Chapter 1

I was born… wrong.

At least, that's what people always said.

Emotions—those strange, fleeting things—never quite made sense to me. People cling to words like guilt, remorse, love, and joy as if they are real, tangible forces. But to me, they were just… concepts. I understood them in theory, like formulas in a textbook, but they never touched me.

Tears didn't stir my heart. Laughter didn't warm my soul.

Because of that, I was always alone. Not that I minded. Attachments were tedious, unpredictable. I had no passions, no deep desires, no dreams to chase. And yet, despite what people whispered about those like me, I never hurt anyone.

Not physically, at least.

Sure, the thoughts were there—vivid, persistent, like a movie playing on repeat in the back of my mind. But I knew the rules. Society had its expectations, and I played my part. A quiet, well-behaved boy. A polite, distant student. The model of self-restraint.

So why?

Why did my life have to end so soon?

A sharp, metallic scent filled my nostrils. Cold pavement pressed against my cheek, slick with something warm. My blood.

Pain. Distant, yet undeniable.

The truck that hit me had skidded to a stop, its driver's screams barely registering through the ringing in my ears. My limbs felt wrong—twisted, broken beyond repair.

I tried to move. Nothing.

My breath came in shallow, ragged gasps. The world around me blurred, edges fading into creeping darkness.

Was this it? Was this how my existence ended?

I didn't even get to celebrate my 18th birthday.

Seconds stretched into eternity. My thoughts slowed. The cold seeped deeper into my bones.

Then—

Ding.

A chime, clear and unnatural, echoed in my fading consciousness.

[Congratulations! You have been selected as the next Rising Star.]

A voice, smooth and melodic, filled my mind.

[Initializing Idol System… Welcome, Host!]

Idol? System? What kind of sick joke was this?

A hallucination? A final trick of a dying brain?

Then, something surged through me—foreign, searing, like fire threading through my veins. The agony of the accident vanished in an instant, replaced by… something else.

Something overwhelming.

I gasped—

And then—

I opened my eyes.