Rain fell softly against the cracked window.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Ethan Kurose sat quietly at his desk, his uniform slightly damp, his fingers clenched tightly around a pen he wasn't using.
Laughter filled the classroom.
Not happy laughter.
Cruel laughter.
"Oi, Kurose."
He didn't look up.
He already knew.
A shadow fell over his desk.
"Did you hear me?"
Still, he said nothing.
A hand slammed onto his table.
BAM!
His pen rolled off.
The class went silent for a second… then a few students snickered.
"Acting deaf again?" the boy sneered.
His name was Ryuji Takahashi.
Rich. Popular. Untouchable.
Behind him stood his usual group—well-dressed, smiling like this was entertainment.
Ethan slowly bent down to pick up his pen.
Wrong move.
A foot slammed into his ribs.
THUD.
His body crashed to the floor.
"Pick it up faster, idiot."
Laughter.
No one moved to help.
Not the teacher.
Not the students.
No one.
Ethan stayed on the ground for a moment, his breath shaky.
"…It's fine," he told himself.
"It's always been like this."
🏠 After School
The rain had stopped.
Ethan walked home slowly, each step heavy, his body aching.
But the moment he reached the small apartment door—
He paused.
Then gently opened it.
"I'm home."
A voice responded immediately.
"Welcome back!"
A girl ran toward him, smiling brightly.
She looked nothing like the cruel world outside.
Her name was Hana Kurose.
His younger sister.
His only family.
She noticed instantly.
"…They did it again, didn't they?"
Ethan looked away.
"It's nothing."
Her expression tightened.
"I'll go to the school—"
"No."
His voice was firm.
For once.
"They won't do anything."
Silence.
She bit her lip.
"…Then I will."
🌑 The Breaking Point
The next day—
Everything changed.
Ethan was late to school.
Not because he overslept.
But because—
He found the door open.
"…Hana?"
No response.
A bad feeling crawled up his spine.
Then—
Voices.
Inside.
Laughing.
Familiar voices.
His heart dropped.
He ran in.
And froze.
Ryuji Takahashi stood in the middle of the room.
Holding something.
No—
Someone.
Hana.
Her body hung limply in his grip.
Blood.
Too much blood.
"No… no…"
Ethan's voice broke.
Ryuji smiled.
"Oh. You're back."
Like this was normal.
Like this was a joke.
"She came to confront us," one of them laughed.
"Brave little thing."
Ethan's legs gave out.
He crawled forward.
"Hana…? Hana…!"
No response.
Her eyes… empty.
Something inside him shattered.
Not cracked.
Not broke.
Shattered.
"Why?" he whispered.
Ryuji shrugged.
"She was annoying."
Then he tossed her body aside like trash.
Ethan screamed.
⚖️ Justice That Never Came
Police reports.
Court hearings.
Evidence.
Witnesses.
Money.
Connections.
Influence.
"Due to lack of sufficient evidence…"
"They are free to go."
Ethan stood there.
Listening.
Numb.
Empty.
Broken.
Across the room—
Ryuji smirked.
That day—
Ethan learned something.
This world didn't protect the weak.
It fed on them.
🌌 The End of the World
Days passed.
Then weeks.
Ethan stopped going to school.
Stopped eating properly.
Stopped feeling.
He sat in darkness.
Alone.
Then one day—
The sky changed.
People noticed it first.
"Why is the sky… pale?"
It wasn't blue.
It wasn't gray.
It was—
Empty.
Like something had erased it.
At a research facility across the city—
Scientists panicked.
"Energy levels are unstable!"
"Shut it down!"
"It's too late—!"
CRACK.
The sky split open.
A tear.
No—
A wound.
And from it—
Something came out.
Creatures.
Monsters.
Unnatural.
They fell from the sky like rain.
And began killing.
Everyone.
Screams filled the city.
Buildings collapsed.
Blood painted the streets.
Ethan stepped outside slowly.
Watching.
Emotionless.
"…So this is how it ends."
A creature lunged at him.
He didn't move.
Didn't run.
Didn't care.
Then—
DING.
[Constellations have descended.]
The world froze.
Just like that.
[Humanity has been selected.]
[A System has been granted.]
Blue screens appeared before everyone.
[You are now a Player.]
[Level: 1 | Rank: F]
People gasped.
Hope.
For the first time since the sky broke—
Hope appeared.
But Ethan…
Just stared.
More messages appeared.
[12 Constellations are choosing their candidates…]
Names began to glow above people.
Light surrounded them.
Power flowed.
Chosen.
Saved.
Ethan waited.
Seconds passed.
Nothing.
"…Of course."
He laughed weakly.
Even now—
He was unwanted.
Then—
A glitch.
The blue screen flickered.
Turned black.
Something else appeared.
Something…
Wrong.
[ERROR…]
[Unauthorized System Detected]
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
[Initializing… Silent System]
"…What?"
[No Constellation Found.]
[Independent Authority Granted.]
The air around him changed.
He felt it.
Something deeper than power.
Something…
Watching him.
[Welcome, Ethan Kurose.]
[Your story will not be observed…]
A pause.
[It will be rewritten.]
For the first time since his sister died—
Ethan's eyes changed.
Not empty.
Not broken.
Burning.
"…Ryuji Takahashi."
The monsters roared.
The world burned.
The sky remained broken.
And in the middle of it all—
A boy who lost everything…
Finally had something.
[First Quest Activated]
Survive.