Kael sat slumped against a crumbling brick wall, his breath shallow and uneven. Blood dripped from his split lip, staining the dirt beneath him. His ribs throbbed with each gasp of air, and his knuckles were raw from the fight. Not that it mattered—he'd lost. Again.
The gang of thugs had left him like this, tossed aside like garbage after they'd had their fun. The bruises and cuts would heal, but their words? Those would stick.
"Broken Star trash."
"Why bother living if you can't even climb?"
"Pathetic."
Kael clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms. It was always the same. He'd grown up hearing those words from everyone—neighbors, strangers, even his teachers. A Broken Star. That's what they called people like him. People with fractured souls.
In this world, where power came from the essence in one's soul, a Broken Star might as well be dead. Their souls couldn't absorb essence, couldn't grow stronger. They were stuck, weak and powerless, at the bottom of society.
Kael tilted his head back, staring up at the shattered sky. High above, floating realms glittered like stars, connected by glowing pathways of silver and gold. The Celestial Realms.
That's where the strong went. The ones with unbroken souls. The ones who mattered.
"You'll never reach it," he muttered to himself, his voice bitter and raw. The words tasted like ash. He hated how much he believed them.
His chest tightened, a familiar ache spreading through him. Not just from the bruises or the cracked ribs—this was deeper, heavier. It was the weight of a lifetime spent being nothing, going nowhere.
Kael's head dropped forward, his bangs falling into his eyes. "Damn it," he whispered, his voice trembling. He hated this. Hated feeling like the world had already written his ending.
Suddenly, pain erupted in his chest—a sharp, searing heat that knocked the breath out of him. Kael gasped, clutching his shirt as his heart felt like it was about to explode.
"No—what's happening?" he choked out, his vision swimming.
Then, a voice.
[System Initializing...]
Kael froze. The voice wasn't his. It wasn't even human. It was cold, mechanical, and impossibly clear, like it was speaking directly into his mind.
"What… what is this?" he whispered, his fingers trembling against his chest.
[Welcome to the Echo of Eternity.]
Golden light flooded his vision, bright and blinding. He threw up a hand to shield his eyes, but the light didn't burn—it felt warm, almost comforting, even as his body trembled.
When the glow dimmed, Kael found himself staring at something impossible: words, glowing faintly in the air before him.
System Log
Host: Kael Arden
Soul Status: Fractured (Unique)
System Classification: Adaptive Cheat Module
Abilities Unlocked:
Soul Fragment Extraction – Convert past-life fragments into power.Eternal Echo – Summon echoes of past lives for combat or guidance.
Kael blinked, his mind racing to make sense of the text. "What the hell is this?" he muttered, his voice shaky.
The voice returned, calm and unfeeling. [Your fractured soul has been identified as a rare anomaly. Potential: Infinite.]
"Infinite?" Kael whispered, the word catching in his throat. That couldn't be right. He was a Broken Star. His whole life, people had told him he was worthless. How could he have potential?
[Warning: Host is currently at risk of termination. Activate abilities or face inevitable failure.]
His blood ran cold. "Termination? What are you talking about?"
The glowing text shifted, and a new message appeared before him.
Quest Activated: Prove Your Worth
Objective: Defeat the Apex Beast terrorizing the Slums.Reward: Essence Core (Rank F).
The Apex Beast. Kael's stomach dropped. He'd heard the stories—everyone in the slums had. A monstrous creature that prowled the outskirts, killing anything that crossed its path. No one who faced it had ever come back alive.
"You've got to be kidding me," Kael said, his voice rising. "You want me to fight that thing? I can't even take on a couple of thugs!"
The system didn't respond. Of course it didn't. It wasn't a person. It was just… there, watching, waiting.
Kael's chest heaved as he stared at the glowing quest window. His fists clenched at his sides, his nails biting into his skin. Every instinct screamed at him to run, to hide, to give up like he always had.
But then, something deep inside him stirred. A flicker of anger. A flicker of… defiance.
His whole life, he'd been told what he couldn't do. That he couldn't climb the realms. That he couldn't fight. That he couldn't matter.
"Maybe they're right," he muttered. His voice shook, but he forced himself to keep speaking. "Maybe I am broken."
The words hung in the air for a moment, heavy and bitter. Then he straightened, the pain in his chest fading into something else—something warmer, stronger.
"But if I'm going to die anyway," he said, his voice steady now, "I'm going down fighting."
As if in response, golden light flared around him, and his body was flooded with warmth. Memories—strange, vivid, and impossibly real—flashed through his mind. A warrior standing against an army. A mage weaving storms with a flick of his wrist. An inventor crafting machines that defied the laws of nature.
They weren't just memories. They were his. Pieces of himself, buried in the fragments of his broken soul.
Kael staggered, his knees almost giving out. But with the memories came something else: power.
For the first time in his life, Kael didn't feel small. He didn't feel weak.
He looked up at the floating text, his lips curling into a faint grin. "Alright," he said. "Let's see what this 'infinite potential' can do."
With a deep breath, Kael pushed off the wall, his body still aching but his mind clear. The stars above seemed brighter now, no longer mocking him.
And for the first time, Kael took a step forward, toward the monster that would either kill him or mark the beginning of something extraordinary.