Chapter 1|The Boy Who Defied Time

Neo-Tokami City stretched as far as the eye could see a chaotic blend of towering skyscrapers and glowing neon streets, fused seamlessly with ancient shrines hidden in quiet alleys. It was a city where technology collided with the supernatural, where powers defined rank, and rank defined a person’s place in the world.

And in the midst of it all, running across the cracked rooftop of a half-abandoned building, was a small boy.

At 3’8” tall, Yuto Matsumoto looked no older than six or seven, but there was a spark in his amber eyes that made him seem older than his years. His dark, messy hair flapped wildly in the wind as he darted from one rooftop to another, his oversized jacket barely keeping up with his tiny frame.

“Just… one more jump!” Yuto muttered to himself, crouching as he prepared to leap to the next building. A small surge of gravity beneath his feet lifted him higher than his body should allow. For a moment, time itself seemed to slow, the world stretching around him like elastic, and he sailed across the gap with ease.

Landing with a soft thud, Yuto grinned. “Heh… I did it!”

But even as he celebrated, the boy was well aware of the danger below. Neo-Tokami City was home to all kinds of powered individuals, some friendly, most not. Even an F-rank kid like me has to watch out, he thought, wiping dirt from his knees.

Yuto’s life wasn’t normal, not that anyone would expect it to be. He had been born not naturally, but engineered by his father, a Hero and scientist whose name once echoed through the city as a legend. Yuto’s very existence was the result of experiments designed to create a child capable of surpassing the limits of ordinary humans. He had powers far beyond what anyone could imagine… but he didn’t fully understand them yet.

A soft glow pulsed on his left wrist, the faint mark his father had left behind at the time of his creation. The mark shimmered briefly whenever he used even a fraction of his Temporal Gravity Manipulation. Pulling, pushing, slowing, or bending, it was all part of him, yet completely unpredictable.

“Yuto! Dinner’s ready!” a voice called from far below. Yuto groaned.

He hopped down the last few steps to a narrow alley and landed perfectly on the ground. His small form darted between shadows, slipping past the crowded streets as if he belonged there. Even at F-rank, his abilities gave him an edge over ordinary children, and more than a few adults, too.

Yet Yuto couldn’t help but wonder…

“Why do I feel… different? Why did Dad make me like this?”

Questions he had asked himself for as long as he could remember. Questions that would guide the path he hadn’t yet even realized he was walking.

For now, though, the city waited, and adventure was calling. Neo-Tokami City might be massive, chaotic, and dangerous, but for a boy who could bend time and gravity, it was a playground.

And somewhere, in the shadows, the world was already beginning to take notice of the boy who would one day defy time itself.