The sky did not shatter.
It bled.
Thin, glowing cracks spread across the clouds like veins, pulsing with a faint violet light. To most people, it was no longer strange. It had become part of everyday life.
They were called Veins.
And from those Veins came something far more dangerous—Echoes.
Arman stood quietly behind the safety barrier, his hands resting on the cold metal railing. Beyond it, the restricted zone flickered with unstable energy.
"You're still here?" a security officer asked, glancing at him with mild irritation.
Arman didn't turn. "Just watching."
The officer sighed. "Watching won't make you Awakened."
A faint smile appeared on Arman's face. "I know."
Five years ago, the world changed.
Some people developed a strange ability known as Resonance—the power to interact with the Veins. Those who possessed it became Divers, entering unstable zones to fight Echoes and retrieve energy cores that powered entire cities.
They were respected.
Needed.
Feared.
Arman was none of those things.
Every test he had taken gave the same result.
Zero Resonance.
No compatibility.
No potential.
"You failed again, didn't you?" his younger sister Lira asked later that evening.
Arman placed his bag down and nodded. "Yeah."
She stayed quiet, but her expression said enough.
There was nothing more to say.
That night, sleep didn't come easily.
The Veins outside were brighter than usual, their glow leaking through the window like a warning.
Something felt off.
Unstable.
Then the ground trembled.
A low rumble shook the entire neighborhood.
Within seconds, emergency sirens filled the air.
"Warning: Unstable Vein detected. All civilians evacuate immediately."
Arman stepped outside.
Above him, one of the Veins had changed. It had thickened, twisting unnaturally as if something inside it was trying to break free.
People began to panic.
"It's going to rupture!"
"Move! Get away!"
But Arman didn't move.
Instead, he stepped forward.
For the first time in his life—
He felt something.
A faint pull.
Not fear.
Not curiosity.
Something deeper.
A connection.
"Hey! Stay back!" someone shouted.
Arman didn't listen.
The Vein reacted.
It pulsed once.
Then split open.
Not outward.
Inward.
Before anyone could react, Arman was pulled into it.
There was no sensation of falling.
No sound.
No light.
Only silence.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing in an endless white space.
There was nothing around him.
Nothing except—
A mirror.
Cracked.
Floating in the distance.
Arman slowly approached it, his footsteps echoing in the emptiness.
"…What is this?"
He stopped in front of the mirror.
His reflection stared back at him.
But something was wrong.
The eyes.
They were completely black.
Then the reflection spoke.
"You were never empty."
Arman froze. "What…?"
"They called it failure," the reflection continued calmly. "But it was never that."
Cracks spread further across the mirror.
"You were sealed."
A sharp pain surged through Arman's chest.
He fell to his knees, struggling to breathe.
Fragments of unfamiliar memories flashed through his mind—ruins, shadows, and distant voices whispering in unknown languages.
"Make it stop…" he said through clenched teeth.
The reflection tilted its head slightly.
"Do you want power?"
Arman hesitated.
All his life, he had been left behind.
Powerless.
Forgotten.
"…Yes."
The mirror began to break apart.
"Not borrowed power," the voice said.
"Not learned power."
"Your power."
The mirror shattered completely.
Darkness poured out from within it, surrounding Arman.
It didn't feel violent.
It felt cold.
Ancient.
A deep voice echoed from somewhere beyond.
"Seal released."
"Abyssal Vein detected."
"Host confirmed."
Arman's eyes opened.
He was back.
Standing in the middle of the street.
Everything around him was frozen.
People.
Dust.
Even the air itself.
In front of him stood an Echo.
A distorted creature formed from shifting shadows.
But it didn't attack.
It bowed.
Arman stared at it, confused.
"…Why?"
A voice answered from within him.
"You are not a Diver."
Time resumed.
The Echo lunged forward—
Then suddenly stopped.
Its body twisted unnaturally before collapsing into fragments of dark energy.
A small shard of light floated toward Arman.
But instead of landing in his hand, it dissolved into his shadow.
A quiet whisper followed.
"First absorption complete."
Arman stood still, his heart racing.
There were no screens.
No ranks.
No system guiding him.
Only one truth remained.
This power was not meant for humans.
And somehow—
It had chosen him.