The first monster appeared when Kael's heart stopped.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
One moment he was lying on the cracked pavement behind a convenience store in District 19… and the next—
Silence.
No heartbeat.
No breath.
Then—
THUMP.
A pulse exploded from his chest like a shockwave.
Windows shattered across the street.
Streetlights flickered.
And something in the darkness screamed.
Kael gasped back to life.
"What… was that?"
Something moved at the end of the alley.
Tall.
Too tall.
Its limbs dragged across the asphalt like broken branches.
A face slowly emerged from the shadows—except it didn't have one.
Just a hollow hole where the head should be.
The creature sniffed the air.
Then it turned directly toward Kael.
And smiled.
Kael didn't remember his childhood.
He didn't remember his parents.
But in that moment—
He somehow knew exactly what that thing was.
A Curse.
And it had come for him.
The creature lunged.
Kael panicked and threw up his arm.
Another pulse erupted from his chest.
THUMP.
A black shockwave burst outward.
The Curse froze mid-air.
Then—
It exploded into ash.
The alley fell silent.
Kael stared at his trembling hands.
"What… did I just do?"
Behind him, someone clapped slowly in the darkness.
"Well," a calm voice said, "that confirms it."
A man stepped out wearing a long black coat marked with a silver insignia.
"The heartbeat of extinction."
The man smiled slightly.
"We finally found you… Kael."
And then he said the one sentence that made Kael's blood run cold.
"You died ten years ago."