Year 3000.
The world had already ended, yet the echoes of destruction refused to fade. A sudden explosion shattered the hollow silence of the ruined city once called New Metro, its broken buildings leaning toward collapse like tired giants.
"I'm gonna kill you!" a man shouted—somewhere in his thirties, with spiked rainbow-colored hair and silver-decorated teeth that flashed whenever he screamed. People called him Blade Boy, a name he proudly gave himself.
Alex—short for Alexander—barely dodged the flying steel shards that Blade Boy launched with every swing of his hands. He dove behind an overturned car, breathing hard. A fresh cut burned across his left cheek, and warm blood dripped down his jaw.
"Shit," he muttered, pressing a hand against the wound. He peeked from behind the car, searching for an escape route. New Metro was huge; there had to be a way out. At the back of his mind, he even wished the Soul Crawler would show up… even if that was a hopeless thought.
"Come out, come out, rat!" Blade Boy shouted. "I'm the God here now!"
You're not gods, Alex thought bitterly. He hated that word. He hated how those who gained abilities acted like they had the right to rule over the powerless.
Blade Boy slammed his blades into the nearby cars, slicing them open like tin cans. Metal screeched, sparks flew. It was only a matter of time before he reached the one Alex was hiding behind.
Alex had to think fast.
Blade Boy let out another wild scream and swung toward the car. The blade hit metal—but Alex was no longer there. In the split second before impact, Alex had rolled away, sprinting behind piles of debris. His boots splashed through shallow puddles of dirty rainwater as he spotted something—an old sewer grate, half-broken and gaping open.
Without hesitating, he slipped inside.
The stench hit him instantly, but he didn't stop. The filthy water splashed against his legs as he ran deeper into the darkness of the sewer. The smell didn't matter. Surviving did.
It took Alex almost an hour before he reached his safe place—a hidden chamber deep inside the sewer system. The space was cramped, but it was home. Old mattresses lined the floor, shelves of canned food and other scavenged items filled the corners, and a tattered sofa sat pushed against the wall like a relic from the old world.
He sank onto the worn-out cushions and opened a battered first-aid kit. With slow, careful hands, he cleaned the cut on his cheek. The sting made him hiss, but the pain meant he was still alive. After wrapping the wound, he stretched out on his makeshift bed. Exhaustion pulled him under, and he drifted into a heavy sleep.
He dreamed again.
He was standing inside a crowded bus, holding onto the metal rail. The city outside looked normal—until the driver suddenly slammed on the brakes. Passengers fell to the floor, shouting in confusion.
Alex pressed his face to the window.
Chaos.
People screaming. Cars crashing. The sky burning.
He stepped out of the bus along with the others, his heart hammering as he looked up. Hundreds—no, maybe thousands—of blazing meteorites streaked across the sky. Some struck buildings. Others crashed into streets. The ground trembled beneath his feet.
He tried to run, searching for somewhere—anywhere—to hide. But a meteorite exploded close by, knocking him off his feet. Darkness swallowed him before he even hit the ground.
"Alex."
A voice pulled him back. He opened his eyes to see Jean, shaking him gently. Her brown hair was tied in a tight bun, and her blue eyes reflected concern as she placed newly gathered supplies onto a wooden crate.
"Jean…" he whispered.
"It seems you're having that nightmare again," she said softly.
"I…" He tried to explain, but Jean raised a hand to stop him.
"No need. We all have the same nightmares," she said quietly. The room was dim, lit only by a single candle that flickered against the damp walls.
Jean began sorting the cans into boxes. "Tomorrow, I'm joining Ashlyn and Mina. We're heading to the abandoned factory in the south—Umbrella Inc. They might still have medical supplies left. We'll be gone for a few days."
Alex sat up sharply. "You do know that walking to the south means crossing paths with Soul Walkers."
Soul Walkers—ghost-like creatures that floated between ruins, feeding on human souls. Even the bravest scavengers feared them.
"Yeah, I know," Jean replied, her tone steady. "But we found a blind spot in their territory. Ashlyn and Mina already checked it out."
Ashlyn and Mina—Jean's college friends. To Alex, they were like older sisters, the only family he had left.
"Can I come?" he asked.
Jean shook her head. "No. Someone needs to watch this place. Keep it safe for when we come back."
The night passed quietly.
By morning, Alex found himself wandering through one of the old buildings connected to the sewer—moving carefully, listening to every sound.
Alex kept moving through the abandoned building, stepping over broken glass and fallen beams. The early morning light filtered through cracks in the ceiling, casting long shadows across the dusty hallway. He had only taken a few quiet steps when a familiar echo cut through the silence.
A slow clap.
"Well, well… look who crawled out of his hole."
Alex froze.
Blade Boy stood at the far end of the hallway, leaning casually against the tilted doorway as if he had been waiting for hours. His spiked rainbow hair glinted in the dim light, and his silver-toothed grin stretched wide with amusement.
"Thought you could hide forever, rat?" Blade Boy taunted, tilting his head. "I told you—I'm the god of this city now."
"You're no god," Alex muttered under his breath, though his voice barely carried.
Blade Boy chuckled. "Oh? Then why are you shaking?"
He stepped forward. Metal scraped against metal as long, razor-sharp blades emerged from his palms. He twirled one lazily, pointing it at Alex like a teasing finger.
"Come on," he said, voice playful and cruel. "Let's continue our little game."
Alex didn't hesitate—he ran.
He sprinted down the ruined hallway, boots slipping on loose debris. The building tilted slightly to one side, a reminder of the meteor that had struck it years ago. As Alex reached the slanted section of the floor, he almost lost his footing, sliding dangerously close to a broken window that opened into a forty-foot drop.
Behind him, Blade Boy laughed like a child chasing a toy.
A sharp whistle sliced through the air.
Shing!
Pain exploded in Alex's right arm as one of Blade Boy's spinning blades struck him. The force sent him stumbling, blood splattering across the dusty tiles.
"Got you!" Blade Boy shouted gleefully.
Gritting his teeth, Alex grabbed his injured arm and forced himself to keep running. The hallway shook as Blade Boy charged after him, blades scraping against the walls, throwing sparks that lit up the dark corners of the building.
Alex reached the stairwell and stumbled downward, breath ragged, vision blurring from pain. Behind him, Blade Boy's mocking voice echoed through the floors:
"You can't run forever, Alex! I'll catch you sooner or later!"
But Alex didn't look back.
He ran because stopping meant death.
And he wasn't done fighting—not yet.
Alex burst out onto the top floor, lungs burning, arm throbbing. He shoved open a crooked metal door—and stopped dead.
There was nowhere else to run.
The entire side of the building had collapsed long ago, leaving only a jagged ledge that hung over the ruined city below. Cold wind rushed up from the depths, carrying the scent of ash and rust. One wrong step and he would fall straight into the rubble six stories down.
Footsteps echoed behind him.
Slow. Confident. Mocking.
Blade Boy stepped out of the doorway, spinning a blade between his fingers as if bored. His silver grin widened when he saw Alex standing at the edge.
"Awww… look at you," Blade Boy said in a singsong voice. "Cornered like a scared little rabbit."
Alex clenched his jaw, refusing to show fear even as his heart pounded.
Blade Boy tilted his head, eyes glinting with twisted amusement. "You know… you don't have to die, Alex."
Alex didn't answer—he didn't trust himself to speak.
Blade Boy walked closer, savoring every step. "You're a pretty boy. Soft skin, nice eyes…" His grin sharpened. "Maybe I'll let you stay alive. You can be my little slave. Do whatever I say. Fetch my food. Warm my bed. Worship your new god."
Alex's stomach twisted with disgust. He bit down hard on his teeth, tasting blood from the pressure.
Blade Boy chuckled. "Oh? Not interested? Shame. I thought you'd make a cute pet."
He raised a blade, pointing it at Alex's throat. "Well, I guess I'll just have to—"
Hoooooowwwwwl…
The sound sliced through the air.
Deep. Echoing. Not human.
Every muscle in Alex's body froze.
A sharp, chilling wail followed—like metal scraping against bones, layered with whispers of the dead.
Everyone in the city knew that sound.
The sound of a Soul Walker.
Blade Boy's grin vanished instantly. His eyes snapped toward the ruined hallway behind him, panic flickering across his face.
"Shit…" he whispered.
The air grew colder—so cold Alex could see his breath fog in front of him. The wind died completely, as if the world itself was holding still. Even the drifting dust froze midair, suspended in the unnatural silence.
Then it came.
A second wail—sharper, louder—ripped through the building, shaking the cracked walls and sending loose bricks tumbling from above. The sound crawled down Alex's spine like icy fingers.
Blade Boy spun around, blades raised, trying to locate the source. But Soul Walkers never gave warnings. They appeared when the air became too still… when the light bent just a little wrong… when the shadows seemed to move on their own.
A soft, rasping whisper drifted behind Blade Boy—a voice that belonged to nothing living.
Blade Boy's breath hitched. "No… no, no… not now—"
Something pale slid out from the darkness behind him. A long, skeletal arm—like stretched bone wrapped in thin, gray skin. It moved silently, gliding through the air as if underwater.
Alex's eyes widened in horror.
The arm wrapped around Blade Boy's shoulder.
Blade Boy screamed. Not the confident, mocking scream from earlier—but a high, raw cry of terror.
He swung wildly, blades slicing through empty air. But physical weapons couldn't touch a Soul Walker.
The creature leaned forward, its head brushing the side of his face. There was no mouth—only a hollow void where a face should be. A chilling wind rushed out of that emptiness, pulling at Blade Boy's skin as if trying to peel it away.
"Get—off—ME!" Blade Boy shrieked, stumbling backward.
The Soul Walker's grip tightened.
His skin started to gray.
His veins darkened, turning black as tar under the surface. His body trembled violently, his mouth opening in a silent scream as the creature began pulling the soul straight out of him—thin, pale threads of light tearing from his chest, like smoke being ripped away from fire.
Blade Boy dropped to his knees. His rainbow hair dulled. His eyes rolled back, turning white.
Alex could only watch—frozen, horrified—as the Soul Walker lifted Blade Boy into the air. His body convulsed once… twice… and then the creature's long fingers snapped his spine with a sickening crack.
His lifeless body hit the floor like an empty shell.
A moment later, it crumbled—skin collapsing inward, muscles dissolving, turning into gray dust that scattered across the broken tiles.
The Soul Walker turned its hollow face toward Alex.
He didn't move.
He didn't breathe.
He was next.
The Soul Walker drifted over Blade Boy's remains, its hollow face slowly lifting toward Alex. Its long limbs folded and unfolded like broken wings as it began to glide his way. The air tightened around him, cold enough to numb his fingers.
Alex didn't run.
He didn't even step back.
For the first time in years, something inside him loosened—a strange calm rising in his chest as the creature approached.
Maybe this is it.
Maybe he could finally die.
Humanity had stopped aging since the world ended. People no longer grew older, but they didn't heal either. If someone tried to kill themselves, their body survived—twisted, breathless, stuck somewhere between life and death. A walking corpse with a beating heart.
There were only two real ways to die: monsters… or a Soul Walker.
Alex stood still, trembling but quiet, as the creature came within inches. Its shadow covered him, swallowing the weak light. Frost spread over the floor beneath its feet, creeping toward his boots.
He closed his eyes.
Finally… it's over.
He exhaled, letting the cold wrap around him like a blanket. For the first time in so long, he felt warm—not in his skin, but in the tiny, tired part of him that had stopped believing in hope.
He waited for the Soul Walker to pull the life from his chest…
But instead—
A voice spoke.
Clear. Young. Almost amused.
"You are one strange human," the voice said.
Alex's eyes snapped open.
The Soul Walker's void-like face was still inches from him, but it was no longer reaching for his soul. Its long claws hovered in the air, frozen mid-movement, as if someone had seized control of it.
A girl stood behind the creature—no older than Alex, maybe even younger. Her hair drifted around her like smoke, her eyes glowing faintly in the dim light. One hand was gently pressed against the creature's back, controlling it with impossible ease.
She tilted her head at Alex, studying him with curious eyes.
"Most humans scream," she said softly. "But you… you just gave up."
The Soul Walker twitched, trembling like a beast held by an invisible leash.
Alex swallowed hard, unsure whether to speak, run, or collapse.
The girl stepped closer, her presence strangely warm compared to the freezing air around them.
"Tell me," she said.
"Why were you so ready to die?"
Alex's throat felt tight, but he forced the words out."I… long for it," he said quietly. "For death."
The Soul Walker's hollow face tilted, then—
It laughed.
Not loudly, but in a low, echoing rumble that vibrated through the broken rooftop. A horrible, ghostly sound that felt wrong in every possible way. The creature's body shook with amusement, like it found his despair entertaining.
Then, without warning, the Soul Walker cracked apart like smoke hit by lightning. Its entire form scattered into thin, drifting wisps—vanishing into the cold air.
Alex blinked.
In its place stood a woman.
She didn't walk out of the shadows. She didn't fall from the sky. She simply appeared, taking the Soul Walker's place like she had always been there.
She was beautiful—so beautiful he forgot how to breathe.Tall and slender, with a body shaped like a model. Her long blond hair fell over her shoulders in soft waves, glowing faintly. Her eyes were pure blue, almost too bright for the dim rooftop.
For a moment, Alex truly believed she might be an angel.
She stepped forward, studying him with a soft smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"You don't smell like greed," she said calmly. "There's a hint of another sin… but not a strong one. You're a perfect candidate."
"Candidate?" Alex whispered.
She ignored the question, circling him slowly like someone inspecting a new pet. "I wonder," she murmured. "Why weren't you chosen to be in New Eden?"
Alex stiffened.
She leaned close, her breath warm against his ear.
"Oh… perhaps," she said, voice dripping with amusement, "because you killed someone before."
Alex's heart stopped.
"Someone very close to you."
Her smile widened, cruel and delighted.
"What was her name again? Tha… Thal…" She snapped her fingers. "Ah! Thalia."
Alex stumbled back as if struck.
How did she—
No one knew that.
No one could know that.
He was only ten.
They were playing near the riverbank. Thalia had teased him—called him poor, mocked his single mother, laughed in his face. Something inside him snapped that day. Rage—pure, blinding rage—took over.
He pushed her.
Hard.
He hadn't meant to.
He didn't think the river was that deep.
He thought she'd swim back up.
But she didn't.
Alex's breaths grew sharp and uneven as the memories crashed into him—the splash, the scream, the silence afterward. His small hands trembling, calling her name, shaking her unconscious body on the shore.
The blond woman watched him break apart, her blue eyes shining with dark amusement.
"Ah, there it is," she whispered. "The sin I smelled."
She touched his cheek lightly, almost affectionately.
"You carry guilt like a brand, Alex. And guilt… makes humans very easy to shape."
Alex's heartbeat pounded in his ears. Shame, fear, and old pain swirled inside him—but something else rose above them all.
Anger.
Pure, burning anger.
His fists tightened. "What do you want from me?" Alex hissed. "Why bring up things you shouldn't even know? Why follow me?"
The woman smiled as if his rage amused her. She flicked a strand of blond hair behind her shoulder and stepped closer, her heels clicking softly on the cracked rooftop.
"What I want," she said sweetly, "is simple."
Her blue eyes glowed like cold fire.
"I want a Soul Harvester."
Alex froze. "A… what?"
"You," she said, pressing a fingertip lightly against his chest, "will become a Soul Harvester. I will grant you a power far beyond anything the gifted humans possess. A power even they cannot imagine—something deeper, older, and far more dangerous."
A cold wind wrapped around them, swirling at her command. She looked almost excited, like she was offering him a wonderful gift.
"In exchange," she added, her voice turning sharp as a blade, "you must remain what you appear to be. A useless, ability-less human. Someone no one notices. Someone everyone underestimates."
Her smile widened.
"You will watch people. Judge them. And when you believe someone's soul has reached its limit—when they are rotten with sin—you will take it."
Alex's breath caught in his throat. "Take… their soul? And what will happen to those souls?"
The woman didn't blink. She didn't hesitate.
She simply lifted her hand to the sky, and her shadow stretched unnaturally long behind her. The air around them warped, trembling with heat.
"They will be sent," she said calmly, "to the Eternal Sea of Fire."
The rooftop seemed to shift under Alex's feet.
The Eternal Sea of Fire—he had heard whispers about it. A place beyond death, where souls burned forever without turning to ash. A punishment that never ended.
Alex took a shaky step back. "You want me to… condemn people? Decide who deserves that?"
She lifted his chin gently, her touch cold as ice.
"Not condemn," she corrected. "Judge. Humans already drown themselves in sin. You would only push them where they belong."
Her blue eyes locked onto his, glowing brighter.
"A new world is coming, Alex. And I need someone who understands suffering. Someone who is not blind with greed or hunger for power. Someone who knows guilt… and fear."
Her lips curved into a soft, chilling smile.
"You are perfect."