In 2050, scientists observed a disturbance in the Higgs field. Just seconds later, every human being collectively felt a shiver down their spine.
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The cosmic event happened without warning. An astronaut was repairing the outer hull of the ISS, quietly focused on clearing space debris. But then, his instruments flickered and died. Frantic, he tapped at controls that no longer responded, and then—he felt it. His fingers, then his hands, and then his entire body began to dissolve, breaking apart into particles as if he were fading into dust. The horror only lasted a moment before he lost consciousness entirely.
When he came to, he was intact again, and everything around him had transformed. He watched in awe as the rubble of the ISS swirled and danced in the emptiness of space, slowly reforming. Far beyond, something else moved. Among the debris, an ethereal figure floated, its movements precise and hypnotic, as though conducting a cosmic ballet. This being, neither kind nor cruel, spread its foreign energy throughout the universe, drawing particles together and repairing the Higgs field, stabilizing Earth and everything surrounding it. Its actions were detached, more like a scientist testing a new chemical on a lab rat than a sentient being showing mercy or malice. The astronaut, still hovering in disbelief, saw Earth slowly return to its untouched form in the void.
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Every person—whether awake or asleep, on Earth or beyond, sighted or blind—saw the same vision: two black spheres spinning in a void, twin black holes on a collision course. They clashed, disappearing only to erupt in a shockwave of energy that surged through the Higgs field, racing toward Earth. In an instant, all life was erased. Everything humans had built was obliterated, reduced to nothingness. Even light itself ceased to exist. Yet, as this wave of energy struck Earth, time stopped. A fissure appeared in the dark void, and a figure stepped through. With a snap of his fingers, all that had been destroyed was restored. This Vision was later called "the Cutscene". This was humanity's second chance. With it came new powers—each person received a unique skill and the ability to grow stronger. A new element, "Mana," born from the altered Higgs field, revolutionized human society.
In the days following the event, strange occurrences began. Initially, people accidentally triggered newfound skills without any idea how to control them. A man, unaware he was generating heat, burned his handprint into the metal of his car door. A woman, startled by a sudden noise, vanished in an instant, reappearing on the other side of the street, breathless and bewildered. These "skills" emerged without warning, and for weeks, the world struggled to adjust. Furthermore the wildlife started to act up and climate catastrophes started to change for the worse.
As chaos grew, police forces expanded, patrolling city streets to keep order. People of both ordinary and criminal wielded abilities, often in dangerous ways. But in the darkest days, a new figure emerged—a self-proclaimed vigilante, calling himself "Batman", though the public never fully adopted the name. He took justice into his own hands, matching criminals' abilities with his own cunning.
Tension mounted to a breaking point, with criminals, vigilantes and police in a three-way standoff. It was only when the two groups, vigilantes and police, united under government regulation that peace gradually returned. Under new laws, vigilantes were formally rebranded as "hunters", given a role alongside law enforcement to help maintain order. With the power and freedom they were granted, they commercialized space travel with Mana and Portals, took charge in protecting against Monster attacks and fighting other evil until today where everyone wants to be a hunter.
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Our story begins in 2110, sixty years after the "the Cutscene", with a boy born into this transformed world. At age four, all children are tested for their unique skillset. Those with rare talents often fall under special governmental supervision. However, Kathrine couldn't afford that. Deep in debt, she sold her baby on the black market. She barely thought of the child; he had been unwanted, conceived through desperation after selling her body, and she could hardly afford to live by herself. She wished, at the very least, that the child might have a better life, even if she could never look at him.
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The child was bought by Frank, a ruthless and feared slave trader notorious for exploiting those he ensnared in debt, turning them into bound Hunters through dept and Mana cuffs. Frank regularly trafficked in children with rare abilities, marking them as property and sending them to the harshest of lives under his control. Yet, this boy was different. When Frank recognized the child's skill: an immortal body. An idea even more twisted through his mind. Such a child, he realized, could supply endless blood, a source he could use to enhance the longevity and strength of his Hunters indefinitely.
Moreover, the boy's rare O blood type prized in the black-market world was known for its unmatched compatibility in Mana-infused transplants. Nicknamed "golden goods," these individuals fetched exorbitant prices for organs with no rejection risk. The potential wealth and power embedded in this child drove Frank's cruelty to new depths.
Experimentation was Frank's obsession. He was one of the few in the underworld daring enough to explore the relationship between Mana and human anatomy, driven not by science but by profit. His 'lab' was a patchwork of cold, filthy rooms where he butchered anyone bearing a skill of interest, searching for the means to isolate powers within their bodies. Now, with this immortal boy, he had a subject he could repeatedly mutilate without permanent loss an endless experiment to sate his morbid curiosity.
Days turned to years in this grim cycle. Frank worked with crude tools, slicing and tearing at the child's body, often for mere sport. Once, he tried forcing a transfusion between the boy and a wounded Hunter, watching intently as the boy's blood flowed through tangled, makeshift tubes. He cursed at his failures, the floor around him slick with blood, his hands stained with grime. On another occasion, he tried to transplant a vision-enhancement skill from one of his Hunters, connecting the boy's optic nerve to a volatile network of Mana. For a flash, the boy's world erupted into searing light and sharp forms before the process failed, sending Frank into a fit of rage as he tore apart the faulty connections.
Years of torment and brutality passed, each new experiment a darker twist in the boy's nightmarish reality. Confined to a black, airless room, the child became a creature of pure terror, knowing only pain. He developed no language, no sense of self, and couldn't even comprehend the relentless cycles of agony. His only understanding was of the light cutting into his darkness, signaling the arrival of his tormentor a force even more inevitable than death itself.
But Frank remained unsatisfied, convinced he was on the verge of a breakthrough in replicating abilities. And so, day after day, he returned to his immortal captive, determined to extract every last drop of potential the boy possessed.
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On the streets, a once-respected officer named Veronica was struggling to find purpose. Known for her bravery during the turbulent days following the event, she had faced countless rogue users, endured grueling nights, and fought to keep the peace. But as order returned, the emptiness of her life grew, and the accolades that once filled her with pride faded into memories. Nights were long, filled with whiskey and weary thoughts of battles past.
It was during a raid that she found him - the boy. The room was silent and pitch-dark, but as her flashlight pierced the gloom, a wave of sensations flooded over her. The smell of decay, the muffled screams echoing from nearby rooms, all assaulted her senses, thick with dread. In the corner, the boy sat motionless. At first glance, he looked perfectly healthy, his frame strong and his skin unmarred. Relief warmed her; maybe, just maybe, she'd found one who hadn't suffered.
But as she drew closer, her relief crumbled. The boy's eyes were lifeless, his stare hollow, void of any reaction. Veronica's heart sank, sadness mingling with a fierce resolve. She felt a spark of purpose again, a mission that reminded her of what she had once fought for. This boy, silent and damaged, could have a new life, a second chance. Determined to save him from the horrors he'd endured, she vowed to offer him the protection and care she'd once shown her country, hoping he might be part of a generation that could heal from the pain she'd seen in so many others.
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Mark had been living with Veronica for a year now. Under her care, he learned what it meant to be human: how to eat, how to speak, how to live with light. Now he was ready for school. Rather than enrolling him in a specialized institution, Veronica had placed him in a regular school, recognizing his abnormal ability to learn. Though his body had always healed perfectly, his soul bore scars.
Each time Frank had killed him, he was pulled back from the peace of oblivion, resurrected over and over. This cycle forged unique abilities within him, among them a skill called "Hyper Mind". The trauma should have fractured his psyche, leading to multiple personalities. Yet each resurrection restored his body to perfection, merging these personalities into a single, complex entity. Thus was born Hyper Mind, a singularity-like skill from the wreckage of countless deaths.