Chapter 1: The One Who Should've Died
As the night fell over Tokyo, rain cascaded from the sky, each drop glimmering like shattered shards of glass. This was no ordinary rain - it was harsh and unrelenting, piercing through everything, evoking a sense of discomfort rather than refreshing relief. The air was thick with humidity, and the sound of raindrops hitting the pavement created a haunting tune, one that seemed to mock the very existence of those below.
High above the bustling streets, on a rooftop six stories up, stood Kaito Ren, an unremarkable figure silhouetted against the flickering sign of a convenience store. This store, once vibrant and alive, now seemed to exist only in memory, its light sputtering erratically like a dying firefly. The jagged beams danced over Kaito's drenched hair, which was as dark as the obsidian depths of the night. He gazed down at the puddles pooling at the edge of the sidewalk, where his reflection stared back, looking far more animated than he felt inside.
In his mind, Kaito did not fancy himself anything out of the ordinary. He was not the star of any grand tale or the hero destined for greatness. That was merely a belief he had clung to for years, a humility that bordered on self-deprecation.
By day, he toiled at a delivery company, navigating the busy streets and lugging packages from one end of the city to the other. By night, he worked the counter at the convenience store, attending to a handful of late-night customers. He often felt like a ghost, drifting through life and carrying the dreams of others while neglecting the withering remnants of his own aspirations. The world around him didn't harbor any animosity towards Kaito; rather, it simply failed to acknowledge his existence, treating him as an inconsequential shadow.
But tonight-a night draped in the oppressive weight of rain and darkness-something would change.
Kaito cast a glance at his watch. The digital numbers read 2:47 A.M. The streets below were mostly deserted, the only sound punctuating the silence being the distant wail of a police siren, a reminder of the chaos lurking just beyond his line of sight. A sudden blackout swept through the city block, extinguishing the vibrant neon lights one by one, as if some unseen hand was erasing Tokyo from existence, leaving only darkness in its wake.
And then, just at that moment, he saw her.
A girl stood alone at the intersection below, barefoot and drenched to the bone, a flowing white dress clinging to her form as it billowed around her, though there was no breeze to move it. She seemed entirely out of place-not merely an anomaly you might encounter in the depths of a restless night, but more akin to a miraculous apparition who shouldn't exist in this grim reality. Her silver hair shimmered in the dim light, catching the faint glimmers of electricity intermittently flickering above.
She looked up, her gaze piercing through the downpour, locking onto him with an intensity that sent a shiver down his spine.
And then, she smiled.
Kaito felt his heart seize inside his chest, thundering wildly against his ribcage as if it yearned to escape. Before reason could grasp the situation, the screeching of tires sliced through the rain, breaking the fragile stillness. A truck came careening down the street, its headlights swerving dangerously in the darkness, drawing perilously close to the girl.
"Move-!" he shouted with a fervor that he didn't even think through, the instinct to protect taking over.
Without a moment's hesitation, his body leaped into action.
He vaulted over the railing, feeling gravity's pull as he plummeted six stories down. Time seemed to stretch, the wind howling in his ears, twisting and curling around him as if the entire world had slowed, urging him to focus solely on reaching her.
Impact.
Pain.
Then, an all-consuming silence enveloped him.
Instead of crashing onto unforgiving asphalt, Kaito found himself enveloped in something soft - an ethereal sensation, as though he were falling through a sea of clouds. When he dared to open his eyes, he was met not with rain or cityscapes but with a void of endless white.
He attempted to stand, but there was no tangible ground beneath his feet, just a limitless expanse of light stretching as far as the eye could see. And there she was again, now completely dry, her silver hair drifting gently about her as if caught in a current.
"You weren't supposed to jump," she intoned softly, her voice reverberating like a distant echo. "Not yet."
Kaito blinked in disbelief. "I-what are you talking about? Who are you?"
"I am..." She hesitated, a cloud of uncertainty passing through her expression. "A mistake."
He stared at her, caught off guard by such a puzzling self-description. "That's... quite the introduction," he replied, incredulity creeping into his tone.
She smiled, though it was tinged with sorrow. "You shouldn't have died, Kaito Ren. But now that you have... the rules have changed."
As she spoke, the light around them pulsed rhythmically, and fragments of intricate runes began to materialize around them, forming constellations that teased the corners of his vision.
Something inside Kaito was tugged, like an invisible force compelling him toward a destiny unknown, as if the very air condemned him to a path he couldn't comprehend.
"Wait," he breathed out, panic rising in his chest. "Where are you sending me? What is even happening right now?"
"I can't stop it," she replied, her voice barely more than a whisper in the vast expanse. "But I can offer you one thing - a chance to defy the ones who write fate itself."
The runes flared to life with a white-hot intensity. Kaito instinctively reached out, but as he did, his fingers began to dissolve into trails of light, slipping through his grasp like grains of sand.
"Defy... the ones who write fate?" he repeated, his voice fading into the void. "You mean... gods?"
Her eyes were filled with ancient wisdom, a depth of understanding mixed with sorrow. "They level up too slowly," she stated softly, her voice laced with an undercurrent of frustration. "Maybe you will show them how it's done."
And then, in a blinding flash, the light engulfed him entirely.
When Kaito opened his eyes again, everything around him felt... different.
Above him hung two suns, casting a warmth that was both novel and overwhelming. The grass beneath him shimmered like liquid emerald, undulating gently in a breeze that seemed to sing a song he had never heard before. He gasped in astonishment, his voice emerging deeper, more resonant than he remembered. His body felt transformed, leaner and taller, wrapped in rough cloth and leather armor that seemed fitting for a land rife with adventure. A sword rested at his side, its presence instinctual, as if he had always held it there.
As the beauty of this world soaked into his senses, a faint whisper floated into his mind, a voice that echoed with a strange authority.
[Welcome, Kaito Ren.]
[You have entered the world of Aetherion - a domain abandoned by its gods.]
Kaito froze, his heart pounding in confusion and awe. "Wait-who said that? What's happening?" he stammered, trying to grasp the enormity of his situation.
[Initializing… Error. Entity does not match divine registry.]
[Warning: Power fluctuation detected.]
The incomprehensible response faded into silence, and the mystical whisper vanished, leaving Kaito alone with the sound of wind whispering through grasses and the weight of a world he did not yet understand, pulling him into an adventure he never could have anticipated.
Kaito clenched his fist tightly, the muscles in his forearm flexing as he felt a rush of emotions surging within him. "A world abandoned by its gods, huh?" he mused, his voice laced with a mixture of bitterness and resignation. "Guess that makes two of us." The weight of his words hung in the air, a painful reminder of the void left by the divine beings who had once watched over humanity. He couldn't shake off the feeling of isolation that enveloped him, as if he were one of the forgotten souls wandering through a lifeless landscape.
Suddenly, piercing through the stillness of the evening, a scream echoed from somewhere beyond the distant hills - sharp, chilling, and unmistakably human. It cut through the quiet like a knife, sending a shiver down his spine. The desperation in that cry was raw and haunting, stirring a sense of urgency within him that he could not ignore. Without pausing to think, he instinctively grabbed the hilt of his sword, its weight familiar and reassuring in his grasp, and took off running toward the source of the sound, his heart racing with adrenaline.
The ground beneath his feet blurred as he sprinted, each step echoing with determination. Thoughts of the world around him faded into the background; all that mattered was the possibility of someone in danger, someone who needed help. The trees lining his path loomed like sentinels, their shadows stretching long as the sun dipped lower on the horizon. Kaito pushed himself harder, propelled by a fierce resolve - he could not stand idly by when a cry for help rang out, even in a world so shrouded in despair.
To be continued…