Alex didn't go home.
Not immediately.
Because normal life didn't feel normal anymore.
People had already started acting like nothing happened—some laughing nervously, others arguing whether it was a "public stunt" or "mass hallucination."
"…Unbelievable," Alex muttered.
"A group of armed strangers appears out of nowhere and disappears—and people still think it's a prank."
He looked at his phone again.
Still black.
Still showing only those strange messages.
ERROR LEVEL: 5
PATTERN INITIALIZING
"Pattern…" Alex repeated quietly.
His eyes narrowed.
"If there's a pattern… then it's predictable."
And if it's predictable…
Then it can be controlled.
That thought alone made his heartbeat faster.
Not from fear.
From excitement.
🧠 First Decision
Alex didn't run away from the problem.
He walked toward it.
Back to the exact spot where the cracks had appeared.
The road looked completely normal now.
Cars passed. People walked.
No signs of chaos.
But Alex stood still in the middle of it.
Watching.
Observing.
Waiting.
"…If there's a 'next event'…" he whispered, "…then it should happen again."
A man passing by gave him a strange look.
"Kid, don't stand in the road."
"Yeah, yeah," Alex stepped aside—but didn't leave.
Minutes passed.
Nothing.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Still nothing.
"…So it's not time-based?" Alex muttered.
"Or maybe… I'm missing something."
He looked at his phone again.
The screen flickered.
New text appeared.
OBSERVATION MODE ACTIVE
Alex froze.
"…Observation mode?"
He hadn't touched anything.
He hadn't done anything.
So why did it activate?
"…Don't tell me…"
His eyes widened slightly.
"It reacts to my thinking?"
A slow grin appeared on his face.
"Now that's interesting."
⚡ The Experiment
Alex took a deep breath.
"Alright… let's test this."
He focused.
Completely.
"If there's a pattern… show it."
For a second—
Nothing happened.
Then—
The world shifted.
But not like before.
This time…
It didn't fully glitch.
Instead—
Something else appeared.
Lines.
Faint.
Almost invisible.
Cracks in the air—but not breaking yet.
Just… forming.
Like a preview.
Alex's eyes widened.
"…No way."
He stepped closer.
The lines reacted.
They pulsed slightly.
As if they noticed him.
"…So I can see it before it happens?"
His mind started racing.
Fast.
Too fast.
"If I can see where it will happen… then I can predict it…"
"And if I can predict it…"
A car suddenly drove straight through one of the faint lines.
Nothing happened.
The line didn't break.
It just… passed through.
"…So it's not active yet," Alex whispered.
"Just a weak point."
He quickly pulled out his phone.
"No camera… great."
He looked around.
No one else was reacting.
No one else could see it.
"…Only me?"
That thought sent a chill down his spine.
😂 Comedy Meets Chaos
Just then—
A kid ran past him chasing a ball.
The ball rolled directly toward one of the faint cracks.
"Hey—wait—!" Alex reached out instinctively.
Too late.
The ball touched the line.
For a split second—
It disappeared.
Then came back.
But different.
Alex picked it up.
"…What?"
The ball wasn't the same.
It was older.
Worn out.
The color faded.
Like it had aged… years in a second.
The kid stopped in front of him.
"Bhai, my ball!"
Alex handed it over slowly.
"…You might want a new one."
The kid looked at it.
"…This isn't mine."
"Yeah," Alex sighed, "I figured."
🧩First Realization
Alex stepped back.
Heart beating faster.
"This isn't random…"
"This is… unstable time overlap."
His mind connected the pieces.
Cracks = weak points
Full glitch = activation
Objects = affected differently
"…And I can see it before it happens."
He looked up.
Eyes sharp now.
Focused.
"This changes everything."
🔥 Cliffhanger
His phone vibrated violently.
The screen glitched harder than ever before.
Text appeared rapidly.
ERROR LEVEL: 9
CRITICAL INSTABILITY
FORCED EVENT TRIGGERED
Alex's smile disappeared instantly.
"…Forced?"
The faint cracks around him—
All of them—
Started glowing.
At once.
"…Oh no."
The ground trembled.
The air split open—
Not in one place—
But everywhere.
All around him.
People screamed.
Cars stopped.
The sky itself seemed to fracture.
Alex stood in the center of it all.
"…This is not a small event."
The cracks shattered open.
And this time—
Something much bigger—
Was coming through.
End of Chapter 3