1: The End is the Beginning

The sun was high in the sky. Its blinding rays illuminated a mountain envelope with hundreds of trees. From their leaves, drips of water pour out from time to time. The soil on the mountainous road looks wet and there are scattered leaves and broken stones.

The mountain road was situated 2000 meters above the ground.

Suddenly, a car whizzed past on the mountain road. It maintained a steady pace because of the steep grades due to the natural incline of the terrain. Winding roads, hairpin turns, and switchbacks help vehicles navigate the ascent or descent but also prevent them from speeding.

Inside the car, a man in a white office suit leaned on the window and gazed at the vistas of valleys, rivers, forests, and other natural features below the cliff. 'Well, not bad. This mountain is quite pleasing to the eye.'

The man then focused on the road ahead of him. He knew how dangerous his behavior was. He could already imagine the outcome if he fell on the cliff by accident. Even if you give him nine lives, he wouldn't dare to try it. After all, wouldn't he simply die and turn into a meat paste? 'Huh? What am I even thinking? Surely that won't happen, right?'

He felt a shiver on his spine when he thought of this. His name was Caleb, and he is... Suddenly, a deep and powerful roar, similar to the noise of a distant and amplified thunderstorm, reverberated in the mountain road.

'W-what's that?' Caleb's eyes widened when he saw large rocks the size of boulders fall five meters in front of him. 'Crap!'

Caleb thought of possibilities on what was happening. He slowly stepped on the break of the car to slow it down as clusters of rocks blocked the way. The deafening roar around him made it hard for him to calm down. Gradually, the car began to slow down until it went to a complete stop.

Without even sparing a thought, Caleb decided to turn the car around and drive away from the falling rocks.

The rumbling of the impending landslide began subtly, like a distant thunderclap, as the accumulated mass of soil and rocks started to shift. And then, all at once, the mountainside seemed to exhale, surrendering to the powerful forces that had been building beneath its surface.

With a deafening roar, the landslide surged forth—a chaotic cascade of earth, stones, and vegetation in a desperate rush to escape the embrace of the slopes. The terrain that had once been the epitome of stability now seemed to come alive as if the very essence of the landscape had awakened.

Enormous boulders, some as large as vehicles, were torn from their ancient moorings and carried along in the relentless torrent. Trees, stripped of their roots, were caught in the tumultuous dance of the debris flow, their branches reaching out like desperate fingers. The roar of the landslide drowned out all other sounds as if nature itself was proclaiming its unyielding power.

'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!' Caleb began to curse his luck. He realized that he was really in danger this time. He can't even speed up the car because of the slippery ground caused by the rain. The road was too narrow to perform different maneuvers. Suddenly, he realized that he didn't really have a choice. The threat of the landslide and the risk of falling to the cliff hung over his head.

He gritted his teeth and went for a full speed. 'It's do or die!'

As the landslide continued its descent, it left behind a trail of destruction that bore witness to its unforgiving path. Roads were obliterated, and the very contours of the land were rearranged in a chaotic symphony of destruction. One of the rocks fell accurately on the car, and then the flood of debris, broken wood, and sand devoured the car.

'Argh!!' The impact of the rock crushed Caleb's internal organs and numerous bones in his body, including his spine, suffered severe damage. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe, his limbs were twisted in different directions and he could even feel the taste of earthy, metallic, slightly sweet, slightly bitter, mildly salty substance on his mouth as the surrounding soil inside the car threatened to choke him to death.

Caleb began to feel dizzy as his consciousness became blurry. He couldn't even hear the surrounding sounds anymore, but he could feel that the car he was in was in a free fall. 'So this is how I'm gonna die? Not instant? But a slow and painful one? The collision should've just ended me!'

He felt a pang of regret as his life flashed before his eyes. Happy memories, bad memories, people he held dear, pictures of his parents. It was as if he was watching the highlights of his life in a film. Strangely, he felt peaceful and began to accept that he was dying slowly and he knew that it would be over once the car hit the ground. Just the sheer momentum and impact would make the car explode.

Out of nowhere, unbeknownst to Caleb, a blue slippery, slimy liquid appeared just above his body. Currently, Caleb had already lost his presence of mind. His thoughts were chaotic. The liquid contained mysterious runes and a countless, infinite symbol of clocks hovered inside of it.

Strangely, the rocks that could topple houses and huge enough to scrap most vehicles, alongside the flood of debris and sand, stopped from free-falling motion and became completely still.

Such scenes can only happen in films and novels. Unfortunately, no one is there to witness it. The blue slimy liquid wrapped itself around Caleb's paralyzed body.

'Uh? I can't feel pain? Did I finally succumb to death?' Caleb expected to see a river with boats or an angel descending to take his soul to heaven or even the worst-case scenario, go to hell. To his disappointment, nothing changed. There is only the ever-changing darkness in his sight. 'So heaven and hell are fake?'

Just like that, the blue liquid managed to completely envelop Caleb's body. From head, shoulders, to toe. The runic symbols started to sway, and the hands of the clocks began to rotate simultaneously.

TIK TOK! TIK TOK! TIK TOK!

Then Caleb's body disappeared without a trace along with the slimy liquid. As if pressing the play button, without the blue liquid, the flood of debris, the entire landslide resumed with the same ferocity as it had been before the appearance of the mysterious slime.