PROLOGUE
This is not a story about heroes.
Heroes save worlds.
This is what comes after saving is no longer possible.
When the future itself becomes a threat.
When existence demands a conclusion.
Someone must decide where it ends.
> "Do not hesitate," the voice said.
"Hesitation breaks dimensions."
I hesitated once.
I won't again.
Something has already gone wrong.
A voice—
not mine,
not human—
echoes through the void.
> "Find the Axis… before the dimensions break."
Then everything shatters.
------------------------------------------
CHAPTER 1 — BEFORE THE WATER BREAKS
The pool always smelled like chlorine and ambition.
Not because people stopped talking— but because sound stopped mattering.
Water wrapped around my body like a second skin as I cut forward, arms burning, lungs screaming. Every movement was instinct now. No thinking. No hesitation. Just rhythm.
Pull. Kick. Breathe.
The world narrowed to the pressure against my fingertips, to the resistance of water sliding past my shoulders. My heartbeat synced with my strokes. Everything else dissolved into the dull roar inside my ears.
One last stroke.
I hit the wall.
Silence.
For half a second, nothing existed.
Then the digital board flickered.
MEN'S 100M FREESTYLE — PRACTICE HEAT
NATIONAL RECORD: 47.89
WORLD RECORD: 46.40
RECORDED TIME: 23.27
A breath.
The silence shattered.
Chaos erupted.
"YO—KAIEN!"
Toma Ishikawa's voice tore through the pool hall. He was half-hanging over the railing, fists pumping like he'd personally won the race.
"That was insane! You broke the international record!"
Mika Aoyama clapped so hard her palms turned red.
"That was beautiful! Did you see how smooth that turn was? It was perfect!"
Ryo Kanzaki didn't speak at first. He just stared at the board, jaw tight, eyes locked on the numbers.
Then someone laughed—sharp, nervous. "…That's a glitch, right?"
Ryo's face drained of color.
"Wait… that's the hundred."
The rival in the next lane slowly let go of the pool's edge.
"Twenty-three seconds…?" His voice cracked. "That's… half the world record."
A coach near the back whispered, "That's not breaking a record…"
"…That's erasing it."
Coach Morita didn't move. His eyes stayed locked on the board.
"The timing system's been checked twice today," he said quietly.
A pause.
"…If that number is real—"
He stopped himself.
From the stands, whispers shifted. Excitement curdled into unease.
"That's not training stamina…"
"That's not human…"
"…Tch," Ryo muttered. "You really did it, didn't you?"
I pushed wet hair back from my face, chest rising and falling hard.
My heart wasn't racing from fear.
It was racing from life.
From the stands, whispers spread.
"Oh my god, look at his shoulders—" "He's so fast…"
"Isn't he competing tomorrow?"
A few girls near the railing leaned forward, cheeks flushed. One covered her mouth, giggling. Another pointed openly, like subtlety had drowned in the pool.
I pretended not to notice.
The swimmer in the next lane stayed gripping the pool's edge, chest heaving. He stared at the numbers like they'd personally betrayed him.
"…Those turns are sloppy," he muttered. "…He's wasting motion."
He glanced at me again.
"…That doesn't make sense. He still beat us."
The coach beside him exhaled slowly. "His stamina," he said.
A pause. "Very interesting."
Phones came out. Coaches leaned closer. Someone laughed too loudly.
Coach Morita approached, arms crossed, eyes sharp. He looked from the board to me, then back again.
"You amazed everyone," he said at last. Then his lips curved into a rare smile. "Half a second," he said. "Tomorrow, you erase it."
I laughed, breathless. "So… another lap?"
He shook his head. "No. Nationals are tomorrow. You're done for today."
"But—"
"I said you're done," he cut in, then softened. "Go enjoy being human today."
We spent the afternoon pretending tomorrow didn't exist.
Cheap convenience-store food. Carbonated drinks we definitely shouldn't have touched. Mika stole fries from everyone's tray like it was her life mission.
"You know what's going to happen tomorrow?" she said, pointing a fry at me. "You're going to win, and suddenly you'll have thousands of new girl followers."
Toma grinned instantly. "Thousands? Nah. Millions." He wiggled his eyebrows. "Man's going to drown in attention."
"Ew." Mika slapped his arm. "Pervert."
Ryo leaned back, arms crossed. "Focus on your turns instead of girls," he said. "You're wasting energy on the push-off. Fix that, and you won't just win—you'll dominate."
I waved it off. "That's a flashy move, buddy."
I laughed more than I had in weeks.
Toma suddenly leaned forward, phone in hand. "Oi, did you see that viral video on iTube?"
Mika frowned. "What video?"
"Ten million views in a day," he said, excitement sharp.
"The one where a monster and some ghost thing are fighting in the street. People are saying ghosts actually exist."
He shoved the screen toward us.
The numbers were insane.
LIKES: 6.8M
DISLIKES: 120K
COMMENTS: 98K+
"Fake," I said immediately.
Toma scrolled. "'This is real.' 'Government hiding monsters.'
'Ghosts exist, wake up.'"
I scoffed. "AI-generated. Edited footage. Lighting's wrong. Shadows don't match."
Ryo nodded. "Don't believe panic bait or internet scraps."
Mika hesitated. "But… it looks real."
"That's the point," Ryo said. "That's why it spreads."
For a few hours, life was simple.
Then—
"Kaien…"
My grip tightened around the cup.
"…Kaien…"
A low voice.
Soft. Close.
I looked up sharply. "Did you hear that?"
Toma blinked. "Hear what?"
"A voice," I said slowly. "Someone just said my name."
Mika tilted her head. "There's no one here."
Ryo glanced around. "You're imagining things."
But the air felt wrong.
Like something brushed past my ear.
"…Kaien…"
My chest tightened.
I stood, scanning the store. A couple at the counter. The cashier. No children. No movement.
Nothing.
Toma laughed nervously. "Bro, tomorrow you're gonna hear thousands of people shouting your name."
I forced a laugh.
But my heart didn't settle.
Because the voice hadn't sounded imaginary.
It had sounded… familiar.
Like someone calling out while being pulled away.
Then my phone rang.
Jacklin.
Later, the city swallowed me whole.
Jacklin walked beside me beneath neon lights and passing trains, her hand slipping naturally into mine.
Her fingers were warm. Steady.
"How was your day?" she asked.
"As usual—awesome," I said. "But one thing was missing."
She glanced at me. "What's that?"
I smiled. "You."
She blushed immediately and looked away, quickly changing the topic.
"You disappear when you swim," she said softly. "Like the world loses its grip on you."
"That's the only place it doesn't feel crowded," I replied.
We wandered glowing streets, shared street food, lost coins in arcade machines. She laughed when I lost. I laughed when she shouted "Hooray!" like a kid.
We stood on the bridge. Traffic flowed like rivers of light.
"Tomorrow," I said casually, "I'm going to rock it. Probably have girls hitting on me."
She hit me with her handbag—hard. "If you cheat on me," she said sweetly,
"I'll make sure you regret surviving."
I laughed. "That depends on you."
She kissed my cheek suddenly.
"Bye," she said. "See you after your competition."
She smiled and ran away.
She disappeared into the crowd.
But something sat wrong in my chest—quiet, shapeless, but heavy.
"…Today feels strange," I said.
And for the first time all day—I felt uneasy.
I reached home exhausted.
Sleep came instantly — like something was waiting for it.
The doorbell woke me.
Once.
I groaned, dragging myself upright.
"I'm coming..."
My hand brushed the knob—
SHKK—
Steel screamed past my face.
Pain tore across my cheek as blood sprayed warm and sharp. I twisted on instinct, the blade burying itself in the wall behind me.
The door exploded inward.
Masked figures rushed in.
Shadows clung to them like living things.
Killers.
Assassins.
My heart dropped.
"What the hell is this?!" Panic slammed into me.
I ran.
I slammed my bedroom door and locked it as something heavy crashed against the wood. The frame groaned.
My hands shook. My thoughts scattered.
This isn't real. This can't be real.
My palm hit the wall—
A click.
The panel slid open.
I froze.
Weapons. Pistols stacked neatly. Ammunition sealed in steel. Blades gleaming.
And at the center—
A sword.
Long. Lean. Pulsing with faint neon blue-violet veins, like lightning trapped inside steel.
"What… are you?" I whispered.
Its glow didn't belong in this world.
It felt like it was waiting.
In my room… all this time?
Something in my chest tightened — like this place had been waiting for me to notice it.
The door cracked.
I grabbed whatever I could—pistol, magazines, a knife—and the sword.
"I don't even know how to use this…!"
"No—damn it—just escape!"
My eyes caught something at the corner of the panel.
A button.
I pressed it.
The ceiling opened.
"Thank God."
I jumped, pulling myself into the shaft as the panel slammed shut beneath me.
Metal screamed below.
They broke the door.
Bullets tore through the ceiling. A blade stabbed upward, missing my leg by inches.
I crawled, trembling, heart pounding.
At the end, a hatch burst open.
Rain hit my face.
I stepped onto a narrow steel beam running along the skyscraper's side.
The city yawned below.
"H-holy shit…"
One step wrong—and I was gone.
A knife hissed through the rain.
It clipped my shoulder.
I stumbled.
My foot slipped.
And then—
I fell.
"You bastards—!"
The world tilted. City lights blurred into streaks.
White.
A blank stage.
No sound. No rain. Just me.
Slipping into water always felt like breathing for the first time,
my voice echoed.
Nothing special about me.
Everything fades.
Tears tore free.
"Why is this happening to me?"
If this was my fate, it had terrible timing.
END OF CHAPTER 1 — BEFORE THE WATER BREAKS