Anchor: I’m sorry to interrupt, but we have breaking news! Strange plants have started appearing worldwide. The current recommendation is to proceed with caution and avoid them as much as possible. Is this the magical aspect of the world that God warned us about? Here are some images of the new plants identified so far.

Four different plants were shown. One bore a strange fruit, another was slightly glowing, and the other two had distinctive patterns but didn’t seem special at all—they could easily pass for plants that already existed.

Anchor: What is your opinion on these plants? How dangerous could they be?
Guest 1: I doubt they are dangerous…
Anchor (with a reprimanding expression): But are you certain? Is it impossible for them to be dangerous?
Guest 1: No, we can’t be certain. Proceeding with caution until authorities verify them is the way to go.
Guest 3: That’s the key. Authorities should work fast and assemble teams to start checking whatever pops up.
Anchor: Whatever? So you don’t expect it will be just plants?
Guest 3: No, my guess is this is just the start. As God said, the world will start filling with mana, so probably stronger magical beings will appear going forward. I’d expect plants with stronger magic and effects, then small creatures, then big creatures, and finally intelligent ones.
That makes sense. I’ll send it to the Brawl party, Alex thought.

Anchor: Intelligent creatures? Like elves? Or do you think God will create enemies of humanity?
Guest 3: I’m not sure… that’s just the progression I can think of. It could be elves, orcs, goblins…
Anchor: That is a worrisome thought you’ve expressed there. Do you think we should arm ourselves?
Guest 2: Not necessarily. There are over 8 billion people in the world, and cities are mostly made of concrete. The creatures mentioned might be a bit stronger, but they’re not as organized, and they’d be new to this world. We just need to remain calm and work as a society.
Guest 1: I agree. Besides, if intelligent creatures came into the world, they could also be allies.
Anchor: Well, that is certainly a more comforting outlook. We’re getting to the end of our show. I’d like a conclusion from each of you, if possible.
Guest 1: It’s important to remain calm. There’s still so much we don’t know. Governments are reacting quite fast to the whole development, so I believe we’ll be fine.
Guest 2: I agree, but it’s also important to have a failsafe. Being alone is dangerous—it’s important to build teams, whether that’s family, friends, or neighbors, to face a potentially bad scenario.
Guest 3: We need the government to act fast. I expect more developments in the coming days and weeks. Their response will give societies a greater advantage to face potentially difficult scenarios.

It was almost Alex’s turn to go to the supermarket. He readied himself and rechecked the list he’d made. There was a limit on spending and the quantity of products each person could take.

He quickly checked social media and saw an idiot doing a live-tasting of one of the new plants. Let’s hope there’s no monsters… or we’re probably doomed.

When it was time to sleep, Alex told Ellie he had never been so scared in his life.
Ellie: Well, duh… it was a pretty special occasion, don’t you think?
Alex: Yeah, but what if I didn’t get to you in time? What if something happened to you?
Ellie: That’s stupid. I would be happy you weren’t there. What if you got to me and something happened to the both of us? Who would care for Morgan?

Alex didn’t sleep well that night. Ellie offered him a sleeping pill at 1 AM when he was still tossing and turning, but he decided to move to the living room to avoid keeping her awake.

Morgan followed him and curled up on the footrest of the L-shaped couch, now turned into a makeshift bed. His mind kept going through possible scenarios. Bad scenarios. And parts of them, were about to come true.