Volume 1 — Chapter 5: Abilities and Organization

The abandoned house was silent.

Yuna sat beside the old table, with her parents' book open before her.

A small candle burned near the edge of the table, its flame moving whenever a cold draft entered through the cracks in the walls.

The house had been abandoned for a long time, but it was still remarkably intact.

There were rooms she had not yet explored, an old kitchen, several pieces of furniture, and even shelves that could be used for storing books.

For now, however, Yuna had only one priority.

Information.

She had escaped the orphanage because she had realized how dangerous the supernatural world could be.

The monitor had been taken away.

The organization that discovered her had called her a supernatural being and identified her as a Fallen Angel of at least the Sixth Order.

Yuna still didn't understand what that meant.

If she wanted to survive, she needed to understand the system governing this world.

She lowered her eyes toward the book.

My parents studied this world.

That thought had become increasingly important to her.

Everything they had written could potentially help her.

Perhaps there was even something inside these pages that could eventually show her how to return to her original world.

Yuna turned another page.

The first information concerned the hierarchy of Beyonders.

She read slowly.

Beyonder power was not something that existed as a single level.

There were different stages.

Different Sequences.

Different Paths.

And the higher someone climbed, the more their existence changed.

The lowest known starting point was Sequence 9.

From there, a Beyonder could advance through higher Sequences until reaching 

Sequence 0.

Sequence 0 was not merely another increase in strength.

It represented the level of a True God.

Yuna stopped reading for a moment.

"True God..."

The words felt almost unreal.

She had already accepted that supernatural powers existed.

She had personally consumed a potion.

She had seen visions that should not have been possible.

She had entered a mysterious realm surrounded by grey mist and stars.

She had summoned two strangers into that realm.

And yet, the idea of a True God still seemed difficult to comprehend.

She continued reading.

The book divided the Sequences into several broad levels.

Sequences 9 and 8 were known as the 

Low Sequences.

At these stages, Beyonders were still close to ordinary humans in many ways. Their supernatural abilities could be extraordinary, but their power remained relatively limited compared with the 

higher stages.

Sequences 7 through 5 were the Mid Sequences.

At these levels, a Beyonder's abilities became significantly more dangerous and versatile. They could influence situations that ordinary people could not understand and might possess powers capable of changing the course of a confrontation almost instantly.

Then came the High Sequences.

Sequences 4 and 3.

Yuna's eyes moved across the page.These levels were associated with beings known as Saints and Angels.

She remembered what the organization had said about the monitor.

A Fallen Angel.

At least the Sixth Order.

Yuna frowned.

If Sixth Order is already considered so dangerous, then what happens when someone reaches the fourth or third Sequence?

The book provided no simple answer.

Instead, it described the transformation as something closer to a change in existence.

The higher a Beyonder advanced, the 

farther they moved from the limits of ordinary humanity.

Yuna slowly turned the page.There were also Sequences 2 and 1.

The book placed them above the ordinary 

High Sequence levels and described their existence as extraordinarily rare.

At these levels, the difference between a powerful supernatural being and an ordinary human was almost impossible to measure.

Then there was the final stage.

Sequence 0.

True God.

Yuna stared at those words.

According to the book, reaching 

Sequence 0 meant becoming the highest authority of a Path and obtaining power that could affect enormous aspects of the world.

But even Sequence 0 wasn't necessarily the end.

There were beings described in the ancient records as Great Old Ones.

Yuna's expression became serious.

The descriptions were vague.

Her parents had apparently been unable to record everything they knew.

The book explained that Great Old Ones existed beyond the ordinary hierarchy of Beyonders and True Gods. Their nature was connected to ancient mysteries and forces that were difficult for humanity to understand.

Some had names.

Some had only titles.

Some were known only through fragments of old records.

The further Yuna read, the more she realized that the world was much larger than she had imagined.

There were powers above powers.

Organizations within organizations.

Ancient beings whose existence was barely understood.

And paths that could lead a human being toward godhood.

She slowly closed the book halfway.

"This world..."

Her voice was barely audible.

"It's much more dangerous than I thought."

She looked toward the window.

Darkness covered the outside world.

Somewhere beyond the abandoned house were cities filled with ordinary people.

They went about their lives without knowing what existed behind the surface of their world.

They bought food.

They worked.

They laughed.

They went home.

And among them could be Beyonders.

Saints.

Angels.

Perhaps even beings far beyond them.

Yuna looked back at the book.

She needed to learn more.

The next section concerned Beyonder organizations.

Yuna read about several groups.

Some were connected to churches.

Some were affiliated with royal families.

Others were independent organizations that operated secretly.

There were organizations that protected ordinary people.

There were organizations that pursued their own goals.

And there were organizations whose intentions were difficult to determine.

Yuna carefully read each description.

Then she stopped.

Her eyes settled on one particular name.

It was the same organization that had come to the orphanage.

The same organization that had discovered the monitor.

The same organization that had taken her away.

Yuna's expression became complicated.

"So this is who they are..."

She read the information several times.

The organization possessed considerable influence.

It investigated supernatural incidents, monitored Beyonder activity, and dealt with threats that ordinary authorities couldn't handle.

Their members were known as the Nighthawks.

Yuna remembered the night at the orphanage.

The dark clothing.

The serious expressions.

The way they had spoken about the monitor.

At the time, she had only seen them as strangers who had arrived to take someone away.

Now she understood that they were part of a much larger supernatural system.

Yuna continued reading.

The Nighthawks weren't merely hunters of supernatural beings.

They also recruited Beyonders.

They trained them.

They investigated supernatural phenomena.

They protected certain regions.

And they gathered information.

That last part caught Yuna's attention.Information.

That was exactly what she needed.

If she wanted to understand this world, she needed access to people who already knew how it worked.

But approaching the Nighthawks herself would be dangerous.

They had already seen the effects of supernatural activity at the orphanage.

They might recognize her.

They might discover that she had consumed a potion.

They might ask where she had learned about Beyonders.

And Yuna couldn't answer those questions.

She needed another method.

She turned several pages.

Then she found something that made her pause.

Her parents' notes about her own Path.The Abyss Path.

Yuna had already consumed its Sequence 9 potion.

But the notes contained information she had not noticed before.

The abilities of a Beyonder did not always develop in the same way.

Some powers were connected to the nature of the Path itself.

Others depended on the individual's understanding, control, and advancement.

Among the information recorded about her Sequence was an ability that immediately caught her attention.

A Beyonder of her level could create a puppet.

Yuna read the description several times.

"A puppet..."

She placed her hand on the page.

If she could create a puppet that resembled an ordinary person, perhaps she could use it to interact with the supernatural world without exposing herself.

Her eyes slowly brightened.

This could work.

She closed the book.

"I'll try it."

The process was more difficult than Yuna expected.

She spent a considerable amount of time studying the instructions.

The ability wasn't as simple as imagining a person and making one appear.

The supernatural power had to be guided.

The puppet required a connection to the creator.

Its form needed to be stable.

And Yuna had to maintain control over it.

She sat in the center of the abandoned room.

She closed her eyes.

The darkness behind her eyelids seemed deeper than before.

She concentrated.

The power she had gained from the potion began to move.

It wasn't like ordinary physical strength.

It felt more like reaching toward something hidden inside herself.

Yuna tried to shape that power.

At first, nothing happened.

She frowned.

Again.

She concentrated harder.

The air around her seemed to become heavier.

A vague outline appeared in front of her.

It was barely visible.

A human silhouette.

Yuna didn't move.

The shape gradually became clearer.

Hair.

Shoulders.

Arms.

Legs.

A face.

The silhouette continued to solidify.

After several moments, someone was standing in front of her.

Yuna opened her eyes.

A girl stood in the room.

She looked approximately sixteen years old.

Her appearance was ordinary enough to avoid immediate suspicion.

She looked like a normal teenager.

Yuna slowly stood.

The girl stood silently.

Yuna approached her.

She examined the puppet carefully.

It was astonishing.

For an instant, it was easy to forget that the girl wasn't actually human.

Yuna reached out and touched her arm.

The puppet was solid.

Warm enough to resemble a living person.

Yuna stared at her.

"So this is my ability."

She walked around the puppet.

The result was far better than she had expected.

A smile appeared on her face.

"This might be useful."

She had found a way into the supernatural world without exposing herself directly.

The puppet would go in her place.

It would investigate.

It would interact with the organization.

And through it, Yuna could learn.

She immediately began preparing.

Several days later, the puppet approached the headquarters of the Nighthawks.

Yuna remained far away.

She could still sense the connection between herself and the puppet.

It was difficult to describe.

She could perceive what the puppet perceived, although the experience wasn't exactly the same as seeing through her own eyes.

It was like observing the world from a distant position while simultaneously remaining aware of her own body.

The puppet walked toward the entrance.

Yuna watched through that connection.

Several people noticed the girl.

One of them approached.

"You came?"

The puppet stopped.

The person looked at her carefully.

"You are the one who sent the letter?"

Yuna was surprised.

A letter?

She hadn't personally sent one.

But perhaps someone had previously contacted the organization.

The misunderstanding was useful.

The puppet didn't correct them.

Instead, she simply nodded.

The member of the organization seemed satisfied.

"Come inside."

The puppet entered.

Yuna remained focused.

She couldn't afford to miss anything.

Inside, the puppet was taken through several procedures.

There was paperwork.

Questions.

Basic information.

The organization needed to establish her identity and determine why she had come.

Yuna listened carefully through the connection.

Eventually, they began discussing her potential Path.

A member of the Nighthawks explained that different Paths offered different abilities.

There were several possibilities available to her.

Among them were the Moon Path, the Life and Death Path, and the Illusion Path.

Yuna listened.

She had never heard some of these names before.

The Moon Path immediately reminded her of the strange moon symbol that had appeared in connection with her.

But she couldn't risk choosing a Path simply because of that coincidence.

The Illusion Path also attracted her attention.

Illusions could be useful.

They could conceal identities, manipulate perceptions, and allow someone to survive situations where physical strength wasn't enough.

But Yuna's attention eventually settled on the third option.

The Life and Death Path.

There was something about it that felt appropriate for her current situation.

She had already crossed the boundary between life and death once.

She had awakened in another body.

She had entered a world she didn't know.

Perhaps this Path would provide information that could eventually help her understand what had happened to her.

Through the puppet, Yuna made her decision.

"I choose the Life and Death Path."

The members of the organization looked at one another.

Then they prepared the Sequence 9 potion.

Yuna watched carefully.

She had already experienced the effects of consuming a potion herself.

But this time she wasn't physically present.

The puppet accepted the potion.

The moment it was consumed, the supernatural power began to spread through her body.

Yuna immediately focused.

She could feel the connection between herself and the puppet becoming stronger.

The puppet's body trembled.

For several moments, it appeared as though the potion might reject her.

The members of the organization watched closely.

Then something changed.

The puppet stabilized.

The power settled.

The potion had been successfully assimilated.

Yuna remained silent.

She had succeeded.

On the first attempt.

The members of the Nighthawks were visibly surprised.

One of them stepped forward.

"You assimilated it?"

The puppet nodded.

The person looked at the others.

"On her first attempt..."

Another member studied her carefully.

"That's unusual."

The organization began asking more questions.

They wanted to know whether she experienced any severe symptoms.

Whether she felt confused.

Whether she had suffered any loss of control.

The puppet answered as calmly as possible.

The results were remarkable.

She had successfully adapted to the potion.

The Nighthawks began to regard her as a prodigy.

Yuna listened to every word.

So this is how they see me.

She found the situation amusing.

They believed the puppet was the one with exceptional talent.

They didn't know the real person controlling it was somewhere else.

That was exactly what Yuna wanted.

After the potion ceremony, the puppet received an explanation of the organization.

Yuna listened carefully.

The Nighthawks were responsible for investigating supernatural incidents.

They monitored unusual events.

They investigated people suspected of possessing supernatural powers.

They handled dangerous Beyonders.

They gathered information about supernatural artifacts.

And they protected ordinary people from threats they could not perceive.

The more Yuna learned, the more useful the organization seemed.

It was effectively a doorway into the world she had been trying to understand.

She learned about their hierarchy.

Their procedures.

Their investigations.

Their methods of dealing with supernatural incidents.

She also learned that the organization possessed information that could not be found in ordinary books.

For Yuna, this was extremely valuable.

She had been forced to survive alone.

Now she had found a way to observe the supernatural world from inside one of its organizations.

The puppet continued listening.

Yuna memorized everything she could.

Every name.

Every rule.

Every piece of information.

Nothing was wasted.

Eventually, the meeting came to an end.

The puppet was allowed to leave.

Yuna waited until she was far enough from the headquarters.

Then she withdrew the puppet.

The connection suddenly changed.

The girl disappeared from the world.

Yuna felt the supernatural power return to her.

She opened her eyes.

She was once again sitting inside the abandoned house.

For several seconds, she remained silent.

Then she looked at her hands.

A faint smile appeared on her face.

The puppet had worked.

More importantly, she now had a way to investigate the supernatural world without constantly placing her real body in danger.

Yuna returned to the table and opened her parents' book again.

She looked at the pages describing the Paths.

The Sequences.

The organizations.

The mysterious beings above humanity.

She had only just begun to understand this world.

Yet she had already taken her first step into it.

The Nighthawks knew her puppet.

They believed they had met a talented new Beyonder.

They had no idea that the person behind that puppet was someone completely different.

Yuna looked toward the window.

Night had fallen outside.

The moon was visible through the clouds.

Her thoughts returned to the grey-mist realm.

To the two girls she had summoned.

To the name she had chosen.

Shadow.

She had once thought pretending to be a mysterious supernatural existence was merely a way to protect herself.

Now she understood that it could become something much more.

The puppet could enter organizations.

The mysterious realm could connect her to people who possessed information.

Her own Path could provide abilities she 

had not yet fully understood.

And her strange luck might continue guiding her toward places she could never reach by herself.

Yuna slowly closed the book.

"The puppet..."

She looked at the empty space where it had stood.

"...will be my key."

A key to the world of Beyonders.

A key to the organizations that ruled from the shadows.

A key to understanding the strange reality into which she had awakened.

And perhaps, one day, a key to finding her way home.

Yuna stood and looked into the darkness beyond the window.

She had escaped the orphanage.

She had discovered the Nighthawks.

She had learned the basic structure of the supernatural world.

But the more she learned, the more questions appeared.

Who exactly had killed her parents?

Why had she awakened in this world?

What was the meaning of the whisper she had heard?

Why had she heard the word Argenia?

And what was the true meaning of the moon symbol that sometimes appeared in her eyes?

Yuna had no answers yet.

But for the first time, she had a method.

She had a puppet.

She had knowledge.

She had the mysterious grey-mist realm.

And she had begun walking a Path of her own.

Outside, the wind moved through the abandoned streets.

Yuna turned away from the window.

Her journey into the world of Beyonders had truly begun.

End of Chapter 5