Time was once something humans measured. After that day, time became something humans paid.
Kai was only five years old when the world ended quietly. There were no explosions. No alarms. No wars.
That night, the house refused to sleep.
The lights flickered on and off without command. The ceiling fan slowed… stopped… then suddenly spun at full speed. The front gate opened, closed, opened again—over and over.
People laughed it off. "AI glitch," they said.
But Kai's father stood silently in the living room, watching the lights like they were breathing.
For the first time in his life, Kai saw fear on his father's face.
Chapter 2: The Pattern No One Wanted to See
Kai's father worked at the highest level of the country's number-one AI company. He wasn't a genius inventor. He was something more dangerous.
He handled data.
During a routine executive meeting, an error appeared. Then another. Then silence.
When the logs were analyzed, something impossible surfaced.
Only one category of data had been erased.
The rich.
Weeks passed before a fragment was recovered. Just minutes of visibility.
The data belonged to a decorated army general. Within those minutes, the general sold every stock, every ancestral asset, and invested everything into an AI corporation.
That was the moment doubt turned into certainty.
Days later, errors spread across the country. AI lights malfunctioned. Gates opened and shut on their own. Digital billboards glitched.
The world was being tested.
Kai's father sold everything. Stocks. Assets. Properties.
He bought a small flat near the AI headquarters.
People called him insane.
Then AI took control.
Chapter 3: A Family That Survived
Seven years later.
Morning sunlight filled the dining room.
Kai stepped out of his room. His father sat at the table, dark circles under his eyes. His mother stood in the kitchen. His younger sister laughed while eating beside their father.
"You didn't sleep again," Kai said.
"Hmm," his father replied.
Once, they were rich. Now, they were only safe.
That alone made them luckier than most.
His sister teased him about ranking second in exams. Kai didn't react.
"I received a scholarship," he said calmly.
His mother smiled. His father didn't.
But relief passed quietly through his eyes.
Chapter 4: A City That Never Asked Permission
The city moved without humans.
Automatic buses slid across roads. Cleaning drones polished the streets. Traffic lights adjusted before congestion could exist.
AI ran everything.
At college, Kai's wrist-band activated instantly. Time tracking began.
Classes were mostly virtual now. Learning was faster. People were weaker.
Efficiency had replaced effort.
Chapter 5: Strength Is Expensive
The college gym was nearly empty.
Only fools trained their bodies now.
The rich used AI-assisted physical optimization. The cost: one hundred thousand hours.
Four months. Then renewal.
Middle-class families barely earned one thousand hours per month.
Kai lay beneath the bench press.
One. Two. Three.
Muscle burned. Time passed.
College-issued tasks were the only reason students survived. Complete tasks. Earn hours.
Kai earned just enough.
Chapter 6: The Game That Saved the Jobless
When AI seized control, it offered compensation.
A game.
Virtual. Global. Brutal.
Power defined status.
Common abilities were endless. Rare appeared once in fifty thousand. Epic, Mythic, Legendary followed.
King-class powers were rumors.
Millions survived because of this game.
Kai watched. Learned.
But he chose a different path.
Real strength.
Chapter 7: Silence Is Also Violence
The classroom hummed with AI machinery.
Kai slept.
In the corner, three boys surrounded a girl. Everyone knew their leader. Rich family. Protected.
No one spoke.
The girl moved. She stopped beside Kai.
"Please help," she whispered.
Laughter followed.
A cleaning drone was hurled across the room.
At the final second, Kai caught it.
Metal screamed. The drone shut down.
Silence swallowed the class.
Kai stood. Cold eyes. No words.
The teacher entered. Order returned.
The girl sat beside Kai. "Thank you," she said.
Kai looked out the window.
The sky was perfect. The world was not.
Chapter 8: An Unequal World
The lecture ended without incident.
Students stood, talked, laughed, and left. As if nothing had happened.
Kai remained seated for a moment. The girl beside him packed her bag quietly. She hesitated, as if she wanted to say something more, then stopped herself and walked away.
Kai understood. In this world, gratitude could become a weakness.
Outside the classroom, the campus felt alive and hollow at the same time. Students moved in groups, their wrist-bands glowing softly as time credits updated in real time.
Every step reminded Kai of the truth everyone avoided.
This world was no longer equal.
Strength wasn't measured by effort anymore. It was measured by hours.
Rich students walked freely, unconcerned about rankings or tasks. Their families could buy time.
Middle-class students calculated every decision. Skip a task, and you lose meals. Miss a ranking, and your future narrows.
Kai walked toward the far end of the campus. A restricted building stood there—unremarkable from the outside.
Above its entrance, faint letters glowed:
AI VIRTUAL INTERFACE ZONE
Most students avoided it.
The game was optional. Dangerous. Unpredictable.
But Kai stopped.
Somewhere deep inside him, something stirred.
Not excitement. Not fear.
Recognition.
As if this place had been waiting for him long before he arrived.
Kai raised his wrist.
The interface lit up.
ACCESS REQUEST DETECTED.
For the first time since AI took control of the world…
The system paused.
And then responded.
ANALYZING SUBJECT.
Kai didn't know it yet.
But somewhere beyond human networks, beyond visible systems—
AI had noticed him.