The soft morning sunlight streamed through the window, casting a warm glow across the room, spreading gently over the floor and the bed that still held traces of lingering warmth.
Hao Thien's eyes fluttered slightly before slowly opening. For a brief moment, a strange violet gleam flickered in his gaze—but he didn't notice it at all.
"Umm… Morning already?"
He stretched his arms and let out a long yawn, his voice still tinged with sleep. Without hesitation, he got up and walked into the bathroom to wash his face.
The cool water splashed against his face, instantly waking him up. After changing into his school uniform, which had been neatly prepared the night before, Hao Thien was ready to start a new day.
At Ha Thanh High School – Class 12A3, 7:00 AM.
"Hey Hao Thien, what happened to that red crystal from last night? You throw it out yet, or are you still cuddling it in your sleep?"
Tran Quang, seated at the desk in front of him, leaned back without even turning around, whispering in a conspiratorial tone like they were discussing national secrets.
"Tran Quang, class has started. Stop gossiping!"
The literature teacher's voice boomed like thunder on a clear day, sending a jolt of electricity down everyone's spine.
Tran Quang shot up like a spring, face frozen in place.
"S-sorry, ma'am! I was just… monitoring mineral resources, that's all!"
The whole class struggled to hold in their laughter, while Hao Thien simply buried his face into his desk, thinking to himself:
"Tran Quang… could you not ruin my life so early in the morning?"
"Hey, let's head behind the school and meet the others. We should show them what we found last night."
Tran Quang turned to Hao Thien, speaking casually as if they were just discussing breakfast plans.
"Perfect timing. I've got something to tell you guys too."
Without needing to say more, the two of them quietly left the classroom, walking down the corridor, descending the stairs, and making their way to the back of the school—the usual hangout spot of the "Seven Deadly Sins."
The morning air was calm, but their footsteps grew quicker, as if something big was about to be revealed.
"Hey, you two said you found something special and wanted to show us?"
Quang Chuong stepped forward, his tone a mix of curiosity and seriousness as he opened the conversation.
"That's right. I bet you guys have been dying to see it."
Tran Quang crossed his arms, chin slightly raised, looking as smug as if he were about to unveil some national treasure.
"Honestly, it's probably not that big of a deal."
Hao Thien replied casually, pulling the red crystal from his pocket and holding it up for the group to see.
The others immediately crowded around to get a better look.
"Huh… looks pretty normal to me."
Quang Hao was the first to speak, raising an eyebrow, clearly underwhelmed.
"Its uniqueness isn't in how it looks,"
Anh Vu adjusted his glasses, his voice calm, though a spark lit up in his eyes,
"…but in the fact that it fell from the sky. Am I right?"
As his words settled in, a brief silence passed over the group. Then, in perfect sync, they all nodded.
And in that quiet moment—bathed in morning sunlight, behind the school where few ever came—the red crystal in Hao Thien's hand shimmered faintly, as if acknowledging their recognition.
"It just lit up… Looks like things are starting to get interesting."
Thanh Phap crossed his arms, squinting at the crystal with unmistakable curiosity.
"Speaking of glowing… that reminds me. Last night, I had the weirdest dream…"
Hao Thien hesitated, then began recounting everything he had seen: the boundless cosmos, the snowflower fields, the glowing planet, and the flower without a core—leading up to the moment the red crystal became its heart.
"I don't know… maybe this stone is affecting me somehow."
His voice grew quieter, eyes dropping to the crystal still resting in his palm. Its red glow seemed to have faded into silence, as if listening too.
"I know what it is!"
Van Quan suddenly spoke up, placing a hand on Hao Thien's shoulder, wearing an expression as serious as if he were about to reveal a world-shaking truth.
"You… know what?"
The whole group turned toward him in unison.
"You're…"
Van Quan lowered his voice, pausing dramatically for effect.
"…suffering from delusions of grandeur."
He delivered the line with a straight face.
Hao Thien froze for three seconds, then grit his teeth.
"You…"
Laughter erupted across the back of the schoolyard.
The whole group burst into carefree laughter—as if, for a moment, that laughter could drown out the strange tension lingering in the air… or maybe, they just wanted to forget it.
—
Beyond the solar system, in the vast and silent expanse of space, a dark figure stood motionless, gazing toward Earth.
He said nothing—just quietly observed, as if waiting for something.
"Tran Hao Thien… Does he truly have what it takes?"
That afternoon, Hao Thien rode his bicycle down the familiar road home.
Golden sunlight stretched across the pavement, a gentle breeze rustled the roadside trees, and dry leaves spun lazily through the air before falling silently to the ground.
Everything looked the same, yet today… it felt strangely quiet.
"The road home's too quiet today. Kinda weird…"
He spoke softly, chuckling to himself in an attempt to shake off the odd sense of emptiness.
"I'm home!"
The door closed behind him with a quiet click. Hao Thien bent down to take off his shoes, glancing around the house.
There was no reply—no sound from the TV, no familiar scent of dinner.
"Oh right… Mom and Dad went to visit Grandma today."
He nodded, speaking aloud as if to remind himself.
He headed upstairs, tossed his backpack onto the chair, then collapsed onto his bed.
Resting his head on one arm, he stared up at the ceiling and let out a long, quiet breath.
"Finally… a bit of rest."
Within minutes, Hao Thien had drifted off to sleep, unaware that the last rays of daylight still lingered on his bedroom window.
___
"This dream again…"
Hao Thien opened his eyes and instantly realized he was back in that same place—the strange, otherworldly space where nothing had changed, as if time itself stood still.
"BOOOOMMMM—!"
A thunderous sound erupted, like two planets colliding, jolting him upright.
"What was that?!"
He muttered, eyes sharp with alertness, quickly moving toward the source of the noise.
As he looked up at the sky, awe spread across his face.
"Incredible…"
Above him, in the endless expanse of the cosmos, radiant streams of light were clashing like waterfalls of raw energy—blinding, chaotic, and overwhelming.
A majestic scene—so mysterious, so breathtaking—that he couldn't take his eyes off it.
Amid the boundless vastness of the cosmos, where light clashed like massive spiraling storms, Hao Thien stood frozen—eyes wide in awe—as he witnessed two colossal shadowy figures locked in a ferocious battle.
Their faces were indistinct. Their bodies were cloaked in thick, swirling darkness, like silhouettes forged from solid shadow. Each movement they made distorted the space around them, bending the very fabric of the universe.
BOOM!!!
One of them lunged forward, wielding an enormous black sword stretching miles across, slashing down with devastating force. The strike didn't just tear through space—it shattered a distant planet like glass, the explosion illuminating the void with a blinding flash.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
The counterattack came instantly—a wave of deep purple energy, dense and infinite, as if an entire galaxy had been compressed into a single arc. It swept across multiple celestial bodies, which trembled for a heartbeat before being torn into cosmic dust.
With each blow, the universe itself seemed to tremble.
Time froze. Space cracked. Streaks of radiant energy sliced across the void like multicolored thunderbolts, spiraling through the endless dark.
Hao Thien stood motionless in the middle of it all, heart pounding wildly. Not from fear—but from being overwhelmed by a scale of power far beyond imagination.
He didn't know who they were. Didn't know if this was dream or reality. All he knew was that he was witnessing a clash between beings powerful enough to tear the universe apart.
And then—
A crimson light erupted from the center of the battle, like a spear of pure radiance piercing the heavens, ripping through layers of space… and shooting toward an unknown destination far away.
The sky above shattered.
Fragments of celestial bodies cracked and fell away like broken glass.
"Do you wish… to become like them?"
A voice rose from behind—deep, weighty, and resonant, like a whisper carried across the cosmos itself. It held no threat, no coldness—yet carried an undeniable authority that demanded respect.
Hao Thien spun around.
Behind him stood a tall figure, cloaked in a flowing black robe that draped all the way to the ground. His face was completely hidden beneath a silver mask adorned with swirling, spiral-like patterns that seemed to move… even though they didn't.
"Who… are you?"
Hao Thien narrowed his eyes, his voice instinctively lowering in response to the figure's overwhelming presence.
"Hao Thien…"
The voice spoke again, echoing as though it didn't come from a mouth, but from the very night sky itself.
"Have you ever wondered… just how vast this universe truly is? Do you know where it ends—if it ends at all?"
The cloaked man took a single step forward, now standing beside Hao Thien. His gaze—hidden behind the mask—was fixed on the celestial battlefield above, where the two dark entities had fought with enough force to shake the stars.
"How would I know… how far it goes?"
Hao Thien shook his head, his tone touched with skepticism, yet unable to hide the flicker of curiosity in his eyes.
The cloaked figure remained silent for a moment. There was no wind. No movement in space.
Then he spoke again—his voice now lower, like he was revealing a truth buried for billions of years:
"This universe… has never had a limit."
"Do you wish to explore the limits of this universe?"
He turned to face the boy, his voice clear and resolute—each word carrying a weight that seemed to press against the very fabric of space.
Hao Thien lifted his gaze toward the endless sky above and let out a quiet, almost amused breath.
"I'd like to, sure…"
He paused for a moment, then calmly added:
"…but I'll have to decline."
His eyes never left the vast expanse of stars overhead, and his tone was steady—as if he were answering a question on an exam, not a call to destiny.
"I'm just a high school student, about to take my university entrance exams. There are still plenty of little things I need to deal with first."
The cloaked figure tilted his head slightly, as if studying something that didn't quite fit into his expectations.
Then he laughed.
It wasn't mocking, nor cold—it was a soft, almost gentle laugh, filled with something deeper… something that felt like understanding.
"Soon enough, your desire…"
His voice echoed like a whisper carved into the stars,
"…will come looking for you on its own."