Mei

After the phone call, Mei felt much safer. Sil had always been there when she needed him most. She never doubted that. Mei thought back to the days she first met Sil and everything that happened after.

The First Meeting

That day, she had lost her phone. She looked for it for a whole 30 minutes but couldn't find it. No one offered to help her. But then Sil came. She had no idea what he was thinking when he offered to help her that day. But for her, he quietly made a place in her heart. This was probably the first real kindness she had felt after becoming blind a month ago. He was the first person to offer help.

So, she found herself talking a lot about herself to him, telling him everything. She didn't know why, and she didn't care to know at that moment. She told him how she went blind because of an accident, about her school, her favorite dolls, the food she wanted to try, and the places she wanted to go. Her heart poured out without her being able to stop it. And the best part was, he listened to everything. He seemed truly interested in her life. She didn't know why, and she didn't think about it anymore.

They met in the morning, and by the time they finished talking, the sun was already setting. Their talk was so fun that she forgot about time. She was so happy when Sil invited her for coffee afterward. Sil also walked her home that day. Her stomach felt fluttery like butterflies that day. The kindness from a stranger made her feel alive. Maybe it was because she had felt something sweet after a time of sadness. But she held onto that sweet feeling. Even if she thought it might not last long, she still wanted to enjoy it until that time came.

One month after meeting Sil...

Mei stayed late at school today. She was trying to finish some paperwork for a volunteer project with her class leader. The other students had left. Or so she thought.

She remembered the sudden click of the old music room door behind her. Then, she heard feet shuffling and giggles that turned cold. She heard the sound of glass breaking, slowly and on purpose, just outside the door.

"Let's see how a blind princess likes walking home with no shoes," one voice whispered. The girls thought she wouldn't know who they were just by their voices.

She felt scared. She just stood still, frozen, her back pressed against the piano. She tried to think of what to do. She could stay inside and wait for help. But that wouldn't work because school was over. Only the security guard would be there, and he was at the gate. No matter how loud she screamed, he wouldn't hear her.

Also, she had a date with Sil tonight. She would be late if she kept waiting. It was her first date with the person she truly loved.

She took a step, and luckily, it was safe. She took another step carefully, feeling the floor and sweeping her foot left and right. But this time, a piece of broken glass lay where she swept her foot, and it cut her easily.

"Ouch!" She screamed. Tears welled up in her eyes, making them wet. She pushed through the pain and took another step. Because one foot hurt so much, she couldn't test the ground like the first time. The longer she took, the more it hurt. And sure enough, a second piece of glass cut her again.

Blood dripped from her cut. She gritted her teeth and took another step.

Then came a sound that didn't fit—the soft scrape of shoes outside. A pause. Then the door burst open.

Before her foot touched the glass on the ground again, he came. The white knight of her life.

"Idiot! Move left, not there!" Sil shouted after seeing Mei almost step on the glass. Sil had come to pick Mei up for their date. He wasn't supposed to, as they had agreed to meet at a shop instead of him picking her up. But Sil couldn't reach Mei on her phone, so he got worried and came to pick her up. The moment he entered the classroom where Mei was, he saw what was happening. He didn't wait a second. He ran toward Mei, shouting. He picked her up like a princess and carried her out.

A pair of strong hands held hers. They were warm and gentle. They smelled a little like tea and cold wind. She feel so safe in his hand.

He led her out—past the crunching glass, past the quiet of the now-empty hallway. Not a word was said until they were at the school gate. He cleaned her cuts and took out the glass pieces.

"Are you okay?" he finally asked.

She nodded, still surprised.

"Good," he said. "Too bad we can't go on a movie date today. But a hospital date can also be called a date, right?" Sil made a dry joke. Just like always, his jokes were a bit cold and not funny. But she laughed. She loved the joke. And she loved him.

Not long after they started dating, Mei was bothered by two men while waiting for a bus. She couldn't see their faces, only their breathing getting closer. Then she heard running—Sil's voice, sharp and angry, cutting through the air. He didn't fight; he just stood in front of her, shielding her with his body, and quietly called the police. Afterward, he held her hands for an hour without saying a word.

"You didn't need to be a hero. But you showed up anyway. That's the part that mattered."

Mei was very scared of the eye surgery. The doctor said the chances of it working were low, and she was ready to give up. Sil didn't try to make her change her mind. Instead, he took her hands and said, "If you're afraid, I'll be your eyes for the rest of our lives. But if you want to see, I'll work until the world looks beautiful to you." That was the first time Mei cried in front of him.

"You didn't push me. You just promised me the world, in your quiet way."

"Sil… I know you'll come back. You always come back.

When I was stuck behind locked doors… you broke them.

When I stood alone in the cold… you gave me your warmth.

When the world turned black… you stayed where I could still feel you.

You didn't promise the stars. You just held my hand.

That's why I believe you. Not because you said you'll return… but because you always do."

Mei gently rub the photo of Sil&her. Her fingers trembled slightly. "But Sil," she whispered, her voice barely a breath, "I can't wait this time. I'm running out of time."

The energy pulsed within her, a force terrifying. It felt like a storm brewing inside her very core, growing wilder by the hour.

"The power inside me is much more scary than I thought," she admitted to the empty air. It wasn't like anything she'd ever known – a chaotic surge that made her own thoughts feel distant, cloudy. Even she herself can't estimate the destruction it can bought if unleashed.

"And I'm losing myself quickly." At first she thought she still got time but her power is going out of control today. The growth is terrifyingly heigh as each second pass. She feel that the reason is because her range of absorbing whisper keep growing. There are so many tons of whisper in the city. It still okay when the range is just 10 meter since it wont cover many people. But that range keeps growing as the second passed. As if the power itself had self-evolution route.

The solution might be to move to a place with fewer people, a quiet area outside the bustling city. But how could a blind girl do that easily? Because her power keeps disturbing her mind , she can't even think properly time and time. Her thoughts are chaos one time calm one time and keeps repeating.

Should she ask for help? It would be good if people truly wanted to help her, but if someone had bad intentions, wouldn't it be like offering herself to a tiger? She had already called for help, reaching out to volunteer teams and even the police, but they were all busy dealing with other Awakened issues. No one could help her leave the city.

And seconds pass, she could feel her own mind slipping, fading at the edges like a photograph left too long in the sun. It was a silent, internal battle, this new power pushing against who she was. Every moment felt like a race against time, a desperate fight to hold onto herself before she was completely consumed. If she knew that the situation would turn into like this , she won't surpass the fact that she awakening too. May be the situation won't be too bad in that way. But there is not many if in the world.

Yet, even in this fear, a spark of fierce hope remained, shining through the growing darkness. "The good thing is that power is also the whole reason I'm confident that I can meet you again." This terrifying force, the very thing threatening to erase her, was also her only path back to him. It was a twisted truth, but it was all she had. She clung to that thought, a lifeline in the storm.

This power, as dangerous as it was, held the key to their reunion. It had to. Chaos thought popping out in her mind. Mei did not aware but she look like a person that had gone mad now.

Mei closed her eyes, taking a deep, shaky breath, and simply felt it. This was the first time since she got her power that she was actively trying to embrace it. Before, she had only gently touched its edges, afraid to go deeper. But now, with time running out and the power threatening to swallow her anyway, she accepted it completely. She let it in.

A terrifying sound started, like something burning at a very high heat, or like water boiling wildly. "Sisssssss," it hissed, a sound that seemed to come from inside her own body. A bright, purple light flashed through her veins, visible even through her closed eyelids.

The pain was immense, sharp and fiery, quickly building up until she couldn't hold it back anymore.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Mei screamed, letting out all the sound she could, trying to push out the pain. Her loud cry startled her nearby neighbors, breaking the quiet of the afternoon

The moment she accept the power , the strong pressure radiated center from her. Every intelligent life around 300 meter feel like the earth suddenly increase the gravity. Crushing spirit and body heavily. The nearby agent deploy to monitor Mei also notice the situation and hurriedly contact leaders.

Because Mei hadn't shown any signs of having powers, the agents watching her apartment weren't even carrying guns. Their job was just to gather information that could help them control Sil. So, when the strange power started pushing down on them, they were as helpless as any normal person. If this had been a special team sent to watch someone with powers, they would have pulled their triggers the moment the weird energy came out. They would have used tranquilizers to knock her out, and if that didn't work, they would have switched to bigger, more powerful weapons.

Mei's hair turned completely purple, standing out in wild electric strands. The veins near her eyes popped out in a scary way, pulsing with the same strange color. Her eyes themselves became even more terrifying, with arcs of purple light flashing inside them. The dress she was wearing ripped apart, leaving her beautiful body naked and uncovered.

A thick, swirling purple gas wrapped around her, forming a glowing cocoon. Mei pulled her hands and knees close to her chest, hugging herself tightly. Now, she looked like a strange baby floating in the air, held within the eerie purple gas.

But the power coming from Mei didn't stop. It kept growing, spreading out further every minute.

300 meters 301 meters 302 meters 312 meters 330 meters 3... and so on.

The reach of Mei's power kept getting bigger, completely out of her control. It was spreading across Beijing, pulling in all the whispers that came from the city's many emotions. Every feeling—from destruction, fear, greed, and lust to happiness—all became fuel for her power. It was like a small flame suddenly surrounded by a huge amount of oil, burning faster and hotter with every passing second.

Police arrive but the chaos continue since everyone who feel the aura will affected by pressure. 

Only after military arrive , they barely able to manage.