The rain didn't fall—it stabbed. Cold, sharp, relentless. It soaked through his threadbare hoodie, clung to his skin like punishment, and pooled in the soles of his torn sneakers. He walked anyway. No destination. No purpose. Just motion.
His name was Kai. Twenty-two. Jobless. Homeless. Forgotten.
The city around him pulsed with neon and indifference. Towering screens flashed ads for luxury tech implants and elite system upgrades—things he'd never afford, never qualify for. Not with his rank. Not with his broken stats. Not with a life that had been rigged from the start.
He hadn't always been this way. Once, he'd dreamed of leveling up, of breaking through the system's chains. But dreams didn't feed you. They didn't fight off the cold. They didn't stop the world from grinding you down until you were just another glitch in the code.
Kai ducked into an alley, shivering. His stomach growled. His fingers were numb. He leaned against a rusted dumpster and closed his eyes, just for a moment.
Then came the screech of tires. The flash of headlights. The sound of metal folding like paper.
Pain. Blinding, searing pain.
And then—nothing.
He didn't wake up.
He was awake.
But everything was wrong.
There was no rain. No cold. No pain. Just warmth. Gentle, comforting warmth. And light—soft, golden light that bathed him like a sunrise.
He tried to move, but his limbs were tiny. Weak. He couldn't speak. Couldn't scream. Couldn't understand.
A face appeared above him. A woman—young, radiant, with eyes like polished amber and hair that shimmered like moonlight. She smiled, and the world felt safe.
"Look at him," she whispered. "He's perfect."
Another face joined hers. A man, strong and kind-eyed, with a voice like velvet steel. "Welcome home, little one."
Kai didn't understand the language. But he understood the feeling.
Love.
Then came another figure—a girl, maybe sixteen, with long silver hair and a mischievous grin. She leaned over him and poked his cheek.
"He's squishy," she giggled. "I'm gonna call him Squish."
Kai blinked. Something inside him stirred. A flicker of memory. A whisper of who he'd been. Of what he'd lost.
And then, like a spark in the void, a promise formed.
I'll protect them.
I'll get stronger.
I'll give them the life I never had.
It wasn't a thought. It wasn't a decision. It was a vow etched into his soul—subconscious, primal, unbreakable.
The world outside this warm room was unknown. Dangerous. But this family—this beautiful, gentle, chaotic trio—they were his now.
And he would rise.
Not as Kai the forgotten.
But as something new.
Something powerful.
Something that would break every level, every rule, every chain.