"No, please! I beg you, leave them alone, please!"

The desperate cries of a young boy echoed through the modern-looking apartment. Strangely enough, the building appeared to be freshly built, and there seemed to be no other residents living in this block yet.

"Shut up, you damned brat!"

A middle-aged man, wearing a rabbit mask that looked like it was ripped straight from a horror movie, swung a wooden club straight into the boy's ribs. His long black coat covered his entire body, concealing most of his form. But what was truly disturbing was the way the club extended from his hand, as if it were a part of him, growing straight out of his flesh.

The boy tumbled backward, slamming into the cold wall. His sky-blue eyes widened in shock, his golden hair—once beautiful—now stained with blood. But it wasn't his own. No, the blood belonged to the middle-aged woman lying motionless beside him. Her lifeless body bore a striking resemblance to the boy.

"Rabbit!"

A tall man, his voice younger but laced with authority, grabbed the wooden hand of the masked man. He wore a terrifying monkey mask and exuded an air of command. "We got what we wanted. Time to move—the cops are already on their way."

"But the child is still alive..." The middle-aged man hesitated, reluctance thick in his voice. He didn't want to leave any witnesses behind on this cold winter night.

"Leave him. The best he can do is make a few light bulbs flicker with his powers—not worth our time. We already eliminated his sister with S-rank potential and got the money. That's all that matters. I have no interest in dirtying my hands on some E-rank garbage."

The younger man sneered, casting a final glance at the boy—who looked no older than thirteen—before dragging his partner away.

As their footsteps faded, the dimly lit room fell into a suffocating silence. The boy lay motionless in his parents' blood, his body trembling, his sky-blue eyes hollow. His tears had dried—not because he had stopped crying, but because he had already wept every drop his body could produce.

Next to him lay the bodies of a middle-aged man and a woman, beaten beyond recognition, and a little girl, barely ten, her eyes closed in a pool of her own blood.

The boy couldn't understand why this was happening. Just that evening, they had been having dinner together—laughing, talking, enjoying their new life. After escaping the slums of the underground, his family had been settling into Pangaea City, hopeful for a fresh start in this post-apocalyptic world.

And now, the people he loved were gone…

Just a thousand years ago, the world suffered an atomic war that nearly wiped out all life. The survivors hid underground for centuries, emerging only when they found a place untouched by radiation—a paradise with warm weather and breathable air. There, they built a city and an empire, welcoming people from all over the world.

But nobody could have predicted what came next. The radiation had altered human DNA, causing them to evolve. At the age of nine, every child developed powers, though the extent of these abilities varied. Some gained minor mutations, like an extra pair of limbs. Others awakened terrifying abilities capable of setting the world ablaze. And while many sought to use their newfound strength for good, a vast number embraced the path of evil.

Thus, self-proclaimed superheroes rose to combat crime and restore order. They fought tirelessly against the villains who wielded their abilities for destruction.

But when evil arrived at the boy's doorstep, he could do nothing. With his meager E-rank abilities—the lowest possible tier—he could only watch as his family met their tragic fate.

"Why…" the boy sobbed, his voice hoarse. "Why am I so powerless? If only… if only the world would give me another chance… I would protect the weak without hesitation… I, too, want to be strong. I want to be a shield for others!"

He clutched his burning chest, an unbearable pain surging through him.

Badoom! Badoom!

His heart pounded wildly. The air around him crackled with energy. In an instant, the entire block lost power—the lights flickered out, streetlamps shattered, and every spark of electricity in the area surged toward him.

His body jolted as an unfathomable force coursed through his veins. Electricity erupted from him in violent arcs, illuminating the night sky. The sheer intensity of his awakening triggered a thunderstorm in the dead of winter. But it didn't end there. The lightning danced across the sky until, suddenly, a massive lightning dragon formed above—at least fifty meters tall. It crashed into one of the apartment buildings—exactly where the child was.

The dragon's head tore through the wall, surging toward the child before erupting in a devastating explosion that consumed the entire room.

The boy's eyes crackled with powerful lightning, and in the next moment, he vanished into thin air with a spark of electricity.

This phenomenon had never been seen before. And it would remain a mystery who had caused such a world-shaking event.

And the boy who had lost everything… had become a force that would one day shake the world. 

He was, after all, the first Re-Awakener.