Raze was born in the neighborhoods that don't appear on maps.
Places where the sun only comes shyly,
where houses cling together like bodies in a mass grave,
and where hunger is not an accident… but a way of life.
He never knew a father.
His mother never knew him.
The first thing he learned in life wasn't his name, but how to stay silent when hungry.
The orphanage that took him in was less a refuge and more a cage.
Its walls were gray, its air damp, its rules harsh to cruelty.
But what Raze hated most…
was the way the caretakers looked at him.
A look that said: This child is a problem.
He stole.
Not because he loved stealing,
but because hunger doesn't understand morality.
Every time he came back, he carried supplies:
bread, fruit, milk cartons, sometimes meat.
And every time… he was called.
"Where did you get this?"
"Did you steal again?"
"Do you know how much trouble you bring on us?"
He would listen quietly.
Shake his head.
Then smile.
A small, pure smile. Not like a thief's smile.
They scolded him even more for that smile.
Because they didn't understand it.
They didn't understand that Raze wasn't mocking…
he was finally full.
There was only one girl he treated differently.
Camellia.
An orphan like him,
but she hadn't learned silence yet.
She was weak,
terrified of everything,
and whenever a voice rose in the orphanage… she trembled.
Raze watched her from afar.
Then he started stealing just for her.
The best food.
The finest bread.
Rare sweets.
And more than that…
he stole clothes for her.
Not ordinary clothes,
but the ones behind glass displays,
beautiful girls' dresses
that a child from the poor neighborhoods shouldn't even dream of.
On some nights…
he even brought small jewelry.
A ring.
A necklace.
Something that shined.
Camellia would cry every time.
And he… would smile.
"Don't be afraid," he said.
"What I stole was never theirs to begin with."
She didn't fully understand.
But she felt safe.
Raze grew up watching the world from below.
He always stayed away from the giant stone stairs.
He did not climb.
He did not try.
He only watched.
He watched the boys and girls turning sixteen.
He watched their tight faces.
Their trembling feet.
The pressure that crushed them as they climbed.
Some fell.
Some screamed.
Some… never returned.
Raze clenched his fists every time.
Not from fear.
But from envy.
At night, when everyone slept, he would go out.
To the nearby forests.
To the rocky valleys.
He trained like a madman.
Running until his lungs tore.
Climbing trees until his hands bled.
Carrying stones, pushing them, falling, getting up.
He knew.
The world had taught him early that the discs do not spare the weak.
Luck favors those who arrive fast.
He wanted to be fast.
Strong.
Different.
He wanted…
to change his fate.
One night, Camellia found him training.
His body bruised.
His breaths ragged.
And his eyes… shining with something strange.
"Why are you doing this to yourself?" she asked.
He wiped sweat from his forehead and smiled.
"Because when I climb…" he said quietly,
"I won't come back the same."
She didn't understand.
And he didn't know…
that the world would take those words
and turn them into a bloody mockery.
Raze was not a hero.
Not smart.
Not special.
He was just a child
who decided to smile at a world
that only knew how to crush.
And in that smile…
everything began.