Chapter 1: Prologue – Fractured Life
Drip. Drip.
The night rain trickled cold and sharp, soaking into his bones. A dim streetlamp flickered above a shabby food stall on the outskirts of Yogyakarta, near the ghost of an old terminal.
There, on a creaking wooden bench, sat a man with bloodshot eyes and a bottle of cheap arak (Indonesian liquor) nearly empty at his side.
His name was Kano.
28 years old.
A man who failed at everything.
"…Tch."
He lowered his head, one hand clenched around a soggy rejection letter stuffed in his jacket pocket. The words blurred from all the times he had read them. He already knew what they said.
"We regret to inform you …"
Pathetic.
That was the only word that echoed in his head anymore.
His thoughts spiraled again. His mind tangled with thoughts of Ayaka—the woman he loved—who had taken her own life months ago. Her final words echoed relentlessly in his head:
"You couldn't save me… you can't even save yourself…"
Ayaka's voice echoed, unshakable—sharp as glass in his chest.
His stomach twisted. He held back a gag.
Ayaka…
The woman he loved.
Died.
By suicide.
Months ago.
And he'd done… nothing.
He laughed bitterly and took another swig.
Even that couldn't drown it out.
His phone had rung earlier.
His mother's voice. Shaky. Begging him to come home.
But what was the point? To disappoint them again?
Going back would only remind them how much he'd failed. Failed at love. Failed at life. Failed to even be human.
He stood, unsteady, and staggered down an alley lit by distant motorbike lights. One step at a time, like a ghost dragged by rain and regret. Somehow, his legs took him away from the city—through winding backroads, abandoned footpaths, deeper into the dark.
He wasn't thinking. He wasn't going anywhere.
He was leaving.
Eventually, the streets turned to mud. The glow of the city disappeared behind the trees.
The forest swallowed him whole.
And ahead, barely visible in the downpour, stood a crumbling ruin—a forgotten temple buried in the wilderness.
Locals whispered about this place.
That it was haunted.
That dark rituals had happened here.
That people came here to die.
Kano smiled.
"...Maybe this is good enough."
His soaked boots squelched on moss-covered stones. He climbed the ancient steps, collapsing near the mouth of the ruins. The wind howled through broken carvings—grotesque shapes of monsters and spirits leering in the dark.
"If I die here…"
He leaned back, eyes to the heavens.
"...at least no one will find me."
Then…
Warmth.
"…What the hell?"
The stone beneath him pulsed faintly. A green light seeped from a crack—no, from beneath the temple.
Steam hissed up from the earth.
The scent of scorched iron filled his nose.
Before he could react—
CRACK.
The ground shattered beneath him.
A vortex of green light surged upward, howling like a living storm. Wind roared, swirling around him, pulling at his clothes, his skin, his soul.
He screamed.
"WHAA—?!"
Leaves and stones flew past as gravity failed.
His body lifted.
The world spun.
"Am I… dying?"
The last thing he saw was the night sky—splintering like glass—before everything turned white.
Then, black.
Pain.
Wet soil.
The taste of bile in his throat.
"—Gkhh!"
He rolled over, coughing violently. His body was burning and freezing at the same time.
Above him: trees.
Massive, alien trees.
Around him: chirping. Buzzing. The calls of birds he didn't know.
"…Wh…at?"
He couldn't stand.
And then—
RRRAAAWWWRRR!
A monstrous howl from behind.
He turned.
Eyes.
Glowing red.
Foam. Fangs.
A beast—like a wolf—but massive, twisted, and horned.
It charged.
He ran. Fell. Blood streaked down his leg from a fresh gash.
He crawled beneath a tree root, gasping.
His fingers brushed something smooth—round. Half-buried in mud.
A crystal?
It glowed faintly… green.
The monster snarled, closing in.
He grabbed a rock, threw it. It bounced off the beast like a toy.
It roared.
"No… please…"
Time slowed.
His mind filled with faces.
Ayaka.
His mother.
All the nights he wanted to disappear.
All the times he almost did.
"I don't… want to die like this…"
Blood from his arm trickled onto the crystal.
The green glow flared.
A voice—cold, deep, ancient—echoed inside his mind.
"I am Vhargron… wanderer of the void. You… are broken. Empty. That makes you… perfect."
Kano's eyes widened.
"What…? Why… me…?" Kano gasped.
"Because you are empty. Fractured. Your soul is riddled with wounds. You are… the perfect host. Let me plant the seed of power…Let me in. Give me your hollow heart. In return… I will give you strength."
The beast lunged.
Kano screamed—
BOOOOM.
Green fire exploded outward, incinerating the monster in midair.
The heat was unbearable. His chest burned. His lungs screamed.
"Contract… sealed…"
Darkness again.
When he awoke, it was to cold rain dripping through the canopy. His body throbbed. His breath was ragged.
A symbol—black and faintly pulsing—burned on his chest.
He sat up shakily.
"…Where…?"
A rustle.
His heart jumped.
He turned—
A girl.
A young woman stepped into the clearing.
She was soaked to the bone, clutching a wooden staff, her silvery hair tangled and clinging to her face.
Her eyes—ice blue—widened when they met his.
"You're… alive…?" she whispered.
She examined his wounds.
"You're burned… but not charred. Who… who are you?"
Kano bit his lip, fingers clawing the earth.
"I'm just… a loser. If I died… it wouldn't matter…" he choked.
She looked to the rain-streaked sky, then slowly reached out, gently tending his wounds with trembling hands.
"You're safe now… I'll help you… hold on…"
She dropped to her knees beside him, inspecting his burns.
"These wounds… You should be dead…"
He looked up at her—his eyes brimming with tears.
"I… should be…"
His voice cracked.
"But I'm not."
The girl hesitated, then placed her hand gently on his arm. Her touch was cold—but… calming.
"…You're safe now," she said softly. "I'll help you. So please… don't give up."
He trembled.
And somewhere deep inside…
Vhargron whispered again.
"Still breathing. Barely. Hold on… for now…"
"My name is Serina," she said, tending his wounds with careful, trembling hands. "I'm… no one special. I've lost people too. I know what that's like."
Her voice faltered, her eyes shimmering—but not from the rain.
"But… you're not alone anymore."
Her fingers brushed his chest, and a faint green light bloomed from her palm—spreading gently across his body like vines of warm energy.
His wounds didn't vanish—but the pain dulled. The bleeding stopped.
He looked at her, dazed.
"…Zamrad…" she whispered. "This is Zamrad. You're in the northern woods."
He blinked.
Zamrad…?
Where the hell was that?
"…Why am I alive…?" he croaked.
She shook her head.
"I don't know. But that light… it saved you."
The rain continued to fall, but the air around them felt… different now.
Kano closed his eyes.
He wasn't dead.
Not yet.
Only the sound of rainfall and his heartbeat filled the silence.
Kano's hand tightened around hers, just before he lost consciousness again
"....."