"I'm home," someone said from the doorway.
Kaine Vale, an eighteen-year-old with black hair and a tall build, stepped inside while carrying a supermarket basket.
Even though his mother had firmly forbidden him from leaving the house in his current condition.
Kaine had mysteriously get blind in the morning. He always covered his eyes with a black cloth so people would immediately understand that he was blind.
"Did you ask the supermarket staff for help?" his mother, Liliana, asked.
"I'm used to doing it myself, Mom. They don't need to help me anymore," Kaine replied calmly.
Liliana narrowed her eyes, then let out a quiet sigh. She took the basket from Kaine's hands and began checking the groceries.
"Why is the olive oil the big size?" she asked, lifting the bottle.
"It was on sale," Kaine answered shortly.
Liliana placed the bottle on the table and continued checking the rest of the groceries. Everything matched what they needed. Nothing was wrong.
"Thank you, Kaine."
Then Liliana looked at her son, "Mira will be home from school soon. Can you go pick her up?"
Kaine nodded without hesitation. Mira, his ten-year-old sister, went to a school quite far from home. That was why Liliana was always worried.
"Of course. I'll go now."
Kaine turned around and left the house, walking along the city sidewalk using the fastest route he had memorized.
The townspeople knew about Kaine's condition, especially his unreasonable blindness. But what puzzled them even more was the way he walked—never tripping, never falling.
At first, many thought Kaine was pretending, or maybe even crazy. Until they saw his white eye for themselves.
After that, they believed it… even if they still found him strange.
"Has he always been like that?" asked someone who had just moved in.
"You must be new. That guy's always been that way," someone else replied.
Losing his sight had caused Kaine's other senses to develop far beyond normal human limits.
His hearing was razor sharp, his sense of smell could identify specific scents, and his sense of touch could instantly understand shape and texture.
Those abilities were what made Kaine different from other people with disabilities.
He stopped in front of Mira's school gate. Several people glanced at him, whispering without bothering to lower their voices. Every whisper reached Kaine clearly.
The topics were always the same—his madness, his blindness, or the mystery surrounding him.
Varith City wasn't very big. In less than three days, a single rumor could spread to every corner of town.
People waited for their children while staring at their phone screens. There was no worry on their faces—only indifference.
A hundred years after the ice fog appeared, humanity had gotten used to it.
The massive hole that opened in Antarctica had released deadly frozen fog, along with monsters that spread across the world. Cities collapsed, countries vanished, and millions of people died.
But nature slowly recovered. The air became cleaner—even though the ice fog never fully disappeared.
Now, only a handful of countries still stood. One of them was the Nation of Alpens.
"Did you watch that concert yesterday? The singer was so handsome!"
"Yeah! I became a fan instantly."
Kaine slightly turned his head, listening to the women's conversation, which contrasted sharply with the men talking nearby.
"If my team wins tonight, they'll take the league!"
"Don't get your hopes up. They always mess up at the last minute."
Suddenly, a voice called out to Kaine.
"Big brother!"
Mira waved from afar, still wearing her school uniform. A bright smile filled her face.
Kaine smiled faintly. He stood up and walked toward his sister.
"Mira! Watch out!" a boy shouted.
A basketball flew straight toward Mira. She froze and turned her head, but Kaine moved faster.
With a single leap, he caught the ball one-handed. Instantly, the area fell silent.
"S-Sorry!" the kids said nervously.
Kaine handed the ball back. "Be more careful next time."
Mira looked at her brother with sparkling eyes. The two of them then walked away from the school side by side.
People might still be shocked by Kaine, but Mira was used to it. Too many things had happened at home for it to feel strange anymore.
"Big brother Kaine," Mira suddenly said, "my friend's sister wants to meet you."
"Who?" Kaine asked.
"Silvie. She's my friend's older sister. She said she's curious about you."
Kaine smiled and ruffled Mira's hair, "Maybe next time."
Along the way, Mira kept talking about Silvie—her personality, her job, and little things about her. Kaine listened, nodding occasionally.
Suddenly, a heavy boom shook the surrounding area.
Kaine immediately stopped. His senses sharpened. That wasn't a normal sound.
"What is it?" Mira asked quietly.
Kaine's attention locked onto an old house by the roadside—empty, decayed, and nearly collapsing. The sound came from there.
The noise grew stronger. The wooden door slowly opened on its own.
"Mira," Kaine called seriously.
He crouched down, "Get on my back. Close your eyes."
Mira obeyed without asking. She had experienced things like this before. All she had to do was trust him.
Her arms wrapped around Kaine's neck. His left hand supported her body, while his right hand manifested a golden sword from his power.
The sound came from monsters—man-eating creatures capable of turning invisible. But Kaine's light-based sonar vision kept them visible to him.
Kaine sprinted forward, avoiding residential areas. Five monsters chased him—all low-class.
The LUX didn't detect them.
With no other choice, Kaine attacked.
His movements were fast and precise. The golden sword sliced through the monsters' bodies, destroying their claws before they could reach Mira.
He leapt into the air, stabbing their soul cores one by one. In seconds, the monsters' bodies crumbled into dust.
In the middle of the fight, the image of that mysterious place surfaced in his mind again. Kaine bit his lip until it bled, forcing himself to stay focused.
In less than ten minutes, everything was over.
Kaine immediately left, running across rooftops toward their home.
When he reached the door, he lowered Mira.
"You can open your eyes now."
Mira smiled in relief and rushed inside to greet their mother. Kaine, however, stopped.
Footsteps echoed behind him.
He closed the door and pressed his palm against it, activating a sound-dampening spell.
"You've been following me for days," Kaine said.
A woman stepped out of the darkness. Black suit, white shirt, shoulder-length hair, and crimson-red eyes.
"I was assigned to watch you," she said. "It's time for you to join NOX—before they find out you're a Host."
"I don't understand," Kaine replied coldly.
"NOX or LUX, I'm not joining anyone."
"My life is already enough. I don't need any of you."