God's Universe

God's Universe

"The Earth has been chosen to be a part of God's Universe. To stay as a part of it, you have to survive the trial, and it will begin now."

The announcement ended.

For a few seconds, nothing happened.

Then unbearable pain tore through Logan's body.

"ARGH!"

He dropped to his knees. It felt as though every bone, muscle, and nerve in his body were being crushed and pulled apart at the same time. His hands shook violently as he tried to brace himself against the ground.

All around him, people were screaming.

Some collapsed beside the road. Others writhed on the pavement, unable to stand. The air filled with cries of pain and confusion.

"Liam!"

Logan turned toward his brother, who had fallen onto his side. Liam was clutching his right hand, his face twisted in agony.

"Brother... it hurts!"

"Hang on!" Logan gasped. "Just hang on!"

A burning sensation suddenly spread across Logan's own right hand. It was sharp enough to make him grit his teeth, but the pain coursing through the rest of his body was far worse.

He couldn't even look down to see what was happening.

The agony continued for what felt like an eternity.

Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped.

Logan remained on his knees, breathing heavily. Sweat dripped down his forehead, and his entire body trembled as he struggled to catch his breath.

Around him, people slowly began getting back up. Some were crying. Others stared at their hands in disbelief.

Logan immediately turned toward Liam.

"Hey. Look at me. Are you okay?"

Liam sat up unsteadily, his breathing still ragged.

"I... I think so."

"Good. Stay with me."

As Logan helped him stand, a translucent screen appeared in front of his eyes.

He froze.

The screen floated in the air, yet nothing stood behind it. Lines of text appeared across its surface, perfectly clear despite the chaos around him.

Initializing...

Initialization complete.

Name: Logan Smith

Race: Human

Status: Unmarked

Level: 1

Skill Available: Inspect

Logan stared at the screen.

"What the hell is this?"

He reached out instinctively, but his fingers passed straight through it.

"This can't be real..."

He looked down at his right hand. The place that had burned moments earlier was completely normal. There were no marks, no wounds, and no sign that anything unusual had happened.

Then he noticed Liam staring at his own hand.

Five distinct marks had appeared on the back of Liam's right hand. Each mark was surrounded by ten tiny, empty stars.

Liam slowly turned his hand from side to side.

"Brother... what is this?"

Logan looked at the marks, then at the screen floating before his eyes.

"I don't know."

"But it's showing my name. And there's something about my status, too."

Logan glanced at Liam's screen and saw that his brother had received a similar interface. Unlike Logan's, however, Liam's system displayed his marked status.

Logan's gaze returned to the word hanging in front of him.

Unmarked.

"What does that even mean?"

Before he could think further, he remembered their mother.

"Wait. Mom!"

Liam immediately pulled out his phone and tried calling her.

The call failed.

He tried again.

Nothing.

"The signal's gone!" Liam said, his voice rising with panic.

Logan looked toward their neighborhood. The sky remained fractured, and strange lights flickered inside the openings. He had no idea what was happening, but he knew they couldn't stay outside.

"Come on. We're going home."

He grabbed Liam's wrist, and the two brothers hurried through the streets.

People were still trying to understand what had happened. Some were arguing over their strange screens, while others desperately attempted to contact their families. Logan barely paid attention to them. His only concern was getting back to Mary.

When they reached home, they found her standing in the living room, visibly shaken but unharmed.

"Logan! Liam!"

She rushed toward them and pulled both boys into a tight embrace.

"Thank God you're both here. I tried calling you, but nothing was working. What happened out there?"

"We don't know, Mom," Logan replied. "The whole world seems to have gone crazy."

Mary stepped back and looked between them.

"Are you both hurt?"

"We're fine," Liam said.

Logan studied her face before asking, "Mom, can you see a screen in front of you? Something that shows your name and status?"

Mary frowned.

"What screen?"

Logan's expression changed.

"You can't see it?"

"No. What are you talking about?"

He looked at her right hand. There were no marks on it.

A strange thought crossed his mind.

"Wait a second..."

He focused on the translucent interface before him.

"Inspect."

The word left his mouth almost instinctively. He had spent years playing MMORPGs and other games, and the idea of examining someone through a system felt familiar enough to try.

A new window appeared.

Name: Mary Smith

Race: Human

Status: Unmarked

Logan stared at the information.

"That's it? There's nothing else?"

Mary looked between her sons, growing more worried by the second.

"Logan, please tell me what's happening."

He hesitated before answering.

"Mom... it says you're Unmarked. Just like me."

"Unmarked?"

"But Liam has five marks on his hand. And we both have these screens. You don't have either."

Mary looked at Liam's hand, then back at Logan.

"I don't understand any of this."

"Neither do we," Logan admitted.

He looked toward the television.

"Let's turn on the news. Maybe someone knows what's going on."

Logan switched on the TV and changed to a news channel.

A female anchor appeared on the screen. Her expression was tense, and the footage behind her showed damaged roads, crowds gathering in the streets, and strange fractures stretching across the sky.

"We interrupt our regular programming to bring you breaking news. Massive earthquakes have been reported across the world. At the same time, witnesses from multiple countries have reported what appear to be enormous fractures opening in the sky."

The footage changed to a street where people were gathered around a man sitting on the pavement. He held up his right hand, revealing strange markings.

The anchor continued.

"Following an unexplained wave of intense pain, many people have reported seeing a system-like interface before their eyes. Strange markings have also appeared on the right hands of certain individuals."

She glanced at something off-camera before continuing.

"Although the situation remains unclear, early reports suggest that people who have received these markings are being classified as 'Marked.' Others, who have received no markings, are being classified as 'Unmarked.'"

Logan leaned closer to the television.

The anchor raised her own right hand toward the camera. Two marks were visible on its back, each surrounded by tiny stars.

"I have personally received two of these marks. We are still trying to understand what they mean, and whether they are connected to the events occurring around the world."

The broadcast switched to another shot of the fractured sky.

"For now, authorities are urging everyone to remain calm and stay indoors until more information becomes available."

The report continued, but Logan barely heard the rest.

He looked at Liam's hand, where the five marks were clearly visible. Then he looked at his own.

Nothing.

He returned his attention to the system screen floating before him.

Status: Unmarked.

Yet he had a system.

The news anchor had just explained that people without marks did not possess the interface. His mother had no marks and no screen. Liam had five marks and a system.

But Logan had neither the marks nor the explanation.

He swallowed and stared at the word in front of him.

"Then why do I have a system?"

For the first time since the sky had torn open, Logan felt something more unsettling than fear.

He had no idea what had happened to the world.

And he had even less idea what was happening to him.