Dark as ever, but livelier than ever before.
This is the perfect description for the entire universe conquered by humans and their interstellar technology.
The Universe of Avalon!
From planets to galaxies, from artificial intelligence controlled robots to gigantic Mechas, and even human mutations and evolutions, humans had explored and discovered it all. But as they thought that humanity had reached the limit of what could be discovered, an unexpected 'event' occurred on the top edge of the ever-expanding Universe.
"Wong! Wong! Wong!"
The alarms sounded inside a space station that was several light-years away from an unexplainable space phenomenon. People that were wearing the same body fit spacesuit rushed all over the place as if they were in a mall and were attending a huge price drop sale event.
At the command center, every screen inside blinked with red lights and was in unison with the alarm that sounded in the speakers. That said, the taps and voices of the crew reverberated across the room, making the air tenser and the temperature 'seemingly' hotter despite the advanced ventilating system installed in that room.
On an isolated seat located at the centermost part of the command center, a man stood and approached a woman who was frantically tapping on the screens right in front of her. Then, he placed his hand on the edge of the woman's screen and stared at the data shown.
"Captain--" The woman leaned slightly to her left and forced out a smile towards the man as beads of sweat drip from her face.
The man, regarded as the 'Captain', simply nodded towards her before shifting his attention back to the data displayed on the screen. He watched a curved graph go upward without any hints of stopping.
This, in turn, made the man furrow his brows and rub his white beard as if he had entered into deep thought. Then, from time to time, he would tap the screen to check other data and ponder whilst occasionally stealing a glance at the huge screens embedded in the walls of the command center.
"What is happening? The energy level is still too low for it to be considered a new black hole... But the problem is... The energy level increase at an exponential rate!" The man murmured.
Even after another minute of pondering, the man nor the rest of the crew from in the command center remained clueless about this unexplainable spatial event. Thus, the man could only flick his tongue and comb his white hair upward. Then, he murmured to himself, "Is this the end of the Universe?"
~~~~~~~~~~
Ten days later, the whole Universe of Avalon was sent into an uproar. After days of careful observation, the unexplainable spatial event was determined to be a rift leading to another larger universe.
A Universe was something different from their very own. A Universe where Ape-like creatures that had a fire on their fist, Jellyfish-like existence that roamed the vast lands, and flying creatures without wings could be found!
Phenomenons that could not be explained by common logic or the guiding laws and principles of science that was used to unlock every single secret that the Universe of Avalon once had.
It was Magical as they say.
A Magical Universe. The abandoned realm of gods, deities, or goddesses!
The Universe of Paradiso!
Unfortunately, the Avalon Federation--the governing Federation in the Universe of Avalon, was not able to contain the news beforehand. Thus, Trillions and Trillions of people with different goals, dreams, or desires had started to venture into the unexplored magical Universe.
For adventure? Probably yes?
For research? Probably yes?
But for the majority of the people who ventured into this magical universe, it was only because of one reason!
For Money and Power!
With planets yet to be conquered... With the unimaginable amount of resources to be harvested... And with new knowledge to unfold, the Universe of Paradiso was a treasure trove to behold.
A Paradise as they say.
Or so they thought...
Seven years after its discovery, research about the mysteries of Paradiso had not taken much progress. The concepts of reality in the Universe of Avalon could never be applied to Paradiso. Thus, humans had no choice but to start from scratch.
And in order to ensure progress in exploring every single secret the Universe of Paradiso has to offer, the humans established a governing organization called Paradiso Hunter Organization, or PHO in short, that records information and data gathered from the exploration of the said magical universe and, at the same time, mediates between every single Hunter--the humans exploring the Universe of Paradiso, including the rights to explore dungeons and 'towers of gods' that contain treasures and clues that may lead to the origins or be the key to unlocking the secrets of Paradiso.
"Are you at the Avalon Legal age of 18? Do you want to be able to use a flame with your very hands? or do you just need money? Register now and be a Hunter in Paradiso!"
An advertisement played on one of the huge monitors outside a mall. The advertisement was cool and, at the same time, attractive to young men that were around 16 to 26 Earth Years Old. Most of them were attracted either by the 'registration bonus' offered by PHO or by the awesome 'possibility' for them to wield superpowers.
One of them was a young man, who was biting his lips and was seemingly tempted by the said advertisement. That said, when the advertisement ended, he shook his head with his hand placed on his forehead.
"What am I thinking?" He murmured to himself. Then, he took a deep breath as he slid his hand into his black hair--combing it upwards, and said, "My height was below the average! And I am just an ordinary human..."
His small black eyes glanced to his arms, focusing on his light brown skin and its slightly thin built. He shook his head once more after he saw the rest of his 'thin' body built that was completely exposed by the old fit spacesuit that he wore.
"Hunter, huh? I wonder if Pops is still alive. He should have stayed with us instead." He murmured. In the next second, he frowned and chuckled, "Should I go for the registration bonus?"
He stared towards the huge screen outside the mall and was momentarily at loss for words. Fortunately, after a few seconds, he was able to gather himself and said, "Pops left Mom and Jiro to me! I can do this! I can still find a new job before this month ends!"
He slapped his cheeks, to boost his morale, and was about to head forward. But as he was about to leave, he caught the gaze of another young man who also had just finished watching the advertisement by the Paradiso Hunter Organization.
This made him halt on his tracks as he gazes back towards the young man--wondering why he was staring towards him. He even tried to 'scan' his memory--remembering if that young man is an acquaintance of his.
But before he could remember who it was, the stranger waved towards him with a smile and shouted, "Corvus? Corvus Adbentura?"
"Eh?" Corvus frowned as he took a step back in astonishment. Then, he forced out a smile deep inside and thought, 'Who the f@ck is this guy?'
"Oh! It's really you!" The stranger said, seemingly a hundred percent sure that he was referring to the right person. "It has been a long time, my Tomodachi! Don't you remember me?"
Corvus pondered as he stared at the man with a wide chin and pearl white skin. It was only after a few seconds that he remembered the familiar person with thick eyebrows and a skinny body built.
"Koro? Is that you?" Corvus asked with a frown on his face, full of disbelief.