(20 Years Ago. Location: Matera, Italy)
Dr. Adrian Mendietta always found solace among the stars. His old but intricately designed astronomical observatory telescope was his most trusted companion. Tonight, he was supposed to observe a rare "Blood Moon." A gift from the heavens—yes, it was to be nothing more than an observation.
But that was not to be.
Shortly after powering up the equipment, alarms blared. The monitor turned crimson, displaying warning after warning. "Incoming object confirmed—speed, extremely high. Mass, unmeasurable. Countdown to impact: three minutes remaining."
Observatories worldwide fell into chaos. This was no ordinary meteor.
—It was a monster. A being capable of annihilating planets. It evaded every satellite and scan, and now it was too late.
Analysts shouted at each other, phones rang incessantly. Politicians demanded answers, but there were none to be found.
Two minutes remaining.
There wasn't even time to pray. There had never been a means to stop it. Its massive form was like that of a small city.
The doctor quietly stepped outside. The sky was already stained red. The "Blood Moon" had vanished beyond the blazing trail of light.
—So, this is how it ends.
He thought with a bitter smile.
"…At least it will be a beautiful end."
Twenty seconds remaining.
And then—impact.
The horizon cracked open, and a flash brighter than the sun engulfed the world. The shockwave crushed cities, flames incinerated continents, and tsunamis clawed out of the sea like talons. Earthquakes tore nations apart, and the sky was covered in ash.
Civilization crumbled within days.
Billions lost their lives, governments fell, satellites fell silent, crops withered, and supply chains vanished.
Only devastation remained.
Among the rubble, a blue-glowing fragment was discovered. This warm mineral, when touched, was named "Cortenite" by the few surviving scientists.
Yet, those who came into contact with it began to mutate. Some burned out from within, while others transformed into monstrous forms.
—But, rarely, some emerged with power.
Supernatural abilities to survive the hellscape that the earth had become.
Twenty years later...
The world was cloaked in ash and dust.
Laws had become myths, and water now represented power. Cities lay entwined in desert bones.
And those who wielded Cortenite ruled through fear and flames.
This is the new world.
An age of silence and storm.
The age of survivors.
–———————————————————
"Damn it!"
As information flooded his mind, Konan spat out the curse.
He stood there, frozen in place.
—Trying to grasp it all.
Just one single meteorite. That alone turned the Earth into a wasteland of sand, fire, and blood.
He'd read countless stories about apocalyptic settings. It was a genre everyone touched at least once.
However, seeing it with his own eyes versus reading it as a story was as different as heaven and earth.
(…It's worse than that war-torn world.)
Still, this time, he could not afford to fail. This was mission number thirty-three. This time, he was determined to succeed.
His foremost goal was to—find the hero.
The Archive typically assigned basic 'canned stories' to low-level field agents like him.
The simplest and most readable narrative worlds, with clear laws and structure.
Commonly referred to as one of the "lowest-tier story groups."
Strictly speaking, anyone could become a hero.
However, the most easily identifiable were those whose existence influences the laws of the world the most.
Individuals whose very presence warped the rules of the story.
This time, it seemed there was a likely candidate near the drop zone of Sarasvati.
He was determined to scout them. For the Archive and for himself.
He glanced around.
An endless desert stretched out to the horizon.
The sky was beginning to be tinted by the sunset, while the moon was rising on the other side—
Still adorned with the shimmering rings of apocalypse debris.
(…This world is really falling apart.)
Konan let out a small sigh and tried to decide his direction.
But just before he could do that—
(Right, this world has ability users, doesn't it?)
A smile crept onto his lips.
Finally.
The previous ability-less world had been boring. The moment you stood out even a little, you were immediately exiled from the story. It was a world filled with such restrictions.
But here—he could fight.
He immediately adjusted his parameters.
To match those who had touched Cortenite. First, the minimum physical enhancement. Just enough to survive a falling rock and handle a surprise attack.
(I'll set my abilities later… For now, I need to find a base.)
Just as he began to walk toward the sand dune ahead—
"...Huh?"
Something was moving beneath the sand.
No, was it just his imagination?
(Am I seeing hallucinations from the heat…?)
Suddenly—BAM!!
The ground exploded.
Sand and rocks flew up violently, and instinctively Konan's body leaped into the air.
Moments later, a gigantic 'something' burst forth from where he had just stood.
—It was a massive worm to put it mildly.
Somehow, he managed to land, rolling, but avoiding a fatal injury.
The worm roared nothing, making no sound, and sank back into the sand.
"...Damn it!!" he shouted instinctively.
"Who the hell starts a story like this?!"
(…If I had been even a second late with the body customization, I'd be dead.)
Beneath the sand—"it" was hunting now.
It was invisible. But it was definitely there, lurking, targeting him.
For just a fleeting moment, he caught a glimpse of its mouth—
A prison of blades formed by conical teeth, arranged in layers.
There was no way to escape. It was either defeat it or die.
Guns would be meaningless.
That exoskeleton wouldn't be scratched even by missiles.
"...Sarasvati."
As he called the name, the book floated into the air.
The pages flipped as if caught in a windless storm, and one was chosen according to his thoughts.
With a tug, Konan pulled out a sword.
A rugged metal blade. It bore no special decorations and had no name.
Yet the edge glowed ominously.
(It's better than nothing.)
At that moment—
The ground exploded again.
The worm burst forth from the sand.
Without hesitation, Konan sprang into action.
He lunged forward, swinging the sword with all his might.
Slash!
The strike cleaved the worm's body in two.
"Uwaaaaahhhh!?!"
A deluge of blood and chunks of flesh poured upon him.
Screaming, Konan was drenched.
—The stench. Unbearably foul.
"Ugh… this is the worst…!"
As he grimaced and wiped the slime off his body, his gaze caught sight of something in the distance.
—A cloud of sand.
—Vehicles.
"...They've arrived."
A glimmer of determination flickered in his eyes as he whispered to himself.
(This is where it begins.)