At North Ridge High School, Kai Renford preferred one thing above all:
Not being noticed.
He sat in the back of the classroom, blended into crowds, and dodged drama like it was an Olympic sport. He wanted a peaceful, quiet life.
But fate didn't care.
One late evening, Kai was walking home when he heard a scream.
His classmate Lina Hart, daughter of a millionaire, was being dragged into a van by masked martial artists.
Kai sighed.
Why does trouble always happen near me.
He didn't step in immediately. He let them think he wasn't a threat.
Then when one of them turned his back
Boom.
Kai moved.
Before the kidnappers understood what was happening, Kai had already defeated 10 martial artists, then 10 more, moving faster than their eyes could track.
Lina was rescued.
Her father called the police.
Reporters came.
People shouted his name.
Kai hated every second.
So he ran into the woods and whispered to himself:
"I need more power… I need more power… I need more
He didn't see the truck.
Kai opened his eyes in a different world, in a baby's body.
He was now Cale Vermillion, son of a swordsman noble house.
His little sister, Aria, was five. She adored him instantly.
One year passed.
Two.
Three.
Even as a child, Cale tried to train in secret. He wanted to be strong enough to survive but still remain a background character.
At night, while the mansion slept, he pushed his limits alone.
He sharpened wooden swords.
Practiced footwork.
Meditated for hours.
On his sixth birthday, Cale went into the forest to train.
He encountered a group of bandits surrounding a girl.
She looked like an elf, unconscious, her body glowing faintly almost like she carried a great destiny.
Cale defeated all the bandits alone, moving like a storm.
He carried the girl to an abandoned house in the forest.
When she woke up, confused, he lied:
"You were cursed by an organization called The Demon Organization."
There was no such thing. He just didn't want complications.
To keep the lie going, he created a fake group:
Shadow Nexus
A mysterious, hidden organization that "saved cursed people."
Over the next month, he found six more girls who had strange conditions, and helped them too.
He even gave each of them small powers, using techniques he invented.
Somehow, they all believed in him.
Years passed.
Cale trained Aria, purposely letting her win so he could stay in the background.
But secretly, he grew unbelievably powerful.
When Aria turned 12, she left for the Magic Academy.
Three years later, Cale followed.
He met two new friends losers, weak, bullied. Perfect background companions.
But then a boy confessed to the princess of the kingdom.
She rejected him publicly. The crowd stared.
Cale sighed, stepped forward, and said,
"Princess Lyra, will you be my girlfriend?"
He expected her to say no, so he could run away and remain invisible.
She said yes.
The entire school exploded with rumors.
A week later, Cale and Princess Lyra boarded a magic train.
Halfway through the trip she was kidnapped by an evil scientist who wanted her blood for experiments.
Her older sister, Princess Seraphina, believed Cale was involved.
Cale, meanwhile, was genuinely confused.
He thought Lyra and the others were just role-playing quests with him.
But underground, beneath the city
The Demon Organization the real one appeared.
Cale's own group, Shadow Nexus, fought against smaller branches of the Demon Organization to rescue Lyra.
Cale stayed at his house, thinking they were "playing along."
Until
A Demon Organization officer cornered Lyra.
He smirked. "You're not leaving."
A voice echoed from the shadows.
"Who said she was alone?"
Cale stepped out, eyes calm, sword on his back.
He thought this was still just an act.
They clashed for two minutes blades flashing, sparks flying.
Cale sighed.
"This game is pretty fun."
He activated his secret sword technique:
I Am Atomic Sword.
A massive blast erupted, carving a crater into the underground chamber and punching a hole into the city above.
Cale stood in the smoke, confused.
"…Oops."
Lyra was found by her sister shortly after.
One week later came the Magic Academy Tournament.
Aria, Cale's sister, took Rank 1 immediately.
Cale… acted like a background character, cheering from the crowd, pretending to be weak.
But everyone who knew him felt it:
A storm was hiding behind that smile.