2024-11-20 17:39:09“Leon!”
His footsteps stopped again when someone called his name as he was about to turn from the direction of the 3rd-grade high school building towards building 2. Leon turned and found a girl running towards him.
Of course, Leon remembered that face. The face of a girl who was sobbing while being beaten by Jono. A moment before Leon lost consciousness, the girl's face appeared.
“Viona?” Leon greeted while calling the name of the girl who stopped two steps in front of them.
Viona's breath was short, her face confused but happy at the same time when she saw Leon.
“Are you okay?” Leon asked realizing the girl's presence even though the one who should have been asked was Leon himself because his face was still bruised.
“Yes, I'm fine. But this…” Viona didn't continue her sentence because she was sure Leon and the others understood what she meant.
“I know. Is it just you?” Leon asked.
“Yes. Just me. My friends and the others didn't move at all. What's wrong?” Viona asked.
“I don't know either. Come on, follow me,” said Leon.
Viona just nodded.
Leon rushed towards a place where there was an orange light spot in the middle of the school grass field. Leon saw the light spot and was sure it was something that was intended for him. While walking towards the field, Leon occasionally checked whether there was still something moving among the human statues.
“You are indeed smart.” The voice was heard by Leon again. “Follow the light, but your time is limited, Leon. Only five minutes before it dims,” continued the mysterious voice.
Leon quickened his pace to reach the middle of the field.
“Come on, hurry up, follow me,” he said.
No one spoke, just following Leon from behind because the surrounding conditions were quite scary. How could humans suddenly become statues after the strange storm that came earlier? Ah, the storm has now subsided, there are no more strong winds and thunder, only the black sky still covering, becoming an umbrella for the Earth.
However, after five steps towards the light spot, the corner of Leon’s eye suddenly caught a movement that made him stop his steps which caused Gio to bump into him.
“What the heck, Le? You said to follow, but you braked without warning,” Gio protested.
Because Leon’s defence was strong enough that they didn’t fall onto the grass of the field even though Leon had to endure the pain in his arm.
“Hey, you!” Leon shouted to someone who seemed to be running aimlessly, confused.
Hearing Leon’s voice from the field, the figure turned around. The distance was far enough that they didn’t recognize who was running.
“Come here, quickly!” Leon shouted again, his voice quite clearly audible in the silence.
The figure was like a girl running as fast as she could towards him.
“You have three minutes, Leon. If you don’t follow that light, you won’t be able to turn back this frozen time, humans will become statues.” The voices echoed again, making Leon hiss in annoyance.
“What’s wrong, Leon?” asked Sean who was quite sensitive to Leon’s behavior. However, the boy didn’t care.
Leon suddenly looked at them one by one to make sure he recognized their faces.
“Count the time in two minutes, Se,” Leon said a little commandingly.
Sean was a little confused, but he obeyed glanced at the watch on his hand and started counting.
“You hold hands,” Leon said again.
Without asking much, they held hands, even Sean, although one of his hands was raised to see the movement of the clock hands, tightly held Viona’s right hand, and the other hand held Gio’s left hand which was holding Leon’s left hand.
“Hurry!” Leon snapped, but unfortunately, the girl fell in the middle of the road making Leon hiss again. “There’s no time,” he grumbled. “You stay here, hold hands, don’t let go,” Leon suggested.
“But, what about you?” Viona spoke up, worried and scared at the same time.
Leon said nothing more and let go of Gio’s hand and ran towards the girl again. Once he had succeeded in helping the girl with her sprained leg, Leon returned to where the others were waiting. His attention was focused on the light that was starting to dim.
“One more minute.” The voice reminded him.
Leon was confused, the distance was quite far. But then without warning the boy immediately grabbed the girl and carried her by force and ran as fast as he could with a mysterious voice that kept counting the time.
“Five, four, three –”
On the count of three, Leon managed to grab Gio's outstretched hand. The next second they felt a strong jolt. The ground where they were standing seemed to disappear, pulling them into a dark hallway. Only the sound of screaming could be heard from them. The hallway was like a water slide that continued to pull their bodies into the darkness, even making their heads dizzy.
Until.
The sound of a bang stopped the scream, turning into a loud groan.
Before they realized the strange place, something whizzed around them. A transparent round light surrounded their bodies, making them even more panicked.
"What is this?" Gio asked in fear.
"Welcome to the Thousand Appearances dimension." The voice was heard again but this time it was clear.
Something appeared in front of them in a transparent form. The others immediately stood behind Leon, especially Gio.
The figure was like a computer program with a beautiful face and a costume that resembled a party dress. Laughter was heard, from the transparent figure.
"Hello, my name is Maya. I am the system that will guide you while you are in the Thousand Appearances," the figure introduced herself.
Silence.
No one spoke as they were confused.
"System?" Sean was the first to speak, stepping forward, parallel to Leon.
"Yes, system. A secret program from the computer. Only certain people are chosen by the system. Congratulations, you are the chosen ones to adventure in the Thousand-Appearances Dimension," Maya said again, a system that looked a little eccentric but transparent, floating in front of them.
No one spoke as if they were digesting.
"So that's you?" Leon spoke while looking at Maya.
Maya laughed.
"You are indeed smart, Leon. You can recognize my voice easily and follow my advice," Maya said with a chuckle.
Leon's eyebrows furrowed in displeasure with Maya's response.
"Whatever." Maya snorted softly. "Alright. You are safe now. That circle is to detect and give you a system. How it works is easy, press your respective watches and the notification system will appear," Maya explained.
The five students looked at each other, they were still wearing their uniforms, and finally, they realized the last girl Leon had helped. All eyes were on the girl.
"Zenata?" Gio said in disbelief while shouting a little.
Zenata Aurora, Jono's girlfriend, was silent. How could she be there? Leon just realized that he was the one who helped Zenata because he was the one who was almost running out of time.
"What are you doing here?" Gio asked again.
"How should I know?" Zenata answered in a loud voice that surprised the others.
"Hey," Viona scolded. "You don't need to be angry," the girl continued.
"What do you mean? You're the one who accused me," Zenata answered in disbelief.
"Hey. Because of you, we can't go. A crazy girl like you shouldn't be here," Gio said, clearly not liking Zenata's presence.
"What?" Zenata shouted again.
"Can you explain something to us so we can understand?" Sean spoke up, asking Maya who was silent, watching the small argument.
"Ah. Wait a minute." Maya snapped her fingers. Suddenly a large screen appeared in front of them.
Leon and Sean's attention was focused on the screen, while the other three people still couldn't accept each other's presence. Viona and Gio were clearly disturbed by Zenata's presence, including Leon, but the man was silent.
“We are at the entry point of the Thousand-Appearances Dimensions.” Maya pointed at the red dot on the screen, the dot blinking.
“Then why are we here?” Leon asked.
“Good question.” Maya snapped her fingers again. The large screen disappeared, replaced by a red screen containing an AI face. “He is my spokesperson, Moe. So listen up,” Maya commanded.
“Hello, I am Moe. You have been chosen by the Thousand-Appearances system to carry out a mission. If your mission is successful, you will return and your home world will be as it was before,” Moe explained.
Not a single person spoke among the five teenagers. However, they wondered what Thousand-Appearances was. A city? A country or a village? What would they encounter on their journey?
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“Try pressing the watch on each of your hands,” said Moe.Moe resembled a cat’s face with a cute male voice. Funnily enough, Moe’s body soon appeared in the form of a cat with thick grey fur.Viona looked surprised to see Moe’s moving form and the girl approached.“So cute,” said Viona happily, even reaching out her hand. Amazingly, Moe could be touched even though it was just a system.Leon pressed the watch on his hand, and a screen spread out in front of him. The boy turned to the others, but saw nothing, only finding Sean who looked silent with his gaze focused forward. Gio was the same, nodding his head and even occasionally exclaiming. Then he turned to Zenata but the girl seemed to be staring at him. Leon turned his attention back to the front, ignoring Zenata. After all, Zenata was one of Jono’s henchmen, someone Leon hated.“What’s going on, Maya?” asked Leon.“That’s the system you have. Information that only you know. No one can see it except you,” replied Maya.Was that wh
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“Are you done?” Maya returned but her appearance was different from before. This time Maya was wearing a combat outfit like in a game movie. “What happened?” Maya was confused as the children stared at her.“Maya, there’s something strange with this kid’s system,” Moe reported while pointing at Leon.“What do you mean?” Maya asked in confusion.“Look. His sword blade is gone,” Moe said again.This time Maya’s attention was drawn to Leon who was still holding his sword. But Maya’s eyes widened and she approached Leon.“A Sword Without a Blade?” Maya said in surprise. The girl then looked at Leon’s face, circling the boy’s body.Everyone fell silent and looked at each other. They didn’t know what Leon’s sword meant.Maya’s expression looked worried now. The girl stopped right in front of Leon and stared at the boy sharply.“Put your sword away. Never draw it unless you feel something strange,” Maya said in a serious voice.No one understood what Maya was saying except Moe.“The Chosen O
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He took a deep breath. “Alright. Let’s do it together,” he said, which immediately made the others smile.“That’s right,” Gio said happily.Leon just smiled a little, starting to realize that they had come as a team, not as individuals. He didn’t know why they were there, but Leon’s instincts told him that it had something to do with him.“Alright. Then, let’s discuss it so we can start moving tomorrow,” Sean suggested. The bookworm seemed to be a good talker and seemed to really enjoy talking. Leon didn’t mind since Sean was the opposite, with the man near him Leon felt better.They came closer to discuss, dividing the tasks between each of them.“First, tomorrow at noon we have to gather as much information as possible. After that we find out what caused the people of Summer Village to not be able to
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Who knows what the five teenagers will face on the night that has begun to change? Different from the previous night, it feels warm and bright this time compared to the dark and tense night yesterday. When the clock shows six o'clock, the sky is still fairly bright with stars starting to appear. However, the atmosphere is quiet because the residents are inside the house, still not allowed to go out of the house."How much longer do we have to wait?" Zenata complained boredly.They only glanced at her briefly and then ignored her.Azlan left everything to the five teenagers because it was a task that they had to complete.Leon who was standing near the window to look outside only glanced briefly. Zenata's complaint was not just once or twice. The girl clicked her tongue in annoyance."Still nothing, Le?" Sean asked approaching, preferring to join Gio and Leon near the window rather than listen to Zenata's complaints."Nothing," answered Gio who was monitoring the situation outside. "Wa
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Leon frowned for a moment before opening his eyes. Bright light greeted him. The boy rubbed his eyes, his head dizzy."Are you awake?" Zenata's voice greeted him with a little bit of gruffness.Leon's gaze shifted to the girl sitting in the other chair. Zenata snorted, looking annoyed."Are you okay?" The voice changed to sound softer this time and Leon's gaze fell on Viona who was watching him.Trying to get up from her lying position, Viona quickly helped Leon sit up. His gaze wandered, his mind guessing what happened to him. Leon then remembered the reason he was unconscious."What about Sean?" Leon asked as he remembered his friend."I'm fine now. I woke up earlier than you," Sean replied, leaning forward so Leon could see him."How long was I unconscious?" Leon asked."Not unconscious. You slept very soundly," Zenata snapped in annoyance.Leon blinked, not understanding at all why Zenata looked angry."Just ignore her. She's upset," Viona said to Leon while giving him a glass of
24. Zenata's Doubt
Azlan looked at both of them alternately, right after Azlan said that Sean suddenly became weak and coughed making the others focus their attention on Sean. The man was also panting."Sean?" Leon called his name, but after that, Leon also gasped and coughed."Gosh!" Gio exclaimed as Sean vomited something beside him, blood. "Sean?" Gio approached Sean who did not respond other than coughing up blood.The same thing happened to Leon which made Viona no less anxious until Zenata came but the girl was silent for a few steps seeing the blood coming out of Leon's mouth.Azlan was silent and did nothing."Zenata, why are you silent!" Gio shouted waking Zenata. "Treat them!"There was no response from Zenata but her attention was focused on Leon. "Viona, move," said the girl."What do you mean? Can't you see I'm busy?" Viona replied in a disapproving tone."I said, move!" said Zenata firmly, making Viona look at her angrily. But Zenata's expression looked strange. "L-Leon, only I... only I c
23. Zenata's Doubt
Azlan looked at both of them alternately, right after Azlan said that Sean suddenly became weak and coughed making the others focus their attention on Sean. The man was also panting."Sean?" Leon called his name, but after that, Leon also gasped and coughed."Gosh!" Gio exclaimed as Sean vomited something beside him, blood. "Sean?" Gio approached Sean who did not respond other than coughing up blood.The same thing happened to Leon which made Viona no less anxious until Zenata came but the girl was silent for a few steps seeing the blood coming out of Leon's mouth.Azlan was silent and did nothing."Zenata, why are you silent!" Gio shouted waking Zenata. "Treat them!"There was no response from Zenata but her attention was focused on Leon. "Viona, move," said the girl."What do you mean? Can't you see I'm busy?" Viona replied in a disapproving tone."I said, move!" said Zenata firmly, making Viona look at her angrily. But Zenata's expression looked strange. "L-Leon, only I... only I c
22. Clear Night Sky
“What is that Maya?” Sean asked.Before Maya could answer, another red light moved towards Sean. The man froze for a moment. The light was right in front of him. Hesitating slightly, Sean reached out to grab the light and held it in his hand cruelly as the light disappeared, making Sean’s eyes widen.“What is that?” Sean asked again.“Strength,” Maya answered shortly.Next, their system screens appeared together including Leon’s who was now starting to calm down on Sean’s lap with his eyes slightly open. Leon was conscious but the man was weak.“Congratulations! You successfully defeated the Black Mist Dragon. In return, you get 3000 points and two stars for each. You get a Level Up. In the next level, if the other team doesn’t participate, they will be left behind and you will return to the beginning. Once again congratulations on the level up.” After explaining that the screen dimmed again and disappeared making Leon and Sean look at each other.Leon tried to sit up with Sean’s help
21. Dragon Breath
As they had planned. Sean and Leon quietly left the room. They made their three friends fall asleep and would not wake up until morning greeted them. There was a fragrance that kept them asleep. Sean with his intelligence put the fragrance also on several inn doors whose aroma entered the gap in the door at the bottom. This was done to keep them from waking up.Leon said there was a possibility that they were fighting something they didn't even know. But they were sure that they would fight. So, to prevent other people from getting involved or hurt, Leon minimized the possibility of that."Are you ready?" Leon asked when Sean had finished applying the sleeping pill fragrance to each door."Yes." Sean nodded confidently.They both looked at each other, of course, there was doubt from them because they didn't know what they would face after that."Okay. We'll start now. Stay with me no matter what happens, and take care of yourself," Leon ordered."You too," Sean replied. Leon nodded hi
20. Leon and Sean's Plan
"That, does it have to be quiet every night?" Leon asked, remembering the night when Zenata screamed.Azlan looked back at him. "Only loud noises and commotion will make the faceless come," answered Azlan. “Only those who enter noisy houses will be considered breaking the rules.”"Then, just talking like this won't be a problem?" Leon asked again."As long as you can keep your voice low," answered Azlan again.Leon nodded in understanding now.“Then who are you?” Leon remembered the events of the night when Azlan chased away the faceless black creature.His laughter sounded soft again. “I don't know how many times you've asked who I am. However, you will find out later.”“You know, in my observation, you know a lot of things. About what happened, about what might happen. About what might happen in the future. "My feeling says, you know more than just know," said Leon.This time Azlan was silent, looking at Leon deeply and sharply. "You're like that, Leon," said Azlan."What do you mea
19. Twin Light Paintings Fading
Leon came out of the room, looking to the right and left of the second floor of the quiet inn. Candles lit in several corners of the place helped illuminate the surroundings. Leon walked slowly, not wanting to make a loud noise that might invite discomfort.The second floor was safe, there was only silence. An uncomfortable feeling gripped Leon, even feeling so cold and piercing his skin. Ignoring it, Leon went down to the ground floor, in the lobby which was also quiet. No woman was guarding the registration desk, or anyone guarding there.Leon didn't know why his feet were walking towards the tightly closed main door. In the window not far from the door, there was a gap. The man was silent there, just silent with a straight gaze into the gap peeking at the atmosphere outside.Just like what Leon saw in the room, outside there was only darkness. Usually, there was candlelight outside or something to illuminate but there was none at all. Leon thought, is it because the darkness will d
18. Not What It Seems
“If you want, go ahead. But don’t involve me,” Zenata said. Of course, the girl would refuse. “I don’t want to. Never!” the girl said firmly.“No problem,” Sean replied casually. “Me and Leon will do it. Besides, we didn’t suggest anything to you, like Leon did this morning to divide the tasks,” Sean continued.Zenata stared at Sean sharply, disliking the man.“Right. You don’t have to do it. What you did this afternoon was more than enough. If you don’t want to, that’s okay. Sean and I will investigate,” Leon said.“But Le, what if it can’t be handled? As we know, darkness is hard to handle. We’re just strangers who don’t even have the power to fight a king who is said to be dark and cruel,” Viona chimed in. The girl’s face was restless.“Yes, I know.”“If you knew, you would still do it, right?” Gio already knew that Sean and Leon were two teenagers with high curiosity. They would continue to find out until their curiosity was satisfied.“I think you know that too,” Sean said, still
