[A/N: I'm still designing other characters and Kai's bloodline traights and path so please if you have some ideas add in the comments.]
Before Kai awoke, the day after he passed out—
A different scene unfolded.
The General's daughter walked through a camp of survivors.
Tents stretched in every direction, forming a fragile shelter against the broken world. The air was heavy. People moved slowly, their faces filled with exhaustion, fear, and hopelessness.
No one spoke loudly.
No one smiled.
She walked past them all.
Unaffected.
Her boots stopped in front of a large military-green tent.
Without hesitation, she stepped inside.
At the center sat a man behind a table, covered in scattered reports and documents.
He didn't look up immediately.
"…Father," she said.
Her voice was cold.
Too cold.
The man raised his head.
General Draven Verdict looked at his daughter carefully.
He noticed everything.
The shift in her presence.
The drop in temperature.
The unnatural stillness around her.
Half of her blonde hair had turned snow white.
Her left eye—
A piercing, icy blue.
Even her eyelashes on that side had frozen into white.
He sighed.
"…It's getting worse, isn't it?"
Draven Verdict was not just a General.
He was a father who loved his daughter deeply.
Since she was a child, he had trained her himself—teaching her combat, discipline, and how to protect herself from the dangers of the world.
But this…
This was beyond him.
Ever since the first pulse—
She had awakened.
Earlier than anyone else.
Even before the dead began to rise.
A power—
Not meant for humans.
Divine.
And her body—
Couldn't handle it.
He was about to speak again—
To ask her how she was holding up—
When suddenly—
A voice echoed across the world.
Clear.
Ancient.
Unfathomable.
"Ah… I almost feel sorry for the mortals of this world."
Everything froze.
Everyone heard it.
"Very well… I will give you something to help you evolve faster."
The voice was calm.
Almost amused.
"This world… is a Stage 5 World."
Silence fell.
"Creatures far beyond your current level exist here. Beasts powerful enough to crush you all… are merely sleeping."
A pause.
"They will awaken… in three months."
Fear spread like wildfire.
"Adapt… or be erased."
The voice sighed softly.
"Let the Evolution begin."
Blue screens appeared.
Everywhere.
In front of every human.
Every survivor.
Every being capable of growth.
Even—
The zombies.
But there were differences.
Some humans felt their bodies change.
Fangs grew.
A hunger awakened.
A thirst—
For blood.
Others felt stranger shifts—
Their very identities becoming fluid, unstable.
And among the dead—
One stood above all.
The Progenitor of Zombies.
The first.
The origin.
The one who alone possessed a true system among them.
Back in the tent—
A screen appeared before the General's daughter.
[Name: Kayla Verdict]
[Age: 20]
[Bloodline: Mystic Ice Fox]
[Affinity: Divine Ice Magic]
[Mana: Infinite]
[Warning: Host body unable to sustain Divine Yin Ice]
[Condition: Incomplete Constitution]
Her expression didn't change.
But her father's did.
Then—
Another notification appeared.
[Requirement to Stabilize: Dual Energy Balance]
[Condition: Requires a compatible Yang/Yin counterpart]
A final screen.
A presence.
A name.
Kai.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
For the first time—
Emotion flickered.
His energy—
Was perfect.
The opposite of hers.
Yet—
Dangerous.
Compatible.
But lethal.
Someone who could save her—
Or kill her.
But—
There was a problem.
She didn't know where he was.
And then—
The final notification appeared.
[Ice Curse Activated]
[Time Remaining: 3 Months, 9 Days]
Silence filled the tent.
No matter how powerful one became—
There would always be flaws.