Present Day — Kairo City
Year — 2140
The city didn't sleep. It buzzed, screamed, blinked. Neon lights smeared across the wet concrete like someone had spilled paint and left it to burn. Rain fell sideways in the wind, soaking everything in electric color.
Kairo wasn't alive—it was a machine. But it breathed like one. Hummed like one. Moved like one.
A hundred thousand flyers zipped across the sky in chaotic patterns that somehow didn't crash. Ads bloomed midair, massive holograms flickering between brands and slogans:
"Ascend. Evolve. Earn Eternity."
"Tower Lottery open now. Join the Conquerors."
"Kairo—Eastern Alliance's crown jewel!"
Even in this mess of glass and rain, the Tower's shadow reached everything. It was religion now. Destiny. Half the kids in the city grew up wanting to climb it. The other half didn't get a choice.
{The Mansion — Stone and Steel}
In the richest part of the city, where the skyline was all angles and glass, one mansion didn't match.
It was old. Real old. Stone walls, rusted gates, a kind of cold silence that didn't belong in a city that loud. And yet, every inch of it hummed with quiet tech—cloaked cameras, invisible drones, scanners woven into ivy-covered walls.
The rest of the world changed. This place didn't. It just watched.
{Inside — Nightmares Again}
Somewhere inside, in a dark room buried in curtains and shadows, Jin-Seok twisted in his bed.
Eighteen years old. Sharp features. Eyes twitching under closed lids.
He was dreaming again.
Not the fun kind. Not the weird kind. The kind that felt like warnings.
Blood in the sky. Ground cracked open. Monsters with too many eyes and not enough skin. A sword in his hand—his? Not his?—dripping with something blacker than black. A voice calling his name, familiar and painful.
And beneath all of it, a sound.
A roar.
Not human. Not beast. Just... wrong.
He shot upright in bed like something had yanked him out of drowning. Sweat glued his shirt to his chest. The room was still. Quiet. His breath wasn't.
"Again," he muttered.
Same dream. Different night.
His hand twitched toward the drawer. He knew what was inside. He always did.
He stopped.
"Not yet."
Whatever was in there could wait. Until he was ready. Or brave. Or broken enough.
He lay back down. Stared at the ceiling. Tried to pretend the hum of the city outside was enough to drown the echoes still clinging to his chest.
{Morning — Kairo Wakes Up Screaming}
Kairo didn't wake up. It kicked the door open and screamed into the sky.
Flyers shot through the air in laser-straight lanes. Drones buzzed like flies. Holo-ads blinked on and vomited slogans no one really listened to but couldn't escape.
"30% off your first mana booster!"
"Become a Hunter—Change Your Fate!"
"Ryu Han-Seok: The Sword That Saved the World."
That last one was everywhere. A hundred-meter projection, front and center. His face—clean, sharp, perfect. The kind of face that made you want to believe in things again.
People still worshipped him.
Down on the street, Jin-Seok didn't look up.
He didn't need to. He knew that face too well.
Bag slung over one shoulder. Hands in pockets. Eyes forward.
People moved out of his way without realizing it. Some animal instinct telling them he wasn't the kind of person you brushed shoulders with.
They didn't know why.
They just felt it.
{Central Academy — Last Day}
The school looked more like a crystal fortress than a place kids studied. Central Academy was for the best of the best. Or the richest of the rich. Usually both.
Today was graduation.
A thousand students filled the courtyard, laughing, yelling, posing for drones. Sponsors buzzed around like bees, checking stats, marking down names.
Some students looked like walking advertisements. Full-body armor, weapons, spell tattoos glowing under their sleeves. Tower-ready.
Jin-Seok stood apart. Literally. Figuratively.
He wore the standard uniform. No flair. No brands. No sponsor tag.
Just... him.
And the whispers came.
They always came.
"That's him, right? The scholarship kid?"
"Jin-Seok something. Top marks in everything."
"No sponsor though. Turned them all down."
"Bet he's scared. Or just stupid."
"He doesn't even have family. Why would anyone want to back him?"
Jin-Seok didn't react. Not on the outside.
Jin seok's jaw tightened. Just barely.
Jin seok gotten used to the talk. Three years of it.
Being the best without money made you a threat. Being the best without a sponsor made you dangerous. Being both?
Made you alone.
Still… he stayed quiet.
He didn't need a Tower backer to know who he was.
They think not having a sponsor is weakness.
Maybe it's the only freedom I've got left.
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An Original Series by Celestial Raven