Kaido stood in front of the door to his empty classroom, the Curator’s voice lingering in his mind “Go back to where it all began.” His hands clenched into fists as the anger surged. The thought of his classmates being chosen, blessed, and given powers, made his stomach turn. How had they been taken while he was left behind? He didn’t care about their destiny or their heroics. He just wanted what they had.

Power.

He opened the door and stepped inside. The classroom was eerily silent, the desks and chairs scattered as if frozen in the middle of chaos. Papers littered the floor, but at the room’s center, Kaido saw it, a seam in space time.

A tear in the very fabric of reality shimmered like a fragile thread, barely noticeable unless you looked for it. This was where it all happened. This was where they had left him behind.

His jaw clenched as he walked toward the seam, determination flaring in his chest.

This is where it ends, he thought. I’ll force my way in.

With a low growl, Kaido grabbed hold of the tear. His muscles strained as he gripped it, his hands pulling at the fabric of reality itself. His strength surged, and with a savage roar, he ripped it open.

The seam tore like paper, widening into a gaping hole of swirling light. The air around him crackled with power, and before Kaito could react, he was pulled inside.

Everything spun, colors blurring as the world twisted and shifted. Kaido’s stomach churned, and his vision blanked as he fell through the void. Then, with a harsh thud, he landed.

He was no longer in the classroom.

Kaido found himself in a grand throne room, more magnificent than anything he had ever seen. Gleaming marble floors stretched endlessly beneath him, while golden columns reached toward a ceiling. The entire room shimmered with a cold, distant light, like something from a dream. A dream with no warmth, no life.

At the far end of the room sat a woman.

She was beautiful, radiant even, with golden hair going down her back and violet eyes that glowed like amethysts. Her perfect, cruel smile froze the blood in his veins. She was like a goddess. She didn’t move from her throne. She didn’t need to. Her presence dominated the room.

“So, the forgotten one arrives,” she said, her voice with a mocking sweetness.

“How amusing.”

Kaido’s anger flared. He had torn his way here, forced his way into this world. He deserved to be here just as much as his classmates. “I came for the blessing,” he said, his voice shaking but firm. “The same one you gave to the others.”

The goddess tilted her head slightly, her smile widening into something more cruel, more sinister. “You?” she asked, her voice dripping with disdain. “You think you deserve my blessing?”

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Kaido clenched his fists. “I wasn’t chosen, but I forced my way here. I proved I’m just as strong.”

The goddess’s laughter rang through the hall, soft but biting, like a blade pressed against his skin. “You think tearing a hole between worlds makes you worthy?” She stood, descending from her throne with an ethereal grace, her eyes never leaving him. “You were left behind because you are nothing. You have no potential, no value.”

Kaido’s fists trembled, anger and frustration surging. “I’ve proven I’m strong enough. I deserve the chance.”

The goddess stopped in front of him, her presence towering over him, her gaze filled with contempt. “You deserve nothing.” Her words were cold, final. “I will not waste my power on something so pitiful.”

Before Kaido could respond, she raised her hand. With a snap of her fingers, the world around him twisted, and he was gone.

The throne room vanished, and Kaido fell.

When he hit the ground, the force knocked the wind from his lungs. He gasped, struggling to regain his breath as he pushed himself to his feet, his surroundings coming into focus.

He was in a forest. But not just any forest, this place was twisted, unnatural. The air was thick with the stench of rot and decay, and the tree branches clawed at the sky like skeletal fingers. A dense fog clung to the ground, swirling around his legs as if trying to pull him under.

Kaido staggered to his feet, his heart racing as he tried to take in his surroundings.

Where am I?

Then he heard it.

A low growl echoed through the fog, sending a chill down his spine. He turned, and his blood ran cold as several pairs of glowing red eyes appeared from the shadows. Wolves, twisted creatures with fur matted and dark, their eyes glowing red with hunger and malice.

Kaido’s breath caught in his throat. He had no weapon, no powers, nothing. Panic surged through him, but he forced himself to think, to focus. His gaze swept the forest, desperate for anything that could help him survive.

That’s when he saw it, a glint of metal half-buried in the dirt beside a crumbling skeleton. A broken sword.

Kaido didn’t hesitate. He dashed toward the weapon just as one of the wolves lunged at him.

He wasn’t fast enough.

The beast’s jaws clamped down on his shoulder, teeth sinking into his flesh. Kaido screamed as pain exploded through his body, the wolf shaking him violently, trying to rip him apart. Blood poured from the wound, hot and thick, staining his clothes red.

But Kaido wasn’t going to die like this. Not here. Not without a fight.

With a desperate roar, he grabbed the broken sword and slashed wildly at the wolf. The blade sliced into the creature’s side, and it yelped, releasing its grip on him. Kaido stumbled back, gasping for breath as he clutched his bleeding shoulder.

The other wolves were closing in, their growls low and menacing, their eyes locked on him.

Kaido’s vision blurred from the pain, but he forced himself to stand. His hands trembled as he gripped the broken sword, his mind screaming at him to keep fighting. He had come too far to die here. He wasn’t going to be another forgotten corpse in this cursed forest.

The wolves circled him, their glowing eyes watching, waiting for the kill.

Another wolf lunged. Kaido swung the sword with all his strength, the blade catching the creature in the neck. It let out a strangled yelp before collapsing to the ground, dead.

But there was no time to rest. The alpha, larger than the others, its fur black as night, its eyes burning with hatred, stalked forward. It growled, low and deep, its body tense as it prepared to strike.

Kaido’s body screamed in protest, his shoulder burning, his muscles weak from blood loss. But he gritted his teeth, raising the broken sword one last time. He couldn’t stop now. He had to survive. He had to fight.

The alpha charged.

Kaido moved on instinct, sidestepping the beast and driving the sword into its chest with all the strength he had left. The blade sank deep, and the wolf let out a final, howl before crumpling to the ground, dead.

Kaido stood there, panting, blood pouring from his wounds. His body trembled, exhaustion pulling him down. His vision blurred, darkness creeping in.

He had survived.

But just barely.

The last thing Kaido felt before the world went black was the cold, hard ground beneath him as he collapsed.