"Ashes of World War III: The Rising Legend"
Chapter 1: Silence After War
The world didn't end in fire.
It ended in silence.
No final explosion.
No last warning.
Just… everything stopping.
The sky remained grey.
The wind carried dust instead of life.
And the world people once fought for—
Was gone.
Ken walked across a broken highway, hands in his pockets, stepping over cracks like they didn't matter.
Eighteen.
Alive.
And already tired of surviving.
"Still acting like the king of nothing?"
Ken smirked slightly.
"Better than acting scared of everything, Garen."
Behind him, the group moved around an abandoned truck, searching for anything useful.
His people.
The only thing left that mattered.
Garen was already tearing things apart.
"Nothing useful," he muttered, tossing scrap aside.
"Stop throwing things," Varya said, picking them back up. "We might need them."
"You worry too much."
"And you don't think at all."
Axton laughed from the side.
"At least you two are still arguing. Means we're alive."
"Focus," a calm voice cut through.
Ken glanced sideways.
Anaya.
Standing slightly apart. Watching everything. Thinking.
Her eyes met his.
Steady.
Unshaken.
"This place isn't safe," she said quietly.
Ken shrugged. "Nothing is."
"That's not a reason to be careless."
Nearby, Daniel examined a broken device.
"Dead," he said. "No energy source."
Axton sighed. "You always ruin good discoveries."
A little distance away—
Kittu stood near a collapsed wall.
Silent.
Still.
Watching.
His eyes scanned the ruins slowly.
Then—
He frowned.
"…That's strange."
Anika looked at him. "What?"
Kittu didn't answer immediately.
His gaze stayed fixed ahead.
"There's something there…" he said quietly.
"…but it feels like nothing."
The group paused.
Even Ken looked up.
"What do you mean 'nothing'?" Garen asked.
Kittu shook his head slightly.
"I don't know… it's like—"
"…it shouldn't be there."
Then—
A sound.
"…help…"
Everyone turned.
From behind a collapsed structure, a man stumbled forward.
Weak.
Barely alive.
Covered in dust and blood.
Varya stepped forward immediately. "He needs help!"
"Wait," Anika said sharply. "Something's off."
Daniel narrowed his eyes. "Kittu?"
Kittu's expression didn't change.
"…Now I can feel him," he said quietly.
That made it worse.
Ken's eyes locked onto the man.
Something inside him… reacted.
"Ken," Anaya said, her voice low. "Think first."
He didn't stop.
The man collapsed—
And Ken caught him.
The moment their skin touched—
Everything changed.
A surge of energy exploded through Ken's body.
His breath caught.
"What—"
The man screamed.
Not in pain.
Something deeper.
Something wrong.
"KEN! LET GO!" Garen shouted.
"I'm not doing anything!" Ken snapped.
But his body wasn't listening.
The man's veins began to glow faintly.
His body trembled violently.
Varya stepped back, fear in her eyes.
"Make it stop!"
"I CAN'T!"
"Ken—focus!" Anaya stepped forward.
For a second—
Their eyes met.
And something inside him steadied.
The energy stopped.
Silence.
The man fell still.
"…Is he dead?" Axton whispered.
No one moved.
Then—
The man's fingers twitched.
Slowly—
He stood up.
No wounds.
No weakness.
Just… different.
Everyone froze.
"…What did you do to me?" the man asked.
His voice felt off.
Unstable.
Ken stared at his own hands.
Like they didn't belong to him anymore.
"I…"
He couldn't answer.
Kittu's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…Now he feels real," he said.
Anaya stepped beside Ken.
"This isn't normal."
Ken let out a slow breath.
A faint, uneasy smile appeared.
"…Yeah."
His eyes moved from the man… to his team.
Something had changed.
Not just the world.
Him.
"This world didn't end…"
he said quietly.
"It just started again."