Chapter 2: The World Before

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1

Fifty years ago:

Human resources began to dwindle.

Twenty-four years ago:

Demons descended upon the world.

The sky had turned a sickly orange, the air thick with the scent of burning plastic and lost hope. Old-timers would still whisper about the day as if talking about Partition—voices lowered, eyes haunted.

Humanity suffered a massacre like never before, with barely more than one crore people left alive.

I still remember the news anchors—voice trembling, sari askew, reporting the numbers as if reciting the score after a cricket match that had gone horribly wrong.

Fortunately, more and more people began awakening abilities, and at last, we managed to defend a single city.

That city became our Kashi, our last bastion.

Thus, humanity entered the apocalyptic era.

Abilities are divided into five levels:

B-level, A-level, S-level, SS-level, and SSS-level.

I am one of the highest, an SSS-level ability user.

To ensure the survival of our species, I founded the Ability Association and set strict rules for humanity.

After that, I volunteered to guard the border.

Alone, with only a sword, I protected the peace at the edge of our last refuge.

My amma would have called me pagal, but I couldn't sit quietly while others suffered.

As time passed,

The pain slowly faded.

Humans began to live in peace once again.

The city buzzed with normalcy again: children running on cracked footpaths, vendors haggling over sabzi, laughter echoing from cramped terraces in the evening. Hope, as stubborn as a weed, kept returning.