What started as a beautiful day would later become the worst day of my life—and the beginning of the end.
The sun was shining brightly over the city of Ahjin. Birds circled the clear blue sky, and the streets were alive with the hustle and bustle of a thriving city. I could hear children laughing in the distance, their voices light and carefree. It was a picture-perfect scene.
Too bad I wasn't part of it.
I was huddled in the shadows of a damp, narrow alleyway. I was a small, thin figure, clad in nothing but black rags that had long since surrendered to filth and grime. With my messy black hair and striking purple eyes, most people mistook me for a corpse.
In fact, the two knight patrols who found me thought exactly that. Until I moved.
The moment they saw my chest heave with breath, their "noble" duty began. They didn't offer help. Instead, they looked me straight in the eyes and delivered a crushing blow to my face. I spiraled to the ground, the taste of copper filling my mouth. Then came the boots—hard, rhythmic kicks into my stomach.
I felt it. Snap. Snap. Two of my ribs gave way. The pain was white-hot, making it hard to even scream. I was terrified I'd die right there in the dirt. But the knights didn't care; they were in a hurry. They had to attend the grand announcement of the Church of the Pantheon.
"Holy Church," my foot. Those bastards are about as holy as a pit of vipers.
You're probably wondering why I hate them so much. Well, just the other day, they robbed and beat a kid named Celosia for no reason at all. Hilarious, right? To rob a poor soul who literally has nothing but the dirt on his skin. How do I know? Because I'm Celosia. Yeah, that's my life. Pathetic, isn't it?
Anyway, where was I? Oh right, the "Church" announcement.
Once the knights were finished using me as a stress ball, I dragged my broken body toward the plaza. Why? Because the Church doesn't take "no" for an answer. In Ahjin, if you miss a sermon or an announcement, you find your neck in a noose.
When I arrived, High Priest William was already droning on. He's the type of man who loves the sound of his own voice so much, he'd talk to a wall for hours. After an hour of useless babble, he finally reached the point: after a hundred years of silence, the Gods had chosen a Hero.
His name was Cassian.
I hated him instantly. He was a member of the noble Griever family—handsome, talented in both magic and swordsmanship, and radiating an aura of perfection that made me want to vomit.
"What an arrogant prick," I muttered under my breath.
Wait. Did I say that out loud?
"What did you say?" a cold voice demanded.
It was Cassian. He was looking right at me, his eyes filled with the disdain one might show a cockroach. I wanted to lie. I wanted to apologize. But the pain in my ribs and the bitterness in my soul finally boiled over.
"I said," I spat, blood staining my lips as I grinned, "that you're an inflated asshole, Cassian!"
The silence that followed was deafening. William's face turned a brilliant shade of purple. "Blasphemy! Knights, kill the heretic!"
Running with two broken ribs is a special kind of hell. I darted through the city, my lungs burning, until I was cornered in a dead-end alley. My luck was as rotten as my clothes.
A knight cornered me, his steel gleaming. In a moment of pure, desperate terror, I did the only thing I could: I lied. I put on my best "villain" face and hissed that I was a secret Fire Mage—that I would burn him to ash if he took another step.
The coward actually bought it. He turned and ran like a crying child.
I slumped against the wall, gasping for air. Phew. Lucked out. But it didn't last. Not even an hour later, I was surrounded. No more alleys to hide in. Dozens of knights were closing in.
I closed my eyes and wished with everything I had that my lie was real. I imagined the heat. I imagined the power. And then, the world exploded in flames. Screams filled the air, and I didn't stay to find out why. I just ran.
1 to 0 for Celosia, you bastards!
But the victory felt hollow when every step sent a jolt of agony through my chest. I could feel my broken ribs grinding against each other. It felt worse than being... well, "abused" by those knights. Honestly, what has this world come to? Then again, looking at someone as gorgeous as me, I guess it's hard to resist, right?
Wink, wink. Oh, stop looking at me like that. You're all assholes, you know that?
I had a ten-minute head start. During that time, I managed to fish half a loaf of bread out of a trash heap. It was dry, moldy, and smelled like regret, but it filled the hole in my stomach.
I continued through the city, and for some reason, everyone was staring at me with disgusted eyes. I thought it was because I was a "heretic," but then I realized: I had actual animal dung in my hair. Disgusting? Yes. A reason to de-humanize me? Probably not. But hey, people are the same everywhere. No one cares if you're about to be hanged as long as they don't get dirt on their shoes.
I crossed Camino Street, nearly getting caught by a squad of four knights coming from Raspri Crossing. Suddenly, a troop of eight more appeared out of nowhere!
The chase led me into the Chain Settlement—a place where only psychopaths and freaks live. One of them lunged at me from a dark hole, and soon, more were closing in. Desperate, I remembered the lie that saved me before. I yelled at the psychos that I mastered Cryokinesis.
And it worked. The freaks froze solid. Was there a connection? Was my voice changing reality? I'd have to figure that out later, provided I didn't die in the next five minutes.
I scrambled up the baker's roof, jumped to the blacksmith's, and aimed for the roof of the local brothel. But my foot slipped on the weathered tiles.
I fell. For what felt like an hour, I was soaring. I had never felt so free. No knights, no hunger, just the wind.
Then came the landing.
CRACK.
My left hand was shattered. The pain was like being beaten ten times over at once. But I was alive. I crawled into a nearby house and scavenged for clothes. To my absolute horror, the only thing I found that fit was a purple dress.
It was better than a noose.
"What are you all looking at?" I hissed at the imaginary audience in my head. "You would've done the same! Fuck you!"
Dressed as a girl, I managed to sneak through the streets to the Ahjin Gate. I almost got harassed again because I "looked" female, but jokes on them, I'm a guy! Hah!
I finally slipped past the guards and left the city of predators behind. My hand was broken, my ribs were a mess, and I was wearing a dress—but for the first time, I was out.
And I was just getting started.