The rain poured heavily, washing away the blood on the cold pavement. Surya lay motionless, his thin body covered in cuts and bruises. His school uniform, once white, was now soaked in red. His chest burned from the deep stab wound, and his vision blurred as he struggled to breathe.
"Is this how I die?"
He could still hear their laughter—the voices of those who had done this to him. His classmates. The ones who tormented him every day. Today, they had taken it too far. A knife to the stomach. A final, cruel joke.
"You should just disappear, weakling."
And so, they left him in the middle of the road, in the dead of night, to be forgotten.
His fingers twitched. His body refused to give up. A strange warmth spread inside him—not hope, not strength, but something darker. A whisper in his mind.
"No. Not like this."
Summoning every ounce of will left in him, Surya dragged himself up. His legs were weak, but the fear of dying alone in this cruel world was worse than any pain. He stumbled into the forest, the only place to hide.
But the forest had its own dangers.
A low growl echoed through the trees. Yellow eyes gleamed in the darkness. A cheetah. Its sleek body moved slowly, circling him, hungry.
Surya's heart pounded. He was too weak to run. Too weak to fight. Was this really the end?
Just as the beast lunged—
A figure appeared.
Faster than the eye could follow, the stranger struck. A fist crashed into the cheetah's skull with brutal force, sending it skidding back. The wild animal snarled but did not attack again. It knew better.
The boy who had saved him looked no older than seventeen. His black hair was messy, his clothes torn. His sharp eyes held no kindness, only raw strength. He stood tall, fearless, like he had lived in this forest forever.
"Pathetic," the stranger muttered, glancing at Surya's wounded body. "You won't survive like this."
Surya coughed, barely able to speak. "…Who… are you?"
The boy smirked. His eyes burned with something dangerous.
"Aditya. But in this world, names don't matter."
He turned away, walking into the forest. Then he stopped.
"Come if you want to live. But if you follow me… be ready to suffer."
Surya had no choice. He clenched his fists, forcing himself to move.
Step by step, he followed the stranger into the darkness.
A journey had begun. A cruel, merciless journey.
And Surya would never be the same again.