SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: You are reading [Threshold Walker: The Silver Circuit]
Silver light traced impossible patterns across Jin's vision.
The hospital corridor twisted before him, folding in on itself like origami made of reality. He'd been running—no, not just running—fleeing from something that shouldn't exist.
"No, no, no..." he whispered, backing against the wall.
The silver lines grew brighter, outlining doorways that hadn't been there before. Pathways through reality itself.
'This can't be happening.'
Behind him, the screams of patients and staff echoed from the west wing. Whatever had breached into their world hadn't come alone.
Jin's hand trembled as he reached toward one of the silver outlines. The air rippled at his touch, like disturbing the surface of a pond.
"You can see them."
Jin spun around, heart hammering in his chest.
A woman stood there—lab coat torn, dark hair disheveled, a thin stream of blood trailing from her temple. Despite this, her eyes were clear and focused entirely on him. The badge on her coat read "Dr. Ha Ji-Ah, Neurology."
"The silver lines," she said, not a question but a confirmation. "You can see them too."
Before Jin could answer, the wall behind Dr. Ha erupted outward. Something massive and dark pushed through—a writhing mass of shadowy tendrils that seemed to bend and twist in ways that hurt to look at.
"Jin!" she shouted, somehow knowing his name. "The threshold is breaking! You need to—"
The shadow entity lunged forward, and Dr. Ha shoved Jin hard—directly into one of the silver outlines.
Reality shattered.
Jin felt himself falling, tumbling through a space between spaces. Silver lines surrounded him, connecting everything to everything else. Ahead, he saw something vast watching him—countless eyes in a pattern that made no sense.
And then he was reaching out, fingers closing around a single silver thread that seemed to call to him specifically.
The entire hospital—no, all of Seoul—lit up in his mind's eye, connected by seventeen points of light forming a perfect circuit.
One was breaking.
Jin reached for it instinctively, not understanding how he knew what to do.
"Not yet." A male voice, familiar yet impossible. "You're not ready yet."
Jin turned and saw a man in the silver void—his father, who had disappeared five years ago.
"Dad?"
"Find the circuit, Jin. Before they do."
The silver world collapsed around him.
—Jin!—
Jin bolted upright in his bed, gasping for breath, sweat-soaked sheets twisted around him.
4:37 AM glowed on his bedside clock.
Just another nightmare. The same one he'd been having for weeks.
'But it felt so real this time.'
He reached for the glass of water on his nightstand, then froze.
For just a moment—barely a flicker—silver lines traced the edges of his bedroom door.
Jin blinked, and they were gone.
He rubbed his eyes, trying to calm his racing heart.
'I start my shift in two hours. It was just a dream. Just a dream.'
But when he finally laid back down, Jin kept his eyes fixed on the door until morning came.
Author's Note: Welcome to my new series! What do you think those silver lines really are? And who was the mysterious woman who knew Jin's name? Leave your theories in the comments!
Coming Next: Chapter 1: Hospital Shadows - Jin's ordinary life is about to change forever when he meets someone who shouldn't exist...