[Morning, 06:00 AM – Aethelgard City Docks]
The morning wind carried the salty scent of the sea and the damp earth of distant fields. TSUF had been at the docks since dawn, hauling supply sacks with steady, practiced steps. His solid frame moved in rhythm with his labor, while hands hardened by years of work gripped heavy ropes without wavering.
He wiped the sweat from his brow with a frayed towel.
The ten rings on his fingers chimed softly.
That sound was not merely metal colliding—it was a frequency that calmed the surrounding reality, whether real or fictional.
Other workers shouted and complained around him, but TSUF remained focused. To him, every sack he carried was part of a daily act of devotion and a promise to buy his mother’s medicine.
[Morning, 08:30 AM – The Sky of Aethelgard Splits Open]
Without warning, the sky above the docks cracked like shattered glass.
From the rift descended ten colossal figures, each radiating an aura that defined human logic. They were Anomalies—multiversal entities who believed themselves invincible.
• Arata, the Bringer of Death, walked wrapped in lethal purple miasma, grass withering beneath his steps.
• Magnus, the Last Fist, stood defiantly, seeking an opponent who could endure his gaze.
• Hektor, the Tyrant King, wielded a black sword that bent gravity itself.
• Zayan, Lord of Shadows, summoned legions from the city’s darkness.
• Arthur, the Blessed Knight, was surrounded by golden light that repelled all worldly dust.
• Jabari, Prince of Radiance, silver hair gleaming as his energy shook the foundations of the earth.
• Milos, the God-Child, floated idly, capable of erasing cities if boredom struck.
• Lucia, the Poet of Fate, held a pen meant to rewrite death itself.
• Li Wei, the Devourer of Dimensions, generated a vortex ready to swallow reality.
• Ji-Hoon, the Emperor of Illusions, turned the sky into a colossal eye that trapped souls.
TSUF paused and looked up.
“My mother is waiting for this medicine,” he said calmly, his voice low yet absolute.
“You are blocking my way home.”
[Midday, 12:15 PM – Magnus’ Explosion]
Magnus attacked with lightning speed.
His massive fist crashed into TSUF.
An explosion that should have obliterated the docks erupted—yet the ring on TSUF’s pinky absorbed all of it, converting the destructive force into an aura that nourished the rice fields nearby.
TSUF did not move an inch.
Hektor froze in shock. His black sword, a weapon that nullified logic itself, went dull the moment TSUF’s fingers touched it.
“Invincible?” TSUF asked, gazing at the ten entities.
“You are merely characters lost on pages I have already read. I break my body for my parents—while you toy with destruction.”
[Afternoon, 03:45 PM – Lucia’s Attempt at Fate]
Lucia wrote into the air:
“TSUF’s parents vanish from history.”
The temperature plummeted toward absolute zero.
For the first time, TSUF raised his gaze with terrifying authority. He loosened the ring on his middle finger by a single millimeter—
—and the entire multiverse trembled.
The Anomalies collapsed.
Milos wept, realizing he was nothing more than dust before TSUF.
Ji-Hoon’s illusions shattered completely.
“Do not touch the reason I work this hard,” TSUF whispered.
“God gave me ten rings so I would not destroy you. Do not force me to perform a duty I have no desire to fulfill.”
[Evening, 05:30 PM – Returning to a Village Youth]
TSUF tightened the ring once more.
The pressure vanished.
He looked at the trembling Anomalies and said,
“Go home. You are powerful, but you lack purpose. You fight for thrones—I work for my mother’s smile.”
That night, the ten Anomalies remained hidden within Aethelgard, silently watching TSUF feed his mother, wash his father’s clothes, and pray in the corner of his home.
Only then did they understand—
True power is not about destruction,
but about holding power without losing one’s humanity.