World Rejector

Chapter 1: World Divided

Twenty years ago, everything changed.

The event later called Overdrive reshaped the world. Overnight, people awakened abilities that defied the laws of nature. Some could move objects with their minds. Others bent fire to their will. A few rewrote the rules of physics entirely.

No one knew why it started. No one knew how.

But suddenly, ordinary people found themselves chosen by something called the System, an invisible force that granted powers—and purpose. Those who awakened became known as Regulars, stepping into a new world of possibility. They were faster. Smarter. Stronger. They became the backbone of modern society, fueling innovation, warfare, and power. Nations rose and fell on the strength of their ability users.

But not everyone awakened.

Some of us were left behind.

We were labeled Irregulars—the ones the System didn’t choose. Powerless. Ordinary. In a world obsessed with strength, we became second-class citizens. People pitied us… when they weren’t ignoring us altogether.

It didn’t matter how hard you worked or how much you wanted it. If the System didn’t pick you, you were nothing.

At least, that’s what they wanted us to believe.

This is a story about what happens when someone who was never supposed to awaken… finally does.

...

The coffee in front of me had gone cold.

I didn’t really care. It was just something to hold, something to keep my hands busy while I sat across from Mio.

The café was warm, filled with the low hum of conversation and the soft clink of spoons on porcelain. Outside, rain drizzled against the glass like static.

She hadn’t touched her drink either.

Mio stared at the table, fingers tracing the rim of her cup. I knew that look. It was the same one she wore when she was about to say something she knew I wouldn’t like.

My stomach twisted.

“Don’t do this,” I said quietly.

She sighed, lifting her eyes to mine at last. “Noah… I think we should stop seeing each other.”

The words hit harder than I thought they would.

I blinked. “...What?”

“I don’t think we should be together anymore.”

I laughed, but it came out hollow. “Okay. That’s funny. You can stop now.”

“I’m serious.”

Something in her voice made my chest tighten. Mio wasn’t joking.

“But… why?” I asked, my voice thinner than I liked. “Did I do something?”

She looked away. The silence stretched too long.

Finally, she pushed her cup aside. “I don’t want to be with a loser, Noah.”

Something inside me snapped. “A loser?”

She flinched but didn’t take it back.

“You don’t have an ability,” she said, her voice softer now, like that would make it hurt less. “You’re barely keeping up in university. You’re struggling. And I just... I don’t want to be tied down to someone like that. Not here. Not in New Silicon Valley.”

My heart pounded in my ears.

New Silicon Valley was built on ability users. Ever since Overdrive, people had worshiped the System—worshiped power. And not everyone was blessed with it. Some of us were Irregulars. People who never awakened, no matter how hard we tried.

And no matter how hard I worked—longer hours, sleepless nights, pushing myself past the limit—I was still nothing. Still weak.

Now Mio—my childhood friend, my girlfriend—was looking at me like I was dead weight.

“You never used to care about that,” I muttered.

She bit her lip. “People change.”

I wanted to scream. To tell her how unfair this was. That I had come to this island to prove something. That I wasn’t weak.

But what was the point?

She had already decided.

I exhaled slowly, grabbed my bag, and stood up. “Yeah… I figured.”

She looked up, maybe expecting me to say more.

I didn’t.

I just walked out.

…

It was still raining when I left the café.

Neon signs blurred in the puddles under my feet, colors bleeding across the wet pavement. I shoved my hands into my pockets and walked without thinking, my mind numb.

Mio’s words echoed, sharp as broken glass.

I don’t want to be with a loser.

You’re struggling.

I don’t want to be tied down to someone like that.

“Tch.” I scoffed bitterly. “Figures.”

I had no one left. My parents disowned me when I left home to chase a dream they said I’d never reach. The friends I made in university? They all awakened abilities and moved on without me.

And now Mio was gone too.

Maybe this was just how it was meant to be. Maybe I was always meant to fail.

I kicked a rock across the street, watching it skip through a puddle.

Then I heard it.

Metal groaning. From above.

My head snapped up.

A little girl stood frozen on the sidewalk ahead, wide-eyed, staring at the massive steel pipes breaking loose from a construction crane.

They were about to fall.

For a second, I didn’t move.

Then—

“Shit—!”

I ran.

The world blurred as I sprinted toward her, water splashing up around my feet.

She was still staring. Frozen.

I lunged, shoving her away with everything I had.

Then everything went white.

…

I was floating.

At least, it felt that way.

No pain. No sound. No warmth. Just emptiness.

Was I dead?

I exhaled slowly. Even here, in the void, I felt the weight in my chest. Mio’s words. My failures. My rejection.

All my life, I had been cast aside.

By my parents.

By my friends.

By the System itself.

Even at the end, I was powerless.

I laughed, and it sounded bitter. Even here.

“I hate them all.”

And then something changed.

A glow appeared in the darkness. Faint at first. A slow pulse, steady as a heartbeat.

Then a notification blinked in front of me.

[SYSTEM ACTIVATED]

Ability Acquired: WORLD REJECTER

My breath caught.

The glow flared, flooding me with warmth. Energy. Power.

“You have been rejected by the world. Now, you reject the world in return.”

A sharp pain lanced through my body. My heart pounded. My vision blurred.

And then—I opened my eyes.

The rain had stopped.

The steel pipe that should have killed me… was gone.

Not broken.

Not overturned.

Just… gone. Like it had never existed.

I stared at the empty space, my hands trembling.

I could feel it. Something inside me had changed.

This was real.

I wasn’t powerless anymore.

I was the one who rejected now.

And this power… would shape my future.

For better.

Or for worse.