Chapter 1 - chapter:1 They Forgot What Darkness Was

Volume 1: Shadow Initialization

They thought light would always win. But they forgot what darkness does… when no one's looking.”

IDHS Protocol: Level ∞ Seal

The moon didn’t shine tonight.

It flickered â€" like a broken bulb in the ceiling of a reality about to collapse. The sky above wasn't dark… it was corrupted. Glitch lines tore faintly across the clouds, as if the heavens themselves were rejecting a presence they didn’t approve of.

Down below, the city buzzed in blissful ignorance. Neon lights. Flying drones. Holographic ads promising system upgrades and stat boosts. Everyone had their place. Everyone followed the law. Everyone was inside the loop.

Except for Jake Lagon.

He sat on top of an abandoned university building, legs dangling over the edge.

Dust covered the glass rooftop around him, but he left no footprints.

The breeze whispered secrets through his black hoodie, but even the wind didn’t dare touch him.

He wasn't hiding.

He was waiting.

“Still trying to reset it,” he murmured, watching the sky skip again like broken film.

“Pathetic.”

The rooftop groaned beneath him. Not from weight â€" he wasn’t heavy â€" but from existence pressure. The world didn’t know how to carry him anymore.

---

SYSTEM NOTICE [ACCESS DENIED]

Tracking Error: Subject [Jake Lagon] not found in reality index

Power Source â€" Unknown. Not Divine. Not Magical. Not System-linked.

Threat Level: Non-measurable

Classification Suggestion: IDHS â€" "I Am the Darkness Who Hide Secretly"

---

Jake smirked.

“They’re still trying to name me.”

A voice behind him broke the night’s silence. Artificial. Filtered. Controlled.

“Jake Lagon. By decree of the Arc-System Tribunal, you are to be sealed under Eternal Order 7. Do not resist.”

Jake didn’t turn around. He didn’t need to. He felt the being before it even arrived.

It wasn’t human.

A guardian class â€" golden armor, wings made of glowing code, with dozens of floating rings hovering around it, all spinning with divine frequency.

“What chapter is this?” Jake asked casually.

“How many times have they sent you?”

The guardian didn’t answer. It raised a spear of judgment â€" a weapon encoded with system authority, designed to pierce through anomalies, heretics, and "glitches" in narrative flow.

Jake stood up. Slowly. Effortlessly.

The moment he did, the rooftop cracked in a perfect circle around him. Not from weight â€" but from rejection. The building, the city, the world â€" they couldn’t process his form anymore.

“You are not registered,” the guardian spoke again.

“You are not blessed. You are not system-bound. You are a threat to narrative balance. You are…”

Jake interrupted, voice still calm.

“I am what happens when you forget something in the dark long enough.”

The clouds above twisted. The stars blinked out.

And thenâ€"

He blinked.

That was all.

No punch. No power-up. No flashy transformation.

Just a blink.

The guardian didn't scream. It didn't fall. It didn't even exist long enough to be destroyed.

---

> Entity Deleted

Timeline Memory Adjusted

Global Cause-Effect Path Updated

---

Jake exhaled slowly. Not because he needed to. He was human… technically.

But he had learned long ago: sometimes breathing made others feel safe.

He crouched down, touched the rooftop glass, and whispered.

“Still trying to fit me into their system…”

He stood again.

“Still failing.”

---

Down below, a group of young ability users celebrated their first system upgrades.

One had just unlocked Flame Manipulation.

Another bragged about Speed Enhancement Lv. 3.

They smiled, laughed, unaware.

Jake tilted his head.

“So loud. So fragile. So easily programmed.”

He didn't hate them. He didn’t envy them.

But they were insects playing with cheat codes.

And Jake? Jake was what those cheat codes feared in the dark.

---

A drone zipped past. It scanned him for power level. For registration. For identity.

Nothing.

> Power Level: Not Detected

Species: Not Recognized

Threat Rating: Null

Warning: Target not within known simulation protocols.

Jake reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin.

Not digital. Not enchanted. Just a real, physical coin from a forgotten currency.

He flicked it.

It spun into the air, and the moment it peaked â€"

the city’s light blinked out.

Complete blackout.

No electricity. No systems. No communication.

And only Jake saw the truth.

The world didn’t stop working.

It stopped responding â€" because Jake made it choose silence.

---

The coin landed.

Clink.

All lights turned back on.

Drones rebooted. Traffic resumed. People forgot what just happened.

But the world remembered.

It remembered Jake Lagon â€" the thing that couldn’t be saved, deleted, or even classified.

---

SPECIAL ACCESS FILE: LEVEL INFINITY â€" READ BY AUTHORIZED EYES ONLY

SUBJECT: Jake Lagon

Origin: Unknown

Species: Human (Former)

Status: Hidden

System Compatibility: Rejected

Designation: IDHS â€" I Am the Darkness Who Hide Secretly

Transformation Signature: Hain Yar

Notes:

"If he awakens in full, even fiction will bleed.

If he chooses to care, we lose control.

If he remembers who he truly is… we forget who we are."

---

Jake sat back down on the ledge.

No one above.

No one below.

No one equal.

“Soon,” he whispered.

The darkness answered, not in words â€" but in submission.