city: Tokyo, Japan
Date: November 15, 2025
Time: 11:47 PM
Rain violently strikes the window, as if trying to break through the thin barrier between inside and outside—between false warmth and the real cold that inhabits the world. The room is small, suffocating, filled with the smell of old sweat, piled-up books, and chronic loneliness that seeps into the soul like a slow poison.
On the narrow bed sits a nineteen-year-old young man, his back resting against the cold wall. His gray eyes stare into emptiness, as if piercing reality itself. Messy black hair falls over his forehead, and his sharp features carry a harsh maturity unfitting for his age—a face of a man who has lived more than he should have, despite his youth.
His body is strong, tall—1.87 meters of tense muscles and solid bones. Broad shoulders, well-built arms visible even beneath the loose black shirt—results of years of karate, boxing, bodybuilding, and obsessive training. Yet that powerful body was never enough to fill the void in his chest.
His name is Kael Kobayashi, an ordinary boy like any other, living in Tokyo, Japan…
On the small table in front of him, a laptop lies open on a manhwa page—Solo Leveling, the final chapter. But his eyes are no longer reading. They are fixed on an image of Sung Jin-Woo standing atop the corpses of his enemies, surrounded by an army of shadows, cold eyes radiating absolute power.
"Power…"
The word escaped his lips as a rough whisper, laden with thirst, hunger, and a sick desire that had been devouring him from within for years.
He raised his right hand before his face, staring at his clenched fist, at the bulging veins, at the small scars on his knuckles—boxing scars, scars from walls broken by his rage, scars of a past that refused to die.
"If I were stronger… more aware… I wouldn't have suffered that betrayal."
If I were stronger and more aware, I wouldn't have been betrayed by Aiko like an idiot.
If I were stronger, Hiroshi wouldn't have laughed at me and betrayed me.
If I were stronger, I wouldn't have stuttered in front of the entire class when I was twelve.
If I were stronger, I wouldn't have cried like a weak child when I was ten.
"If I were stronger and more aware…"
He shut his eyes tightly, jaw clenched, teeth grinding against each other. Memories attacked him like rusted knives—cutting and tearing without ever killing, only making the pain chronic, a permanent part of existence.
Memory: Age 10
Residential District, School Playground
A small, thin child, eyes glistening with tears, surrounded by three older kids. One of them shoves him hard. He falls to the ground, his knees bleeding slightly.
"Look! The weak kid is crying again!"
Laughter. Laughter that pierces the skull and settles in memory forever.
The child—young Kael—tries to stand, but his hand trembles. His heart pounds, not from courage, but from pure fear. He wants to fight back, but his body refuses. He wants to scream, but his voice comes out as broken stuttering:
"I-I-I'm… n-not w-weak…"
More laughter.
"He can't even talk! Hahaha!"
Despite his body being strong from karate training since childhood—earning a black belt at twelve—something prevented him from defending himself. Not physical weakness, but something deeper… more complex.
Memory: Age 14
Public Park, Under a Sakura Tree
Teenage Kael, still thin but slightly taller, stands in front of a beautiful girl with dark brown hair and gentle eyes. Aiko Nakamura.
His heart pounds as if it's about to burst from his chest.
"A-Aiko… I… I l-love you."
The words came out with difficulty, broken by stuttering—but they came out. It took him two months to gather the courage to say them.
The girl smiled. A gentle, warm smile.
"I love you too, Kael-kun."
Joy. Pure, naive joy—the kind only unbroken teenagers know.
But it didn't last.
Memory: Eight Months Later
A Narrow Alley Behind the School
Kael stands frozen, eyes wide, heartbeat halted.
In front of him—Aiko. His girlfriend. The girl who promised him. Who smiled at him. Who said she loved him. Standing in the arms of another boy. Ryota. Handsome. Athletic. Popular.
Beside them stands Hiroshi—his supposed friend—laughing.
"I can't believe you thought she actually loved you, Aiko! This is hilarious!"
Aiko laughed. A light, almost innocent laugh.
"It was amusing. The way he stuttered was cute… but he's just a weak child."
Ryota pulled her closer and looked at Kael mockingly.
"Listen, man. Don't take it personally. Girls don't like weak guys."
Kael didn't move. Didn't speak. He just stood there as the world silently collapsed around him.
After That Night
Kael returned to his room, rage boiling in his chest like volcanic lava. His pride—that towering pride he had always carried—shattered like glass thrown to the ground.
He went to the wall. Punched it. Once. Twice. Three times. The hatred in his eyes rising with every strike.
The pain in his hand was nothing compared to the pain in his chest.
He continued like this for weeks. His hand was damaged, knuckles swollen—but the anger didn't fade.
He cried.
He found cigarettes—something he never imagined touching—now smoking them, his only refuge.
Two per week. Just to calm the rage. To extinguish the fire burning inside him.
A full year passed like that.
But during that year, something else changed. Kael matured. Not naturally—harshly, forged by pain and betrayal. He looked at his old self—that naive child who believed in love, friendship, and goodness—and laughed.
A bitter laugh. But one that marked a deep transformation.
Age 15 – Quitting Cigarettes
At fifteen, Kael realized something simple but decisive: cigarettes harm health and money. And he… was not someone who surrendered to weakness.
Quitting wasn't easy. His body craved them, and the anger returned stronger whenever he tried to stop. He was torn apart from the inside.
But he refused to give in. He was determined to quit at any cost.
He made a smart plan: reduce gradually. From two a week to one. Then one every two weeks. Then one every three weeks.
It took six months of iron will.
By mid-fifteen, he quit completely.
Age 15 – Boxing
But Kael knew quitting cigarettes wasn't enough. That weakness—that suffocating feeling of not being strong enough—still lingered.
And he hated weakness. Despised it with every cell in his body.
So he entered the world of boxing.
"Iron Fist Gym" – Shibuya District
Before him stood an old Japanese trainer with a wrinkled face and sharp eyes. Takamura-sensei.
"Are you sure you want this, boy? Boxing isn't a game. You'll get hit. You'll bleed. You'll feel like you're dying."
Kael met his gaze without blinking.
"I want to become strong."
"Why?"
"Because I hate weakness."
The trainer stared at him for several long seconds, then smiled faintly.
"Fine. But don't cry when your teeth get broken."
First Month
It was hell.
Kael got beaten almost daily. Punches to the face, chest, stomach. Once his nose broke. Another time, he spat blood after a brutal blow.
But he didn't give up. Didn't cry. Just clenched his teeth and stood again.
Despite his strong body from karate, boxing was different—reading, timing, combat intelligence.
Third Month
He began to understand.
Not just dodging—but reading opponents, exploiting openings, turning pain into fuel.
His natural talent surfaced. Takamura-sensei noticed—the rapid learning, adaptability, unbreakable persistence.
Sixth Month
He won his first sparring match.
It wasn't a crushing victory—but it was a victory.
And victory… was intoxicating.
One Year and Three Months Later
Kael was no longer that thin child. His body tightened. Muscles became defined. His punches grew fast, strong, precise.
And something else changed—his eyes. Colder. Harsher.
One day, Takamura-sensei told him:
"You're talented, Kael. But there's something frightening about you. When you fight… it's like you're not fighting your opponent—but something else. Something inside you."
Kael didn't respond.
Because the trainer was right.
He was fighting weakness. Fighting the child he once was. Fighting memories that refused to die.
Age 16–18 – Bodybuilding
After leaving boxing—having gained what he wanted—combat skill and strength—Kael moved to bodybuilding.
Not to become grotesquely huge. But to feel strength in every cell of his body. To look in the mirror and see someone unbreakable.
His obsession with becoming the strongest burned within him—greedy ambition, endless hunger for supremacy.
Training was brutal. Heavy weights. Reps until failure. Pain that tore muscles apart, only to rebuild them stronger.
And Kael loved pain.
Because pain was honest. It didn't lie. Didn't deceive. It simply said: You're still alive. Still fighting.
Two years of obsessive training.
His muscles grew. Shoulders widened. Chest carved. Arms hardened like steel. Height reached 1.86 meters at eighteen.
But most importantly—his presence changed.
When he entered a room, people noticed. Not just because of his body—but something deeper. An invisible aura whispering: This person is dangerous.
Hiroshi's Betrayal – Age 18
Around that time, Kael discovered another betrayal—Hiroshi, whom he once considered a friend, stabbed him in the back again.
But Kael's reaction was different.
He didn't get angry. Didn't punch walls. Didn't smoke.
He simply looked at Hiroshi coldly and said:
"It's fine."
Then turned around and walked away.
He forgot it. Focused on one thing: his pride. His honor. His strength.
People come and go. Betray and lie. But what remains is what you build within yourself.
Age 19 – Overcoming the Stutter
The stutter.
That cursed problem that haunted him since childhood.
It enraged him—how could a man with such pride, strength, and presence stutter?
Eliminating it wasn't easy.
Years of speech exercises, constant practice, voice recordings, breathing control.
At nineteen, it vanished completely.
No trace remained.
Only a calm, deep, confident voice.
Back to the Present – 11:58 PM
Kael turned from the window, looked at the laptop, at Sung Jin-Woo's image, then at his reflection in the dark TV screen.
Sharp face. Strong jaw. Cold gray eyes. A man who lived more than he should have.
"If fantasy were real…"
He whispered softly.
"If there were another world… where strength isn't just muscles, money, or influence. A world where you could truly become strong. Strong enough to shatter mountains. Strong enough to make kings kneel…"
He stopped, chuckling lightly—not joy, but self-mockery.
"I can't believe I'm wishing for childish things."
Yet the wish was genuine. More genuine than anything else in his life.
He lay on his bed, staring at the cracked ceiling.
"The real world is disgusting. People are disgusting. All masks. All lies. They smile at you, then stab you in the back."
He closed his eyes.
"If I were in another world… I wouldn't be weak again. I wouldn't trust easily. I wouldn't let anyone laugh at me. I would become… the strongest. I would be king of myself."
12:00 Midnight
Kael fell asleep.
And for the first time in years, he didn't wake from a nightmare.
But to something far stranger.
End of Chapter One Narrator's Note:
That night, Kael didn't know his wish—that naive whisper in the darkness—had been heard.
Not by a human.
But by something else entirely.
An entity that saw in the soul of that broken young man something… interesting.
Greedy ambition. Pride that refused to bow. Anger burning beneath calm waters. And above all—an unbreakable will.
And when Kael woke up the next day…
He was no longer in his room.