Year: 1998
Children played cricket in the dusty streets. Mothers prepared meals. College students rode bikes through narrow lanes, books slung over their shoulders.
It was just another ordinary day.
Until the sky cracked open.
A pulse of bright blue light exploded from above, blinding and deafening the entire planet. In an instant, the world vanished.
And humanity... was gone.
---
Year: 2036
It had been 38 years since the "Blue Event."
Everyone — every man, woman, and child — had been transported to another dimension, a world governed by a ruthless digital force known only as The System.
No one knew who created it. No one understood why.
But everyone knew the rules.
Every 7 days, each person was forced to participate in a "game" at a place called Catagraphy.
Win a game, gain 1 point.
Lose a game, and you lose 3 points.
Lose all 10 points? You die.
Refuse to play? You die.
That's why older people and the weak rarely participated — losing even once could mean death in a few days.
Most people didn't play. Most people didn't survive.
Among the crumbling buildings of the new world, a teenage boy sprinted down an alleyway, heart pounding like a war drum. His name was Kai, 17 years old — an orphan with only 2 points left.
Behind him, older boys laughed as they chased.
"Give us your points, Kai!" one of them snarled. "You'll die soon anyway," said another.
Kai's legs burned, but he refused to stop. He leapt over a collapsed wall, rolled down a slope, and scaled an old market stall. He was fast — faster than most. Years of running had made sure of that.
But even he couldn't run forever.
Cornered on a rooftop, he spun around, breathing heavily. The gang was closing in.
Then —
BOOM!
A flash of blue magic lit up the night. One of the bullies collapsed, groaning in pain.
From across the rooftop stood a girl, about Kai's age. She held her hand forward, sparks of blue dancing on her fingertips.
"Tch," she said, brushing hair from her eyes. "Cowards."
Their eyes met — just for a moment. Calm and fierce. Gentle and dangerous.
Kai didn't wait. He ran.
---
His home was no home at all — just an abandoned steel container on the edge of the ruins. Inside, it was cold, dark, and silent.
He had no food. No family. Only two slices of dry bread and a bottle of water.
As he bit into the bread, his stomach growled painfully. He hadn't eaten properly in five days.
That night, he dreamt.
He saw blood.
His mother, her body torn apart, limbs scattered in the dirt, lying in a pool of blood. Her eyes were still open — searching for him even in death. Her final words echoed in his ears.
"Run, Kai. Please… live."
His father — barely standing — coughed up thick blood, holding a collapsing barrier spell over Kai's body.
"I bought you one more minute… use it well," he gasped, before collapsing with crimson pouring from his lips.
Kai jolted awake, soaked in cold sweat, breath shallow, hands shaking.
"They died for me..."
His fists clenched so hard his nails dug into his palms.
"I'm done running."
He looked at the system's glowing message on the wall of his container: Level Progress: 0/88 Points: 2/10
"I'm going to clear all 88 levels," he whispered. "I'll break your cursed system... and kill the one who made it."
---
The next day, he began training.
He had no one to teach him magic. In a world where magic was everything, Kai had grown up with nothing but his body.
So he used it. He trained until his hands bled and his muscles screamed.
He scavenged old magic scrolls from abandoned camps, trying to understand the system's spells. Most of it made no sense… until something clicked.
He focused. Felt the weight of the world shift.
A rock lifted from the ground — hovered — then crashed. Gravity Magic.
A shadow stretched unnaturally across the ground — his own. Shadow Magic.
He had affinities. He just never knew it.
And now, he had nothing to lose.
No food. No family. No one left to protect him. Just a fire in his heart — and a promise.
"I will survive. I will break the system. And I will make them pay."
His thoughts drifted to the girl — the one who saved him.
He didn't know her name. Didn't know where she came from.
But her eyes had stayed with him. Her strength. Her calm.
And something deep inside him told him — they would meet again.
Maybe next time, he wouldn't be the one being saved