A frail-looking teenager with pale caramel skin, faintly aglow with a dim ethereal light, held a stale sandwich loosely at the edge of his hand. Beside him sat a box overflowing with random utensils and crumpled papers. Sitting across from the hospital, he stared at the sandwich in his hand. The meat inside wasn't real—just an artificial substitute, since the real thing was hard to come by. But today, on his last day, he had decided to buy a small piece of the real stuff.
He lifted the bread, inspecting it briefly before placing it back over the meat. Then, without hesitation, he took a bite.
He lifted the bread, inspecting it briefly before placing it back over the meat. Then, without hesitation, he took a bite—and immediately grinned.
"So good!" he murmured, savoring the taste.
Kaz looked at the sandwich ravenously, wiped his chin, where saliva had begun to drip, and devoured the rest of the sandwich. It was worth it."That artificial meat was better than I thought. Who knew that something so fake could taste this good?" Kaz muttered, his grin widening as he finished the last bite.
People around him looked well-off, a stark contrast to Kaz, who was barely scraping by to keep his family house. And now, none of it mattered—he was about to be rifted.
Kaz pushed himself up, despair weighing on his limbs, fully aware of his impending death. His tattered clothes clung to his frame, his pale caramel skin glowed faintly, and his coiled hair hung in disarray—a testament to his struggles. He crossed the street, keeping his gaze low, avoiding the eyes of the locals.
As he moved through the crowd, his gaze lifted, catching sight of a family passing by—a mother, a father, and two children, a boy and a girl, their laughter effortless and bright. Smiling. Giggling.
He exhaled, a bitter edge creeping into his whisper. "You lucky people… you get to go home." Despair and disdain laced his voice.
As he entered the hospital, the nurse gave him a quick glance, disgust littering her face.
"Kid, are you lost?"
Kaz glanced around the hospital, instantly noticing how different it was from the rundown ones in the rough part of town. The ceilings had turrets, poorly hidden, with glowing stones embedded beside them. It was way nicer than the dump of a hospital downtown. The nurse was a typical pretty girl as well
"Kid, if you don't respond, I'll have to kick you out."
Kaz yawned and stretched, the nurse's pause annoying him, to say the least.
"Yeah, no."
He scratched the back of his head, then added, "By the law of Dallas, Texas, in the United States, I'm here to inform you that I'm about to rift, and I need that hospital anchor."
The look of annoyance and disgust faded from the young lady's face, quickly replaced by fear.
You're about to rift? When did you start glowing?"
Kaz scratched the back of his head, his gaze drifting as if searching for the right words.
"Four days ago, everything was different," Kaz muttered, his voice trailing off.
The nurse's skin turned even paler.
"Damn," she muttered under her breath.
"Attention! There's an incoming rift in the lobby. I repeat, incoming rift!"
***
The rifts began appearing a couple of decades ago. At the time, the world was still reeling from the aftermath of the world war, struggling to rebuild what had been lost. As if that weren't enough, natural disasters ravaged the planet, leaving devastation in their wake. Then came the rifts—tearing open the fabric of reality and changing everything once again.
At first, people admired the bright glow, enchanted by its ethereal beauty. But as the glow intensified, complaints arose—sleepless nights, restless minds. Then, people began to vanish without a trace. Families mourned loved ones who had seemingly ceased to exist, with no explanation, no pattern—until the truth became undeniable. The ones who glowed were the ones disappearing. By the time they realized it, it was already too late.
When those who glowed perished in the unknown world, something terrifying occurred—a monster would manifest where they had once stood. These rift beasts, born from the fallen, emerged without warning, their numbers growing with each lost soul. The military fought desperately, but they were soon overwhelmed. Cities fell, governments crumbled, and the world spiraled into complete chaos.
No one understood how the rifts worked or the nature of the creatures lurking within. Every attempt to study them ended in failure—or death. Conventional weapons barely scratched them, and those who entered the rifts rarely returned. The world was left grasping in the dark, helpless against an enemy they couldn't comprehend.
In the end, Initiates who survived the rifts returned with mysterious powers. With their newfound abilities, they pushed back the rift beasts, restoring a fragile peace. Over time, they formed organizations and clans, shaping the world's new order.
Of course, the rifts had nothing to do with Kaz—he was just struggling to keep his house from falling apart. That was until a few days ago… when he started glowing.
Normal people had training, wit, and resources to survive the rift. Some came from families with powerful backing, ensuring they became as skilled and strong as possible to endure what many called the Rift Curse. The richer someone was, the higher their chances of survival. For them, the rift was dangerous—but survivable.
Kaz had only one living family member, but she barely acknowledged his existence. He spent most of his time struggling to keep his job, having dropped out of school when he could no longer afford it. Unlike the privileged, he had no training, no resources—no chance. The rift didn't offer him a path to survival.
A few minutes later, Kaz found himself lying in a strange capsule bed. A faint pull tugged at his body as his skin glowed slightly brighter. The bed was an odd fusion of sci-fi technology and a standard hospital cot, wires and tubes intertwining in ways he couldn't understand. The room itself was high up—probably at the very top of the building. One wall was made of what looked like bulletproof glass, while the rest were reinforced with armored plating.
Kaz could see the expressions of what seemed to be security or police officers, their faces etched with genuine fear as they held shotguns tightly in their hands. But he didn't care. His attention was consumed by the strange heat flaring up in his chest, an unfamiliar warmth that seemed to pulse and grow stronger with each passing moment.
Finally, the automatic stainless steel door slid open, revealing a tall man with ivory skin, black hair, and a clean face with just a hint of a tan. He looked seasoned, his presence commanding and calm as he stepped into the room. he glanced at Kaz then looked at his communicator
"What's your name, boy?" the man asked, his tone calm.
Kaz shifted uncomfortably, the heat radiating around his body making him uneasy.
"Kazeem," Kaz replied, his voice steady despite the discomfort.
The man raised an eyebrow, his expression intrigued.
"Kazeem—Arabic or Middle Eastern?" the man asked, his curiosity evident.
Kaz tried to lift his hand to scratch his nose but found himself unable to move due to the capsule restricting him.
"No, my mom just loved names from other cultures, I think," Kaz said, shrugging slightly despite the discomfort.
He tried to move, attempting some sort of gesture, but found he couldn't.
"I was lucky to get one; most people don't," he added, his voice tinged with a hint of resignation.
The only reason for his name was because of a children's book his mom loved so much. She'd given it to Kaz without much thought. The book, Kazeem Steals It, had been very popular at the time. His mom was a bit odd, though—his sister was named after a famous cartoon princess, Elsie Snow.
The man cleared his throat, a small sign of impatience or perhaps contemplation.
"Do you have a family to contact?" the man asked, his voice steady but carrying an undertone of concern.
Kaz had already tried contacting his sister, but to no avail.
He sighed. "There's no one."
For a fleeting moment, the man wore a soft expression before it quickly shifted to seriousness.
"Do you feel hot yet?"
az shrugged, barely reacting.
"Yes, it's hot. It feels like I'm about to burst into flames."
The man sighed, clearly unfazed by Kaz's discomfort.
Then we don't have much time. I guess I'll explain the essential
The man didn't wait for a response.
"How much do you know about the rifts?"
Kaz gave him a questioning look, unsure of what the man was getting at.
"Everyone knows about the rifts," Kaz replied as if it were obvious.
The man frowned slightly.
"Not the webtoons, anime, or even the propaganda you see on TV."
That was a hard question to answer, and Kaz hesitated, unsure of how much to say.
"I thought I just go inside a rift, kill a bunch of beasts, gain power, and leave. Right? That's about the basic info, isn't it?" Kaz said, his tone laced with a hint of frustration.
The man shook his head.
"When you get transported through the rift, you will have to go on a journey to find a certain item. Everything there is real; these beasts are powerful, and it's nothing like a game. Some creatures can look like humans, so be careful. They're called rift walkers."
Kaz looked at the man, worry flickering in his eyes. The heat was unbearable, and even the slightest movement felt like agony.
"Not just that," the man continued. "The superpowers you're thinking of won't be as useful—well, most of them, at least. The one you do get will be your lifeline. Try your hardest to survive because it'll be a pain to deal with otherwise. I'm just a low-ranking member of a clan, so I don't want to fight it."
The room felt like an oven, the air thick and suffocating, pressing down on Kaz like molten chains. His body pulsed with heat, his skin glowing like embers in a dying fire. The radiance intensified, shifting from a dull shimmer to a blinding, incandescent blaze, as if he had become a newborn star on the verge of collapse. The ethereal light poured from him in waves, illuminating every corner of the room with a brilliance so fierce that the man instinctively shielded his eyes, his vision drowned in white-hot radiance.
For a fleeting moment, the world seemed to hum with an otherworldly energy, the heat distorting the air like a mirage. Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the glow vanished.
When the man hesitantly lowered his hand and blinked away the lingering glare, Kaz was gone—swallowed by the light, as if he had never been there at all.
Everything was so bright that Kaz couldn't see anything, his vision consumed by the blinding light. But through the radiance, he heard a melodious voice:
[Novice! Welcome to the Rift World. Prepare for your journey...]