The night outside was thick with humidity and the restless pulse of Lagos the city never truly slept, even when the streets grew quiet and the vendors packed up their stalls. But inside Iyi's cramped room, the world felt darker, heavier, as if the night itself carried a warning whispered only to him.
He sat on the edge of his thin mattress, the dim light from his phone screen casting long shadows on the cracked walls. His fingers hovered hesitantly over the device, reluctant but driven by the messages piling up in his inbox.
The sender was still unknown messages that came in riddles, warnings, and cryptic calls to action. Iyi had ignored some, but others gnawed at him, demanding his attention. One email stood out from the rest, the subject stark and chilling: Cyber Blood.
He stared at the title, heart tightening. Slowly, he tapped it open.
The video that played was grainy and flickering, distorted images flashing with a harsh electronic hum. Lines of green code cascaded down the screen like digital rain unfathomable to most, but Iyi recognized fragments from his past scams and schemes, now twisted into something sinister.
A figure appeared, masked and cloaked in shadows, their voice distorted by filters that made it sound part human, part machine.
"You think the world you know is real? That the dangers you face are only skin deep? You're wrong. The city's veins run with blood and code. The hunger you carry is a virus. It infects the city's network, and you're the patient zero."
The words sank like ice in Iyi's chest.
He had always known the city's underbelly was dangerous the scams, the cheats, the enforcers lurking in dark alleys but this was different. This was a war fought in invisible layers, a battle between data streams and ancient hunger.
His phone vibrated violently, the screen flashing a call from an unknown number.
He hesitated, thumb hovering over the green answer button. Fear warred with curiosity.
Finally, he pressed it.
The line connected, but all that came through was static, a low, distorted voice that sent chills down his spine.
"Iyi… listen carefully. You're deeper in this than you realize. The debts from the crossroads are just the beginning. They come for blood, yes but also for code, for data, for secrets. The hunger you fight is not just flesh and spirit it's cybernetic. You must decide: fight or be consumed."
Before he could respond, the call cut off.
Iyi's heart pounded like a drumbeat in the silent room. He was alone, but not safe.
Outside, Lagos pulsed with its usual cacophony: distant music, shouting, engines roaring. But Iyi felt a new presence, an unseen observer tracing his every move, a hunter weaving through the city's digital veins.
His thoughts raced. The scams he once ran were no longer mere hustles they were frontlines in a war he never chose.
His phone buzzed again, this time with an incoming text.
"Trust no one. The network has eyes. The hunger spreads. Find Agba Oye's hut. There you will find answers."
Iyi's breath caught.
Agba Oye the name whispered by the spirits, the gatekeeper who had invited him into the hidden world.
The room felt colder.
He knew the next steps would be dangerous, maybe deadly.
But if he wanted to survive, to unravel the truth behind the hunger and the debts, he had to move forward.
No longer just a boy running from poverty and pain, Iyi was becoming something else a player in a game where the stakes were life, death, and the soul itself.
He slid his phone into his pocket, the weight of Cyber Blood heavy in his mind.
The city's digital veins pulsed outside his door.
And the hunger inside him was only growing stronger.