Chapter1

I held the carefully chosen bouquet of bright red roses, my fingertips trembling slightly. Today was supposed to be my third anniversary with Seraphina. I had specifically asked my boss for permission to leave three hours early, and even carried the velvet jewelry box—bought with our savings over the years —in my pocket . I was overjoyed, expecting to be greeted by a delighted embrace and a sweet kiss from Seraphina as I opened the familiar apartment door.

However, the moment the key was gently turned and the door was pushed open, the heavy wooden door seemed to become the entrance to hell.

The sound emanating from the half-open bedroom door wasn't one of surprise, but rather a nauseating groan and low laughter. My mind went blank, and the roses in my hand clattered to the ground. I flung open the bedroom door, and the sight before me instantly drained the blood from my body— Seraphina, whom I loved so dearly and had always cherished, was disheveled and entangled with another man on the double bed we had bought together.

me at the company , extremely arrogant and domineering.

"Wow, this is really something!"

Before I could recover from the shock and sense of betrayal, a sharp, sarcastic laugh suddenly came from outside the corridor.

Mrs. Higgins, who lived next door, had somehow peeked out, her cloudy eyes gleaming with schadenfreude. She deliberately raised her voice, as if afraid the whole floor wouldn't hear: "I told you so! That honest, simple-minded lad, Illian, has been cuckolded so much that his green hat is almost taller than his money tree! Now he's been caught red-handed!"

my eardrums like a rusty needle . The two on the bed stopped moving. Malachi slowly sat up, unabashedly displaying his muscular chest, a playful yet malicious smirk playing on his lips. He looked at me , pale as a sheet standing in the doorway , as if I were a comical clown.

"Seraphina...why?" I fought back the tears welling in my eyes, my voice terribly hoarse. My first reaction wasn't to angrily rush forward and throw a punch, but to painfully seek an answer. I didn't understand. I had given her my best, so why did I receive such betrayal in return?

"Why?" Serafina calmly pulled her robe over herself. Her face, which had been pure and beautiful in my eyes, was now distorted with extreme snobbery and contempt. She walked barefoot to the bedside, looked down at me , and sneered, "Don't you have any self-awareness? Illian, look at yourself, such a pathetic sight. In the three years we've been together, what have you given me? Besides a bunch of cheap 'concern,' you haven't bought me a single decent luxury item! You're just a complete pauper!"

"But...but those were things you said you didn't care about." My eyes were filled with pain as I tried to take a step forward.

me mercilessly , her eyes filled with disgust, even tearing away her last shred of pretense. "A toad really wants to eat swan meat? You should take a good look at yourself. Malachi can give me the life I want, can you? Since we've already seen it, that's perfect, let's break up. Get out of my sight with your trash."

Malachi lazily put on his shirt, buttoning it as he walked over to Serafina, put his arm around her slender waist, and stared at me mockingly : "Did you hear that, loser? You're penniless, you have nothing. A piece of trash like you, who only deserves to struggle at the bottom, doesn't deserve Serafina at all. Face reality, you idiot."

"You..." I felt a wave of dizziness, and anger finally began to burn in my chest. I took two steps forward, trying to pull the bastard who stole my girlfriend away. "Malachi, don't go too far!"

"Don't touch him!" A flash of violent disgust crossed Serafina's eyes as she watched me approach. She suddenly reached out and shoved hard into my chest.

The two of them were standing on the edge of the stairs outside the bedroom door. I never expected the person I loved so deeply to be so cruel to me. Caught off guard, I stumbled and lost my balance.

"Bang! Thump thump thump—"

In a dizzying, excruciating pain, I tumbled down the long marble staircase like a puppet with its strings cut, crashing heavily onto the platform at the bottom. Blood instantly streamed down my forehead, blurring my vision. I curled up on the floor in agony, feeling as if every bone in my body was about to shatter.

"Oh my God! Someone's dead!" Mrs. Higgins exclaimed dramatically from above, but then fell silent.

Because in the next second, the air in the entire corridor seemed to suddenly freeze.

"Ah! What... what is this?!" Serafina's scream, filled with shock yet strangely ecstatic, came from above the stairs.

I struggled to open my blood-blurred eyes and looked up. There, on the hand that Seraphina had just pushed me , was a ghostly blue flame that had spontaneously ignited. The flame had no temperature, yet it danced at her fingertips, emitting an eerie glow. With a gentle wave of her hand, an old wooden chair in the hallway was instantly struck by this invisible force and shattered into pieces.

"Superpowers? I... I've awakened superpowers?!" Serafina looked at her hands and laughed wildly and arrogantly.

Mrs. Higgins, who had been watching the commotion, suddenly sneezed. Then, her obese body mysteriously lifted off the ground and floated in mid-air, with air currents swirling around her.

"Oh my god! I've awakened too! I have superpowers now!" Mrs. Higgins exclaimed excitedly, waving her arms and legs .

Lying at the bottom of the stairs , I remained unchanged except for the bleeding wounds all over my body.

Mara stood high above, looking down at Illian, who seemed like an ant, a cold and arrogant smile curving his lips.

Serafina looked at the blue flame in her hand, then down at the blood-soaked, disheveled Illian, her contempt turning into utter disdain. She let out a cold, sneer, the sound particularly jarring in the silent hallway.

“It seems even the heavens are mocking you, Illian,” Serafina said condescendingly. “See? We are now new humans with awakened abilities, and what about you? You’re still a useless ordinary person, a worthless piece of trash. Not only are you penniless, but you’re also genetic garbage without any abilities.”

"Exactly!" Mrs. Higgins, still in mid-air, chimed in with a kick, "This kind of lowlife without any superpowers won't even be worthy of carrying our shoes in the future! He tried to fight back just now, but he doesn't even know what kind of good-for-nothing he is!"

Listening to the unbridled laughter and sarcastic insults coming from above on the stairs, I felt a deep sense of powerlessness and sorrow. It wasn't just because of the excruciating physical pain, but also because of the utterly broken reality before me.