The glow from the television screen spilled across the cluttered living room, throwing sharp light over the half-empty ramen cups and the stack of unopened bills.
On-screen, a news anchor in a crisp suit tried to look composed as a woman in sleek combat armor sat across from him.
The backdrop displayed an iconic silhouette: A Black Tower, its obsidian spire piercing the clouds.
"—and tell us, Hunter Aria, when did you first realize you'd reached S-Rank?"
Aria's expression was slightly unreadable behind her tactical visor.
"The day I killed the World-Scale Hydra on the 85th floor."
Her voice was calm, almost bored, as if she were describing a grocery run.
Mac watched, elbows on his knees, remote dangling from his fingers.
The anchor kept asking questions. Did she feel fear? Did she ever doubt herself? How did it feel to be on top of all of humanity from that pinnacle?
He already knew the answers didn't matter.
53 years ago, the Towers had appeared. Impossible structures that tore open the sky and remade the world overnight.
Some people woke up to find themselves with power beyond imagination.
Before they were called superhumans. Now, they are called Hunters.
Unfortunately, only a few could become hunters.
Everyone else, him included, just…went on living.
The interview ended with a highlight reel of Aria's feats. Torrents of flame, walls of ice, creatures the size of buildings falling under her blade.
Max clicked off the TV.
Silence pressed down, heavier than before.
A thin laugh slipped out of his throat.
As if someone like me would ever belong up there.
Max pushed himself up and walked into the kitchen, rinsing out a cracked mug. The water hissed in the sink, a familiar sound he'd never liked or hated.
It was just life, the ordinary kind.
Maybe that was enough.
Max checked the old digital clock—2:31 a.m. He rubbed at the exhaustion grinding behind his eyes.
Tomorrow, he'd wake up and go to work like always. Another day of watching the Towers from the distance.
His bed felt colder than usual when he lay down.
He closed his eyes, willing sleep to come.
But just as the dark began to claim him, something flickered across his vision.
[Awakening…]
He blinked.
Nothing.
"Hmmm….. that's weird…"
Must be dreaming, he thought.
The world slipped away.
However, when he opened his eyes again, it was not the cracked ceiling of his apartment overhead.