《Eclipse Enigma》
Ch_0
In the abyss of space, where Earth was nothing but a dying memory, a planet clung to the edge of a black hole¡¯s maw.
It was a planet with one side perpetually facing the black hole.
It was officially called Nyxara by the colonizers.
But its residents called it¡ª The Willing Grave.
Or simply¡ª Wilgrav.
Its surface was a raw, alien expanse. Obsidian tooth-like peaks clawed at the sky, their shadows swallowing the black waters below.
Above, the sky swirled in mesmerizing patterns of cosmic phenomena, with the black hole at the center of it all, consuming a behemoth star many times its size.
Nyxara had two moons orbiting it. Their orbits were unstable, and they were expected to have a head-on collision in the not-so-distant future¡ªan event that would light up the skies with apocalyptic force.
It was a beautiful world.
Yet terrifying.
Unforgiving.
A place where no one would want their bones to be found.
Yet for the humans, there was no turning back.
Earth was dying.
Nyxara¡ªdangerous, unstable, but their last hope¡ªwas the only choice.
Sixty years ago, the first settlement was established on Nyxara¡¯s largest continent by the Wrath clan.
Chynco squinted at the blinking emergency lights.
"Three more days," he muttered.
Three more days until the blinding starlight came back, forcing everyone underground.
No one survived up there during those three months¡ªunless they wanted to be vaporized immediately.
The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
The days, during the brief periods of exposure to the stars, were excruciatingly bright. It felt almost impossible to function in the brutal light, even underground.
This was thanks to Nyxara''s atmosphere acting like a lens¡ªconcentrating the distant starlight to such an extent that it was enough to vaporize you.
This left only the underground as a safe zone.
During these times, darkness became a necessity for survival.
Darkness wasn¡¯t a choice¡ª
It was survival.
Dark torches.
Blackened streetlights.
Pockets of shadow carved into every corner.
Without them, the light would eat you alive.
On that continent, the clan Wrath had made its mark.
They were survivors, hardened by the endless battles for control over resources, land, and power.
Their influence stretched across the land, and their settlement in the west was one of the few remaining refuges in this hostile world.
But even as they built their lives on this strange, unstable planet, something far older, far darker stirred beneath the surface.
Something that might undo it all.
And it was there, in the shadow of the clan¡¯s power, that Chynco lived.
A minor spy for the Wrath clan¡ªbecause the last time he said no, people died.
It wasn¡¯t much, but it kept food on the table¡ªor at least, what passed for food on Nyxara.
The Wrath clan fed him when no one else did.
That was precisely why Chynco hated them.
Because he owed them.
His story, though small, would soon intersect with something much larger.
A story that would change everything.
But for now, Chynco was just walking home.
The shadows shifted, just for a second.
He blinked.
Nothing.
Just his nerves.
....Right?
And then, as the first tremor of the coming apocalypse shook the ground, Chynco received a message, delivered to his comms unit through the cracked and flickering communications system of the settlement.
The message was stark, cold, and macabre.
It came from a source no one could trace.
But Chynco knew.
The name was known in whispered fears.
The Watcher of Nyxara.
He looked up.
The black hole glowed with concentric red halos, suddenly appearing¡ª
Pulsing.
Like a giant, open eye.
Watching...
Yet upon reading the message, he almost fainted from panic.
The message should¡¯ve detonated his mind with sheer terror.
For this was how the message ran:
"The black hole awaits thee, O Enigmatic Eclipse.
You will not escape what comes next.
The stars burn your path, and death is the only guide
Prepare..............................
Ch1
As a tall spy with egyptian green eyes and purple hair hurried into the depths of the Underworld, he passed the reinforced windows, gazing out at the glimmering expanse of darkness above. He couldn¡¯t help but shudder. The stars were blinding in their far-off brilliance, like a warning. He''d seen a kid burn alive under the stars once¡ªskin shriveling, nothing anyone could do. He was lucky he didn¡¯t have to deal with that this time.
He burst into his underground quarters, fuming. "Its /CHIN-ko/ for god''s sake!!" The yell echoed across the cramped room. "If one more NPC butchers my name I swear I''m gonna....."
Since the quarters were claimed to be soundproof, no one was supposed to be able to hear this frequently mispronounced soul yelling his lungs out from pure mental torture.
Except that his roommates did.
***
The Underworld, a fanciful name for the underground sector of Settlement-2691 on the western side of a revolving continent on Nyxara, the new home for humans.
Back on Earth, the heat was tolerable despite people sweating buckets¡ªhyperhidrosis, as it was called. But here, starlight vaporized you in thirty seconds. So to live on Nyxara, constant darkness was a must for survival. And thus, the Underworld was almost like a reflection of the settlement above, each house and street mirrored to perfection in the comforting darkness. Chynco shared a room there, along with two roommates.
To be honest and fair, though, Chynco didn''t mind the darkness. It was the only thing that made sense in a world where nothing else did¡ªat least, to him. He seemed to have a subtle affinity towards this reasonable hell.
But he really, really hated people mispronouncing his name!
''How hard can it be..'' he thought, ''to say /CHIN-ko/''.
"Hey, Chainko!", said Griff.
"It¡¯s /CHIN-ko/" Chynco snapped.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
"Bruh, relax. You named yourself after a swear word or something?"
"What? No. Shut up."
***
The lights in the Underworld flickered, as if the planet itself was sighing. Chynco ignored it¡ªhe was too used to the occasional tremor. But there was something about it tonight. A weight in the air that hadn''t been there before.
Ignoring the tremor, Chynco threw himself onto his battered cot and pulled out his ancient data tablet. If he had to endure life in a hostile wasteland where people couldn¡¯t pronounce his name, he might as well entertain himself...
His fingers hesitated over the search bar before typing:
"Chynco name origin."
The search loaded instantly. And there it was.
Chinko (¥Á¥ó¥³) [noun, vulgar, Japanese] ¡ª penis.
He blinked. Then again.
His entire existence short-circuited for a full ten seconds. The name he had been screaming at people to get right¡ªthe name he took so much pride in correcting¡ªthe name he had lived under for twenty-two years...
It meant dick.
A cold wave of horror crashed over him. His hands went limp, tablet slipping onto the bed. He stared into the abyss of his own reflection on the darkened screen. Twenty-two years of pride. Of arguing. Of defiant corrections. Of insisting.
Chynco swallowed hard. His throat was dry. He reread the translation. Then again.
Chynco sat there, frozen.
His soul left his body.
His entire existence¡ªa joke.
He could feel twenty-two years of misplaced confidence crumbling around him.
Then, finally, barely a whisper:
"...Oh. No."
Shame burned through him so intensely he felt lightheaded. He wanted to deny it, to find some obscure alternate meaning¡ªbut the search results didn¡¯t lie. It was there. Undeniable. Immovable.
Immediately, the walls of the Underworld felt closer, almost suffocating. Maybe it was just the tension in the air, or maybe it was just Chynco¡¯s nerves playing with him, but something about the shadows seemed... off.
A faint shiver crawled up his spine. Something was wrong. The air felt heavier. Too still. He swallowed hard, suddenly hyper-aware of his own breathing.
The shadows in the room weren¡¯t right. They stretched where they shouldn¡¯t.
The comms unit crackled, static hissing like breathing. Chynco hesitated, then pressed a button.
A voice, hollow and wrong, whispered through the speakers:
"You have been watched, O Enigmatic Eclipse.
The name was never yours to begin with."
Then the power cut out, swallowing everything in the slightly nudging white starlight. Chynco¡¯s heart pounded against his ribs as silence pressed in around him.
For the first time ever, true fear gripped him.