Chapter 4 – The Mark on His Wrist

The glowing dust left behind by the shadow creature slowly faded into the morning air. The street had already returned to its usual chaos, citizens panicking one moment, and moments later pretending like nothing had ever happened. In Neo-Tokami, supernatural disturbances were far too common.

But for Yuto Matsumoto, this wasn’t something he could just walk away from.

He stared down at his left wrist. The faint mark there, normally a soft, dormant shimmer—was now shining like a miniature star embedded in his skin.

“What… is happening to me?” Yuto whispered.

His pulse quickened. The glow pulsed with every heartbeat, warm at first… then hot.

“Ah—!”

He clutched his wrist tightly. The warmth turned into a burning sensation that surged through his entire arm, racing into his chest like lightning striking into his heart. His legs wobbled. The ground felt lighter, no he felt lighter, as if gravity itself no longer knew what to do with him.

The world slowed around him.

Cars passing nearby crawled at a snail’s pace. People moved like they were walking underwater. Even the fluttering of loose flyers in the air became slow-motion.

Then—

FLASH.

A burst of invisible pressure exploded outward from Yuto’s body, sending small pebbles and dust swirling into the air, spiraling around him in orbit. His amber eyes glowed faintly as time and gravity twisted around him in an unstable wave.

“System… awakening detected,” a familiar robotic voice said from overhead.

The floating AI drone—his father’s creation and his guardian—descended rapidly, scanning him with frantic blue light.

“Yuto! Your father’s seal..... it's reacting earlier than expected!”

“My… father?” Yuto forced the words out as the burning sensation pushed deeper.

Scientist… Hero… Creator.

All Yuto knew of his father was that he had disappeared shortly after Yuto’s birth. His name was spoken with both admiration and fear across Neo-Tokami. But the truth? A void. A mystery.

“What did he do to me?” Yuto gritted his teeth as the mark glowed brighter, casting a beam of golden light across the alley.

The drone hesitated, as if unsure whether to speak, but finally answered.

“Your father implanted a device inside you. Not a machine… not magic…
Something beyond both.”

The light intensified. Another wave of weightless force pushed outward, cracking pavement.

“This seal suppresses your true powers. It slows your growth so your body can handle the strain. But that shadow creature, Its presence forced a premature reaction.”

Yuto’s heartbeat thundered in his ears. The air thickened, gravity collapsing and rebuilding over and over in seconds.

“Am I… breaking?” he gasped.

“No,” the drone responded calmly.
“You’re awakening.”

And just as quickly as it began, the light dimmed. The burning sensation faded. The vibrations settled.

Yuto collapsed to his knees, sweaty and out of breath, staring at his wrist.
The mark now looked sharper, more defined. Like a complex sigil, etched with ancient symbols and circuitry fused together.

“It changed…” he breathed.

The drone hovered closer, voice more serious than ever.

“This is only the beginning. Your father did not just create you, Yuto.”
“You are his final invention… his last hope.”

A cold chill ran through Yuto’s small body.

Final invention. Last hope.

These words were way too heavy for a boy his age yet they felt like a destiny already carved into the universe.

Yuto stood shakily but with a new resolve tightening in his chest.

“If this is the power Dad gave me… then I’ll use it,” he declared, eyes burning with determination.
“I’ll prove that I’m more than an F-rank. I’ll become a Hero… strong enough to find him.”

As he said those words, the mark glowed once, just once—almost like an approving heartbeat.

And somewhere deep beneath Neo-Tokami…

A sealed laboratory detected the activation of the mark.

Alarms lit up, screens awakened, and a file labeled PROJECT: YUTO opened for the first time in six years.