Kelvinzao

Yui was born weak in a world ruled by strength. At Arcanum Academy, where future champions train to become rulers of realms, he's the only student without a rank, power, or respect — Rank 0.

But Yui doesn’t care about being liked.
He doesn’t care about rules.
He doesn’t even care about being a hero.

He has one goal:
Become the strongest in the multiverse.

Driven by the desire to never lose again, Yui seeks power—any power—to rise above magic, bloodlines, and fate itself. His enemies include arrogant elites, hidden monsters, and even the mysterious World Ranker who sits at the top of all existence.

What no one knows? Yui holds a terrifying ability:
the longer a battle lasts, the stronger he becomes.

From the lowest rank to the highest throne, Yui’s path is soaked in trials, betrayals, and impossible battles. But he won’t stop until the entire multiverse knows his name.

From Rank 0… to Rank God.

Rank 0 yui

The next morning, a notice appeared on the academy gates.

No trumpet. No summoning bell. Just a parchment nailed into the ironwood frame.

It bore the seal of the Headmaster's Office.

MANDATE: ONE SELECTED FIRST-YEAR STUDENT SHALL UNDERGO THE BINDING TRIAL.

TIME: MIDNIGHT. LOCATION: THE LOW CHAMBER.

Yui read it three times before looking away.

Lucen said nothing. He only stared at the parchment, fists clenched.

Down in the library's oldest wing, where dust coated forgotten grimoires and even the candles burned reluctantly, Yui found someone waiting.

A girl with silver hair and no shadow.

She sat cross-legged on the table, flipping through a blank book.

"You're early," she said without looking up.

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

The book in her lap filled with ink in real time. A single word:

"I'm not here to fight," Yui said.

"That's the problem." She shut the book. "You're here to survive. And they've decided that's not interesting enough."

By nightfall, the Low Chamber doors groaned open.

Stone walls hummed with warding runes. Above, only silence. No audience. Just watchers behind enchanted mirrors.

Kael stood at the far end, robed in black and bone. Seris was beside him, arms folded, gloves gone.

Yui stepped forward. The gates shut behind him.

A voice echoed—old, genderless, cold.

Something rose from beneath—a creature, faceless, shaped like a man but stitched from shadows. Chains coiled its limbs, anchored to stone, but they didn't restrain it.

Yui summoned the flame instantly—but this time, it didn't come white.

A flicker of the same mark Seris wore flashed across his palm, then vanished.

The shadow creature lunged—silent, brutal, fast.

Yui ducked the first strike, spun to the left, blasted it with the flame—but the fire curved. It bent around the creature and struck the wall.

"They're redirecting your power," Seris said through the mirror. "You're not supposed to win."

Yui bled. He gritted his teeth and rose again.

Yui's breath was ragged, but the fire returned—white now, laced with gold.

He leapt—dodging a chain—and drove a burst of flame into the shadow's core.

From the far mirror wall, a new voice rang out.

Yui stood in the center of the chamber, barely conscious, flame flickering around him like a shield.

He staggered, barely standing—but alive.

Later, in a hidden corridor, Seris stood alone.

She traced her gloved hand along the stone.

"He wasn't supposed to adapt," she whispered.

Behind her, the silver-haired girl from the library emerged from the shadows.

"Maybe he's not the one being tested anymore."

Far above the academy, beyond the floating towers and glass bridges, a figure in armor watched through a mirror shard.

He tapped it once, then whispered:

The shard pulsed—then cracked down the center.

The fire was quiet again. But not calm.

As if it had tasted something forbidden.

Chapter 13: “The Binding Trial” ---