The search begins

Kai stared at the phone in his hands, the green checkmark staring back at him like some cryptic message from a higher power. His thoughts raced as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. His mom—Anna—had vanished, leaving behind only that strange notification. But the weirdest part? It didn’t seem like she was gone forever.

“Keep looking, and you’ll find everyone you interacted with,” the message had said.

What did that mean? How was he supposed to find people from his past, especially if they just vanished?

His sister, casually leaning against the doorframe, raised an eyebrow as she watched him fidget with his phone. “So… what’s the next step in your quest?”

Kai glared at her. “This isn’t a quest, Mia! I don’t know what’s going on. One minute I’m talking to my mom, and the next, she disappears. And then this thing pops up. What do I even do with this? How do I find these people?”

Mia’s expression softened a little, and she walked over to him, sitting down beside him on the bed. “Well, if it helps,” she said, “you found your mom, right? That’s progress, isn’t it?”

“Progress?” Kai snorted. “I just got a weird text. There’s no telling if this is some kind of glitch or—”

A soft ping interrupted his rant. Another notification.

✅ You’ve unlocked: Mom – Anna found!

“Wait, wait,” Kai muttered, tapping the screen. “What does this even mean?”

Another message popped up, followed by a strange icon of a face with a crown. It wasn’t like any other message he had received before.

“One down, many more to go.”

Kai’s stomach flipped. “What the hell is this? Am I... supposed to go hunting for people now?”

Mia, seeing the worry written across his face, crossed her arms and leaned back against the headboard. “I’m guessing this isn’t just about finding random people. It’s... like a story? Maybe you're in some kind of game. Not like those stupid phone games, but like, a real-life game.”

Kai shot her a look. “You’re not helping.”

“Well, it’s just a theory,” Mia said with a shrug. “But you know what’s even weirder?”

Kai blinked at her, confused. “What?”

“The fact that you’re not freaking out over the fact that Valentino’s still in your life.”

Kai’s face flushed as he remembered the last time he saw Valentino. His heart raced, thinking about the man who had kissed him and told him they were supposed to be together. He hadn’t even thought about what he was supposed to do about Valentino in all this madness.

“I—What do you mean?” Kai stammered, shaking his head. “I’m not… I mean, I don’t know what’s going on with him. I just...”

Mia leaned forward, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Come on, Kai. He’s a hot baker with a serious thing for you. Are you seriously going to let this ‘game’ get in the way of your happily-ever-after?”

Kai didn’t know how to respond to that. The thought of Valentino forgetting about him, or worse—falling in love with someone else—was too much to bear. He didn’t want that.

“Okay,” Kai said finally, glancing at his phone again. “So, what now? How do I find these other people?”

Mia grinned. “Maybe start by looking at your contacts. People from your past. They could be closer than you think.”

Kai took a deep breath, his determination building. It was time to figure out what was going on, and he wasn’t going to stop until he found out. Whatever this was, he wasn’t going to let it take him down without a fight.

He hit the contacts app on his phone and let out a soft sigh.

Here goes nothing.

To be continued

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