Ash woke to the faint hum of electricity and the cold smell of concrete. The air was thick with dust, and his body ached as though he had been stretched and crushed at the same time. His eyelids felt heavy, but there was no escaping the light that filtered through a cracked ceiling. He tried to sit up, but every movement sent a sharp throb through his head and limbs.
Through the haze of pain, he noticed him.
A man sat on a folding chair a few meters away, arms crossed, his gaze fixed steadily on Ash. The man's clothes were dark and torn, the fabric stiff with ash and grime. His hair was unkempt, but it framed a face that carried both sharpness and weariness. A face that gave off the sense he had seen far too much and judged it all. Ash shivered under the weight of those eyes.
"You're awake," the man said quietly. His voice carried authority, calm but edged with something sharp, like a blade hidden in silk.
Ash swallowed hard. "Where… am I?" His voice cracked, dry and weak.
"Somewhere safe enough for now," the man replied, leaning forward slightly. "What I need to know is… how could you see it?"
Ash frowned, trying to focus. "See what? I don't understand…"
"The Nekro. And me." The man's gaze sharpened. "You shouldn't have been able to."
Ash's confusion deepened. "I… I don't even know what you're talking about. What was that thing? That… creature? And what were you doing fighting it?"
The man tilted his head, studying him as if weighing his words. "You really don't know."
Ash blinked. "I… don't." His voice was uncertain. "I saw something… but I have no idea what it was. It was..." He stopped. The memory of the earthworm-like creature, the way it moved, its teeth and his stomach turned just recalling it. "It was alive… and horrible. And you..."
The man's eyes narrowed. He rose from the chair, moving to the far wall where the air shimmered slightly. For a brief instant, a blade of light appeared in his hand, slicing through the space, then vanished.
"My name's Rai," he said finally, turning back to Ash. "I'm a Blinker."
Ash frowned. "A… Blinker?"
Rai nodded, as if stating the obvious. "A Blinker is someone who channels energy from their eyes to form weapons. We fight the Nekros which are creatures born from human darkness. Hatred, greed, fear, despair… when it grows too strong, it manifests into something monstrous. Something that feeds on humans to grow even more."
Ash stared at him, trying to process the words. "So that… thing… was a Nekro?"
Rai's expression softened slightly. "Yes. And you saw it. You shouldn't have. Humans can't normally perceive Nekros. You're not supposed to be able to see them."
Ash's chest tightened, confusion and fear colliding. "Then… why could I?"
Rai's brows furrowed. He took a cautious step closer, studying Ash's face. "I don't know yet. You might not even realize what you saw… but still. You weren't meant to. Something about you is… different."
Ash's head throbbed, but then a sharp, searing pain shot through his eyes. He groaned and clutched his face.
"Ah… my eyes…!" He dropped to his knees, the pain so intense it made his teeth grit. A low, involuntary growl escaped his throat.
Rai's posture tensed immediately. "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice sharper now, concerned. He crouched slightly, examining Ash's face.
Ash lowered his hands slowly, his breath coming in ragged gasps. That's when Rai's sharp gaze widened in shock. Ash's eyes, his irises glowed with a strange, unnatural light. Pure white, fractured with jagged black crystal patterns, spreading across the surface like veins of obsidian caught in ice. The glow pulsed faintly, alive, as though his very soul were trying to break free.
"…White Blinker," Rai whispered, his voice barely audible. His jaw tightened, disbelief and fear mixing with something like awe.
Ash blinked slowly, exhausted, the light in his eyes dimming slightly as the pain ebbed. "What… what did you just say?" His voice was hoarse.
Rai didn't move. He just kept staring, as if trying to reconcile what he was seeing. "…You're… the White Blinker," he said finally. "How are you still alive."
Ash shook his head weakly. "I… I don't understand any of this. What is a Blinker? What's a Nekro? And why...why me?"
Rai exhaled, running a hand through his hair. "Answers… come later. Right now, you need to understand one thing: your eyes. They're not ordinary. You're part of something much larger than your life has ever been.
Something dangerous."
Ash swallowed, the weight of the words pressing down on him. He wanted to argue, to deny it all, to run but he was too weak, too drained. The reality of what he had seen, and what was happening to him, settled in like a cold stone in his chest.
He went unconscious again.
Meanwhile, far above the streets he used to walk without fear, Kenta ran desperately.
"Ash!" he shouted, voice cracking, echoing down the empty alleyways. His legs ached, lungs burning, but he didn't stop. He had to find him.
The city seemed empty, unusually quiet. Shadows stretched long across the streets. His heart raced, and every corner he turned, he half-expected Ash to be there, leaning casually against a wall, safe as always.
Then something caught his eye.
Ash's bag. Lying on the ground, untouched, except for the faint dust marking where it had been dropped.
Kenta stumbled to it, dropping to his knees to pick it up. His hands shook. "Ash… where are you?" His voice cracked under the strain.
The wind answered, carrying the faint hum of distant traffic. No reply. No sign of his friend. Only the eerie quiet that seemed to press against him like a living thing.
Kenta stood, scanning the area, the bag dangling uselessly at his side. His mind raced. "What happened? Where did you go?"
Somewhere nearby, Ash lay unconscious, his eyes slowly closing as the strange energy within him subsided. Rai watched silently from a shadowed corner, the flickering light of the broken ceiling catching the edge of his blade.
Rai's eyes softened, though still wary. "Rest for now," he said quietly. "When you wake, nothing will be the same."