Chapter 1: The End and the Beginning
The sky burned with fire. A massive asteroid, a harbinger of destruction, tore through the heavens, its monstrous form casting a shadow over the trembling earth. The world screamed—people ran, buildings crumbled, and the air was thick with the scent of death.
Yet, in the midst of the chaos, Nihal had only one thought: Saria.
He ran through the streets, dodging falling debris and the anguished cries of the doomed. He found her standing where they had promised to meet, her eyes filled with fear, her hands trembling. Without hesitation, he pulled her into his arms, holding her close, breathing in her presence as if it were the last time.
“I swear,” he whispered, his voice shaking. “I will never leave you… even after death.”
A deafening explosion. A blinding light. Then—nothing.
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Nihal gasped, his lungs burning as he sucked in a breath of unfamiliar air. He opened his eyes to a vast, glowing expanse—a realm bathed in ethereal light, untouched by time.
He blinked, struggling to comprehend. The asteroid had hit. Everything should have been gone. Yet, he was standing here, alive.
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“Saria!” he called out, his voice echoing into the endless horizon.
And then, he saw her.
She stood before him, radiant as ever. Relief surged through him, but before he could speak, a voice interrupted.
“You made it.”
Nihal turned sharply. A figure draped in ancient robes stood before them. His presence was commanding, his piercing gaze unreadable. Around them, others stirred—survivors? Or something else entirely?
“Where are we?” Nihal demanded.
“This is the Conductor’s Realm,” the figure said. “You are in-between. A world where life and death no longer exist as you know them.”
Before Nihal could question further, a scream tore through the silence.
One of the survivors tried to run—tried to leave—but in an instant, a being clad in dark armor appeared, its blade slicing through the man’s form. There was no blood, no body left behind—just emptiness, as if he had never existed.
“None may leave,” the Conductor said coldly.
Fear coiled in Nihal’s stomach. He reached for Saria’s hand, gripping it tightly. Whatever this place was, whatever was happening—he would not lose her.
They sat together, holding onto the only certainty they had—each other.
Then, everything turned dark.
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Nihal woke up in a town—a town that shouldn’t exist.
The sky was clear, the people smiling, living as if nothing had ever happened. But something was wrong. There was no technology, no memory of the world before.
And worst of all—no one recognized him.
His friends, people he had known his whole life, walked past him like a stranger. Their memories had been wiped.
But Nihal wasn’t like them.
He remembered.
And he would find the truth—no matter what it took.
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Chapter 1 Ends.