Morning light crept across the campus like nothing had happened the night before.Students laughed, shouted, hurried to classes; life moved the way it always did.
But Kayden didn't feel part of any of it.
Every sound seemed distant.Every movement softened at the edges.The world felt… thinner.
He walked slowly along the pathway beside the science block, his gaze drifting across the buildings, the trees, the sky—trying to understand the strange pressure resting behind his eyes. It wasn't pain.It wasn't fear.It was awareness.
As if something beneath reality was humming just softly enough for only him to hear.
He stopped walking.
The air in front of him shifted—not visibly, not physically, but in a way that made him blink. Like a thin veil fluttered for the briefest moment, then settled again.
A soft whisper touched the back of his mind.
"Commander… anomaly frequency detected."
Kayden exhaled quietly.
Not again.Not a breach.Not a threat.
But something.
A reminder.
He glanced around. Students were everywhere—chatting, scrolling, complaining about quizzes. None of them noticed anything unusual.
He was the only one who felt it.
A faint vibration moved through the ground. Just once. Just enough for him to freeze.
For everyone else, it never happened.
Kayden moved to the side, standing near a pillar, pretending to check his phone. He didn't want to draw attention. But the sensation wouldn't fade—it lingered like a cold fingerprint pressed against his spine.
"Why only me?" he muttered under his breath.
The system answered immediately, calm but firmer than usual.
"Your divergence has begun."
Kayden's eyes narrowed. "Meaning?"
The system paused, as if choosing its words.
"The boundary between your reality and the anomaly layer is weakening.But only around you."
Kayden felt the temperature drop—not physically, but emotionally. The words hit too precisely.
"Is that why I sense these things?"
"Yes. Your sensitivity is rising earlier than projected."
Kayden ran a hand through his hair, trying to steady the unease inside him. He wanted to deny it—to believe he was imagining things—but the world around him felt undeniably altered.
He could sense gaps.Fault lines.Tiny disturbances that shouldn't exist.
A thin line between two worlds.Invisible.Unstable.And getting weaker.
Someone called his name.
"Kayden!"
He turned to see Alex jogging toward him, waving one hand. His face was bright, casual—untouched by the things Kayden had seen.
"You good, man? You look like you pulled an all-nighter."
Kayden forced a small smile. "Just tired."
Alex stopped beside him. "Tired? Bro, you look like you stared into the void and it stared back."
Kayden's smile faded slightly.
If only he knew.
Alex leaned against the pillar. "You skipping class again?"
"Not sure yet," Kayden said.
"You're always 'not sure yet.' What happened yesterday? Phineas looked like he saw the apocalypse."
Kayden's chest tightened.
He didn't want to drag Alex into this.Alex didn't have the training, the instincts, the system.He had a normal life—a life Kayden was already drifting away from.
"I'll tell you later," Kayden replied.
Alex studied him for a moment, concern growing."You're scaring me a little."
Before Kayden could answer, the world around him flickered again.
Just a slight shift.A ripple.A tremor that wasn't physical.
The thin line moved.
He felt it pull at him—subtle, curious, like the anomaly layer brushing against the boundary just to see if he'd react.
Kayden steadied himself against the pillar.
Alex didn't notice anything.He kept talking, unaware the world had just twisted for a heartbeat.
Kayden swallowed. "Alex… I'll meet you later, okay?"
"What? Where are you going?"
"I just need air."
Alex frowned. "Kayden—"
But Kayden had already stepped away, moving toward the quieter side of campus.
The moment he left the crowd, the sensation sharpened.The ground under his feet thinned again.Reality felt fragile, like stretched glass.
He whispered, "This isn't normal."
The system answered softly.
"For others, no.For you… it is the beginning."
Kayden stopped walking.
The wind moved through the trees, carrying the faint hum of the world—the normal world.And beneath it, he felt another rhythm.Hidden.Waiting.
He wasn't just sensing anomalies.
He was being pulled toward them.
The thin line between both layers wasn't weakening everywhere.
It was weakening around him.
Targeting him.Recognizing him.Connecting to him.
He closed his eyes, letting a calm breath settle in his chest.
This wasn't just an aftermath.It wasn't an accident.It wasn't something that would fade away.
He was crossing into something else.Slowly.Unavoidably.
When he opened his eyes again, the world looked the same.But he no longer felt like he was standing fully inside it.
He was standing on the line.The thin line.
And it was getting harder to ignore.