The sun slowly rose from the eastern horizon, casting its golden brilliance over a world that had fundamentally shattered overnight.
Across the globe, the morning light did not bring a regular Saturday routine. Instead, it revealed a planet plunged into absolute, chaotic transition.
The fifty-year-old societal structure built during the First Awakening Era had been completely upended in the span of twelve hours.
For half a century, humanity had functioned under the strict assumption that the Red Moon was a static historical event. That false assumption had officially collapsed, and the global civilization was currently reeling from the impact of an unprecedented second wave of supernatural ascension.
In the center of the metropolitan district, a gigantic digital billboard mounted on a skyscraper flashed continuously, broadcasting a live feed from the World News Network.
A prominent news anchor stood before a flashing graphic of the blood-red moon, her face completely pale as she spoke into her microphone.
"We are receiving confirmed reports from every major global sector. The Second Red Moon has initiated a massive, secondary global awakening event. A. E. G.I.S. has currently recorded over thirty million new high energy spikes originating from the civilian population within the last six hours alone.This represents an unprecedented demographic shift that human civilization has never witnessed before..."
On the streets below the screen, thousands of citizens stood perfectly frozen, staring up at the broadcast.
The internet was in a state of absolute, unmitigated uproar. Global servers were lagging under the sheer volume of billions of people flooding social media platforms to voice their reactions.
On the main public forum boards, a massive, weeping wave of public grief took over the feeds.
The millions of people who had spent decades mocking the "Moon Chasers" were now drowning in a swamp of absolute, chest-beating regret.
[ Global Forum Feed — Trending Overnight ]
USER_9042: I laughed at my coworker for getting a dragon sleeve last year. Today he woke up as an A-Rank Awakener. I’m literally crying in my room right now. We had fifty years to get a tattoo. Fifty years.
LUNAR_GRAVE: My parents forced me to laser off my traditional ink before I went to university because they said it looked low-class. I threw away an S-Rank Talent for a corporate desk job. Someone kill me.
CRIMSON_BELIEVER: FIFTY YEARS WE WAITED! THE MOON CHASERS WERE RIGHT! THE INK HAS AWAKENED!
ASSOCIATION_NEWS: Notice to all citizens. Post-awakening tattoos possess 0.0% runic conductivity. Do not attempt to ink yourself today. The window has officially closed.
The frenzy wasn’t restricted to the lower class. I
In the highest echelons of global leadership, important figures were scrambling to contain the fallout.
Inside a heavily fortified government office overlooking the city, a high-ranking political director stood by the panoramic window, his eyes fixed on the remaining crimson hue of the morning sky.
Behind him, a massive terminal wall flashed with real-time statistics showing the immediate collapse of the standard labor market.
A panicked subordinate stepped forward, dropping a stack of digital printouts onto the desk.
"Director, the data is coming in. Over thirty percent of our civilian administrative staff did not show up for their shifts this morning. They are all reporting system initializations. The financial sector is completely destabilized. Shady loan applications and digital credit lines were thoroughly emptied out by thousands of applicants during the thirty-day window leading up to the descent. We are looking at a total economic restructuring."
The director didn’t look back. He simply squeezed his coffee cup until the plastic frame cracked. "The economy is the least of our concerns. The balance of physical power has just shifted. Find out who holds the new S-Rank signatures immediately."
In another sector of the city, inside the sprawling, high-security headquarters of a Guild, a similar scene of high-stakes panic was playing out.
A powerful, Guild Leader stood at the head of a massive mahogany conference table, his own Divine Rune pulsing faintly beneath his sleeve.
Around him, dozen of elite raiders and corporate analysts were shouting over one another.
"Silence!" the Guild Leader roared, slamming his heavy palm onto the table, instantly cracking the polished wood. The room went dead quiet.
"The Unawakened Generation just received their keys. The old monopolies are dead. If we do not deploy our scout teams into the residential districts within the next two hours, the newly awakened talent will be scooped up by rival organizations or underground syndicates. We need to restructure our recruitment contracts immediately. Offer them whatever they want, high-grade Mana Crystals, direct housing. We must control the Second Generation before they realize their own leverage."
The entire world was in a complete frenzy, transitioning violently into a cutthroat new era.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Big brother, wake up! The sun is already shining on your butt!"
"Big brother, wake up! Wake up!"
Jet felt as if his entire mind were being pressed flat under the weight of a giant, crumbling mountain.
He slowly and groggily forced his eyelids open, the muffled, high-pitched vibration of Inez’s soft voice slowly reaching his ears through the heavy bedroom door.
"Hmmm... huh? My head..." Jet moaned in deep physical pain, his throat feeling entirely dry and parched, as if he had been swallowing sand for a week.
"Hiss... too much..."
The exact millisecond he tried to shift his weight to move his body, an explosion of sharp, agonizing pain flared up across his entire torso and limbs.
Thick sheets of cold sweat instantly poured out from his glands, thoroughly soaking his tattered black clothes and the floorboards beneath him.
The lingering trauma of the awakening was still vibrating through his nerve endings.
"Big brother! Hurry up and come see this! Something really big happened outside!" Inez shouted again, hitting the wooden door panel with her small fists.
Jet rolled his eyeballs around the crimson-stained room, a dry, self-deprecating thought passing through his mind.
If I could physically move, I would have gotten up already.
"Dammit," he cursed under his breath, biting his lip to force his sluggish muscles to comply.
He gripped the edge of his bed, forcing his shaking legs to lock beneath him. It took him more than ten minutes of absolute physical effort just to stand upright.
His entire frame was covered in a heavy layer of cold sweat, his skin was ghostly pale, and his breath came in ragged, shallow gasps.
He lowered his head, glancing down at his arm arms beneath his ripped sleeves.
He paused. "Hmm... looks like my body has fully stabilized."
The horrifying, mangled mess of split skin, ruptured veins, and oozing blood from the previous night had completely healed, leaving his flesh smooth and unmarked.
The system had successfully healed him, leaving nothing behind except for the deep, radiating physical pain vibrating through his bone marrow.
Everywhere else, his vital systems were perfectly fine.