"Hoi! Leo, have you finished your homework yet? Or have you been glued to that gall day again? Finals are just weeks away, you know. Why are you staying up all night playing?"

Leonel winced as his mother's barrage of questions assaulted his ears. Her words felt like sharp blows, each one landing with painfully.

He rubbed his head where his mother's fist had connected moments before. "Mom, what do you wantto do? Study or make money?"

His mother's expression darkened as she raised her hand to strike him again. "I want you to do both."

Leonel felt frustration bubbling up inside him. "But that's impossible!"

His mother's hand made contact with his head once more, sending a jolt of pain through him. "If you can't handle both, you'll never beca man. You'll never be as successful as your sister."

Leonel felt the weight of her words crushing him. It seemed like no matter what he did, he could never live up to her expectations.

"I'm the one who pays for all of this! Do you even realize the sacrifices I make so you guys can enjoy your lives with a roof over your heads, plenty of food, and money for shopping? Don't you think I deserve sslack here?" Leonel asserted, puffing out his chest in an attempt to appear bigger and more intimidating.

However, he immediately deflated when his mother shot him a withering glare.

"What did you say?" His mother rolled up the sleeves of her shirt, one eye widening while the other narrowed at him. "Dare you say that again you ingrate for a son!"

"U-uhhmm . . . , I meant to say that I'll go to my room right now and study hard for the exams," Leonel stammered, trying to backtrack.

Without waiting for a response, Leonel bolted to his room. He wanted to slam the door shut with a loud bang to show them how angry he was, but he refrained in the end for fear that his mother would beceven angrier and cafter him.

The sting of his mother's words still fresh in his mind, Leonel stared blankly at his unfinished homework, the cursor blinking mockingly on his laptop screen.

Outside, the world seemed to buzz with the urgency of impending exams, but inside, his thoughts were a whirlwind of confusion and frustration.

His sister, had always been the golden child in their family. She excelled in everything she did, effortlessly balancing academics, extracurricular activities, and a part-tjob.

Her successes seemed to cast a shadow over Leonel, leaving him feeling inadequate and lost in her shadow.

As he pondered his predicament, his phone buzzed with a notification.

Lonel pondered the sudden blackout. He didn't sense it; the AC and lights were still working fine. Curiosity piqued, he stepped outside to check, surprised to find certain parts of the city already plunged into darkness.

"What's going on?" he mused.

His phone rang once more, and this time, it was Isolde on the other line.

"What's up?" Leonel answered.

"Ah, nothing much. Just calling to check up on you and the others. Are Ren and Evie still in the game?" Isolde inquired.

"Yeah, they are. Ren and Evie just logged in a while ago. They mentioned something about rescuing a princess or whatever. I think they'll be in there for a while until they can escape their pods," Leonel replied.

"Ah, I see..." Isolde's tone sounded somewhat preoccupied, prompting Leonel to sense there was more to her call than just checking in. "Isolde, what's really on your mind?" he asked, cutting straight to the chase.

Isolde hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath and blurting out her words in a rush, making it challenging for Leonel to piece them together.

"I'm not making any progress with my studies, so I was thinking that maybe you could cover and help me? I know we're in different departments, but perhaps we could study together for the finals and assist each other in subjects we're not familiar with. They say two heads are better than one... I mean, one head is better than none... wait, what am I even saying?"

Leonel chuckled. "Calm down. I'm coming over."

"Great! I'll have someone fetch you."

"No need. I'll just drive over."

"Okay. See you soon, and be careful on the way here. I heard it's really hot outside."

"Will do."

Leonel ended the call and made his way to his car to head over to Isolde's place.

However, when he stepped outside, he was greeted by heavy traffic.

"What in the world?" Leonel grumbled under his breath as ten minutes passed without his vehicle moving an inch. The heat was unbearable, but thankfully, he was inside the car.

Was there an accident or something? Leonel wondered as he glanced around, trying to discern the cause of the congestion.

He was just about to reverse and search for another route when he realized there were already vehicles behind him, trapping him on the road with no way to maneuver.

"Great," Leonel muttered under his breath, feeling increasingly frustrated by the situation.

Deciding to inform Isolde that he would be late, Leonel reached for his phone when he heard screams in the distance. Before he could react, panic seemed to erupt all around him, with people screaming and running in all directions.

Without hesitation, Leonel rolled down his window and grabbed the nearest person he could reach. "Hey, what's going on?"

The person, pale and clearly terrified, stammered, "M-monsters!"

Leonel furrowed his brow. Monsters?

Before he could inquire further, the man shoved Leonel's hand away and bolted off in a panic.

"What in the world?" Leonel muttered to himself, his curiosity piqued. He decided to get out of his car to investigate, determined to figure out what was happening.

The heat immediately seared down on his skin, the burning sand stinging as it hit. Ignoring the discomfort, Leonel kept his gaze fixed ahead while others ran in his direction, all of them terror-stricken.

Was this skind of movie set? he wondered. Was that why there was heavy traffic?

His thoughts paused when something caught his eye.

In the distance, he spotted a figure coated in blood. Half of his face was torn, one eye popping out of its socket while the other unnaturally expanded, growing larger by the second.

Then, the bizarre occurred.

The man's mouth elongated and sharpened, resembling the proboscis of a mosquito. With a frightening strength, he smashed through the windshield of a nearby car and seized the human inside. His strength seemed otherworldly as he lifted the person, twice his size, before plunging his long, pointed mouth into their body.

In that moment, Leonel realized he had to make a run for it. He turned on his heels and sprinted, but before he could get far, something leaped over him.

The next thing he knew, searing pain shot through his back from a large, stabbing wound. He felt his blood gushing out before his vision blurred into darkness.

I-Isolde . . .