A cold hush clung to the evening air, the kind that made the streetlights flicker like they sensed something wrong. Kayden stood outside the gate of his house, staring at the dark windows, his breath unsteady. The whole day had felt strange—like eyes were following him everywhere, like the world was watching from behind corners he couldn't see. Every sound seemed too sharp, every step too loud. The sigil on his arm throbbed in slow pulses, faint but steady, like a warning heartbeat.
He pulled his sleeve down with a rough tug.
Not now… please, not now.
He didn't want mysteries. He didn't want powers. He didn't want questions he couldn't answer. His parents needed him, his life was already flipped upside down, and the last thing he wanted was another thing on the list.
But the world didn't care what he wanted.
By the time he went inside, his phone buzzed for the fiftieth time. He threw it on the couch, but it buzzed again. And again. A groan slipped out of him as he grabbed it and unlocked the screen.
Dozens of messages.
Group chats exploding.
Notifications flooding in like a broken dam.
And at the center of it all…
A video.
He hesitated, thumb hovering over it. But eventually he tapped play.
The classroom.
Ragna stepping toward him.
The insult.
The shove.
And then—
Kayden punching him.
Not just a punch.
Not something a normal human could ever produce.
Ragna flew across the room like a ragdoll, crashing into desks before his body skidded across the floor. The students screaming. Heads turning. Kayden standing there frozen, fist still raised, as if he couldn't believe what he'd done.
He swallowed hard.
Someone had filmed everything.
The video had already been reposted across the entire school. Some comments filled the screen:
"Bro what kind of strength is that??"
"Is this edited?"
"There's no way."
"Dude is a monster."
"I'm never messing with him."
Kayden set the phone down, chest tightening.
This was exactly what he didn't want—attention. Fear. Whispers. People pointing fingers.
He pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes and took a long breath. He wished he could go back to yesterday—before the Vex Crew, before the attack at home, before the sigil pulsed with that strange energy.
The doorbell rang.
Kayden opened the door.
Liora stood outside, her hair slightly messy, her breathing uneven like she had rushed here. She looked at him the way someone looks at a friend who's drowning but pretending to swim.
"Kayden… why didn't you pick my calls?" she asked softly.
He turned away. "I didn't feel like talking."
"I heard what happened. About your parents. Eren told me. I came when I could but you weren't outside—"
"You knew," he cut in, voice low, "but you didn't come."
"I said I tried—"
"I don't want excuses, Liora."
Silence fell between them like a thick curtain. The wind brushed past, and for a moment she just stared at him—worried, hurt, unsure.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't ignore you. I had something important I needed to handle. But you… you look different, Kayden. What's going on with you?"
He stepped back. "Nothing. I'm fine."
"You're not."
"I said I'm fine."
He didn't mean to sound cold, but the words came out sharp anyway. He didn't want her involved. He didn't want her dragged into the danger that seemed to be crawling into his life from every angle.
Liora reached out as if to touch his arm, but he turned away before she could.
"Did I do something wrong?" she asked, voice almost trembling. "If I did… I'm sorry."
He didn't answer. He simply walked inside and shut the door gently, not slamming it but closing it firmly enough to tell her that the conversation was over.
She remained outside for a long moment, staring at the closed door.
Then she walked away, head lowered, her shadow stretching across the dim street as she disappeared into the night.
Kayden leaned against the door from the inside, exhaling slowly.
He didn't want to push her away. He didn't want to hurt her.
But his life was no longer normal.
And whatever was happening inside him was growing… louder.
The sigil on his arm pulsed again.
He closed his eyes. Please stop…
But it didn't.
Miles away, in a hidden underground chamber humming with machinery, The Architect watched everything from a floating holographic screen. The room was dim, lit only by the blue glow of hovering monitors showing surveillance clips from streets, schools, and even rooftops.
One clip enlarged automatically.
Kayden.
Throwing that punch.
The energy behind it—a faint ripple invisible to most human eyes.
The masked figure tilted his head.
"Fascinating," he murmured. His voice was deep, calm, too controlled.
Another screen zoomed in on Kayden's arm, catching a brief glimpse of the sigil glowing beneath his skin when his sleeve shifted.
"Subject displays accelerated awakening…"
A robotic voice chimed overhead:
"Awaiting further instruction. Shall the System be engaged?"
"No," The Architect replied slowly. "Not yet. The boy is unstable. Let him struggle. Let him question. Let him fear himself."
He clasped his hands behind his back.
"When the time comes…"
He leaned closer to the screen.
"…we will activate the System. And then, the real test will begin."
The lights reflected off his mask, hiding whatever expression lay beneath.
"Humanity's final hope," he whispered, "must be shaped carefully."
Back in town, the Vex Crew gathered at their hideout. The atmosphere was thick with anger and humiliation. Ragna sat with his jaw wrapped, his eyes burning with fury.
Jex approached cautiously.
"Boss… we need to be careful. That dude isn't normal."
Ragna slammed a fist on the table.
"I don't care! He made me look stupid in front of everyone!"
Jex lowered his head. "So… what do we do?"
Ragna's voice dropped to a cold growl.
"We make him pay. I don't care how strong he is. I don't care what he did to me. Bring him to me. I want him on his knees."
The room went silent. Nobody dared question him.
Ragna wanted revenge.
And he wasn't going to stop.
Meanwhile, Kayden sat on his bed, staring at nothing. His room felt too quiet. Too still. The air heavy like it knew something he didn't. He held his head in his hands.
His parents were safe now, but shaken.
The school hated him, or feared him.
Liora was upset.
And something unknown was awakening inside his body.
He rubbed the sigil gently.
Just a birthmark. That's what he had always believed. That's what his parents told him.
But birthmarks didn't glow.
Birthmarks didn't react.
Birthmarks didn't feel alive.
He exhaled shakily and closed his eyes.
"Please… just let tomorrow be normal…"
But tomorrow was not listening.
A faint pulse ran through his arm.
Then—
A voice whispered inside his mind.
Clear. Metallic. Calm.
SYSTEM USER DETECTED.
LINK INITIALIZING.
Kayden's eyes snapped open, heart thundering.
"What—what was that?!" he gasped.
The room stayed still. Completely silent.
But the voice spoke again, louder this time:
YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED.
Kayden stumbled backward, knocking into his desk.
"For what?! Who are you?!"
Silence.
Then a final chilling message:
FOR THE BEGINNING.
And far underground, The Architect smiled behind his mask.
The game had finally started.