CHAPTER 1 — THE NIGHT WHEN EVERYTHING CRACKED
That night, the sky seemed to swallow the last light of the world. Black clouds hung low like the jaws of a giant ready to devour the earth. The smell of smoke, metal, and poverty floated in the air—almost like the official scent of a small town long forgotten by the world.
Among the cramped wooden houses—old, splintered, and cracked like wounds that never healed—stood a teenager in shabby clothes the wind itself refused to touch. His hair was long and tangled, yet there was a faint hint of handsomeness on his pale face—a handsomeness that felt like irony in a life that had given him nothing.
That was Rei Celestia.
On the crowded roadside filled with hungry and weary people, Rei clutched a stack of newspapers heavier than his own future. The noise of the crowd, the shouts of vendors, and hurried footsteps blended into a single symphony of misery.
"Sir… Ma'am… the newspaper… please buy a newspaper."
Rei's voice was soft but tried to stay firm, slipping between the noise, only to be swallowed immediately. People passed by without a glance. Their lives were already suffocating; the voice of a poor child was nothing more than an unimportant breeze.
Still, Rei tried to smile, tried to believe that one in a hundred people might stop. But that hope always shattered before it even had the chance to live.
As he sat down to rest for a moment at the roadside, the shadows of four teenagers emerged from the darkness of a narrow alley. Their gaze wasn't the gaze of humans—more like beasts hungry for entertainment.
Their crooked smiles were full of contempt.
"Heh… look at that. How pathetic,"
one of them sneered, his voice a scratchy laugh without a heart.
"Your newspapers not selling?"
They laughed as if Rei's suffering were a stage comedy.
Rei bowed his head. Silent, not out of fear, but because he had been treated that way too often. His silence offended them.
"Hey! Didn't you hear us?! You dare ignore us?"
One of them grabbed the collar of Rei's worn-out shirt, lifting his frail body slightly.
Another kicked the stack of newspapers, scattering them like fragments of broken dreams.
"No! Not the newspapers! If you want to hit me, just hit me… but don't hurt the papers…"
Rei tried to grab them back, his voice trembling in desperation.
"Hah? You're defending this useless paper?" Their laughter grew louder, harsher.
Without mercy, they dragged Rei into the damp, dark alley—the smell of urine, trash, and blood mixing into a stench familiar to anyone who had ever been dragged there.
Rei's body slammed against a stone wall.
Brakk!
"How about we beat you up… and give you money afterward?"
One of them leaned in, looking down on him like a small animal.
"You're poor, right? You'd want that, wouldn't you?"
Rei didn't answer. Couldn't answer.
And that was enough for them.
The first punch hit his cheek.
The second landed on his stomach.
Then a storm of kicks crashed into his thin body.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Their laughter filled the alley, drowning out Rei's pained gasps.
Finally, they grew bored.
One of them tossed a few coins onto Rei's chest.
"Here's your payment for being our punching bag!"
Their laughter echoed as they left, abandoning Rei trembling, sprawled on the filthy ground, tears mixing with blood.
The pain stabbed deep into his bones.
But what hurt more was the truth that no one cared.
Rei crawled, picking up the coins one by one.
His trembling hands gathered them as he held back sobs.
"At least… I can buy rice for my family…"
he whispered weakly to himself.
He stood up shakily, every movement wracked with pain, yet he managed a small smile—a smile full of wounds.
He walked toward the rice stall.
"Ma'am… two packs of rice, please…"
Rei said with a faint smile.
The rice seller nodded without looking at him.
Rei received the rice as though receiving a gift from the heavens.
As he walked home, his stomach growled loudly.
But Rei only held his stomach and smiled faintly.
"It's okay… as long as they can eat…"
---
Their house stood small, fragile, and nearly collapsing, but for Rei, it was the tiny world he wished to protect.
As soon as he entered, he saw his father lying down—paralyzed.
His mother sat sewing with trembling hands.
And his older sister… without legs, yet managing a thin smile upon seeing him return.
"Rei… you're home."
His mother stood up unsteadily and held Rei's face.
"Son… you got bullied again, didn't you? Why is your face like this?"
Rei only smiled.
"It's fine, Mom. I'm okay."
"Let me treat the wounds—"
"No, Mom, it's just a small injury. Here… I brought food."
Rei handed her the two packs of rice.
His mother gasped.
"Oh my… you brought two? Usually it's only one. Did your newspapers sell well today, Rei?"
Rei nodded.
A fake smile.
"Have you eaten?" she asked.
"I have, Mom,"
Rei lied again, swallowing the hunger in his empty stomach.
He knew two packs were only enough for three people.
He… was never part of the count.
As his family ate heartily, Rei slipped into his small room.
He sat in the corner, hugging his knees, holding back hunger, pain, and tears.
"It's okay, Rei… better for you to starve… than watch them starve."
That night, Rei cried without making a sound.
Cried without anyone seeing.
---
The next afternoon, Rei went out again to sell newspapers—on a different street.
He chose a new place, hoping it was safer from the delinquents.
While he sat, a young man approached him—his face bright, his eyes clear, his smile warm.
"Hey! How much for these newspapers?" the handsome boy asked.
"Ah… one stack is three coins," Rei replied.
"Ooh… then I'll buy five stacks, okay?"
Rei was stunned.
He quickly prepared five stacks with excitement and handed them over.
It was the first time in a long while he felt appreciated.
"Here's the money." The boy gave him twenty coins.
"Eh… this is five coins too much."
"Take it. Consider it a gift."
Rei froze.
His heart warmed.
"Thank you…"
The boy sat beside him.
"What's your name?"
"Rei Celestia."
"My name is Jake Hill."
He offered his hand.
Rei shook it with a genuine smile—more genuine than any smile he had given in years.
From that day on, they became friends.
Rei went home with a pounding heart.
Five stacks sold. Twenty coins. Enough for five packs of rice!
He jogged through the narrow alleyways, eager to return early.
But then eight delinquents blocked his path.
"Well, well! Look who's so happy today!"
they sneered.
Rei stepped back—only to find more behind him.
The first punch came without warning.
Brak!
He fell, and they swarmed him.
"Kick and beat this poor brat!"
Rei couldn't fight back.
His body once again became a human punching bag.
After they grew tired, they left.
Rei stood up weakly, clutching his bruised cheek, struggling to breathe.
But he smiled.
"Mom will be so happy today…"
He gripped the 20 coins tightly.
When he reached his house, it looked the same as always.
Quiet. Still. Fragile.
"I'm home!"
Rei pushed the door open with a wide smile.
But…
The smile froze instantly.
His breath stopped.
His steps halted.
The world collapsed.
"N-no… no way…"
Rei's voice cracked.
His father lay on the floor with a sword plunged into his chest.
His mother lay collapsed, her stomach slashed open, blood soaking the wooden boards.
And his sister… gone.
Vanished.
Without a trace.
Rei fell to his knees.
His legs trembled, unable to hold his weight.
"Dad… Mom… Sis…"
His voice shattered into a scream that shook the frail house.
"Who… who dared do this?!"
Rei slammed his fists into the floor, sobbing, his whole body shaking.
"What wrong… did they ever do…?"
Tears streamed endlessly.
"They were… paralyzed… sick… disabled… they never hurt anyone… why… why would you…"
"AHHHHHHHHHH!"
Rei's scream tore through the suffocating air.
The coins slipped from his hand.
Falling loudly onto the floor—one by one.
Clink… clink… clink…
His hope was gone.
His dream died.
The world ripped his heart apart without mercy.
"I was supposed to bring these 20 coins home to see them smile…
Not to see… this…"
Rei collapsed, hugging his trembling body.
Tears streamed down, mixing with his family's blood.
"Why… do I have to feel all this…"
Rei bowed his head, crying until no sound was left.
In that house—now filled only with corpses and despair—Rei Celestia was reborn.
Not as a poor boy who sold newspapers.
But as something the world itself was not ready to face.
To be continued…