Rain poured heavily on the school roof, creating a monotonous rhythm that echoed through the corridors. In one nearly empty classroom, a boy sat silently at his desk, staring blankly out the fogged-up window.
Arian, the student no one cared about.
His black hair was messy, his uniform wrinkled, and his bag lay on the muddy floor. Behind his cracked glasses, his eyes held wounds deeper than anything the world had ever carved into him.
Laughter. Mockery. Shoves on the stairs. Books thrown into toilets.
It was all routine.
> "What a loser."
"Why don't you just transfer already?"
"Like this, there's no way you'll have a future."
Arian no longer heard them. Maybe he had gone numb.
Or maybe… he was just waiting for a different ending.
And finally, that ending came.
The sky suddenly cracked open.
A piercing sound like shattering glass split the classroom. A blue light engulfed the room, blinding everything. Screams echoed—and before Arian could scream or run—he vanished.
---
Another World – Land of Valmord
Arian awoke in the middle of a blackened plain.
The air was hot, like the breath of an ancient dragon. In front of him, the ruins of a tower loomed like the bones of a giant. The sky was blood red, the earth cracked open like a gaping wound.
No sound. No life.
Except for one thing—a sword.
It was embedded in the ground, at the center of a glowing purple magic circle.
Its blade was as black as night, radiating an overwhelming aura of hatred.
> "You… are the one who answered my call…?"
The voice did not come from a mouth, but struck directly into Arian's mind.
"Is this… a dream?" Arian whispered.
> "I am Necral, the ancient Demon King, sealed away. I have awaited you, Bearer of Sin.
Form a contract with me… and I shall grant you the full power of my fallen race."
Arian looked down at his trembling hands.
He used to be weak.
He used to be thrown away.
He used to have no one.
But now… power awaited him.
"If this world too only needs me as a monster…"
Arian pulled the sword from the ground.
"…then I'll become the kind of monster you'll never be able to throw away."