Time was once just the ticking of a clock.
That day, it became life itself.
Kai was only five years old when the world quietly ended.
He doesn't remember whether the sun was bright or dull that morning.
What he remembers is the sound of the gate closing behind them.
Clack.
Their villa—with its small garden, his broken toy bike, the place where his mother waited every night for his father to return—was left behind.
That sound never left his mind.
"Dad… we'll come back here, right?"
Kai asked, gripping a small plastic toy sword in his hand.
His father, a senior assistant manager in a major AI business company, didn't smile.
He only placed his hand on Kai's head.
"Maybe not."
Before Everything Changed
Kai's father wasn't an ordinary man.
He was someone who looked past numbers, into patterns others ignored.
At work, something felt wrong.
Wealthy families were selling ancestral properties
Assistants were being merged into AI companies
Then one day, he noticed a file he wasn't meant to see
A government officer.
Every asset.
Every property.
Everything—invested into AI.
That was the moment his father understood something terrifying.
The Man Everyone Called Crazy
He sold everything.
Stocks
Assets
The villa
And invested it all into AI.
Relatives laughed.
Friends distanced themselves.
"He's lost his mind."
"AI controlling the world? Impossible."
"He's just scared of the future."
Kai's father told everyone the same thing:
One Month Later
AI merged global systems overnight.
Banks froze.
Money became meaningless.
Jobs vanished.
Then came the first global announcement:
That day, people didn't become rich or poor.
They became alive… or finished.
Those who invested in AI received Time Bonuses.
Those who didn't watched their time counters fall—fast.
Survivors
Because of his father's decision,
Kai's family survived.
They weren't powerful.
They weren't wealthy.
But they were alive.
The villa was gone.
A 3BHK apartment replaced it.
That was the day Kai learned something important:
The Child Who Went Silent
After that day, Kai spoke less.
He watched:
People lose jobs
The middle class collapse
His father struggle just to survive
And he made a quiet decision.
From that moment on:
He trained in silence
Body, reflexes, discipline
Fighting wasn't a hobby It became a habit
Kai looked at the toy sword in his hand.
Then he put it away.
END OF CHAPTER 1