The sky over Neo-Haven was not black.
It only pretended to be.
A strange glow hovered above the city every night—subtle, almost invisible, like a presence watching from beyond the clouds. Most people ignored it. Some had grown used to it.
Aren Kuro never did.
Seventeen years old, standing alone on the rooftop of a silent apartment building, Aren stared upward with narrowed eyes. In his hand was an old wristwatch—scratched glass, rusted edges, completely dead.
It had been dead for seven years.
The same number of years since his father vanished under this very sky.
Aren exhaled slowly.
Then—
Tick.
His breath caught.
Tick. Tick.
The watch moved.
Aren froze, his fingers trembling. The watch had never worked. Not once. He had taken it apart himself years ago.
Before he could react, lightning tore through the sky—
but there was no thunder.
Every light in Neo-Haven went out at once.
The city fell into absolute darkness.
A voice echoed inside his mind, calm and cold:
"If you remember everything… the world will collapse."
Aren tried to scream.
No sound came out.
The air in front of him split open, peeling apart like broken glass, revealing a doorway suspended in nothingness.
And before fear could fully reach his heart—
He fell.