Daring to perform a ritual means stepping into a world that should never be accessible to humans. It is not merely a choice, but an open challenge to the gods and goddesses above, to laws that were never meant to be touched by mankind.

  Everyone who does it knows the risks. They understand what will happen to them. Yet that knowledge is never enough to stop them.

  It sounds selfish, but they still do it.

  Such is the fate of those known as "Receivers." A group of people, or individuals, who possess supernatural abilities drawn from fifteen different powers, each with its own levels, and who dare to open the forbidden door, receiving something that should never have been given.

  A name also held by Hollow's, though with a different meaning.

  And… the Receivers are also granted another gift: they can see spirits and ghosts with the naked eye, without the help of any object connected to the supernatural.

  Wednesday afternoon…

  When a thick crimson aura mixed with dark purple rose into the sky, creating a wave of energy strong enough to shake the ground within a radius of roughly two hundred meters from where Zavi performed the ritual.

  Several people in Chapena District nearly panicked, thinking another earthquake was about to occur. The atmosphere turned chaotic, whispers spreading from every direction.

  "An earthquake?"

  "It's happening again. Is the world really going to end like they predicted?"

  "Are the gods angry and going to destroy us all?"

  "Damn it, I'm not even married yet," said a man with a red headband. He could not stop himself from thinking that the "end of the world" was already right before his eyes.

  He simply stood there, surrendering himself to his ignorance.

  ...

  Elsewhere, on Vica Street No. 12, inside a bedroom with its window wide open, Ren leaned against the wall beside him. His messy black hair formed loose waves. A gentle breeze flowed into the room as he stared at the sun slowly sinking beyond the horizon.

  However… the calm did not last long.

  Two seconds later, a violent tremor rose from the ground, slightly lifting his body off the floor. He assumed it was just another small earthquake like the ones that had been occurring frequently in Chapena District, a coastal region built upon fractured land that constantly shifted due to the oceanic plates beneath it.

  Unlike other districts that stood upon stable ground, Chapena often received the direct impact of underwater movements.

  He was certain the tremor would soon stop.

  But his assumption was wrong.

  Several seconds later, from the front—from a distant area—Ren clearly saw a crimson aura shoot into the sky from a single point, creating a wave of spiritual pressure that instantly made his skin crawl and forced him to bow his head.

  'Wait, something is happening in that area,' he thought in shock.

  ...

  In the same district, and on the same street, Zeta Audervin happened to be leaving a café, intending to go to Zavi's house. The café doorbell rang sharply as the door closed again, loud enough to be heard by anyone both inside and outside.

  She sensed danger.

  She turned her head to the left, looking at the clock tower. Then, beside it, a thick crimson aura faintly mixed with dark purple shot rapidly into the sky, and Zeta watched the sky darken for several seconds.

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  Her eyes widened.

  "What was that?" she whispered with a trembling voice, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end.

  People passing along the street stopped in their tracks. They stared at the darkened sky with their mouths slightly open.

  Still within the same district, yet with one difference: those within the range of that aura still saw the sky painted orange, a sign that night would soon arrive.

  Unlike Zeta's location, which was outside the range of that crimson and dark purple aura, they felt no pressure at all. However, anyone who saw it would certainly tremble in fear, thinking that something had appeared above the sky—or that the sun itself had been destroyed!

  ....

  Friday night, 19:30.

  In an abandoned area, inside one of the neglected houses among many others nearby—specifically in the living room—Zavi lay unconscious on the dusty, cold floor.

  He was not dead. He was only asleep.

  Before awakening from his long sleep—or more precisely, after completing the ritual—his body felt as if it were wrapped in endless darkness, coldness, and tranquility.

  This was the first time Zavi had ever felt such a sensation. For a moment, he thought he had died, when in reality he had survived a ritual that had nearly failed.

  He stood up while leaning against the wall, only then realizing that his coat had vanished, leaving only his white shirt, pocket watch, and the chain wrapped around his fingers. He looked at his arms, now deeply flushed red, assuming it was merely a side effect of the ritual, when in truth the first requirement had already been fulfilled.

  Zavi's mind was now filled with questions he could not answer as his gaze locked onto the door.

  'Did the ritual fail? It doesn't seem like it. Who is the smiling woman standing near the door with such a captivating face? And what strange sensation is swirling inside my body right now?' He finally finished the thought in his mind.

  Zavi tapped his forehead twice. Then he stood upright, and for some reason his hands trembled as he stared at the woman wearing a white dress with black lines. Her black hair was braided and tied up, reaching down to her waist with a floral accent on the right side, and her dark brown eyes stared at Zavi with a warm yet sharp smile.

  "Who are you?" Zavi asked cautiously.

  'Did she see me performing the ritual earlier? If she did… it seems I'll have to kill her,' he thought with hesitation.

  His face appeared normal, but the beating of his heart revealed his deep panic, as he briefly thought tonight was still the same day.

  The air around the room froze. Time seemed unwilling to move forward, contrasting with the tension as his fingers twitched and his sharp gaze remained fixed on the woman.

  Several seconds later, the woman smiled again, holding back her laughter by tightly covering her mouth with her right hand wrapped in patterned black leather gloves.

  'Who is that woman? I've seen her before… but where?' He tried to remember but failed.

  "Damn," he hissed quietly.

  Aside from that confusion, his stomach growled loudly in the silence of the room, and he could no longer hold back the hunger slowly gnawing at his body.

  As he stepped out of the abandoned house, something pulled his right hand—the woman pulled him back, signaling him to stop with a single wink and the corner of her lips lifting upward, a wicked smile.

  "Did you truly forget me, Sir?" the woman asked while gripping Zavi's hand tightly and slightly lifting it.

  Zavi's lips twitched.

  He did not understand what she meant, nor did he remember whether the original Zavi had ever known a woman as beautiful and strange as her.

  Even though from his perspective as a man there were several beautiful women he knew, none stood out more than Zeta Audervin and Aurora Chevalya.

  Even though he might never have met Aurora Chevalya in person, that captivating face had been etched into his heart since the first time he saw her in high school.

  How unfortunate you are, Zavi.

  "I—I… don't remember who," Zavi said honestly. "If you want me to know, could you tell me your name, Miss?" he asked with a serious yet cautious expression.

  'Who exactly is this woman, and what is this strange sensation surrounding my back? A side effect of the ritual? That strange voice that suddenly appeared in my head?' He was truly confused.

  His intelligence seemed to decline. He glanced left and right to hide his thoughts, thinking about escaping this place as quickly as possible while his stomach kept growling and his unease grew stronger because of the woman's presence.

  But the woman prevented him from leaving the abandoned area, without Zavi knowing her true intention.

  He shrugged slightly.

  "Why are you just standing there? Maybe—"

  Before he could finish his sentence, the woman pressed her index finger against Zavi's lips, silencing him. Her left index finger, wrapped in a black leather glove, rested gently there.

  "Ssst…" the mysterious woman smiled slyly.

  'Without a doubt, this woman… is insane!'

  After thinking for a moment, Zavi immediately ran past the woman.

  However…

  For some reason his legs suddenly could not support his body properly, as if that place itself refused to let him leave. His legs trembled and he fell to his knees on the damp stone road, only five steps from where he had stood before.

  "Damn…" he muttered quietly, not knowing what would happen next as he saw the crazy woman walking toward him with that strange smile.

  "Hey. You damn bitch," his tone rose, "Let me go now! Or I'll kill you!"

  "Are you alright, M-Master?"

  They stared at each other.

  Then… after the woman spoke to him, asking about his condition, Zavi's eyes widened. He forgot how to breathe for a moment. His body suddenly convulsed, his chest rising and falling before a loud scream escaped him.

  "Aahh..."

  The woman looked at him with an empty gaze, and as her finger touched his chin, she said with a faint smile, "I will wait… Zavi or perhaps, Liam Tirarty."

  Zavi was shocked when he realized he was inside that house again. Quickly he stood up and checked his surroundings. What startled him most was the sense of familiarity with the condition he was experiencing now.

  His coat was gone. He was still inside the house where he had performed the ritual. Nothing had changed. Parts of his body were still flushed red, making him think everything had only been a dream.

  "Was that real? Eh… where did that woman go now?"

  Zavi turned toward the door, stunned.

  "Huh? She's gone? Don't tell me that was just a dream. Impossible—it felt far too real to be called a dream. Damn…" he muttered softly while holding his chin and thinking.

  'Do strange things like this always happen to me? Did the ritual fail? That's impossible since I'm still alive now.' He tried searching for the woman around the house, but his efforts were futile.

  Finally, he decided to leave the empty house, exiting the abandoned area as quickly as possible while feeling that something was wrong. Before leaving, however, he did not forget to pick up the pocket watch lying beneath his body, slipping it behind his shirt and trousers.

  The hands of the clock moved, showing 22:00 at night.

  Zavi did not realize that he had been asleep for two full days, until Friday, October 26.

  He placed the watch into his shirt pocket and immediately left. Every second he spent in that place felt increasingly suffocating.

  The silence of the night was not a comforting silence, but a silence that devoured everything. From the darkness around him, he heard the sound of something falling softly, with an irregular rhythm.

  Then another object followed, clinking in a steady pattern, as though something was deliberately marking its presence.

  The hairs on the back of Zavi's neck stood on end. He quickened his pace, refusing to look back, even though he felt as if something was watching him.

  He held his breath.

  From deep within his own heart, he knew he did not want to go there.

  But… why?