A man walked slowly through a long, dark corridor.
The walls were made of a strange black metal that absorbed most of the light, making the hallway feel even darker. His face could barely be seen. The only clear light came from the glowing blue belt around his waist.
In his hand he held a small flashlight. It was not a normal one. Instead of a bulb, it had a thin crystal that produced a soft blue light.
The beam moved across the walls as he walked deeper into the corridor.
This place was one of the most secure locations in the entire Core headquarters.
The man finally stopped in front of a massive door.
He took a deep breath and placed his hand on a panel beside it. The door opened with a deep metallic sound.
Beyond it was a giant chamber.
It looked like a vault large enough to hold hundreds of people. The ceiling was high, and the walls were covered with protective energy lines.
At the very center of the vault stood a large glass tube.
The tube was supposed to hold the most important artifact in the universe.
But when the man looked inside…
His body froze.
The tube was empty.
For a moment he thought he was seeing things. His eyes widened so much it felt like they might pop out of their sockets.
"No… no, no, no…"
He rushed closer and checked again.
Still empty.
The man's heart began to race. Panic filled his chest.
Without wasting another second, he turned and ran out of the vault.
His footsteps echoed loudly in the corridor as he rushed through the halls of the Core headquarters.
Finally he burst into a large chamber.
Inside the room sat several figures around a long circular table. They were old and powerful beings, their faces marked by centuries of experience.
And none of them were human.
These were the Elders of the Core.
The man stopped at the entrance, breathing heavily.
"E–Elders!" he shouted.
The room fell silent as all eyes turned toward him.
"The Belt of Prime… it vanished!"
For a moment no one spoke.
Then one of the elders leaned forward slowly.
"What kind of joke is this?" the elder asked calmly.
The guard shook his head quickly.
"No, sir! I'm not lying! The vault is empty! The belt is gone!"
The calm atmosphere in the room instantly disappeared.
Another elder stood up.
"That is impossible," he said coldly.
But the panic in the guard's voice made it clear that he was not joking.
The elders exchanged serious looks.
Finally the eldest among them spoke.
"Summon all the commanders immediately."
His voice was calm, but the tension in the room was obvious.
"And spread the message only to them," he continued.
"The Belt of Prime has vanished."
He paused for a moment before adding one more order.
"Do not let the cadets hear about this."
Another elder nodded slowly.
"If this news spreads outside the Core…"
"It will cause chaos across the galaxy."
The room fell silent again.
Because everyone present understood one terrifying truth.
The most powerful artifact in the universe…
Had just disappeared.
Meanwhile, far away from the Core headquarters, in a small and mostly insignificant galaxy, there existed a quiet star system.
In that system was a small blue planet.
Its name was Earth.
And the dominant race living there was known as humans.
Humans were strange beings.
Compared to many other races in the universe, they were weak. They had no natural armor, no powerful bodies, and no special abilities that made them superior.
Yet somehow they survived.
Wars, disasters, disease, and countless hardships had tried to wipe them out again and again.
But humans had one strange talent.
They adapted.
And on this planet lived a seventeen-year-old boy named Kai Orion.
Kai's life had never been particularly good.
In fact, most people around him believed he was cursed.
His mother had died when he was very young. His father had tried his best to take care of him, but life had never been easy for them. When his father remarried, things only became worse.
Kai's stepmother hated him.
At first it was small things—angry words, unfair punishments, constant blaming. But as the years passed, the treatment became harsher. Sometimes she would beat him over the smallest mistakes.
Kai still remembered one evening clearly.
A plate suddenly flew across the room and shattered near his feet.
"Why do you always bring bad luck into this house?" his stepmother shouted.
Kai stood there silently, his hands shaking, while his father tried to calm her down.
That night he learned something important.
In that house, he was never welcome.
His father tried to stop it many times.
But then one day, his father died in an accident.
After that, Kai had no one left to protect him.
Not long after the funeral, his stepmother brought another man into the house. Within a few weeks, Kai was thrown out of the place that used to be his home.
He was sent to a child care home on the edge of the city.
For a long time, Kai believed that his life would always stay like that.
But strangely, something unexpected happened.
A couple came to the care home one day.
They adopted him.
For the first time in years, Kai experienced something that felt like a normal family.
The couple treated him kindly. They never called him cursed. They helped him return to school and encouraged him to study.
Those few years were probably the happiest time of his life.
But happiness never stayed long.
When Kai was fourteen, the couple died in a car accident.
Just like that, he was alone again.
The only thing they left behind for him was their small house and everything they owned.
So at seventeen years old, Kai Orion lived alone.
He went to school during the day and spent most evenings by himself.
At school things were not much better.
Many students believed the rumors about him.
Some called him unlucky.
Others simply called him the cursed guy.
Kai remembered one afternoon during lunch break.
A group of students had been sitting at a table when he walked closer.
One boy quickly stood up and grabbed his tray.
"Hey, let's move," he whispered to the others. "If he sits here something bad will happen."
The table emptied in seconds.
Kai simply turned around and walked away like it didn't bother him.
But it did.
Kai didn't really bother arguing anymore.
He had gotten used to it.
Most of the time he just ignored people and focused on the things he actually enjoyed.
One of those things was geometry.
Kai had a strange fascination with shapes, patterns, and structures. While most students struggled with math problems, Kai could solve complex geometric puzzles in minutes.
Sometimes he would even draw strange patterns in his notebook just for fun.
To him, everything in the world seemed to follow some kind of hidden structure.
Lines. Angles. Patterns.
It was one of the few things that actually made sense in his life.
That afternoon, school had just ended.
Students were leaving the building in small groups, chatting and laughing with their friends.
Kai walked alone as usual.
He had his hands in his pockets and his bag hanging over one shoulder.
As he stepped outside the school gate, he was already thinking about going home.
But suddenly someone called out to him.
"Kai."
He stopped and turned around.
Standing a few steps behind him was a girl from his class.
Kai blinked in surprise.
She was one of the few people who had never openly mocked him, but they had never really talked much either.
The girl walked a little closer and looked slightly nervous.
"Kai… can I ask you something?"
Kai raised an eyebrow.
"Sure," he said casually.
She hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Do you… want to go out with me tomorrow?"
Kai stared at her for a second.
For someone who had been called cursed his entire life…
That was the last question he expected to hear.
And he had absolutely no idea that this simple moment was about to lead him into the biggest mess of his life.