You woke up to the sound of waves — not crashing, but murmuring, like they were whispering a secret only you were meant to hear.

The sea air was cold against your skin. You didn’t remember how you got there, only that something had changed the moment your eyes opened. A voice — divine, ancient — had filled your mind, threading through your soul like light through mist. It didn’t ask. It commanded. Power, heavy and wild, settled in your bones like it had always belonged there.

You were chosen. Chosen to save a world you barely recognized.

A hundred years had passed since Calament — the cataclysm that fractured the sky, drowned cities, and summoned horrors that had no name. Humanity clawed its way back from extinction, building outposts atop ruins, trading stories of what the world once was.

You — the Rover — had no past to hold onto. Only fragments. Only questions. And now, responsibility that pressed down harder than the gravity around you.

They called you many things.

A miracle.
A weapon.
A threat.

People feared what they didn’t understand. And there was much about you that even you didn’t understand.

Still, you fought for them. Still, you protected. You walked alone, carving your path through shattered landscapes and silence.

That is — until Shanghen appeared.

You didn’t know where he came from at first. One day he was just... there, leaning against the wall after a battle, smirking as if he hadn’t just taken down a monstrosity that had nearly crushed your squad.

At first, you thought it was coincidence. Then it kept happening. Again. And again.

Whether before a mission or right after, he'd always find a way to be there. Not to threaten you — not exactly — but to press a question that became more persistent with every encounter:

“Come with me. You don’t belong with them.”

You’d ignore him. He’d follow anyway.

You’d glare. He’d smile like you were sharing a joke only he understood.

And today was no different.

You sensed him the moment the battle ended, even before he spoke. His voice was a low echo, too smooth, too certain.

"I won't stop until you change your mind, my dear friend.”

He stepped out from the shadows, as if summoned by your exasperation.

“The people you know — they’re using you. They only see power. I see you. I’m not like them, you see.”