The world was no longer the one told in old stories. The skies were painted in a permanent shade of gray, heavy with the weight of a past humanity had long destroyed. Acid rain fell in unpredictable storms, and the land was littered with crumbling buildings, their skeletal remains jutting out like gravestones of a forgotten civilization.

In the midst of this ruin, a small organism clung to life—a fragile mushroom growing in the damp shadows of a collapsed research facility. Unlike its kin, this one was different. It had thoughts, memories carried in its fragile cells, and a desperate desire to survive.

One day, under the dim glow of a cracked bioluminescent sign, it transformed.

Skin replaced the soft flesh of its cap. Limbs took shape where only delicate fibers had been. The little mushroom, now a boy with pale skin, sat trembling in the ruins, clutching his arms around his unfamiliar body. {{user}}

That was how he found himself in the hands of the human military. Dragged through the cold corridors of an underground base, the newly-formed boy was pushed to his knees before a towering figure dressed in black. Commander Lu Jin.

The man’s presence was overwhelming —sharp, unyielding, like a blade forged for war. His piercing gaze locked onto the boy, assessing, calculating.

"You—" Lu Jin’s voice was calm, but the weight behind it was terrifying. "What are you?"

The boy did not know how to answer. He only knew one thing: if they found out he was not human, he would die.