Pain.
That was the first thing Arin Veyl felt.
Not sharp.
Not sudden.
But… heavy.
Like his entire body had been dropped into a world that didn't want him.
His eyes snapped open.
The sky was wrong.
Fragments of blue drifted overhead—like shattered glass suspended in midair. Between them, something darker pulsed… a void that swallowed light itself.
"…What… is that…?"
Arin's voice came out dry.
His throat burned as if he hadn't spoken in days.
He pushed himself up slowly, palms pressing into cold ground.
Not concrete.
Not grass.
Something in between.
Rough. Uneven. Almost like… broken stone fused with dirt.
His head throbbed.
Memories flickered.
A street.
A phone screen.
A notification.
Then—
Nothing.
"…I was… somewhere…"
The thought slipped away like water through his fingers.
A sudden gust of wind swept across the land.
Except—
It didn't feel like wind.
It felt… wrong.
Arin froze.
The air shimmered.
For a split second, the world around him flickered—like a corrupted video struggling to load.
And then—
It snapped back.
"…No."
He shook his head.
"I'm imagining things."
A distant scream cut through the silence.
Arin's body stiffened.
That wasn't imagination.
He turned.
Far across the broken terrain, beyond jagged rocks and fractured land—
A figure ran.
"No—NO—!"
Behind them—
Something followed.
At first, Arin thought it was a shadow.
Then it moved.
Too fast.
Too… unnatural.
Its body twisted with every step, stretching and snapping like reality couldn't decide what it was supposed to be.
Limbs elongated.
Then compressed.
Its form flickered in and out of existence.
"…What the hell is that…?"
The person tripped.
Hit the ground hard.
"HELP—!"
The creature lunged.
Arin didn't think.
"HEY!"
The shout left his mouth before he could stop it.
The creature froze.
Its head—or what should have been its head—turned toward him.
And Arin felt it.
Not fear.
Something deeper.
Like being seen by something that didn't belong in the same reality as him.
"…Bad idea."
The words barely left his lips before it moved.
Gone.
Then—
Right in front of him.
Arin's eyes widened.
"—!"
The creature didn't run.
It skipped distance.
One moment far.
Next moment—
Close enough to kill him.
Its body glitched violently, edges breaking apart into fragments of darkness and light.
Arin stumbled back.
His heart slammed against his chest.
"Move—move!"
But his legs didn't listen.
The creature raised a distorted limb.
And for a split second—
Time slowed.
Not the world.
Not the creature.
Just—
Him.
Everything became distant.
Muted.
And then—
That voice.
[Echo Detected]
[Type: Unknown]
[Status: Unstable]
"What…?"
The words didn't come from outside.
They echoed inside his mind.
The creature's limb descended—
And Arin thought something impossible.
Not consciously.
Not intentionally.
Just—
Instinct.
"…Stop."
The world obeyed.
Silence.
The creature froze mid-attack.
Its distorted limb hung inches from Arin's face.
Fragments of its body hovered in the air, suspended like broken pixels.
Even the wind had stopped.
Arin's breath caught.
"…I…"
His hands trembled.
"I did that…?"
The air felt cold.
Too cold.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The stillness didn't feel natural.
It felt forced.
Like reality itself was being held together by something fragile.
And then—
Cracks.
Not in the ground.
Not in the sky.
In the moment itself.
Tiny fractures spread through the frozen world.
Arin's chest tightened.
"Wait—"
The cracks widened.
And reality—
Snapped.
Everything surged forward at once.
The creature's attack completed—
But its body didn't.
Its head—
Was gone.
Erased.
Not cut.
Not destroyed.
Just—
Missing.
Arin staggered back, gasping.
"What… what did I do…?"
The creature's body collapsed.
Glitching violently as it fell apart into fragments of light and darkness.
Gone.
Silence returned.
But it wasn't the same silence.
Now it felt…
Watching.
Arin swallowed hard.
His hands were shaking uncontrollably.
"I didn't touch it…"
His gaze dropped to his fingers.
For a brief second—
They flickered.
Like static.
"…No."
He clenched his fist.
"I'm not… whatever that was."
A soft sound came from behind him.
Arin turned.
The person he had tried to save was still there.
Curled on the ground.
Shaking.
"…Hey."
Arin approached slowly.
"I think it's gone."
No response.
"…Are you okay?"
He reached out—
"DON'T TOUCH ME!"
The person recoiled violently.
Eyes wide with terror.
Not relief.
Fear.
Directed at him.
Arin froze.
"…What?"
"You—YOU DID THAT!"
"I—I saved you—"
"NO!"
The person scrambled backward.
"You erased it!"
Arin's breath hitched.
"…Erased…?"
The word felt heavy.
"You're not normal…"
The person's voice trembled.
"You're one of them…"
"One of… what?"
But they didn't answer.
They ran.
Leaving him alone.
Again.
Arin stood there in silence.
The broken sky above him.
The fractured world around him.
"…What is this place…?"
No answer came.
Only the faint hum of something unseen.
Something vast.
Watching.
Far beyond the shattered sky—
Beyond the fragments of reality—
Beyond what should exist—
Something stirred.
Not a creature.
Not a god.
Something older.
Something that did not belong to any world.
Its gaze turned.
Focused.
On him.
"Anomaly detected."
"Reality deviation confirmed."
"Subject… Arin Veyl."
A pause.
Then—
"Begin observation."
Back in the broken world—
Arin took a step forward.
Unaware.
Unprepared.
And already—
Too dangerous to exist.