He went to answer the door.
It was Aya — holding that same pot of food she'd been bringing him every day since his grandma died.
Solen scowled.
Why today, of all days? Just two hours before he was supposed to enter that stupid other world.
She always came uninvited, like clockwork. Like pity wrapped in a warm bowl. And he hated it.
He wanted to thank her. At least, that's what he told himself.
But the truth?
He was just annoyed. She meant well. That only made it worse.
"So, Solen. The Soul World, huh? Not surprised."
Aya smirked, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
"You know, people say the ones chosen by fate — or whatever system picks them — always turn out stupidly beautiful."
She shrugged. "If you're ugly, your chances of entering the Soul World are basically zero."
Solen felt insulted. She knew he hated being called beautiful.
But he kept his mouth shut.
"Yeah," he muttered, staring off into the distance.
Now, you might think Solen didn't talk much because he wanted to seem mysterious. Or maybe you'd assume he didn't like her.
But that wasn't it.
He liked Aya just fine — about as much as he liked anyone.
He was just... socially awkward. Years of barely speaking to anyone but his grandmother had left him pretty broken in that department.
For Solen, it always felt like walking into a costume party — only to realize you were the only one who got the theme wrong.
And that was that. Solen was a loner. An absolute loner.
Aside from the food Aya dropped off each day, he had no real interactions with anyone.
No friends. No conversations. Nothing.
He shut the door and sat down at the dining table.
He was going to savor this meal — after all, this could very well be his last day alive.
With that grim thought in mind, he dug in.
One bite. Then another.
He glanced at the gear he had packed by the door — his final preparation — and took one last, reluctant look around the house.
Then he blinked.
He found himself somewhere… different.
Inside his soul.
A strange emptiness stretched around him, pulsing faintly like a heartbeat. He could feel it — this was the moment he was supposed to gain his powers and be sent into the Soul World.
A glowing system prompt appeared before him:
[Soul Fragment: Solen, you will now receive your full powers and the ability to manifest them.]
[Abilities Unlocked:]
• Lover of the Sea — Grants the Soul Fragment increased speed, strength, and awareness in water. Can hold breath 2x longer than the average limit.
Solen stared.
"YES!" he yelled. "Finally, something good!"
He barely had time to celebrate.
[Ancient and Dead Fate detected.]
"…What the actual fuck," Solen muttered.
"Damn you, Soul! What the hell does that even mean?! Am I just doomed to die now?"
His voice echoed into the void, unanswered.
"Well, screw that," he spat. "I'm not dying. I'm going to become a Soul Walker. I'm going to thrive, damn it!"
And then… pain.
A blinding spike of it — like his soul was trying to force him to obey. To sit. To submit.
And Solen, proud, rebellious Solen?
Sat down.
Just like an obedient dog.
He didn't even know why. His body moved on its own, like his will had been overridden.
[Abilities Granted:]
• Lover of the Sea – Grants the user increased strength and speed underwater, and doubles breath capacity.
• Water Magician – Allows the user to generate and manipulate water. Can imbue up to three objects with enhanced strength or durability (x2). Imbuement type determines further effects.can be improved
• Ancient and Dead Fate – Grants access to a fragment of the user's past soul power. Currently limited. Can be improved.
Solen's jaw clenched. "Actually... not bad," he muttered.
But his happiness was doomed from the start.
The world flickered.
And where did he find himself, you ask?
Yep. That's right.
The middle of the fucking ocean.
"Curses!" Solen shouted, already drenched.
Thankfully, fate didn't want him dead. Yet.
It was morning — pale sunlight glinted off the endless waves. At least he could see.
Was he drowning? Oh, definitely.
"But didn't he get Lover of the Sea?" you may ask.
And you'd be correct — he did.
The only problem?
It doubled your breath capacity. Which sounds great...
Unless, like Solen, you had an abysmally low amount to begin with.
So now, instead of drowning in thirty seconds... he had a whole minute to panic.
He sputtered, legs kicking uselessly in the cold water.
His thoughts drifted, unhelpfully, to the time he got attacked by an eagle and stumbled back to his grandma's house.
Back then, he remembered thinking:
"At least the Soul World was warmer than this damn house."
Now?
Now he didn't curse the ocean.
He cursed every damn decision that led him here.
However his miserably falling at life was cut short by a voice the type that you'd hear and don't want to know what it is he saw a giant whale with wings he had 2 mouths one on the bottom in it's middle sucking everything and the second on its face it had so so many scars that you'd swear it's been through millions of battle's
Solen immediately whipped his head around, searching for anything—anyone.
Then he saw it.
An island. Far. Too far.
Or… it used to be.
Now? He had abilities.
And absolutely nothing to lose.
He took off across the sea—running—his feet slapping the surface like it was solid, faster than a boat rowed by fifty men. Water exploded behind him.
As he ran, one thought echoed in his mind:
Is the Lover of the Sea really that strong… or did Grandma just train me to punch hard enough to bully the ocean itself?
Either way, his body moved like it knew exactly how to swim, run, and stay afloat—like someone had stuffed perfect technique into his muscles when he wasn't looking.
As he reached the island's shore, Solen jumped like a madman — like someone who'd just found the Fruit of Life after years of starving.
But can you blame him?
He bolted forward the second his feet touched sand, stumbling, gasping, Arms flailing like a broken marionette still trying to run.
No time to rest.
No time to think.
He needed distance.
Distance from that thing.
Behind him, the sky still trembled.
He didn't dare look back.
"Please be big," he muttered under his breath, legs pounding. "Please be big enough that it doesn't just eat the whole damn thing."
The ground beneath him felt real. Stable.
But how long would that last?
This wasn't safety.
This was a maybe.
Finally, he mustered the courage to look back.
And what he saw struck him like a lightning bolt hurled straight from ancient Greece.
The beast — that winged, double-mouthed abomination — was torn in half.
Split clean down the middle. Its insides spilled across the sea like ink in water. One half sank slowly beneath the waves. The other floated, still twitching, like it hadn't realized it was dead yet.
Solen froze. His breath caught. Not from fear this time — but awe.
"…What the hell did that?"