Ethan opened his eyes slowly.
The forest was quiet.
Soft morning light passed through the tall trees, breaking into thin golden lines.
Leaves moved gently in the wind. Birds were awake now, calling to each other
from branch to branch. The air felt fresh and cool.
Ethan was not on the ground.
He was sitting on a thick tree branch, his back resting against the trunk. His legs were crossed.
His hands rested calmly on his knees. His breathing was slow and deep.
He was already meditating.
Something felt different.
Ethan looked down at his arms. The deep pain from last night was gone.
The tearing pain in his muscles, the burning in his chest, the sharp ache in his legs—everything was gone. His body felt light. Not tired. Not broken.
Normal.
"…So it wasn't a dream," he whispered.
His eyes moved around.
Kael was gone.
No fire. No footsteps. No smell of blood. Only the forest, quiet and peaceful, as if nothing had happened.
For a moment, Ethan stayed silent.
Then
"Haha… haha… hahahaha."
A laugh escaped his mouth.
It was not loud. Not crazy. Just… tired. Full of meaning.
"Who would have thought," Ethan said softly, staring at the sunlight, "that I would meet Kael again."
Of course he knew him.
How could he not?
In his previous life, Kael was a name known across the world.
The man who discovered a strange fragment.
Not a circle.
Not a triangle.
Not a square.
A turtle-shaped fragment.
That discovery changed everything.
After that, fragments were no longer limited to simple shapes. New forms appeared. Complex forms. Stronger forms. Fragments with deeper meanings.
A new era was born.
And Kael was taken by the central government soon after. They called it recruitment. Research. Honor.
But Ethan knew the truth.
They wanted Kael's fragment.
They wanted to understand it. Control it.
"…It doesn't matter now," Ethan murmured.
He closed his eyes again.
Kael, at this point in time, should not be famous yet.
Which meant—
"Is he still with his clan?" Ethan thought.
Kael came from a hidden forest clan. People who lived far from cities. They prayed to fragments instead of studying them. They hated the government. Hated the Hero Association.
Traditional. Silent. Dangerous in their own way.
In Ethan's previous life, that clan was wiped out.
As far as he remembered, one member went berserk. Lost control. Killed everyone.
Then disappeared.
Ethan's brows tightened slightly.
"If that hasn't happened yet…" he thought, "…then I wait."
"And if it already happened…" his thoughts grew colder, "…then I follow him."
Ethan slowly turned his attention inward.
Into his body.
Into his fragments.
First—
A black circle.
It floated calmly in his mind. Small. Stable. Quiet.
Then—
A blue sphere.
It shimmered faintly, like water under moonlight. Also small. Also weak.
Low-level fragments.
Ethan almost laughed again.
"What an achievement," he thought dryly, "compared to my previous life."
But he didn't feel frustrated.
Not anymore.
This time, he was alive. Thinking. Choosing.
That was enough.
His focus shifted again.
The triangle.
Bright. Sharp. Clear.
Three sides.
Disorient.
Creation.
Destruction.
He felt them respond to his thoughts, like quiet beasts waiting for commands.
"First," Ethan thought, "I need to know the date."
"If I know the day… then I know everything."
He opened his eyes.
The forest stretched endlessly around him. Tall trees. Thick bushes. No signs of humans.
Ethan stood up on the branch.
He took a deep breath.
"Disorient."
Energy flowed.
His body felt light—too light.
In the next moment, he vanished.
Leaves shook violently as Ethan shot through the forest like a white blur. He leaped from tree to tree, feet barely touching branches. The world rushed past him. Wind cut against his face.
His heart beat fast, but his mind was calm.
"I'll go outside the forest," he thought. "Find a road. A town. Anything."
"Then I'll decide."
Ethan ran.
Trees blurred past him. Branches cracked under his feet. Leaves flew into the air as his body cut through the forest like a sharp wind.
He did not slow down. He did not stop.
Trees blurred past him. Branches cracked under his feet. Leaves flew into the air as his body cut through the forest like a sharp wind.
He did not slow down. He did not stop.
Minutes passed.
Then more.
Something felt wrong.
The forest was changing.
The trees grew older, thicker.
Their trunks were wide and dark, covered in deep cracks. The air felt heavy, like it was pressing down on his chest.
Even the sounds were different. No birds. No insects.
Only silence.
Ethan slowed down.
His breathing became steady again. He landed softly on the ground and looked around.
"…I should have reached the edge by now," he muttered.
He turned left.He turned left.
More trees.More trees.
Right.Right.
More trees.More trees.
His heart sank.His heart sank.
"I'm lost."
He stood still for a moment, listening.
That was when he heard it.
A scream.
"NO—WAIT—PLEASE—"
The voice was rough, filled with fear. It echoed between the trees.
Ethan's head snapped toward the sound.
Then—
Another sound.Another sound.
Heavy footsteps. Fast. Desperate.
Branches breaking. Leaves tearing.
Someone was running.
Ethan climbed onto a tree without thinking, hiding among the branches.
From above, he saw them.
A man ran through the forest, blood covering his back.
His clothes were torn.
His breathing was broken.
Behind him
Kael.
Kael was running too.
But he was crying.
"STOP—STOP—WHY—WHY DID YOU DO IT?!"
Kael's voice cracked. Tears streamed down his face as he chased the man.
"EVERYONE IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!"
The man screamed again and stumbled forward.
"IT WASN'T ME—IT WAS THE FRAGMENT—IT TOOK OVER—"
Kael roared like a wounded animal.
"I TRUSTED YOU!"
The two figures ran deeper into the forest.
Their voices faded.
Their footsteps disappeared.
Silence returned.
Ethan stared, frozen.
"…What?"
His mind felt empty.
That shouldn't have happened yet.
He closed his eyes hard.
"This is wrong," he whispered.
He opened them again.
The forest was the same.
No illusion.
No dream.
Ethan jumped down from the tree and ran in the opposite direction.
After a short distance, the trees opened up.
And he saw it.
The tribe.
Or what remained of it.
Wooden huts were broken. Some were burned. Others were smashed apart like toys. Totems carved with fragment symbols lay shattered on the ground.
Bodies were everywhere.Bodies were everywhere.
Men. Women. Elderly. Children.Men. Women. Elderly. Children.
Some lay peacefully, as if asleep.
Others
Their faces were twisted in fear.
Blood stained the soil dark red. The smell of death hung thick in the air.
Ethan stood at the edge of the village.
His chest felt tight.
"So it already happened," he said quietly.he said quietly.
He walked in.
Slowly.
Carefully.
He stepped around bodies, his eyes scanning everything. Broken weapons. Cracked fragment stones. Torn clothes.
Then he saw something shine.
Fragments.
Loose fragments.
Some were small, dull shapes. Others glowed faintly. Oval. Square. Irregular forms he had never seen before.
Ethan crouched and picked one up.
Warm.
Alive.
"These people were praying to fragments," he thought. "No wonder they had so many."
He began collecting them.
One by one.
He placed them into a small spatial pouch he found inside a broken hut.
Inside were dried food, tools, scrolls, and fragment containers.
"This place was rich," Ethan muttered.
As he moved deeper into the village, he heard something.
A weak cough.
"…h-help…"
Ethan stopped.
Behind a fallen wooden pillar lay a man.
Barely alive.
His legs were crushed.
Blood soaked the ground beneath him. His eyes were dull, but still conscious.
He saw Ethan and reached out with trembling fingers.
"P-please… help me…"
Ethan looked at him.
His face showed no emotion.
"You're not Kael," Ethan said.
The man swallowed.
"I—I know where the treasury is," he whispered quickly, panic filling his eyes. "The place where we pray to fragments… where the best ones are kept."
Ethan's eyes flickered.
"…The treasury?"
"Yes," the man said desperately. "I'll tell you. Just—just heal me. Please."
Ethan stayed silent.
"I can't feel my legs," the man sobbed. "I don't want to die like this…"
Ethan looked around.
No one else was alive.
Only the wind moved.
"You followed the berserk one," Ethan said calmly. "Didn't you?"
The man froze.
"I—"
"You chased him instead of stopping him earlier," Ethan continued. "You watched people die."
Tears rolled down the man's face.
"…Yes."
Ethan nodded.
"Tell me."
The man pointed weakly toward the far side of the village.
"Behind the largest tree… there's a stone altar underground… fragments… so many fragments…"
Ethan turned and walked away.
"W-wait," the man cried. "You promised—!"
Ethan stopped.
He raised his hand.
"Destruction."
White light covered his palm.
For a moment, the man understood
.
"No—NO—PLEASE—"
Slash.
The sound was clean.
The crying stopped.
Silence returned.
Ethan lowered his hand. Blood dripped from his fingers, but he did not look at it.
He exhaled slowly.
"I didn't promise anything," he said quietly.
He walked toward the place the man had pointed to.
Behind a massive ancient tree, Ethan found a hidden stone door covered in old fragment symbols. With effort, he pushed it open.
Inside
Light.
Fragments floated everywhere. Dozens. Hundreds.
Some glowed softly. Others pulsed with power.
Ethan stepped inside.
"This world is darker than I remember," he thought.
"And so am I."
He began collecting.