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Chapter One: The Cursed Phone from the Void
The day began with the wind. High above people's heads, silhouettes floated. Here, in this world, most could hover above the ground, but only a few could rise higher than a hundred meters. Only the chosen ones awakened superpowers within themselves — unique, like soul fingerprints. Each one had their own.
By evening, the sky began to darken. The sun slowly rolled toward the horizon, painting the sky in gold and coal. A legendary hero stood on the edge of a skyscraper rooftop, gazing into the starry void. His gaze was calm, yet there was something drifting within it... something distant.
"Why are you looking at the sky?" a friend asked, coming up beside him.
"Because I see the stars burn out... and fade into the void," the hero replied.
"What do you mean?"
"In the context of my existence... it makes sense."
Then the night was pierced by a roar. A fire. Alarming cries. Smoke rose above the streets.
"Please!" — a woman fell to her knees, clutching at the hero's pants. — "My daughter... she's inside!"
The firefighters had just arrived, hesitating, waiting. He didn't wait. He stepped forward.
His power — was the word. In broadcasts, they called him "Swift Tongue." He whispered a single word.
A shimmer. The phone in his pocket flickered.
The firefighters were astonished.
He vanished… and a second later resurfaced. In his hands — a trembling child. He handed her to the mother. The crowd gasped. Somewhere, a drone cameraman beeped.
He was once again standing on the rooftop. There, where no one disturbed his thoughts.
"Swift Tongue, can I get your autograph?" — fans flew up to him.
She approached — the girl who had known him before the fame. The girl of the legendary hero.
"Stop it, hero. You've already lost the word 'love.'"
Elian stepped closer,
asking in confusion:
"What did you say?"
"Is it really the Swift Tongue!?"
Flashback: He was five years old — eleven years ago. His mother said: "The most important thing is love. Never forget that."
Flashback. Two years ago.
He was eighteen. Standing in an alley. Empty. No one. Only the shadow cast by a streetlamp. And suddenly — something cold in his hand.
A phone. It appeared literally out of the void. The screen flickered.
"For every word of power you use — you lose one word from your memory."
He was confused. He threw the device. It disappeared…
But when he put his hand in his pocket — it was there. Cold. Real. As if it had always been with him.
Thus began his deal with the void.
Thus began the curse that limited his power.
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