It all began fifty years ago.
The city buzzed like any ordinary day—cars honking, street vendors yelling, children laughing in schoolyards.
Then...
The sky tore open.
In a single, breathless moment, the fabric of reality shattered, it took the whole world by storm, and they came pouring through—malevolent spirits with twisted limbs, flickering movements, and eyes that pulsed like dying stars.
Some took on some properties of animals, three-headed lions the size of a house, giant bats that could breath fire, they were creatures that one could only see in nightmares, yet somehow, they had spawned in the world of the living.
Their very presence reeked of despair, their forms warped space like heatwaves.
Fear spread faster than fire. These creatures, moved with no mercy. One ghost was enough to massacre a city block. They ripped through steel, shredded bodies, and vanished just as quickly as they appeared.
They came and went like storms.
Guns, missiles, tanks, nuclear bombs—nothing worked. Humanity's finest weapons somehow phased through their incorporeal forms like whispers in the wind. Because of this,they were later named Ghosts
They were literally untouchable.
For the first time in modern history, mankind was completely helpless.
Overtime, cities fell. Panic spread. Populations crumbled, and HOPE dimmed.
And just when it seemed like all was lost... something changed.
Abilities awakened.
People—ordinary people—suddenly found themselves able to conjure fire, bend shadows, move faster than the eye could follow, and so much more.
At first, they were less than a dozen, soon, more people began to awaken these supernatural abilities
No one knew how or why it began. Some called it divine intervention, a gift from above, others called it a cosmic mutation.
As time passed,over 80% of the world's population began to manifest abilities—later called curse factors.
Those who could fight back were called Reapers
They became humanity's first and only line of defense against these unstoppable monsters
Years passed. Reapers trained, fought, and died to keep humanity standing. Gradually, technology adapted. Weapons were crafted to finally harm the ghosts. The war slowly started shifting in mankind's favour, and Humanity began to crawl back from the brink
But the ghosts... Just kept coming.
Year ago, Adam had lost his family in a ghost attack. Evee since, he's been living by himself, barely surviving with the meager salary from his work
*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Adam slowly opened his eyes, groggily reaching out to turn off the blaring alarm
"Uuggh,what the hell...what's the time again?" Adam reluctantly got up from his bed, his movements were sluggish, and his eyelids refused to stay open.
"7:50?" His eyes widened in shock upon looking at the time "Shxt, I'm gonna be late"
He quickly rushed to the bathroom to get prepared. He knew that he had to hurry or else his boss would butcher him alive.
That man wouldn't spare him if he was even a second late. He'd been late for work on several occasions and every time his boss woud punished him with extra hours of work, hours that he would not get paid for
Whether it was sorcery or he had somehow awakened super speed, Adam din't know , but within a space of 5 minutes,he took a bath, brushed his teeth and got dressed for work.
Now,he just had five minutes to get to work. He wouldn't be surprised if he saw Mr. Brook probably standing at the entrance, constantly glancing at his watch, almost like he was waiting for Adam to be late so he can punish him. But Adam was going to prove him wrong
Getting out of his apartment, he bolted off to work. The store wasn't too far from where he lived,so he knew he'd make it in time if he hurried
'ugh, I'd kill for super speed right now' he thought to himself as he weved through the crowd of pedestrians, his legs eating up the distance with every stride
"I just pray I get there on tim—"
Adam stumbled as he crashed into one boy who was just standing in the middle of the sidewalk.
The odd part about it was that it didn't feel like any ordinary bump,Adam felt like he crashed into a brick wall. Surprisingly, the boy barely flinched at all and just stood there staring at the virtual posters on the wall
"Hey! Watch where you're going, man" Adam snapped
"But, you're the one who bumped into me in the first place" the boy replied, his voice surprisingly calm and gentle
"Oh, yh right, sorry about that" Adam said apologetically, scratching the back of his head
Up close, the boy looked the same age as Adam, but what stood out the most was his skin. It was rough, irregular and slightly orange, almost like stone. But despite his petrified features,his eyes were burning with warmth,you could tell he was a pretty friendly guy
"Damn dude, that's a pretty cool curse factor," Adam confessed, envy his voice" what are you looking at?"
It was then that Adam saw the digital poster . The design wasn't too fancy,it just showed a big shield and some text that read
"Trials in two days"
"Gees, can't wait for the entrance exam huh?" Adam said, realizing what it was
Once every year, people withing a 15 and 18 would be eligible to take on the Reaper Academy entrance exam. A trial that would determine if they would enroll in such a prestigious institution where they would be trained and groomed to become future Reapers, and protectors of society from ghosts
Reaper Academies have been established throughout multiple countries in the world and it was every child's dream to attend.
However, aside from the age group, the only requirement for taking the test, was a curse factor—an ability many individuals awaken in their early teens
"Yeah, I'm really hiped. I just hope I pass though, I heard the Reaper trials isn't that easy." The boy replied in a worried tone.
" C'mon, don't sweat it, with your curse factor there's no test you can't pass" Adam encouraged " It's like you're completely made of stone, plus you look plenty strong to me. Gosh... I...wish I was like you"
The boy was thrilled after hearing Adam's words, he was having some doubts about the test but with Adam reassuring him, he felt like he could actually pass this test.
" Um thanks for your encouraging words" The boy replied " wait,but why would ou want to be like me? What's your curse factor?
Adam's face fell, and a wave of sorrow swallowed him completely. The question landed like a blow, echoing in his mind like the a broken record.
"I...don't have one"
The boys eyes widened in shock. In this modern era, nearly everyone has manifested a curse factor and he'd hardly heard of anyone who didn't posses one, no matter how useless it may be. Meeting someone in person that didn't have one was insanely rare
"Oh...um,I'm sorry to hear th—"
"Don't be" Adam interrupted
" it's fine. Go chase your dream, man, you got this" Adam's gave a thumbs up to the kid as he forced a smile on his face "I'll see you around"
Adam bid his goodbye as he left,sprinting to work
...
Somewhere in the city on one of the rooftops, A malevolent spirit hovered slightly above the ground, it's from glitching constantly as it looked down at the bystanders.
It's eyes darted around, glancing from person to person until it locked it's gaze on a particular boy who looked to be running
"Found you"