Almost 300 years ago...
The world had been normal, at least until the end of the 20th century.
Then came the 21st century.
Along with it came a mysterious phenomenon called "glitch."
A real world glitch.
Thin cracks in reality appeared like shimmering rips in the air across different continents. Real distortions, as if the fabric of reality was overlapping with something that wasn't supposed to be there.
Scientists later discovered the truth:
These fractures were pieces of another world, a parallel plane vibrating at a frequency dangerously close to our own.
According to that parallel theory, different Earths exist in the same space but vibrate at different frequencies, and these glitches allow breaches to open and people to travel between them.
And that parallel world was a place of advanced technology, strange creatures, and impossible architecture.
The Alternative World was simply called the Alt-World.
People threw themselves into these shimmering zones- some for money, some for research, and some out of desperation.
And what they brought back changed everything.
Machines that operated on unknown energy. Weapons powered by glowing cores instead of bullets. Cybernetic limbs with impossible complexity. Droids that seemed alive. Creatures that were part flesh, part machine.
Alt-wares also became priceless commodities. Anything that belonged to another world was called Alt-wares.
And the people who went into these dangerous zones to retrieve them became known as Rangers.
Explorers, Alt-ware collectors, scavengers, mercenaries, everything rolled into one. They were praised as half heroes, half lunatics. It didn't matter what they were called; the world depended on them.
And today, Leo was about to become one.
The boys didn't return to their hideout immediately. Their hearts were still pounding from the earlier encounter, their minds racing with the thrill and fear of holding the Harpie.
After selling the scraps for a few Penta coins, they dragged Leo along the cracked pavement of the slums, weaving through narrow alleys and worn-down shops.
"Where are we going?" Leo asked.
"It's not easy to hold a gun in the slum. So we should do something else…" Vince said, adjusting his broken tech glasses as if they were the most important possession in the world. "So, Bro Leo, you are going to register as a Ranger."
"That is your big plan?" Leo blinked.
"Yesh… If you register as a Ranger you can leave the slum to find some Ranger jobs too… Also, they won't snatch your gun, probably…" Levi explained.
"Leaving the city? I only know a Techie guy at the edge of Slum District 2. He bragged about how he can arrange a vehicle to leave the city," Leo said.
They walked farther than usual. Past the boundary of the slum, there were guards roaming the city.
This was the Outer District.
"Let's not go there… There are guards… What if they find the gun?" Nick was practically sweating.
The boys looked at each other.
"Hmm… then let's go there… We can't enter the office in the Outer District. Then let's hope they didn't close the office in the Slum District," Vince thought for a second and said.
They reached a road near the hideout and arrived at their destination.
An old office building stood crookedly at the edge of the district. Its windows were cracked, its walls layered in dust and faded posters. Above the rusted double doors hung an old board, the paint half chipped away.
Rangers Registration Office
The words were barely readable.
Leo blinked. "…Are we all going to register?"
"Nope," Nick said, pushing him from behind.
"Only you," Levi added with a smug grin.
"We'll wait outside," Vince said proudly, adjusting his useless glasses again like a professional manager. "Go on, big brother."
Leo looked at their eager faces, sighed, and stepped inside.
The office door creaked as Leo pushed it open. A faded poster hung beside the entrance, Rangers in high-tech gear standing triumphantly over a defeated hybrid octopus beast.
Inside the Rangers Registration Office
The place looked more like a half-destroyed bar than an office. The ceiling was cracked, the floor uneven, and half the letters on the signboard outside had already fallen off.
If not for the symbol of the Ranger Association hanging crookedly on the wall, no one would believe this was an official government building.
Behind the counter sat a young man slouched in his seat. He wore the Ranger staff uniform but looked anything but professional. His cheeks were flushed pink from alcohol, and an open bottle sat not-so-discreetly under the desk. He swiped lazily through the air. Inside his glasses, he was watching reels and other things… he didn't even bother to look up when Leo approached.
Leo cleared his throat and clicked the bell. "I came to be a Ranger. May I do my registration here?"
The staff member clicked his tongue in annoyance. With exaggerated slowness, he put down the glasses and finally acknowledged Leo.
"…Name?"
"Leo."
"Mm."
The man typed something into the transparent screen before him. The machine whirred. After a few seconds, the printer beside him spat out a thin sheet of paper.
The staff snatched it, tossed it toward Leo without even lifting his eyes, and immediately returned to wearing his glasses.
Leo blinked.
He looked at the certificate. Then at the staff. Then back at the certificate.
That was it?
"I-Is that it?" he asked.
The staff exhaled sharply through his nose—the universal sound of someone who wanted to be anywhere else.
"That's all. Go home."
"You only needed my name? Don't you need any other information…?"
This time, the staff looked genuinely irritated.
"Who the hell registers as a Ranger in this abandoned place… Because of you guys, I'm not getting transferred… Every professional Ranger already left this place… There are no Alt-Zones here, nor any hybrid monsters," he said bluntly. "Honestly, I don't care about your name either. I only asked because the rules say I have to. Whether it's real or fake doesn't matter. Even if this place had an Alt-Zone, you'd be dead soon anyway. Why would I waste time collecting useless details?"
Leo froze at the reminder.
A slum boy like him had no worth in their eyes. He also understood that becoming a Ranger here was useless.
Outside the Office
The boys rushed to him immediately.
"Did it work?"
"Did you get it?"
"Show us!"
Leo held up the certificate. It looked real enough.
Date joined: March 26, 2297.
But something felt wrong.
Vince stared. Levi blinked. Nick covered his mouth.
Then—
"Pfft—"
"Hahaha—!"
"It says Leak! Not Leo!"
Leo's face twitched. He used all of his willpower not to tear the certificate. "That idiot…"
Vince slapped his knee laughing as Levi nearly fell over and Nick wheezed.
Leo rolled his eyes. "Aren't you guys going to register too? It's free."
"No." Levi stepped onto a small wall to look taller before declaring proudly, "Even if we register, we don't have guns or skills like you. I'm gonna get a job inside the Outer District and marry Anya."
Vince puffed out his chest. "I'll become a Techie in Neon City. Maybe marry Tessia."
Nick blushed. "I… I want a job too. And maybe… marry Rem."
Leo eyed them all skeptically.
"Hmm… why do I feel like none of those girls see you that way?"
Levi's eyebrow twitched dangerously.
"Who do you think is responsible for that, Mr. Leak?"
"Gahaha!" Vince burst out laughing again.
Leo sighed and shook his head, but a small smile appeared at the corner of his lips. He knew the truth anyway—those girls adored him. But romance wasn't something he could think about now. His only goal was survival—for him and the siblings.
"Neon City? Isn't that the City of Freedom you always brag about?" Nick suddenly asked Vince.
"Yeah, yeah… It's also near many Alt-Zones. It's actually a treasure city for Rangers and other professions. I heard even kids who go to school have guns there… Oh, some kids also turn into guns…" Vince explained with a mysterious tone.
"What the hell is that? That's bullshit…" Levi laughed.
"Hmph… That's a cyborg body. After seeing hybrid monsters that are powerful with half-machine bodies, adding cybernetics to the body became famous 200 years ago. We are too poor to have one, and it's extremely rare to see someone like that in this city. But in Neon City, it's actually the opposite. It's extremely rare to see people without cybernetics," Vince said.
"Where did you even learn this?" Leo asked.
"Hehehe… I just learned last week. From old electronic magazines I got from the junkyard." Vince took out a small rectangular tech piece and clicked it. A projection of a magazine appeared.
"You dare hide this from us?" Levi jumped on Vince from behind.
"Sorry, sorry… We can sell this later…" Vince laughed.
Nick noticed Leo was deep in thought and asked, "What happened?"
"Did you also get mad because I hid this?" Vince asked.
"Not that… I have somewhere to go… You guys go home," Leo said.
"Alright…" the three boys nodded.
Leo parted with the boys and headed toward another place.
The boys walked home cheerfully, joking and arguing along the way.
Until they reached the building.
A sleek bike stood parked directly in front of their hideout.
Their smiles vanished instantly.
Slowly, they turned to look at each other.
Then, they broke into a sprint straight inside the building.
Their hideout had a visitor?