The late morning sun bathed Cebu City in gold, painting the streets with slow-moving shadows and warm light. Tricycles buzzed by, students lingered near convenience stores, and vendors barked their sales of grilled corn and bottled water along the sidewalks. The noise, the smells, the rhythm of life—it all felt distant to Alex, whose thoughts were still tethered to mountains, dungeons, and dragons.
"It's nice doing business with you again, Alex," said Mr. Duran, a man whose designer suit seemed to cost more than the entire café they were seated in. He smiled as he casually slipped the pouch containing fifty uncut diamonds into his slim briefcase. "Until next time," he added, standing with the calm air of a broker who had just closed yet another million-dollar deal.
Alex remained seated, swirling the last few drops of his caramel frappuccino, eyes still on his smartphone. With a flick, he opened his online banking app, watching the numbers on the screen rearrange themselves. There it was—₱70,000,000, freshly deposited into his account. Neatly tucked beside his drink on the table was an envelope containing ₱5 million in cash. He slid it toward him, casually making it vanish into his storage ring like it was nothing more than loose change.
This wasn't new to him anymore. In the last month, things had changed so drastically that sometimes he wondered if he was still the same man who used to lie in bed all day after his work shift. The diamonds came from the mountain of Quezon, a gift from the earth itself—or so he liked to joke. Now, they were his ticket to funding whatever crazy idea he'd come up with next.
"Well, it's not like I didn't dream of this scene when I was a good-for-nothing paralytic a month ago. Now that it's actually happening, I can't even enjoy the moment," he muttered to himself. "I guess that old cliché is true—money can't buy happiness."
He leaned back in his chair and sighed. Maybe money really couldn't buy happiness, but it sure made doing dangerous things a lot easier. He had arranged this meeting with Mr. Duran two days before leaving Davao. Now in Cebu, things were moving fast again.
Finishing the last sip of his drink, Alex stood and walked out of the café, the late morning sun beaming down. He closed his eyes for a moment, allowing his photosynthesis ability to go to work, charging his cells like a solar battery. The feeling of raw power gathering in his body was oddly satisfying.
"Trisha and Callum are probably snoring like ogres," he thought, amused. "Imagine getting exhausted from sitting on a plane."
He crossed the street, walking straight into a vehicle showroom without bothering to check the brand name. A bell rang softly above the door as he entered.
"Good morning, sir," said a cheerful voice. A woman stood from behind the reception desk. "I'm Lanie Rose, one of the sales consultants. May I help you find your next vehicle?" she asked, all sales pitch and perfume.
Alex gave her a charming smile. "Sure. Show me your best 4x4 pickup truck."
She beamed, clearly happy to have a client with money and taste walk in without hesitation. After a short tour of the lot, however, Alex surprised even himself. He ended up picking a sleek, black SUV instead of a rugged truck. It had modern features, was spacious enough to haul equipment and teammates, and most importantly—it screamed tourist, not mercenary.
"I'll take this one," he said without hesitation, pulling out a bundle of cash like it was Monopoly money. The woman sales agent nearly fainted.
After he paid in full with a little bonus tip to Lanie, she looked like she wanted to cry and dance at the same time.
"Thanks for the assistance, Lanie," Alex said as he shook her hand.
"It's my pleasure, sir. Thank you for the trust!" she beamed.
Alex paused, tilting his head. "By the way, any gossip or interesting news around here?"
Lanie giggled like he'd just opened her favorite drawer. "Not much, really. Since that broadcast phenomenon a few weeks ago, everyone's been a little tense. Although—" she leaned in, "there was this Chinese tourist who went up the mountain and never came back."
Alex raised an eyebrow. "Tourist? A man?"
"Oh, not a man," Lanie said. "A woman. Some say she was from mainland China. Very pretty. Like… celebrity pretty. She came here about a week ago, asking about vehicles. She almost bought one, but my colleague told her to rent instead since she was only staying for a few days."
"And she's missing?"
"Yep. The vehicle she rented was due back two days ago, but she never returned it. The owner reported it to the local police. Turns out her hotel room's still untouched, though it's been prepaid for a month. Locals say she was last seen heading up into the mountains alone."
Alex blinked. Awakened, he thought. That familiar gut feeling returned—the one that always whispered to him when something was about to happen.
"You know a lot about this case," he said, half-teasing.
Lanie laughed. "Well, it's not like people like you walk in every day. Most of the time, we're just stuck here gossiping."
"Thanks again," Alex said, already turning to leave. "I'll return tomorrow to pick up the vehicle."
As he stepped out into the sun again, his mind was already racing. Another awakened. A woman. Pretty, strong, and went into the jungle alone. Either incredibly confident or incredibly reckless.
"If she turns out to be as crazy as Callum," he muttered, "I've got my hands full again."
He smirked to himself and pulled out his phone to call Trisha. The line rang twice before she answered with a groggy voice.
"What now, Alex? You better not have bought another car…"
"Too late," Alex said, grinning. "And also, we might have another player in Cebu, a Chinese Awakened. Disappeared in the mountains. Thought I'd let you know before we head up."
Trisha groaned. "Can I at least finish my nap before we chase another lunatic through the jungle?"
"Nope. Suit up. I'll pick you and Callum up in an hour. And this time, let's try not to get shot at, okay?"
She ended the call with a dramatic sigh.
Alex pocketed his phone and took a deep breath. Things were escalating, and fast. More Awakened were surfacing, and not all of them were prepared—or sane
Back at the hotel, Callum and Trisha were still passed out, sleeping like logs on two separate beds. He couldn't blame them. While the flight from Davao to Cebu only took ninety minutes, the weight of the battles they'd faced hadn't quite lifted. In the span of a few weeks, they had survived a dungeon, a dragon, and a dozen near-death experiences. Rest was deserved.
But Alex wasn't one to sit still.
He opened his map, comparing it to the satellite overlay from his sentient-linked crystal. There was energy coming from deep in the mountains of Cebu—a signature similar to them. It wasn't too strong, which meant she was either suppressing her power… or in trouble.
Alex sat on the hotel balcony, the city's buzz below him, but his thoughts somewhere in the wilderness. He couldn't shake the feeling that fate was aligning things again.
*********
Ling Xi opened her eyes slowly, blinking at a ceiling that didn't look anything like a normal hospital. There were no white panels, no humming fluorescent lights, no scent of antiseptic in the air. Instead, the ceiling was smooth, metallic, and subtly glowing with lines that shifted colors—blue to violet, then back again—like breathing light. Her eyes darted around the room, trying to make sense of her surroundings. It wasn't just unfamiliar—it was something entirely… other.
"This isn't a hospital," she muttered.
Everything around her was foreign. The furniture had soft, rounded edges and floated slightly above the floor. The material of the sheets beneath her felt like flowing water, constantly shifting, yet when she touched it, it held firm like a cushion.
She sat up cautiously. The bed adjusted automatically to her movement, rising slightly to support her back. "Okay... that's not creepy at all," she whispered. Her gaze swept across the strange room. The wall color was soothing, almost feminine, but she couldn't place the exact shade—like a color not found in any paint catalog on Earth. The designs embedded in the wall moved ever so slightly, almost breathing with her.
"I wonder how much the designer charged for this. Definitely futuristic. Out-of-this-world theme, but oddly pleasant," she thought aloud, rubbing her temples.
She stood up and instinctively walked toward what she thought was a window. It was a wide panel—black and glassy, set into the wall. "Is this really a window or a huge TV screen playing some sci-fi cityscape?" she said dryly to herself.
But as she drew closer, her breath caught in her throat.
"No… no, that's not a screen."
Ling Xi froze in place, eyes wide, staring through the panel.
Beyond it stretched a city unlike anything she had ever seen. Towering spires spiraled into the sky, connected by translucent bridges that floated in the air. Vehicles—if they could be called that—zipped across the sky with no visible engines or wheels. Everything shimmered with impossible materials, glowing softly like bioluminescent coral. The architecture was elegant, alien, and beautiful… and unmistakably not Earth-made.
She stumbled back a step, hand gripping the edge of the floating table beside her for balance. Her heart was pounding now.
"Where the hell am I?" she whispered.
It was then that her memories came rushing back, all in one chaotic stream.
The cave. That strange, narrow cave she had found deep in the jungles of Cebu. She had been following the sentient map for hours, fighting through waves of humanoid creatures—vile, goblin-like beasts with black skin and jagged claws. She had defeated more than ten of them—barely surviving each encounter with a mix of brute force and magic, relying heavily on her lightning-infused spells and the instincts she inherited from the beasts she had absorbed. But the cave stretched endlessly, far deeper than it had any right to. The map told her the end was near… but it never came.
Then something happened.
A presence. No, a creature—long and coiled, hidden in the shadows behind her. She didn't even hear it coming.
Something had struck her head, hard. Her vision went black. She remembered the sharp pain… then nothing.
Ling Xi looked down at herself. She was uninjured. No blood, no bandages. Her energy felt intact. In fact, she felt stronger—clearer—like something had healed her beyond physical wounds.
She turned back to the window, staring at the city again.
"I'm not in the cave anymore. I'm not even in Cebu."
She pressed her palm against the window. The glass pulsed lightly at her touch, recognizing her presence. Somewhere deep inside, her instincts stirred—Predator's Intuition and Snake Reflexes were already warning her: she was not alone. Someone, or something, was nearby… watching.