In a world divided into dozens of clans, in a remote mountain village belonging to one of the poorest and weakest clans, a beautiful child was born with unique, ash-gray eyes to a poor, ostracized family consisting of the father, the mother, and this child.
The mother named this newborn "Hairo," after his gray eyes that resembled lenticular clouds.
The mother worked as a servant in the home of one of their clan's leaders, but a year before Hairo's birth she was dismissed from her job and shunned because her husband, Ching Jing, had embarrassed the highest clan leader in front of the elders. The clan head accused him of using dark magic that harmed people.
The wife was given an ultimatum: separate from Jing and live a normal, beautiful life. But she refused, for her love for him was too great.
In that period, this false rumor spread like wildfire, and all the villagers came to despise and avoid Ching Jing and his wife, Yumi.
They were banned from working in the village markets or in the households of the wealthy, and their life became very difficult. At night, the husband would sneak into the forest to gather food to stave off their hunger during the day.
But… ten months later, once Hairo had learned to walk and was beginning to speak, the greatest tragedy struck: his mother contracted a skin disease that made her look like a mummified corpse.
It was not a natural disease nor a fatal illness, but rather a curse placed upon her by the clan leader, who had enlisted one of the most powerful witches from the allied Zuo Ying clan.
The father knew nothing of this curse; he believed she had fallen ill from a wasting disease. He traveled to distant places in search of a cure, but no one knew of this ailment, and although he sought help from his own clansmen, they all shunned him.
After two months, when Hairo turned one year old, his mother died after a two-month struggle with the curse.
The husband's heart shattered; he felt as though the world had taken everything from him. He was so grief-stricken that he refused to eat for days until his body became a moving skeleton, his face drawn and pale as if life itself had been drained from him. The only thing keeping him alive was his young son, whom he regarded as his last hope and the sole remembrance of his faithful wife.
Hairo was deeply sad and asked his father every day about his mother and where she had gone. His father would always reply with a forced smile that she had gone to a better place now.
Children grow up amid doting eyes that caress them wherever they go, but all Hairo ever heard was:
"He is the devil's child."
"He will bring us the curse."
"No one approach that house."
He had no friends, nor even a single kind look cast his way. Yet despite everything… he hated no one.
Not yet.
Seven years later, in the home of the clan leader, fires broke out without cause or explanation. The leader knew the witch to whom he had failed to keep a promise was behind it—he had promised her one of the clan's sacred Ro orbs.
The leader did not know what to tell the villagers, but as always, Hairo's father was wrongfully accused. They dragged him to the village square in disgrace, in front of everyone, and forced Hairo to watch his father's execution.
He screamed, he cried, he was torn apart… but no one cared. And that night, something inside him died. And something else… was born.
Afterward, he was expelled from the village and left out in the wilderness.
Hairo, an orphaned child, slept in the mud and ate scraps. He took kicks from other children and fled from dogs.
Whenever he begged for mercy, he heard laughter. Whenever he begged for warmth, stones were thrown at him.
Until one day… a strange boy named Masaki appeared before him. He fed him, laughed with him, and smiled at him as if life were still possible. He gave him a new name: "The Gray Shadow."
Hairo thought that fate had finally given him a path to salvation. But after only three days… Masaki was found murdered by one of the followers of a wealthy villager.
They began chasing Hairo to kill him as well, but he managed to escape. He fled to another village, where he was taken in by the church.
They gave him another new name. They told him:
"Forgive.
Pray.
Love people."
He did everything they asked. He tried to be good. He began working and saved a large sum of money. It seemed as though his life was finally improving. But the truth was otherwise.
Rumors about his past surfaced, and within days, he was expelled from the church as a rat is driven from a feast. His money was stolen. His name was stolen. With it went all his efforts at survival.
At the age of thirteen, he met a girl named Yui. He saved her from bandits and was stabbed many times for her sake. They lived together for a full year in her home. He laughed, he smiled, he felt safe.
But when she learned of his past, she betrayed him. She sold information about him to a gang in exchange for money, after her village had put a reward of two million yen on his head. Yet he survived… by a miracle.
With a broken body and a weary soul, something inside him died that moment. A part of his spirit that would never return.
Seven more years passed. At the age of twenty-one, he returned to his original village, in disguise. He found it unchanged. The same faces, the same cruelty. He saw children hanging birds by ropes and torturing them… just as they had done to him.
In a moment of silence… fires broke out across the village. But this time, he was not the accused; he was the one who set them alight.
He watched the flames consume everything with cold, merciless eyes. Then he began slaughtering all who survived… one by one. He killed every villager. Three thousand souls.
On that day, he buried his old name: Hairo. He called himself The Gray Shadow… in eternal memory of his only friend, Masaki.
And since then, he has never been the same.
A creed formed in his heart, beyond debate:
– He trusts no one.
– He believes in no goodness in humanity.
– He sees humans as beasts adorned with words.
– The world does not need someone to fix it… but someone to end it.
"I will never be your victim…
I will be the end of all who are like you."