Chapter 1: Welcome to Virello
The last thing Kai Carter remembered was the roar of the city bus slamming on its brakes—and then nothing.
No pain. No bright light. Just… silence.
Then, a voice.
"He's awake."
Kai's eyes shot open.
Above him loomed a cracked ceiling lit by a flickering lantern. The scent of iron and smoke burned his nose. Something wet dripped nearby—drip… drip… drip—rhythmic, like a heartbeat.
He wasn't in his apartment. This wasn't a hospital. It wasn't even Earth.
The man standing over him had half his face replaced with rusted metal, the other scarred and tattooed like war paint. Two others stood behind him, dressed in black coats with golden pins shaped like a sleeping lion.
"Welcome back, Young Master," the metal-faced man said with a bow. "You've been… unconscious for some time."
Kai sat up. His body wasn't his. He was taller. Broader. His hands were calloused and inked with strange symbols. His reflection—shimmering in a pool of blood on the floor—wasn't his face.
"What the hell is this?" he croaked.
"You are Kai Virello now. Son of Don Nero Virello, leader of the House of Sloth. And heir to the weakest, most pathetic mafia bloodline in the Seven Sins."
The men exchanged glances. One scoffed.
"Not that it matters. He's already dead meat."
"Dead?" Kai asked.
The metal-faced man grinned. "Your brothers poisoned you. Right before the Sin Trials."
Kai's mind raced. Mafia? Seven Sins? Sin Trials?
"What the hell are Sin Trials?"
"The coming-of-age rite," the man replied. "Every heir fights for power, to earn their Sin Mark. To survive, you must kill… or die."
Kai stood, staggering.
In his old life, he was a broke college student. No parents. No power. No enemies.
Here?
He was target practice.
A knock came at the door.
"They're here," someone whispered.
The metal-faced man handed him a blade. Its edge was chipped, its hilt crusted with dried blood.
"You have no allies. No Mark. No time," he said. "But maybe… maybe you have a devil's luck."
Kai looked at the door.
He could feel it already—the tension, the danger, the promise of violence.
He didn't know this world, but it didn't matter. If it was kill or be killed, then he'd learn fast.
Because if this world wanted a king, he'd give them one.
One body at a time.