The universe was silent.
Not the quiet kind of silence, but the absolute stillness of a vacuum, where no sound could ever travel.
Unless there was air, of course.
Take the Sun, for instance.
The Sun does have an atmosphere. From the inside out, it consists of the photosphere, the chromosphere, and the corona.
And that atmosphere? It's unimaginably hot. Because, well… it's the Sun.
According to scientists, the surface of the Sun reaches about 5,500 degrees Celsius. But the core? It burns at nearly 20 million degrees.
Unimaginable.
And yet, right in the center of this blazing inferno, there was… someone.
A figure, lying motionless. Eyes closed. Breathing slowly, through a massive, fanged maw.
Someone was sleeping inside the Sun?
If anyone saw this, their jaw would hit the floor.
Because it was beyond belief.
That's why the word "someone" had to be taken with a grain of salt. Because this being, just judging by size, stood nearly five meters tall, covered from head to toe in bulging, battle-hardened muscle. From the shoulders to the elbows, jagged bony armor jutted outward, gleaming with a deadly chill.
His face was even more terrifying. That gaping mouth was filled with rows of razor-sharp fangs, definitely not human teeth. More like the killing tools of a beast designed to crush bone with ease.
He didn't look human at all.
But what no one would guess was that this creature used to be a regular guy.
An ordinary man.
His name was Rook Tanner. His parents had chosen that name in the hopes that he'd walk a long and peaceful path through life.
No one could have imagined his path would end up like this.
Because Rook Tanner had transmigrated.
And his journey after that was anything but simple.
The reason he had transformed into this monstrous figure was because after he crossed over, he became a Kryptonian.
Yes, from that DC Universe. The same one with Superman.
Kryptonians were legendary. After all, Superman, arguably the world's first true superhero, was a Kryptonian.
He gained superpowers on Earth thanks to the yellow sunlight, becoming a being of incredible strength.
And now, Rook Tanner was one of them.
However, there was a twist. He had crossed over far too early.
Not during Superman's time, or even during the Justice League era.
He had arrived one hundred thousand years before Superman was ever born.
Back in Krypton's ancient age.
Even then, Krypton's technology far surpassed modern Earth's. They had already begun large-scale galactic colonization.
Rook wasn't just a participant in that plan. He was one of its masterminds. He became a renowned Kryptonian general, and was entrusted with leading the fleet that explored the opposite end of the Milky Way, toward the solar system.
He knew very well what the Sun could do for Kryptonians.
So he entered the solar system, bathed in the sunlight, and awakened powers just like Superman.
But Krypton's wild expansion drew the ire of powerful beings.
Or rather, one particular being.
The universe is vast and mysterious. Gods from every mythology are real, and they are known as the Old Gods.
But recently, a new group had overthrown them. They called themselves the New Gods.
Among them was Darkseid.
When Uxas, the rightful ruler of the New Gods, mysteriously vanished, Darkseid seized control of Apokolips and claimed the title of Lord of Darkness.
His ambition was terrifying. He sought to bring the entire universe under his control.
It was inevitable that these two great civilizations would clash.
At the time, there was also the Green Lantern Corps, based on planet Oa. Their Guardians initially considered taking action against Krypton.
But when war broke out between Krypton and Apokolips, and when Rook returned leading an army of one hundred thousand Kryptonians, each empowered like Superman, Oa fell silent.
This was a war between gods.
The scale of destruction threatened to tear the galaxy apart. Civilizations perished. Entire star systems were wiped out.
Eventually, Darkseid himself descended. Not an avatar, but his true form.
He met Rook for the first time.
And they instantly recognized each other as their greatest threat.
Thus began their ultimate battle.
Darkseid was shocked by Rook's refined Kryptonian martial arts. And Rook was nearly obliterated by Darkseid's Omega Beams.
Even with his immense strength, Rook lost.
Buffed by the New Gods' power, Darkseid ultimately struck him down.
Krypton's fall seemed imminent.
But their science was monstrous.
Rook's corpse was taken for research and experimentation.
And out of that came the universe's most terrifying bio-weapon: Doomsday.
Rook was resurrected.
But this time, he was stronger. Far beyond any normal Kryptonian. Even red sunlight, which usually nullified Kryptonian powers, only made him stronger.
In this new form, his only remaining weakness was Kryptonite.
But that didn't last long either.
Since he had already died once, Doomsday-Rook became something else entirely. Undying, unkillable, with limitless stamina and terrifying regenerative power.
His body could adapt to anything, any environment, any opponent. In battle, he could evolve countermeasures on the fly.
Even death couldn't stop him.
If killed, he'd return, immune to whatever had killed him before.
No one could defeat him the same way twice.
He had become invincible.
Even Kryptonite couldn't harm him anymore.
After resurrecting, the first thing Rook did was kill himself with Kryptonite.
And then, he became immune to it.
From that moment forward, he was nearly unstoppable.
Seeing his overwhelming power, the Kryptonians believed they had found hope.
So they started using the corpses of fallen Kryptonians—those who had awakened powers under sunlight—and transformed them into a Doomsday army.
But only Rook Tanner retained his mind.
The rest were nothing but mindless monsters.
And so, when the army of one hundred thousand Doomsdays was unleashed, they crushed Apokolips.
Even Darkseid was defeated by Rook alone.
Darkseid's Omega Beams could no longer touch him.
But Rook's fists?
They could tear Darkseid apart.
In the final moments, Darkseid fled, staring back at Rook as the realization hit them both.
They would be each other's chains for eternity.
That word—chain, or kizuna in ancient texts—was never a positive thing.
It meant restraint, burden, a shackle.
They both understood that now. Their grudge was eternal.
But with Apokolips gone…
What about the Doomsday army?
They turned their attention,
Toward home.
Toward Krypton.
Toward their own people.
"No…"