The forest was quiet.
Not the kind of silence that made you nervous.
It was the opposite.
It felt... comfortable.
The breeze carried the smell of damp soil, leaves, and rain that must've fallen hours ago. Somewhere in the distance, water dripped from the branches in a slow, steady rhythm.
Everything felt peaceful.
Too peaceful.
Between the trees, patches of darkness sat where the moonlight couldn't reach. They weren't moving, yet every time Lu looked at them, he felt as if they were looking back.
He looked away.
"...Weird."
His feet kept moving.
The grass beneath them was soft enough to sink into.
For a moment, he actually considered lying down.
Just for a minute.
Just to rest.
The thought lingered longer than it should have.
This whole trip had been strange from the start.
Sometimes it felt less like a vacation and more like he'd wandered into someone else's story.
Oddly enough...
He didn't mind.
He'd spent most of his life blending into crowds.
Being noticed felt... nice.
Even if it came with a strange feeling he couldn't explain.
A warm light flickered between the trees.
A campfire.
Lu sighed in relief.
"Finally..."
A group of people sat around it, arguing over something. Their voices overlapped so much that he couldn't make out a single sentence.
One man stood up after noticing him.
He stumbled a little before pointing in Lu's direction.
"Hey, kid," he called, his words slurring together. "What're you doing out here this late?"
Before Lu could answer, another voice came from the fire.
"Who are you talking to?"
"The trees?" someone laughed.
"Leave him. He's drunk again."
Lu frowned.
The man was looking straight at him.
Wasn't he?
He took another step.
The man didn't react.
"...Hello?"
Nothing.
A strange feeling settled in his stomach.
Slowly, Lu reached out and grabbed the man's shoulder.
His hand passed straight through.
He froze.
The warmth from the fire disappeared.
The laughter stretched into something unrecognizable.
The people around the campfire blurred at the edges, like wet paint running down a canvas.
One by one, they began to fall apart.
Not into dust.
Not into smoke.
Into pieces of something Lu couldn't name.
The campfire remained for a second longer.
Then it, too, faded away.
Only the forest was left.
"...No."
Lu stumbled backward before turning around and running.
Branches scraped against his arms.
His breathing grew heavier.
Nothing around him felt real anymore.
His thoughts wouldn't stay together.
Every time he tried to understand what had happened, the memory slipped away before he could grab hold of it.
Then—
Thud.
He slammed into a tree hard enough to knock the air from his lungs.
He dropped to one knee.
"What... is happening?"
His voice sounded distant.
Like someone else had spoken.
"Lu!"
He looked up.
Alex.
He came running through the trees, breathing hard.
"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!"
Relief flashed across Lu's face.
"...Alex."
"You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Lu opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Then the words burst from him before he could stop them.
"Why are we the only people on this island?"
Alex blinked.
"...What?"
"Think about it!" Lu shouted. "Since we got here... have you seen anyone? Anyone at all?"
Alex frowned.
"I mean... didn't we book the whole place?"
"The whole island?"
Lu almost laughed.
"Since when can people rent an entire government island?"
The color slowly drained from Alex's face.
Neither of them spoke.
For the first time...
The question actually sounded real.
They ran back toward the camp.
"What the hell is going on?" Lu shouted before he was even close enough for the others to hear.
Everyone turned.
"What happened?"
"Why are you yelling?"
Lu looked from one face to another.
"Have none of you noticed?"
No one answered.
"We're the only people on this island."
A few exchanged confused looks.
"What are you talking about?"
"There should've been tourists."
"Workers."
"Boats."
"Anyone."
"There wasn't a single person."
Silence settled over the camp.
Someone laughed nervously.
"...He's messing with us, right?"
No one replied.
It was like a question everyone had forgotten to ask until now.
One by one, people stood up.
They spread out across the beach, searching between the trees, calling out into the darkness.
Nothing answered.
Not a voice.
Not a light.
Not even footprints that didn't belong to them.
Panic spread faster than any fire could.
Some started arguing.
Others insisted there had to be people earlier.
"I swear I saw someone this morning."
"No... I did too."
"...Didn't I?"
The more they tried to remember, the less certain they became.
"Lu."
A hand wrapped around his wrist.
He turned.
Zhan.
"Come with me."
Before Lu could say anything, Zhan pulled him away from the others.
"Hey—slow down!"
The grip tightened.
"My hand... that hurts."
Zhan stopped immediately.
His fingers loosened.
"...Sorry."
He looked genuinely surprised by himself.
"I didn't mean to."
"It's fine, but- "
"I know."
Lu frowned.
"...Know what?"
Zhan looked toward the sky.
"I know why no one else is here."
Lu's heart skipped a beat.
"...Then tell me."
Zhan did.
At least...
His lips moved.
Words came out.
But Lu heard nothing.
Not silence.
Something stranger.
Fragments.
Broken sounds.
Like a radio searching for a signal.
"What?"
Zhan repeated himself.
Again...
Nothing.
Only static.
"What are you saying?"
The air suddenly felt heavy.
Lu looked up.
Something was wrong.
The sky...
had cracked.
A thin line stretched across the clouds.
Then another.
Then another.
Three enormous fractures divided the sky, each glowing with a different light.
Nobody else seemed to notice.
The cracks widened.
Not like glass breaking.
More like reality was quietly pulling itself apart.
Far away, people began to drift toward one of the fractures.
Not walking.
Sliding.
As if the ground itself had decided where they belonged.
Some screamed.
Some didn't even realize they were moving.
They simply...
disappeared.
"Zhan!"
Lu grabbed his arm.
"What is happening?!"
Zhan didn't answer.
He couldn't.
The same invisible force caught them.
The world lurched sideways.
Lu couldn't tell if he was falling or standing still.
The ground vanished beneath him.
The sky spun until it became the ocean.
The ocean became stars.
Then everything moved.
Too fast.
Night.
Day.
Night.
Day.
The sun crossed the sky in seconds.
The moon followed.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Lu squeezed his eyes shut.
When he opened them...
He was underwater.
A heartbeat later...
He was standing in a field.
Then surrounded by clouds.
None of it lasted long enough to understand.
Pieces of the world kept replacing one another, like someone was flipping through pages far too quickly.
Then...
Everything slowed.
The places that felt familiar remained.
Everything else faded away.
Buildings disappeared.
Mountains shifted.
Even the colors of the sky changed.
It was as if the world had decided what belonged...
and erased the rest.
Silence returned.
Lu looked around.
A small tree floated a few feet above the ground, gently swaying without any wind.
"...What..."
His voice barely came out.
He looked down.
His clothes were torn.
There were dark stains across his sleeves.
His hands trembled.
Blood.
Fresh.
Or...
Something that looked like blood.
He couldn't tell anymore.
A cold feeling crawled up his spine.
Slowly...
He turned around.
Someone was standing behind him.
An old woman.
She didn't move.
She simply watched him.
Lu's breath caught.
He knew that face.
He couldn't remember from where.
Only that he had seen it before.
Somewhere.
Somehow.
Then...
Everything went quiet.
Even the wind.
- end of season 1