Inside a wrecked, abandoned library, something unheard is about to be revealed.
With a deep and calm voice, victor said,
"WR-1 is a machine—or more like a failed machine. It was a project to copy the human neurological system and give a machine thinking capabilities. But the project never truly took place."
With a confused expression, Ren asked Victor,
"A failed machine? And what do you mean the project never took place? In Rudd's experiment log, it's noted—with dates—that experimentation happened."
Victor, with a soft smile, answered Ren:
"There are no official records backing the project, and no evidence that such a machine was ever built. By Experiment 7 in the log, we can tell it failed."
Before Ren could ask more, Victor continued:
"But I heard a rumor that only four minds were behind the project."
"Only four people?" Ren said in shock.
"Yes," Victor said, looking up at the cracked ceiling before continuing.
"The greatest mechanic and technician, the greatest electrician, the greatest programmer, and the greatest scientist."
Ren immediately understood that the greatest scientist would definitely be Rudd Vellion.
But he had no idea who the others were.
Before he could ask further questions, a bell rang.
It was an old catering bell.
Rose, with a sweet and calming voice, said:
"Boys, enough talking. I can hear your stomachs rumbling from a distance. Eat some pastry and drink some tea."
"Sometimes, a simple cup of tea can shield a heart from the storms it doesn't know are coming."
Victor, with a soft smile, took the cup without saying anything.
Ren also took the cup, thanking the lady for it.
After drinking the tea, Ren didn't ask anything more about WR-1.
Instead, he changed the topic by asking,
"Do you know anything about Elemental: Code Black?"
Suddenly, the atmosphere of the room changed.
The smile on Victor's face faded slightly.
His voice deepened but lost its earlier calm.
His eyes grew heavier, and his hand stiffened as he broke the silence.
"Elemental: Code Black is not an element, but a set of instructions. It amplifies a user's abilities, increasing their power, efficiency, and destruction—similar to an adrenaline rush in the human body."
Before Ren could say anything, Victor added:
"But nothing can be gained without paying a price. Activation of Code Black guarantees destructive powers, but the elements are no longer under your control. As far as I know, no subject has ever been able to control it and live."
Ren's eyes darkened.
He didn't know what to ask next.
Before he could break the silence, Victor stood up, picked up his cane, and started moving toward the exit.
He said,
"It's better not to pursue this further. We should focus on understanding WR-1."
Glancing at his gold watch, he added,
"I think you're getting late. Before anyone worries about you, you should head home. We'll talk later."
Ren, still confused and a little afraid to ask more, nodded and picked up the log manual.
He greeted Miss Rose and Victor goodnight.
As he left, Victor shouted:
"You're one of us now! Come whenever you want. There are many secrets in this world, hidden somewhere in the books of this library!"
Ren, nodding, didn't take the shortcut this time.
He returned to the bus stop, knowing it was too risky to walk at night after the earlier incident.
As he left, Rose looked at Victor with a soft smile.
"That young boy resembles him a lot. I understand now why you gave him Rudd's book! Little victor."
Victor didn't say anything.
He simply picked up his black suit, held a leather briefcase in his left hand, a walking cane in his right, and walked away into the night.
Rose closed the old door from inside and sat down on her chair, gazing toward an empty corner with a broken window.
She murmured,
"He's just like you."
"Her voice trembled faintly, as if speaking those words brought back a thousand memories too heavy for the night to carry."
________________________________________
—Flashback—
"Miss Rose, why are you always reading manga all day?"
said a young boy with black eyes, a hint of gold shining in them.
"What do you want me to read, little boy? Those machine manuals that little Victor reads all day?"
Rose replied with a laugh.
"Rose! Why always me?"
Victor whined with a crybaby face.
"And why do you always sleep in the library instead of reading? You're also a science student!" he added, pointing at the boy munching chips.
"Why would I read something that's already been explained?"
the boy said, his mouth full of crumbles.
"I still don't understand how you score such high marks without studying,"
Victor said, clearly wanting an answer.
"Because I find the answers,"
the boy replied with a heartfelt smile,
"instead of learning them."
"Enough, boys!"
Rose called out.
"Eat some pastry and drink some tea!"
—Flashback ends.—
"If nothing had ever changed,
he would be alive today."She murmured.
________________________________________
In front of a river, under a bridge that floats without any visible foundation,
three large concrete pipes lay abandoned—
each big enough for a person to fit inside.
Victor walked into one of the pipes, holding a floating light orb to illuminate the inside.
As the light spread, it revealed an old drawing made with charcoal:
a robotic body, with a human riding on top of it.
—Flashback—
"Did you see that movie where a guy built a suit that could fly and shoot?"
asked a boy, a packet of chips in his hand.
"Yeah! It's cool, right?"
young Victor replied with the same innocent smile.
"I want to build something like that,"
the boy said, his eyes shining with bright dreams.
"It's not possible. It's just a movie,"
young Victor replied, doubting.
"People said flying was impossible, too, until the Wright brothers proved them wrong,"
the boy said, filling his mouth with more chips.
Victor didn't say anything else.
Instead, he began drawing on the concrete pipe with charcoal.
"Something like this,"
young Victor said after finishing a cartoonish drawing of a boy riding a robot.
"Yeah, something like this,"
the boy said with a heartfelt smile.
—Flashback ends—
________________________________________
On an island far removed from any human touch, the ruins of old buildings stood silent. Once alive with activity, now they bore only dried trails of blood across their broken walls — the remnants of the unknown.
At the heart of the ruins stood a large wall. Across its surface, the names of many who had once been here were engraved, some faded beyond recognition.
Among them, nearly erased, only a fragment of a name remained visible:
Watfrown.
________________________________________
In the vibrant of Ariella, within the town of Hemsworth, the streets came alive under the glow of countless lights.
Buildings bathed the roads in color, and above, the skies were busy with people driving across in the air, like birds going to their nest.
Children skated joyfully along the streets — without even touching the ground beneath.
At the center of town stood the market — a marvel in itself.
Shops not only lined the streets, but floated midair, spiraling upward in a circle like a living tower where anything you needed could be found.
A girl in a mechanic's suit ' Elara ' stepped into the market, searching for some tools and equipment for her work.
As she entered, she changed her shoes into a mandatory requirement market shoes at the front of the gate.
As soon as she entered the market atmosphere changed.
The air grew warmer, silkier. The heavy clouds threatening rain parted, revealing a clear, open sky.
Before her stood a signboard, listing locations of every shop and their goods.
Elara scanned the board.
Mechanical gear and tools — in Third Level.
She touched her special shoes, and her body gently lifted off the ground.
Rising upward, she floated past the grocery shops, controlling her ascent until she reached the third level.
There, she halted her upward motion and stabilized herself in midair, drifting weightlessly towards the gear shop.
After collecting what she needed, she touched her other shoe and began to float downward, passing by the colorful layers of the market.
Before exiting, she changed her shoes back, the atmosphere shifted back to normal.
At the side of the entrance.
There, a small robo stood, explaining the magic of the market to a group of children.
"Hello, little geniuses!" the robo chirped.
"Do you want to know how this market works?"
The children screamed in excitement.
The robo continued with a cheerful tone,
"The market lie inside a cylindrical dome — just like your water bottle!
If you put something lighter or less dense than water into your bottle, like a leaf, it floats. But if it's heavier or more dense, like a rock, it sinks, right?
Now imagine that inside this dome, there's an invisible fluid — kind of like air, but different. When you enter the market, the entrance wraps you inside a thin air bubble, like chocolate wrapped in foil."
The children gasped in amazement.
"When you touch the right shoe that we gave you," the robo explained,
"your bubble becomes lighter than the fluid — so you float upward!"
"And if you touch left shoe, your bubble becomes heavier — so you sink downwards"
One curious little girl asked,
"But what about the cars and buses flying above outside the market?"
The robo smiled brightly.
"Ah, good question little genius!,
They use magnetic repulsion". He answered.
"You've played with magnets, right? When you try to push two red sides or two blue sides together, they repel. But a red side and a blue side attract each other!
Earth acts like a giant red and blue ball too, though we can't see it easily.
Cars and buses are designed with the same idea that makes them to act like magnet — that's why they float when two same sides meet of earth and car, and stop when opposite sides connect!"
Elara listened quietly, smiling warmly at the curious children, remembering how she once asked similar questions to her father.
As she was about to leave, a small voice from the crowd asked,
"What if the bubble pops?"
The robo, still smiling, replied,
"It normally doesn't pop unless you do something like kicking or pinching it. But if it does... you would fall."
The children's faces turned a little pale with hint of fear.
The robo quickly added,
"But don't worry!
See those statues in the center? They are actually rescue robots like me. They'll catch you faster than you can blink!"
Another curious voice from the crowd asked,
"Why do they just stand there? Don't they get bored?"
For the first time, the robo's expression dimmed slightly.
"A machine doesn't feel boredom," it said quietly.
"Because if it could feel emotions... it wouldn't be a machine anymore.
It would become something else."
The children stared in silent confusion.
With a soft beep, the robo concluded,
"The explanation ends here. Now, little geniuses — enjoy the market!"
The group of children ran inside, their laughter fading into the distance.
________________________________________
Ren pushed open the door to his home.
Before he could even take a step inside, his mother stood before him, arms crossed, glaring.
"Where are you coming from?" she demanded sharply.
Prepared for this, Ren answered calmly — as he had already rehearsed it several times on his way back.
"I visited Ariella University," he said.
"I just wanted to see the infrastructure... but since my application wasn't accepted yet, I couldn't enter."
His mother narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
After a moment, she sighed and said,
"Well, you can visit tomorrow. Your application has been accepted — the email arrived a little while ago."
Ren's heart sank, but he nodded quietly.
After washing up and placing his book inside the fingerprint-protected drawer, he came to the dinner table.
As he sat down—
POP!
A party ball exploded over his head, showering him with colorful confetti.
"Congratulations, Ren! For getting accepted into Ariella University!"
his whole family cheered.
The dinner table was filled with all his favorite dishes —
In the center, a steaming plate of Western-style chicken biryani.
On the left, Sicilian noodles, and on the right, a hot serving of Japanese udon.
Grinning from ear to ear, Ren dug in like he hadn't eaten in days, nearly choking in his excitement.
After stuffing himself full, he thanked everyone with a bright, genuine smile.
As he started to head back to his room, a voice called out:
"Ren!"
It was Rude, his older brother.
Confused, Ren turned back.
Rude wore a mischievous grin.
"I know you didn't actually go to the University."
Ren froze, heart skipping a beat.
Before he could say anything, Rude chuckled and added,
"I don't know where you really went, but... don't do anything risky, okay?"
Ren nodded stiffly.
Rude leaned in closer with a smirk.
"Also... if you don't want Mom to find out, you better pay up."
Ren stared at him in disgust but had no choice — handing over his hard-earned pocket money with a grumble.
He always knows when I'm lying... how does he do it?
Ren muttered inwardly, glaring at his smug brother.
Finally escaping, he collapsed into bed, exhaustion overtaking him in seconds.
Ren slept soundly, unaware that tomorrow...
an adventure was waiting for him.