That afternoon, heavy clouds hung low over the city, as if burdened by the weariness of the day. The streets were packed—office workers, students, and vendors rushing to greet the coming night. Amid the crowd, a young man walked with sluggish steps, his body swaying as if it might collapse at any moment.
Jeffrey Cain.
His narrow shoulders bore the weight of a faded old backpack. His white school shirt was still slightly wrinkled, though clean—he had just left the infirmary after receiving treatment. His wounds had been patched. No more bruises, no bleeding, no broken bones. Only one thing remained as a souvenir from earlier that day—his cracked glasses.
The right lens was shattered, and he wore them askew now, just enough to see.
No one paid him any attention. And somehow, that made everything feel even heavier.
Silence in the midst of a crowd was the cruelest kind of isolation.
It had been four years since he was accepted into Star Knight Academy. Four long years filled with bruises and silence. Not a single day passed without mockery, humiliation, or beatings behind restroom walls. He wasn't a victim of circumstance—he was the target.
A symbol of weakness.
But now, there were only six months left.
"Half a year," he muttered to himself, softly, like a calming mantra. "Just half a year more. Then… I'm free."
He kept his head down, avoiding everyone's gaze, letting his feet flow with the current of people moving toward the red light at the crosswalk. Midway there, he glanced to his right.
A massive billboard loomed atop a glass building, displaying a face he knew all too well.
Star Knight.
She stood proud, golden hair cascading like sunlight, eyes gleaming with the sharpness of a lioness. Tall and athletic, her chiseled abs were visible beneath a thin white cloth that barely passed as clothing. One arm lifted a can of carbonated drink—the latest endorsement—while her smile filled the screen with both comfort and intimidation.
She was the founder of Star Knight Academy.
One of the strongest hero in the world.
And, ironically, the reason the Academy existed—and why Jeffrey now stood on this street, half-broken, half-hoping.
He only gave her a glance.
He didn't care about the drink, or the smile, or the media calling her the "Goddess of Civilization." To him, she was a symbol of a world too perfect to ever welcome someone like him.
The traffic light changed. Jeffrey stopped at the crosswalk along with the crowd, waiting for the signal to walk. Footsteps, murmurs, vendors shouting, cars roaring, wind scraping the pavement—everything blended into one city-wide hum.
Then—a small push from behind.
Someone shoved him.
Jeffrey lost his balance. His foot slipped off the curb. His eyes widened as his body pitched forward—just as a truck barreled toward him at full speed.
In the split second before he hit the pavement, he managed to look back.
A young man stood behind him. Pale. Shaking. Eyes wide with disbelief at what he had just done. Jeffrey didn't know him.
But it didn't matter.
Because the moment his back slammed into the road and the deafening roar of the truck's horn pierced the air, Jeffrey's gaze instinctively lifted to the rooftop across the street.
And there she was—on the rooftop, like a silent angel of death watching his fate unravel.
Liana Frostine.
Her long white hair fluttered gently in the evening breeze, and her face… was smiling.
That smile.
Not wide. Not obvious. Just a subtle curve at the corner of her lips. But in Jeffrey's eyes, that smile sneered. Mocked. Judged. Discarded him.
As if he wasn't even human. Just a speck of dirt on her expensive shoes.
And in that instant—something inside him broke.
"I—I…!"
His soul screamed, not in fear.
But in fury.
A fury long buried beneath years of silence. A storm of every scar deemed insignificant. Every insult swallowed. Every slap hidden behind closed doors.
"I HATE YOU, YOU WRETCH!"
His heart howled. His lungs burned. He couldn't move, but his mind screamed louder than ever before, flooding his world with venomous rage.
His fists clenched despite trembling. His teeth ground together—not from pain, but disgust.
Not just at Liana, or the stranger who pushed him.
But at himself.
Even now, in the face of death, part of him still admitted she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
He despised that. He despised himself.
"YOU BITCH! YOU DAMNED BITCH! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL MAKE YOU KNEEL! I'LL DESTROY YOUR PERFECT FUCKING LIFE!"
His vision flared—not from tears, but from the fire blazing through his skull.
Burning away logic. Burning away fear. Burning away humanity.
"I WON'T DIE HERE!!"
"NOT NOW! NOT HERE! NOT UNTIL YOU—"
"—CRY BEFORE ME!"
No one heard that scream. But the twilight sky did.
The frozen street did.
The speeding truck did.
And something deep within his subconscious… answered.
░▒▓[SYSTEM BOOTING...]▓▒░
┏━━━[ERROR CORRECTION COMPLETE]━━━┓
│ USER: JEFFREY CAIN │
│ STATUS: Fatal Trauma Detected │
│ Awakening Protocol Initiated... │
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
Skill Unlocked: [Chrono Lock – Absolute Time Freeze]
Limiter Status: MORALITY — DISABLED
Primary Targets Acquired: Female. Superpowered. Cruel.
Directives: RETRIBUTION. OBSESSION. DOMINATION.
The world stopped.
The truck's engine fell silent in the air.
Its wheels froze inches from Jeffrey's body.
The dust particles halted mid-flight.
People on the sidewalk stood like statues, their mouths open in soundless screams.
Jeffrey slowly lifted his head.
No pain. No pressure.
Even gravity seemed to have abandoned him.
He sat up. Then stood.
Time… had truly stopped.
"What… is this?" he whispered, bewildered. But it felt right.
Something had opened inside his mind—a system, a voice without a voice, data pouring into his thoughts like recovered memories.
His eyes cut through the silence. He looked up at the rooftop—at her.
Liana was still there. Still smiling.
But this time, Jeffrey smiled back.
His lips cracked and bled, but the grin was real.
Not one of triumph.
But because something inside him had died.
And what rose again…
was no longer the same Jeffrey Cain.