People say that the Golden Hour is the most beautiful sight to behold — that fleeting moment just after dawn and before dusk, that occurrence when the world bathes in warm, golden light.
It feels like a gentle pause, a perfect transition between night and day, life and rest. In this world, the Golden Hour carries a weight far beyond its beauty—both a fleeting gift and a hidden threat. The moment when the shadows lengthen is the time where the frenzy happens.
The year was 2099, in the world of Solara, south of Eldara in the Northern continent of Velaria, lies the town, Capetown. At precisely 5:51 P.M., someone was running—desperately.
Schkk… Schkk…
"Huff… huff…"
A man sprinted frantically through the forest, the sodden dirt slowing him down, his footing unsteady. His voice cracked through the gasps for air.
"What… the hell… what's going on?" he muttered, frustration creeping into his voice as he tapped the sleek device strapped around his wrist—which he called a Neuroband.
The Neuroband, developed by the United Federation of Eldara, is a cutting-edge technology that links directly to an individual's Identification Number, transmitting data via satellite. It functions as a communication hub, providing real-time updates on global events, and showing one's title, physical, and mental ability, serving as a seamless tool for identity verification.
Normally, it would project the latest updates and personal messages as a hologram instantly—but today, it was dead silent. "Shit! The Neuroband is still not connecting! Then it could only mean that the satellites are down!" he added grimly, the confusion and disbelief weighing heavier now.
"…but at least the status screen still works. It's a good thing, they are stored locally." He grimaced as he saw the numbers in his status screen.
[Name: …]
[Title: …]
[Strength: 15]
[Vitality: 17]
[Intelligence: 10]
The man looked no older a day than 30, rocking a circle beard, his sweat dripped from his forehead, soaking his long, thick black hair that flowed past his nape. Despite his athletic build, standing at 186 cm, he felt shivers ran down his spine as he gripped the wooden bough in his hands while sprinting…shaking, betraying his nerves.
'I've been running for seven minutes straight. I'm about to collapse from exhaustion,' he thought grimly.
Glancing back, he saw them—bloodshot red eyes, grayish skin, faces reminiscing of a human, teeth bared and saliva dripping.
"Tsk! They're fast!" he cursed, pushing himself to sprint faster. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he pushed past 30 km/h. Suddenly, a figure lunged at him from the bushes.
He swung the wooden stick reflexively, catching only a glimpse of what had once been an old man with a wicker basket on his back.
Fwakk!
Blood splattered as the creature was knocked back lifelessly, its skull cracked against the tree, the bough snapping in half from the force.
'Was that!?' his expression darkened.
"Shit!" The man cursed, alarmed both by the broken weapon and the sheer horror of it all. He scanned ahead, spotting a familiar tree.
'I'm close to home… just a little more… should I make a run for the gate? No. If they can climb or jump walls, it'll be a waste of time,' he decided.
'Should I turn back and try to lose them in the woods? No! I'm already on the brink of collapse. One slip and it's all over.' He interjected.
"Dammit! Get it together, Kael Argent!" he growled.
"I just need to get home, grab a gun, and get back to town!" Kael shouted.
He calculated the distance between him and his home's towering 2.5-meter-high steel gate looming ahead.
'I need to be able to land at just the right angle so I can pull myself up over the gates without losing much speed' He considered.
"Should've made the damn gate smaller," he muttered.
'Just a few more meters…'
'Now!'
Kael lifted his left foot half a meter off the muddy ground, then pushed off with his right in a massive leap, planting his penultimate step deep to avoid slipping. His left foot pivoted perpendicularly, launching him vertically into the air.
'Will I make it? No—I can't— I can!'
"FUCK!"
Years of training kicked in. He grabbed the gate's bar, pulling himself up quickly with the last of his strength, leaving the snarling creatures behind his gate.
He peered down for a moment. 'They're not climbing… good.'
Wasting no time, Kael bolted inside, slamming the heavy steel door shut, then securing the glass door with a firm click. He strode to his closet and swung it open, revealing an impressive arsenal—everything from classic revolvers and semi-automatic pistols to sleek sniper rifles.
His hand settled on two handguns featuring a smooth polymer grip, a digital ammo readout glowing softly above the trigger, and pulses of blue energy running along its carbon-fiber barrel.
"I might be going overboard… but better overkill than dead..." he muttered silently gasping for breath.
He pulled out magnetically accelerated rounds and it was sucked inside the chambers of both guns automatically, he then went to check every window, and every possible entry point.
Peeking through the blinds, he watched the creatures that stopped at the gate, no longer frenzied, just… wandering. After feeling the safeness encroach him as the storm has passed, the adrenaline crash hit him. Kael slumped against the cold concrete wall, his teeth gnashed, fury buried deep.
'Fuck! Clarissa, Mr. Morgan, Mrs. Choi, Leon… I just hope they'll still be there, alive.'
'…Gramps…I'm sorry…' he pleaded to appease his guilt as he remembered the lifeless body he flung to the tree earlier.
"Shit! They weren't even that strong! We just lacked manpower! Fuck!" he cursed, slamming his forehead onto the cold barrel of both guns. He wallowed in his own helplessness for what he had witnessed a few hours ago.