Chapter 1 : The World That Wasn’t Real
“The building was already falling.
People were screaming.
And somehow...I was the only one who could stop it.”
---
Paul had always lived more in his mind than in reality.
Since childhood, imagination was his escape. When other kids played outside, Paul would sit quietly and build worlds inside his head. Worlds where he wasn’t weak. Where he wasn’t ignored.
Worlds where he mattered.
As a child, he loved superheroes. Not just watching them… becoming them. Every night before sleep, he imagined himself flying across the sky, saving people, being someone everyone looked up to.
It was never real.
Until one day… it was.
---
That morning felt different.
Paul slowly opened his eyes, expecting the usual ceiling of his room. But something was wrong.
The light was too bright.
The air felt… strange.
He sat up quickly.
“This… isn’t my room.”
The walls were unfamiliar. The window was larger. The entire space felt like it belonged to someone else.
His heart started racing.
“What’s going on…?”
He rushed toward the mirror.
And froze.
It was him.
But not the same version.
His body looked stronger. Sharper. Like the version he had always imagined.
“No way…”
He stepped back, breathing heavily.
“This has to be a dream.”
But it didn’t feel like one.
---
Then it happened.
A loud explosion echoed through the city.
Paul turned toward the window. Smoke was rising in the distance.
Without thinking, he ran and jumped out.
The moment his body left the ground, panic hit him—
But only for a second.
He stopped falling.
Paul was floating.
Mid-air.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
“I… I’m flying?”
A nervous laugh escaped his lips.
“It’s real…”
Or at least, it felt real.
---
Then he saw it.
A massive building in the distance… shaking.
A 40-floor tower, tilting dangerously to one side.
People were screaming.
Windows were shattering.
Without hesitation, Paul flew toward it.
---
When he reached the building, chaos had already taken over.
“Help! Please help!”
Voices echoed from every direction.
Paul didn’t think. He just acted.
He flew inside the building and started carrying people out, one by one.
Fast.
Again and again.
Each time pushing his limits further.
“I can do this… I have to do this…”
But there were too many people.
Too many floors.
Too little time.
---
The building suddenly shifted.
A deep cracking sound ran through its structure.
Paul looked up.
The entire tower was leaning further.
“This is bad…”
For the first time, fear hit him.
He looked at his hands.
“I can control this… right?”
This was his imagination.
His world.
If he imagined himself stronger… he could be stronger.
That’s how it worked.
Right?
---
He clenched his fists.
“I won’t let it fall!”
Paul rushed forward and placed himself against the collapsing side of the building.
He pushed.
With everything he had.
Veins strained.
His entire body trembled.
“Move…!”
For a second—
It slowed.
Hope flashed in his eyes.
But only for a second.
---
The building didn’t stop.
It kept falling.
Faster.
He wasn’t strong enough.
“No… no… NO!”
Paul screamed, pouring every last bit of energy into it.
But nothing changed.
His vision blurred.
His strength faded.
His body gave up.
And then—
Everything went black.
---
To be continued…
