Prologue – Heartbeat of the King
A heart may not beat... But fear — it leaves an Echo.
Every person was born with a Seal,
an invisible Echo engraved deep within their heart.
This Echo was the first note of fate.
Sometimes a whisper…
Sometimes a scream…
The world was once different.
Power was measured by sword, by bloodline, by knowledge.
Then hearts began to speak.
And the System, the first to hear, birthed a new age:
Heartbeat of the King.
Emotions.
A mother's anxiety.
A people's hope.
A child's despair.
When deep enough, they become Echoes.
And every Echo forges a Seal.
Seals open doors. Rewrite destinies.
But each Echo demands a price —
A memory. A sense. A piece of one's soul.
And the Echoes of this era summoned everyone to one place:
Velheart Sanctum.
It was more than a school.
More than a trial.
Velheart was a sacred chamber —
one that synchronized with your heart's rhythm to grant System access.
But the System had one rule:
Your heart must beat.
Velheart housed three tiers:
1. Surface Academy: For hearts beating with hope.
2. Core Academy: For those who had heard their Echo.
3. Shadow Academy: Watched by the Silent Eye,
a place where students erased from the System rise… or vanish.
Echoes are not just power; they are echoes of a price paid.
Rage is an Echo. Its price: control.
Regret is an Echo. Its price: memories.
Love is an Echo. Its price: faith.
Fear is an Echo. Its price: courage.
Void… lies beyond all Echoes.
But some Seals never open.
And some hearts never beat.
"My heart... stopped that day.
And the world forgot me."
His name was Riven Kael.
At birth, his Seal carried the rhythm of royalty.
But he was branded with a crime he never committed.
Silenced. Erased. Forgotten.
He became an Anomaly.
The Echo of Silence.
For him, silence wasn't a choice.
It was a Seal.
But some silences scream louder than echoes.
Riven's power does not come from the System —
it comes from the Void beyond it.
Suppressed emotions.
Sealed memories.
A stolen destiny.
All waiting to echo back.
With every step forward,
he risks losing more of his soul.
This is not a story of beating hearts.
This is the tale of a man sealed in silence…
of the forced awakening of his own Echo…
the moment a Heartless King was born.
And one day—
The System will fall silent.
And Silence will speak.