyes, making them think she was one of them. Although, the skill’s duration wouldn’t last long.[Skill – The Fool’s Mask ends in 3 minutes.]Beatrice sighed and hurried herself to the room control, following the map given by the System. Alas, the door was locked from the inside. She tried to smash it open with her axe, but even with the added Strength from her passive, the door didn’t budge.“Hey!” She yelled, hoping the people inside to hear her. “Open the door.”When no reply was heard, Beatrice looked up and searched fo
Invasion Day 15Queens, New York, USA“Invasion?” the bearded staff of the John F. Kennedy International Airport repeated. “So we’re in a war? What country dared to attack us?”Beatrice sighed, feeling annoyed. “Don’t you hear what I said earlier? Alien might be behind this invasion. Get your patriotism somewhere else, we’re not fighting humans. Earth is under invasion, and there’s only one place safe for human.”They paled at the implication. “Where?”“Point Hope, Alaska.”“How do we get there?”Beatrice grumbled. “We’re in an airport, how do yo go from place to place, mister? Did an infectore eat your brain already?”“No, it’s just …” The bearded airport staff moved to the large window and opened the blinds.Destruction upon destruction in the trajectory field. Infectores stroll around, looking for more brains to consume. Burnt and blown-up planes littered the grounds.It seemed that her venture to the airport birth no fruit.“Wait, we still have it, right?” The female staff looked
Invasion Day 16Queens, New York, USABeatrice used her trusted axe to ward off and kill infectores left and right.Her current companies, Spencer and the female control room staff who finally introduced herself as June Brickman, were uselessly holding on to their steel bar and shrieking whenever an infectore was within their reach.If they were going to be useless, at least they should have refrained from screaming their lungs out to her ears. And if Beatrice did not need their help finding the old fly, then she’d just left them to flail around with the airport’s infectores.It should be entertaining enough for Beatrice that she’d curse and mock them as if she was watching a live stream of her fellow gamer.The hallways of John F. Kennedy International Airport seemed so big compared to what the System’s map showed her. Understandable, as it should be, but without her enhanced Strength and Speed, she wouldn’t waste her energy running around the airport.Spencer shrieked again as an in
Invasion Day 17Wonosobo, Central Java, IndonesiaOn the seventh day, the last night and last hour of his ritual in the middle of Lake Wadaslintang, Artha gapped as he stood surrounded by still water. Something came from the darkness. Two white tigers of huge size and a beautiful woman riding one of them.Artha couldn’t take his gaze off them – not that he wanted to, anyway. It was an incredible sight. He never saw someone with such beauty in them. He knew her appearance was not what pulled his interest in her. The woman riding a white tiger, who could stop staring when it was a majestic sight like that?He almost forgot to continue his chants. Thankfully, there was no storm as a result of his negligence.The lake seemed to part in half, showing the stepping stones from the other side of the edge. One of the huge white tigers stayed by the lake’s shore, while the other tiger – with the most beautiful woman sitting on top – stepped on the stone. No white and black fur touched the wate
Invasion Day 18Wonosobo, Central Java, IndonesiaArtha did anything he could to stay still on the stepping stone, clothes dripping wet as the lake parted ways for the supernatural beings in front of him.The beautiful woman wearing a long, green kebaya offered him a cup made of a broken human skull. The dark, red liquid seemed to call his name. She brought the skull up, almost touching his lips.Artha leaned closer and sipped the dark blood from it, forcing himself to hold his gaze against the woman’s eyes. He wanted to throw up right away, but he could only close his eyes at the moment.No matter what, he must not throw up. It was the worst feeling he had to suppress.A moment later, the woman was back on the tiger’s back. She still didn’t say anything, but her eyes shone under the moonlit night. She was proud of him, for who knows why.The white beast retreated gracefully; its long tail swayed like part of a dance. Once the white beast’s paws touched the lake’s shore, the water clo
The reddish sun finally set in, calling forth the dark and the moon to adorn the sky.A skinny teenage boy of average height walked through the woods. He wore unwashed jeans and a sweaty oversized t-shirt. A bulky bag strapped to his shoulders, making him bend forward after an afternoon without rest.A nametag hung from his bag, spelled Artha Sangkala.It had been a long day for him. Soon, as the night started, his world would expand.He didn’t expect this at first.The invasion and infectores – all were stuff coming from nightmares. But here he was, surrounded by moving corpses and endless horror.Artha wasn’t new to this kind of thing. Ghosts, demons, and the devil, he was accustomed to them since a baby. Supernatural beings were what he called normal. A psychic, people said to him. He didn’t mind when the unseen creatures were often better than normal humans.Although, after a long day fighting infectores and killing them as a last resort, he was fed up with violence. However, he w
It had been a while since Artha followed Eyang Wadas through the other dimension. He tried to focus, hoping the walk to be short. But, like many things in life, not everything goes according to his wish. As someone who could be considered a psychic, seeing ghosts and demons was something normal. He wasn’t afraid of them, nor was he interested in hearing whatever they say to him. However, the supernatural creatures in the other dimension were not like what he had seen. Besides their animal-like appearance and humanoid plant shapes, they could speak his language fluently as they tried to entice him into taking them with them. Some of them even offered food, all kinds of them, really. His mouth watered the moment their nice smell hit his nose. He almost grabbed a skewered meat a half-bull half-man brought in front of him, but Artha shook his head, clearing his mind from the craving and hunger. Eyang Wadas was testing him. Clenching his hands into fists, Artha refocused and followed