Altcoin Boy

My own heartbeat was the only sound I could hear.

My hand was still gripping that beat-up piece of paper with the short, but super unsettling, question on it: "Are you ready to replace Miner Zero?"

I just stood there, stiff, in front of my open dorm room door. The narrow alley outside looked totally empty. No one was around, just the TV from the next room and the hum of the neon sign from the coffee spot down the block.

I slowly pulled my door shut. Locked it twice. I was breathing heavy. My fingers were shaking as I opened my laptop screen, which was still on. My desktop had turned into a world map with blinking red dots all over it. Jakarta, where I was, was glowing the brightest.

On the terminal screen, strange text kept popping up automatically:

GENESIS.PROTOCOL_ACTIVE = TRUE

NODE: JKT-ZERO ONLINE

SEARCHING FOR HOST... HOST FOUND.

DESIGNATION: MINER ZERO > TRANSFER COMPLETE.

"What does that even mean... I'm Miner Zero now?" I mumbled to myself.

Then a pop-up appeared:

Welcome. You are no longer an observer.

My Telegram blew up. The group that was silent before was now buzzing:

CryptoGhost: "You activated the system. They must have detected the signal."

PumpHunter69: "Are you crazy?! That wasn't just some ordinary file."

AltCrab88: "That's a digital nuclear protocol, bro. Not a whitepaper!"

CryptoGhost: "You have to go. Now."

I typed in a hurry:

"What do you guys mean? This is all just some weird whitepaper!"

CryptoGhost fired back:

"That whitepaper is just the surface. There are other layers underneath. You think everyone gets access to the GENESIS protocol?"

My fingers started sweating.

"I just opened a file. It was only 1 byte!"

CryptoGhost replied quickly:

"That 1 byte was a trigger. Not the content. Accessing it has activated a dormant network. And now... they've tracked you."

Suddenly, the lights in my room dimmed. My laptop screen flickered. The Telegram chat froze. Then one last reply popped up from CryptoGhost:

"...It's too late."

I grabbed my bag and laptop, threw on a hoodie and a hat. I snatched my wallet, phone, and a flash drive I always kept under my mattress. Just as I was about to open the door—

My phone rang again. Unknown number.

I hit answer.

"Hello?"

That heavy, mechanical voice answered:

"MINER ZERO HAS AWAKENED. GENESIS PROTOCOL ACTIVATED. ACCESS TRANSFERRED."

"What do you mean? Who is this?"

"SELECTION IS COMPLETE. YOU ARE NOW THE TARGET."

Click. The phone hung up.

I threw open the door and bolted for the stairs.

My feet felt like they weren't even touching the ground. The world suddenly felt smaller, like the whole city was chasing me now.

Until finally, I realized... This wasn't just about altcoins anymore. This was a war. And I had just lit the fuse.

I rushed down the dorm stairs. I held my breath every time my foot landed, hoping the creaking metal wouldn't be heard by anyone—or anything—that might be watching me.

Outside, the night felt darker than usual. Jakarta, which was normally noisy, was strangely quiet. I hurried through the narrow alley towards the main road. The coffee stall was closed, the minimart was dark, even the streetlights weren't on.

I turned on my phone and opened the GPS. The blinking red dot on the map was still pointing to my location. But around it... three other dots started moving closer.

"Damn it," I muttered.

I quickly typed on Telegram, still hoping the network wasn't completely cut off:

"I'm out of the dorm. Three dots are closing in. Need an evacuation route."

No reply. Connection totally dead.

I swapped the SIM card into the burner phone I kept in my jacket pocket. As soon as it powered on, I instantly connected to an alternative network—the one I'd set up way back when CryptoGhost told me to "be ready for a blackout."

As soon as the connection was stable, a message came right in.

CryptoGhost: "Head South. Manggarai Station. 3rd underground entrance. Look for an old iron gate. Access code: 8A-22-Genesis."

I picked up the pace. Didn't dare order an online taxi or car—everything could be traced.

On the street, I saw a black car slowly drive by. Its front windows were tinted, almost like there was no driver. I quickly ducked into a small alley, hiding behind a pile of cardboard boxes and trash cans.

The car stopped. From inside, I heard a click. Then the door opened by itself. Like an invitation.

I held my breath. My heart felt like it wanted to jump out of my chest.

A moment later, the car door closed again. The car slowly drove off and disappeared around the corner.

I came out of hiding and kept running.

Manggarai Station was quiet that night. Only one or two officers seemed to be on duty. I went in through the back parking lot, just like CryptoGhost's instructions. The 3rd underground entrance was next to an electrical panel room—old and rusty.

I punched in the code: 8A-22-Genesis.

The door creaked open.

I stepped inside, and the door automatically closed behind me.

Inside, stairs led down to a narrow hallway lit only by emergency lights. The hallway opened into a room—dark, dusty, with a desk and old servers humming quietly.

In the middle of the room, a large screen read:

NODE ESCAPE ACTIVE

VERIFICATION: MINER ZERO

Then, an automatic video call popped up. A face appeared on the screen—CryptoGhost. No mask. No avatar. Just a middle-aged man with sharp eyes and a scar on his cheek. His hair was partly gray.

"So, you finally made it here," he said.

"So... this whole thing isn't a simulation? Not just some whitepaper puzzle?"

CryptoGhost nodded.

"This is the deepest layer. A world you can't see if you're just a regular investor. You're not an observer anymore. You're the central node."

I took a deep breath.

"Who are you, really?"

He looked at me for a few seconds.

"Forget who I am. What matters now is this: The Genesis Protocol is active, and the enemy knows it. They'll keep coming. You need to learn this system. If you don't... they'll seize access from you. And that means digital apocalypse."

I looked down, staring at the system screen open in front of me.

File after file started opening: a map of the global node network, the distribution of secret cold wallets, and one special folder named: /GATEWAY/.

CryptoGhost said, "Open that folder. But be ready. Once you do... there's no turning back."

I moved my cursor to the /GATEWAY/ folder. My hand was still hesitating.

"What's in it?" I asked.

CryptoGhost answered softly, "Access to the underground chain. Where all digital conflicts begin. It's where the Alpha Miners died."

"And now... you're replacing them."

I stared at the /GATEWAY/ folder, not blinking. My mind was racing with questions: What was really going on? What did he mean the Alpha Miners were dead? And what was my connection to the Genesis Protocol?

But one thing was clear: I was too far in to go back now.

I double-clicked the folder.

Instantly, the entire screen went black, then a bunch of strange ASCII code appeared. Some looked like encryption keys, others were ancient, unfamiliar symbols. At the bottom of the screen, a single word popped up—written in Latin:

"Via Veritatis"

The Path of Truth.

The system started loading.

Decrypting Core Blockchain Structure...

Node: MINER ZERO

Authenticating Identity...

Welcome, Successor.

"Successor?" I mumbled.

On the side of the screen, a map appeared, like a world map but way more complex. There were network lines like veins spreading from one central point—Jakarta—to hundreds of other dots. Some glowed red, others green.

"This isn't just a blockchain system," I breathed out, "this is some kind of digital nervous system..."

The screen flickered again. This time a command popped up:

ACTIVE NODE FUNCTIONALITY:

Broadcast

Re-Route

Purge

Genesis Reset

I was just about to start looking at them one by one when the screen brought up a video call again.

But this time it wasn't CryptoGhost. It was a woman's face I didn't recognize. She had silvery blonde hair, was wearing black, lab-coat-like clothing, and her gaze was cold.

"You're the stupid kid who activated Genesis, aren't you?" she said, totally expressionless.

"What do you mean? Who are you?"

She gave a faint smile.

"My name is Helix. I am the last remnant of Operator Omega. And you... are a new threat to all of us."

"I don't understand..."

She cut me off quickly.

"Because you shouldn't have opened that file. Genesis isn't for ordinary humans. Especially not naive young people who are just learning to trade penny coins."

"Hey!" I stood up, staring at the camera. "I know I'm nobody. But I'm here now, and I'm not running."

Helix's expression changed slightly.

"Then you will die. Just like them."

"Who are 'them'?"

She sighed.

"The failed predecessors. Who tried to control Genesis. But this system rejects anyone weak."

Then she leaned closer to the camera.

"And I'll make sure you don't make the same mistake."

The screen immediately died.

The server hissed loudly. A small alarm blared. The emergency lights flickered red. On the screen, a message popped up:

Intrusion Detected. Force Exit in 60 seconds.

I panicked. I typed random commands, trying to copy data, but the system started counting down. 55... 54... 53...

"CryptoGhost! CryptoGhost!" I yelled, trying to redial the previous call.

No response.

I whipped my head around. On the side of the room, there was another metal door. The writing above it was faintly visible:

Manual Node Escape

I forced the door open. Behind it, another narrow corridor—sloping steeply downwards and completely dark. 35... 34...

I grabbed my laptop, flash drive, and burner phone, then dove into the hallway.

The stairs creaked with every step. Below, there was a faint light. And a single metal chair in the middle of the room. Beside it, a large headset and gloves with wires attached.

What is this? 20... 19...

I approached the chair. On a small screen on the wall, a message appeared:

Direct Connect to Genesis Core

Warning: Experimental Interface

My head started spinning. My vision blurred. It was as if this room had some weird electromagnetic field. Or... was Genesis pulling me in?

I had no choice.

I put on the headset. The gloves automatically tightened onto my hands.

When the system activated, my mind started to open up. I could see data flowing. Networks. Routes. Unprocessed transaction blocks. And... sounds.

Yeah. Sounds.

Like voices from underground. Whispering in a language I'd never heard before.

And one voice, the loudest, said:

"One key has been unlocked. Two more will follow. You're not ready, Andi."

"What do you mean?"

"Genesis cannot be stopped. But it can be directed. And only you... can decide."

Then the voice vanished.

The whole room swayed. The ground felt like it was moving. And from the headset came an alarm:

WARNING: TRACKED SIGNAL DETECTED

PHYSICAL UNIT DEPLOYED

I yanked off the headset. Footsteps pounded in the hallway above. Fast, heavy, like metal boots hitting iron.

I forced myself to stand and look for a way out.

But all the doors were locked. The lights went out.

And from down the hallway, a deep, slow, machine-like voice echoed:

"MINER ZERO... LOCATED."