Prologue: Where It All Began
Huff... Huff...
Zakuya stood frozen, his breath caught in his throat.
"This... this can't be real..."
The air was thick with smoke and static. Cracks split the ground around him. Buildings—no, entire blocks—were reduced to rubble.
Before him lay the severed limb of something not human. Massive. Twisted. Dripping with black ichor that hissed as it touched the earth.
In the sky—hovering like a god of war—was a single figure, silhouetted against the crimson sunset. Their coat billowed in the wind. Eyes glowing. The rest of the monster’s colossal body writhed in pain above.
BOOM!
Another shockwave rippled through the air, knocking Zakuya back a step. He barely noticed. His wide eyes trembled, reflecting the impossible battle unfolding before him.
"Am I dreaming? No... this is real."
He clenched his fists, legs shaking.
Everything changed that day.
The world he thought he knew—peaceful, ordinary—was shattered in an instant.
And so was his fate.
Chapter 1: Gadget
“Hmm…”
In the quiet stillness of night, a young man with messy black hair and deep black eyes sat alone in his room, his face softly lit by the glow of his computer screen. He was watching anime—his favorite escape from reality.
Yawn.
He let out a tired breath as the ending theme rolled in. The episode had finished, and so had his energy.
“What time is it…?” he murmured, eyes drifting to the corner of the screen.
4:00 AM.
“It’s already 4… I need to sleep,” he sighed.
With a sluggish hand, he shut down his computer. The room immediately dimmed, now lit only by the soft blue glow of his phone as he climbed into bed. He lay down, phone in hand, mind still buzzing. Out of habit, he opened his social media feed.
“Hmm… she’s so beautiful… and cute...” he whispered, staring at a picture of a girl—amber hair, school uniform, black shoulder bag. She was smiling brightly, unaware of the pain her memory brought.
“Too bad she rejected me…”
His voice cracked ever so slightly. A tear welled up in his eye, shimmering in the faint light of the screen. The image of her lingered, cruel and kind all at once. Slowly, his vision blurred as sleep pulled him under.
“I wish… the characters in the anime I watched were real…”
Those were his final thoughts before slipping into slumber.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A scene played in his dreams—no, a memory, twisted and cruel.
“Please… go out with me!” the young man pleaded, on his knees in front of her.
Her eyes widened. “I’m sorry! I can’t date a guy who watches anime!” she shouted, then ran away without looking back.
He remained kneeling, frozen, until slowly rising and walking home. That night, tears didn’t stop flowing. And from that day on, he didn’t return to school—for two long weeks.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The next day
Eyes slowly opened. The room was dim.
“…12 PM already?”
He groaned, rubbing his face and stumbling toward the bathroom. Cold water splashed across his skin as he washed away the fog of sleep.
Yawn.
He reached for his toothbrush, not knowing that today… his ordinary life was about to change forever.
After waking up late, Zakuya felt the familiar craving for his favorite unhealthy snacks. He threw on a hoodie, slipped into his worn-out sneakers, and headed out to the convenience store.
He returned minutes later, plastic bags in hand—packed with energy drinks, soda, and enough junk food to survive a zombie apocalypse.
But on his way back home, something unusual caught his eye.
“Hm?” Zakuya stopped in his tracks. “What’s that…?”
A small box lay on the sidewalk, perfectly centered, as if waiting just for him. He glanced around—left, right, behind him. The street was empty.
No one.
He bent down, picked up the box, and tilted his head.
“Did someone drop this?” he thought. But there were no signs of an owner. After a brief pause, he decided to take it with him.
Still, as he walked home, he felt something… off. The air felt heavier. The shadows of the trees swayed unnaturally. But he shook the feeling off and kept walking.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Back in his room, Zakuya dropped the mysterious box onto his bed and opened the fridge, stuffing it with the drinks and snacks he'd bought. He booted up his PC, flopped into his chair, and immediately opened his browser.
“I need to catch up on that anime from last night…” he muttered.
He typed the title into the search bar.
Nothing.
“…Weird.”
He tried again. Then again. Different keywords. Different sites.
Still nothing.
“What the? Why can’t I find it?”
He kept searching for thirty minutes straight—then thirty more. The anime he'd watched last night… had seemingly vanished from existence.
His brows furrowed in frustration.
“I just watched it. I remember everything about the episode. The fight scene, the voice lines… What the hell is happening?”
He unplugged his phone from the charger.
“Luckily,” he said with a sigh of relief, “I downloaded every episode they released.”
He smiled and hit play, the opening theme bringing him a small dose of comfort. As the anime played on his phone, something in his peripheral vision caught his attention.
The box.
“Oh right… that weird thing.”
He stood up and walked over to the bed. The box sat there, unassuming yet somehow ominous. He opened it slowly.
Inside was a strange object—a small, metallic sphere, no bigger than a tennis ball. On one side, it had a yellow button.
“What is this?” Zakuya whispered, holding it up to eye level.
He turned it around in his hands, inspecting every detail. It didn’t look like anything he’d ever seen before. Certainly not a toy. Maybe some kind of tech?
Bzzt.
His phone buzzed with a notification.
He paused the anime and checked the message.
It was from his friend.
“Yo, can you help me train my magic again later?”
Zakuya blinked.
“…What?”
He quickly typed back:
“What are you saying? What do you mean ‘training’? And what do you mean ‘magic’? Are you high or something?”
He stared at the message thread, his heart now racing slightly. The anime vanishing. The strange box. Now this.
Something strange was beginning.
And Zakuya was right in the middle of it.
Zakuya continued inspecting the strange sphere, his fingers gently tracing the smooth surface. The yellow button in its center pulsed faintly, as if it were alive.
Bzzt.
Another message.
He grabbed his phone and checked the reply from his friend.
“You’re the one who’s high, Zakuya. You literally helped me train my magic before summer break.”
Zakuya’s brow furrowed. Confusion twisted in his gut. He knew his friend. They’d hung out, sure—but magic?
“No way,” Zakuya muttered. “This has to be a joke.”
He tapped out a response.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m sure you don’t have magic, and I definitely didn’t help you train it. Stop messing with me.”
Just as he hit send, his thumb accidentally pressed the yellow button on the sphere.
Click.
A small, circular hole opened at the top of the device. Before Zakuya could react—
FWOOOM—!
A violent force erupted from the hole, and in an instant, Zakuya was sucked into the sphere like a piece of paper caught in a tornado.
“Wha—AAAAAAHHHHH!”
His scream echoed into darkness as he plummeted through an endless void. It felt like falling through a tunnel at light speed—his body weightless, his senses spinning. Wind roared in his ears. His mind reeled in panic.
And then…
Silence.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Zakuya’s eyes snapped open.
He was standing.
Trees rustled softly around him, vibrant flowers swayed in the breeze, and birds chirped cheerfully somewhere above. The sky was a soft blue with drifting white clouds.
“…Where… am I?” he asked aloud, his voice trembling.
He turned in a slow circle, scanning the unfamiliar forest. Nothing about this place resembled home. Not the trees. Not the air. Not even the gravity felt the same.
“Where the hell am I?” he repeated, more urgently.
He began walking, pushing through the grass and leaves. That’s when it happened.
BOOM!
An explosion echoed in the distance, followed by a shockwave that sent a gust of wind rushing past him.
“W-What was that?!”
Another explosion, louder this time.
Zakuya’s gaze darted toward the sky—and there, amidst the clouds, he saw it.
A glowing slash wave arced through the air and slammed into the ground just meters in front of him.
KRAAACK—!
The earth cracked beneath the impact, throwing dust and debris into the air. Zakuya froze, eyes wide, heart pounding in his chest.
“What… the hell…”
He couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. His brain struggled to register what he had just seen.
A massive shadow descended from above and crashed into the earth with thunderous force. The impact sent tremors through the ground. Zakuya raised his arms to shield his face from the cloud of dust erupting around him.
When the dust began to clear, he saw it.
A human figure, floating in midair—small, agile, glowing with power.
Then his eyes shifted to the ground.
What had fallen was not a creature. It was a massive hunk of flesh, grotesque and steaming. Bigger than a house. Its flesh writhed and twitched, like it still clung to life.
Zakuya’s knees buckled.
That’s when he heard it.
A roar.
But not just any roar.
It was familiar. A sound he’d heard countless times in anime battles. Deep. Primal. Terrifying. And then it clicked.
“No way…” he whispered. “That roar… That’s from…”
He looked up again.
High above, the human figure was fighting something colossal, something monstrous—the source of that terrifying roar. The combat was so intense, so fast, that Zakuya couldn’t even tell if the fighter was male or female.
But one thing was certain.
This… was not his world anymore.
Seconds later, Zakuya watched in awe as the airborne figure delivered a brutal kick to the monstrous creature. The impact sent it hurtling back toward the ground—straight toward Zakuya.
He couldn’t react.
BOOM—!!
The monster crashed into the earth in front of him, and the force of the impact launched Zakuya off his feet. He hit the ground hard, the air knocked out of his lungs. Dust erupted into the sky like a sandstorm.
“G-Guh—!”
Zakuya coughed, shielding his face as he struggled to stand. Through the thick cloud, a shadow descended.
A man.
He landed just a few feet ahead of Zakuya, the force of his landing sending a minor shockwave through the ground. He wore a light green jacket, and his face was hidden behind a white mask—one that bore an eerie, permanent smile.
The masked man turned his gaze toward Zakuya briefly, then to the monster that was slowly rising from the crater.
ROOOOOAR!!
The beast bellowed with fury, its grotesque form writhing as it glared at the masked warrior.
The man didn’t flinch. He adjusted his stance, entering a fighting position.
Then, in the blink of an eye—he vanished.
“Huh?!”
Zakuya spun his head, trying to follow him—but the man was nowhere to be seen.
BOOM!
The monster roared again, stumbling backward as if struck by an invisible force. Then, just as suddenly, the masked man reappeared in front of Zakuya, landing without a sound.
Zakuya could hardly breathe.
The monster growled, its body trembling. It opened its massive jaws, and within them, a blinding light began to build—a glowing sphere of destructive energy.
It was charging a beam.
The masked man turned slightly, watching the energy grow stronger.
Zakuya’s panic spiked. He frantically looked around for a place to hide—but there was nothing.
That’s when he noticed it.
The small sphere. It was still in his hand.
“…This thing again?!”
Realizing he had nowhere to run, Zakuya dropped to a crouch and wrapped his arms around his head, trembling.
“I’m such an idiot…” he whispered. “Like this is going to help… I’m gonna die…”
As he peeked through his arms, he saw the masked man raise his axe—a massive weapon that materialized in his hands like it was born of his will. He held it with a single hand and braced himself.
The beam launched.
ZWWOOOOOM—!!
But just before it reached them, the masked man swung his axe in a clean arc. A strange light erupted from the blade—fiery, yet elegant. The flames were pink and light green, burning with an otherworldly glow.
The moment the axe struck the incoming beam—it split the attack, redirecting it into the sky.
Zakuya stared in shock. “He… deflected it?!”
The man didn’t wait. He launched himself forward with such speed that, to Zakuya, he seemed to vanish once again.
CRACK—!
The worm-like monster let out a violent screech as it was struck, its grotesque form slamming into the trees behind Zakuya. Zakuya spun around and saw it writhing through the debris, only to be assaulted again by a blur of green and pink light.
Dust and wind swirled violently as the two titans clashed.
Then—out of the haze—Zakuya saw the creature lunge with its jaws wide open.
“WATCH OUT!!” Zakuya shouted instinctively.
But the beast bit down.
It caught the masked warrior in its mouth—and for a moment, all was silent.
Then…
SHRAAAAAAANG—!!
Two glowing lights—pink and green—erupted from the creature’s body.
Zakuya shielded his eyes. “Wha—?!”
The beast froze in midair.
A second later, it split into massive chunks, its body severed cleanly into pieces. The remains of the monster plummeted to the earth.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Each piece landed with a deafening crash, throwing smoke and shockwaves in all directions. Zakuya shielded himself again, his body trembling from the intensity.
When the dust cleared…
Thud.
The masked man landed beside him.
Zakuya looked up, just in time to see the giant axe vanish from the man’s hand like smoke. The stranger turned to face him briefly.
Then turned away.
“You’d better get out of here, kid,” the masked man said, his voice calm, almost lazy. “It’s dangerous here.”
Zakuya’s legs were still shaking, but he forced himself to stand.
“W-wait!”
The man paused.
Zakuya took a deep breath. His fists trembled, but his eyes burned with a strange fire—fueled by awe, adrenaline, and something else he couldn’t name yet.
“C-could y-you p-please t-take m-me w-where y-you a-are h-heading… a-and t-train me?! I want to become a… a Kingdom Protector!”
He closed his eyes tight, shouting with all his might.
Silence followed.
Then…
“Sure,” the man said with a shrug, slipping his hand into the pocket of his jacket.
And just like that—Zakuya’s new life began.
*End Of Chapter 1*