"THIS... This is the story of A WORLD... MAYBE A UNIVERSE, filled with MISERY, CHAOS, and ENDLESS SUFFERING. There is only one hero, born in a small village near the site of a great explosion — the only one who might be able to change everything. The question is whether he'll succeed or not...
They all called the explosion 'The Great Impact'. It seems even they don't understand what they've gotten themselves into…
What will be the end of it all — and who will bring it?"
Narrates a voice in the midst of a heavy fog.
A distorted voice echoes through the void, "ɐɥɐɥɐɥɐɥɐɥɐH ˙˙˙˙pooƃ spunos ʇI ˙˙˙sı̣ɥʇ ǝʞı̣ן I" followed by bursts of laughter…
---
Day 3670 after The Great Impact.
"Out of the waaaaay!" shouted a small girl with black and green hair as she ran toward a tent.
"Zo... Zo, wake up, Zo!"
"Ow! What is it, Huna? What's the rush? I was having a great dream," complained Zo.
Huna was shocked that Zo didn't remember his own birthday and began to scold him, while the people outside the tent just watched and laughed.
"Anyway, I still have to be eighteen and one week old, remember?" He said sarcastically.
"Well, we're one week away from being free!" said Huna, celebrating.
Zo replied, "Says the one who forgets to brush her teeth…" which made her angry — but she agreed anyway.
They both laughed as Zo finished getting ready to pick up his license at the village gates. Without a license, anyone caught wandering in the forest would be captured and detained — for their own safety.
Meanwhile, on their way to the gate, they ran into Nashw, who was talking to the plants nearby.
"Still not tired of not getting an answer, Nashw?" Zo asked sarcastically.
"They're offended by that comment…" replied Nashw.
Huna laughed at their conversation and said, "I love your imagination, little brother — it makes me not feel like the youngest one here."
Ignoring their jokes, Nashw asked Zo about the exploration license.
"We're going there right now," Zo confirmed.
"Then let's go. I want to get out of here already. Enough of training for nothing — I just wish things could go back to the way they used to be…" said Nashw, sounding weary.
The three heroes set off toward the gate to get Zo's license. The boredom of being stuck in the village was immense — but the desire to live freely again was even stronger, even if it meant danger.
"You don't even need to say anything. Huna made sure to announce to the whole village all week that today's your eighteenth birthday," said one of the guards.
Huna blushed and hid behind Zo.
"Anyway, I need to remind you that you can only leave in one week. That's enough time to really think this through and give up on the idea. Just because this village hasn't been attacked doesn't mean there aren't aberrations around. Our area just happens to be unusually calm…"
The guard then sarcastically lifted his pant leg — part of it had been brutally torn off by an aberration.
"Don't think that just because you've trained for ten years and two of you are 'Marked' that you'll be safe out there. Seeing them up close is a whole different story."
After The Great Impact, all life in the world went dark. When some people — mostly children — woke up around the world, they had marks: some on their faces, others behind their ears or on their necks. But one thing was common among them all — each one gained unique powers they could control as they wished. Nashw was one of the few Marked who couldn't use any powers at all.
At that moment, something that looked like a ghost appeared beside the guard and said, "Yeeees, I know, I always warn him, but he never listens…"
The ghost seemed to be mocking him and talking only to Nashw, since no one else could see or hear it.
"I ALREADY TOLD YOU I DON'T CARE — ABERRATIONS, COLD, FOG, WHATEVER IT IS, I WANT TO LIVE LIKE I USED TOOOO!!!" shouted Nashw at the ghost.
The guard flinched, completely confused, but Zo quickly explained, "Don't bother, he's not talking to us."
"Our brother has his own world inside his head," said Huna, laughing.
The guard, unsettled — having never met Nashw up close — quickly handed them the license and sent them back to their tent. However…
Nashw was suddenly teleported to a white room filled with fog. As he tried to understand what was happening, he heard someone desperately calling for help.
"NAAAASHW!!! NASHW, MY LEGS! I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS!!!"
Nashw looked around, searching for whoever was calling, but all he could see was fog. Nothing else seemed to exist there.
Suddenly, another voice echoed — sometimes near, sometimes far — distorted and broken.
"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE! I CAN'T BELIEVE WE CAME ALL THIS WAY JUST TO DIE LIKE THIS! HE'S GOING TO END IT ALL, NASHW!!!"
Out of nowhere, Nashw was back where he had been. Zo and Huna looked perfectly normal. Nashw, confused and shaken, tried to make sense of what just happened but couldn't. Zo noticed his expression and asked, "So, Nashw — we haven't even left the village yet, why the scared face?"
"Uh?"
Nashw looked completely disoriented, so Zo asked if he was okay.
Seeing that they were acting normally — meaning they hadn't seen or heard anything — Nashw decided to stay quiet.
"Ah, I'm just a little anxious, that's all, hehe…" he said, smiling nervously.
"I can't hold myself either! Let's get to the tent and sleep — that way, the time passes faster!" said Huna excitedly.
The three of them laughed and headed back to their tent, while Nashw kept wondering what he had just seen — and why he was the only one who had seen and heard those cries for help…