"Dammit… Dammit!"
His breathing grew shallow. His hands shaking as he tried to push himself up, but his body refused to move. Rain drops pattered faintly against the floor corridor mixing with the pool of blood beneath him.
He coughed, hard red blood spilling from his lips."Is this… really how it ends?" he whispered, his voice breaking and low.
His vision blurred.
Blackout..
Starting to hear sounds of birds tweeting,he woke up.....no blood, no rain, no pain. Just the slow and easy sound of his old ceiling fan and the soft glow of morning light rays entering through the window.
He blinked, confused. Was that… a dream?
His hands reached his chest thankfully,No wound
MEEP MEEP MEEP!!.
The alarm clock beside him beeped . 06:00 AM.
He groaned, dragging himself out of bed.
Laughed nervously. "Man… that felt too real."He rubbed his face and stood of bed. "I seriously need to stop staying up late."
He caught his reflection in the mirror near his bed,tired eyes, messy hair and the same dull stare he worn for years.
He leaned forward, sighing.
"Still the same loser face," he said like it would satisfy him.
The floor creaked as he walked into the tiny bathroom. He turned on the faucet, splashing cold water on his face before brushing his teeth.
Another day, huh.
After a quick shower, he swore into his darkblue uniform shirt and black work pants—the standard outfit for his organisations's lower-grade workers.
The clouds above Tokyo hung low, reflecting dull red back at the city, but a breeze was now blowing, he felt it on his skin and in his hair, a sense of brine and slight chill.
Kaito held his work bag tight and stared at the faded badge on his chest:
"Municipal Cleaning Division – Zone 5."
That was his job cleaning duty. Not appealing,not heroic. Just scraping dirt off the walls of a city that never ended.
At 23, this wasn't how he imagined life would go.
He lived alone with his sister Mira since their mother has been transfered to Korea.
Most people his age were already working stable jobs, some even climbing ranks in defense corps.
Kaito? He was still sweeping the underground train stations and mopping rain-soaked corridors.
He grabbed his keys and headed out, locking the door behind him.
The hallway outside his apartment was quiet. Rent was cheap here for a reason.As he went down the metal stairs, he muttered, "Still no neighbors awake, huh…"
Tokyo had changed over the years after the appearences of magical powers. Towering holograms showing ads things Kaito couldn't even dream of affording.
He walked to the vending machine by the corner, bought a can of cheap soda can, and stared up at the morning sky.
"Twenty-three and still mopping floors,"
He cracked open the can and took a sip. It was lukewarm, bitter, and tasted like metal but it did its job.
The city was already awake. Billboards flickered with the morning news, flashing headlines.
Kaito didn't bother looking. He'd seen them all before.
In this world, power meant everything.
Your job, your salary depended on your Grade.
Most people like 98 percent of the population of the human race posses this uncanny abilities. Grades went from Zero all the way up to 6.
Grades only determined the amount of energy they posses.
Kaito didn't have a core trait at all.
He was what people called a Zero-Grader. Those who lacked core energy.
The train station was packed by the time he arrived. Hundreds of people went out passing doing what they mainly do, their badges were made different in colors blue, silver, gold representing their ranks. The world had turned into one big hierarchy chart after the appearances of corrupted core spirits, and he was stuck at the very bottom.
He scanned his ID at the side gate and stepped into the maintenance corridor.
"Yo, Kaito!"
He turned. Haruka was jogging over, waving a cleaning rag like a flag. Her brown hair was tied in a messy bun, her smile way too cheerful for six in the morning,she is always like this cheerful and confident,they have been friends ever since middle school.She is too kind and the only reason why she's a cleaner is too stay close too Kaito making sure his ok.
"You look dead," she said, looking straight at his eyes. "Rough night again?"
"Same nightmare," he said, scrubbing at a stain that wasn't even there.
"The one with the rain?"
"…How'd you know that?"
"You mumble in your sleep during breaks." She teased. "You scare the hell out of everyone, by the way."
"Great,just what I need ...a fan club."
She laughed.
"You ever think about redoing your Grade test?"
Kaito looked away.
"I told you,the machine never detects anything. It's a waste of money."
"Yeah, but-"she started twisting the rag in her hands. "People are saying the scanners have been bugging out lately. Showing weird readings. Negative values and stuff."
"Negative?" ."Figures. That'd probably suit me."
"Not really".
Choo Choo!!
A train passed by.
"What's taking you so long" Haruka's voice echoed from the other side
"Jeez am coming"he responded.
[18:43p.m]
He arrived back at his house Mira was already there.
"Welcome back brother"her smile was welcoming as everyday "Guess what,i made ramen your favorite."
"Cool..i was dying to eat something"as he put his coat across the sofa.
"By the way,"
"hmm??"
"Have you thought of asking Haruka out,i am tried of making meals for you"
Cough!!
His hand reached a glass of water pretending his chock.
"Where did that come from"
"Come on you have been friends ever since middle school,and you know she is working this crappy job just to be close to you"
"To make sure am safe "
"Sometimes i dont get why mom left me with an idiot like you"
"Who knows"said as he takes a bite from food.
Silence
"umm.....?"
"What?"
"Do you remember the book our father used to read us?"
"Yea,about some loser zero grader who awakened a system that-"
THUD!!
"Great a power outage"
"B-b-brother"
"Yea,yea i know just stay behind me i will go and check out th-"
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
Kaito and Mira stood there for a second wondering who was knocking the door.
"Dont even think about it"
"Yea,Yea i know"
BOOM!!
The ceiling cracked open,something entered from above,it's body seemed misty like it could penetrate thought the walls instead of breaking ceilings.
"it can't be"his eyes where wide open staring at the creature infront of him.
A corrupted core spirit-a corrupted soul made from dead human who later on failed to rest in piece,regret hatred and stress make them suffer from everlasting corruption.
And what seemed to shock was why is it here,corrupted core spirits are attracted to people with high core energy.But him he had nothing and his sister Mira was a 5 grader.
Kaito didn't think.
"Stay back, Mira!" he shouted, and before she could protest and lunged forward.
The corrupted core spirit was faster than he expected. Its misty form darted through the cracked ceiling. Kaito swung his arms wildly, trying to hit it but he was too slow,too weak.
The creature's hand shot forward like a spear. Pain exploded in Kaito's chest as something sharp pierced him. He stumbled, falling to the floor with a, blood seeping through his uniform.
"Ahhh! Mira…"
He gasped, pressing a hand against the wound,blood flooded his mouth.Mira screamed, dropping to her knees beside him.
"K-Kaito! Hold on! You're… you're bleeding!"
"I… I'm fine… just—just go!"
Kaito's vision blurred, his knees trembling under the weight of his own fear and blood loss.
And then something impossible appeared before his eyes:
Text, floating in his vision, it was penetratable he could see through it:
[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION…]
[Vital functions terminated.]
[Eligibility detected.]
[Congratulations, you have met the necessary requirements to become a Player.]
[A chance to live has been granted.]
[Do you accept or reject?]
Kaito's hand fell from his wound.This words… what were they? He didn't understand.
He blinked once, twice.
The corrupted spirit come slowly towards him and Mira but the message lingered in his vision.
Do you accept… or reject?