The Arrival of the Luminants: The Awakening of a Good-for-NothingGood-for-Nothing

Everything was on fire.

Screams.

Shattered glass.

Buildings collapsing.

No one knew where to run.

It felt like the end of the world...

And I was living it, holding my mother’s hand, my little sister trembling behind me.

It wasn’t just the fire. Or the rubble.

It was how everything felt inevitable.

Like it had already been decided that we were going to die that day.

I was thirteen.

Ren was only six.

How are you supposed to understand the end of the world at that age?

We ran through what was left of the city.

Broken glass beneath our feet, black smoke rising so high it started forming clouds.

My dad led the way as best he could—one hand gripping my mom’s, the other pulling me along.

My sister, Ren, could barely keep up with her tiny legs.

Then I heard it. A woman screaming in agony.

"Don’t look back," Dad said.

I tried.

But I couldn’t.

I turned—and saw it.

A Luminant.

It looked like some twisted fusion between a cricket and a human.

Its body shimmered like dark glass, with glowing cane-green streaks pulsing from within.

And it was devouring that woman alive.

Cold seeped into my bones.

I wanted to scream, but there was no air left in me.

My legs… they weren’t even mine anymore.

Just trembling, useless things.

Like my body had given up before I could.

And then I heard it.

"Awakening."

A whisper. Cold. Metallic.

Then, slightly louder—but still distant—a voice spoke again:

[Skill acquired: Sensitivity to Luminants]

[Emotional state: Absolute Terror]

[Result: Evasion and detection-based ability. No offensive traits.]

...The voice sounded like a girl’s.

Cold. Distant. Almost mocking.

Like she was laughing at me from somewhere deep in my own head.

"What the hell is this…? What’s happening to me?"

The Luminant looked right at me.

Somehow, I could see its weak points.

And then it lunged.

"AXEL!!!"

My father threw himself in front of me—

And the monster sliced him in half like paper.

Blood drenched my entire body.

My mother screamed.

My little sister cried louder than ever, sobbing, “Papa!”

I just stood there. Frozen.

And the thing ignored me.

Then came more screaming—my mother’s, my sister’s.

That same sound the woman made.

That same scream I’ll never forget.

I turned around, and I wish I hadn’t.

He was eating them.

No—devouring them.

Ren barely managed to whisper, her voice completely shattered:

"Help me, big brother…"

And then he took her head.

Lifted it up like a trophy.

And started chewing.

I cried.

Silently.

I couldn’t stop it.

Then I ran.

Filled with rage. With shame. With helplessness.

If only I’d been stronger.

But I wasn’t.

I’m nothing.

A weak human.

A useless body.