Chronicles of Layered Worlds

This is a composite reality where multiple layers of veils overlap and nest within one another.

Ordinary people live on the surface of Layer 0, a mundane world with the same household registration, criminal investigation, and school systems as reality. They cannot see the secrets beyond the veil. Three upper-layer energy systems, source essence, memory, and ley lines, operate independently, while rifts between myriad heavens and the reflected layer of the Mirror Abyss lurk in the gaps. All powers abide by equivalent exchange: every ability has a cost, and combining multiple powers multiplies that cost.

The story takes place in **2026, on the eve of disaster**, four years before the Apocalypse Tide and its multiple cataclysms. The two storylines remain strictly separate:

The mundane storyline is set in two middle schools in Yongxiang City and Linhuai City. School bullying, childhood trauma, and criminal cases committed by ordinary people are all handled by the mundane public security authorities. No supernatural force may intervene.

In the hidden world, the local organizations F.A.T., Bureau Nine, and the Mystic Order contend with the multinational Dust-Sealed Twelve Seats, as well as a host of forces from beyond the domain, including the Hand of the Universe and the Dawn Temple. The mighty bear the heavy costs of corruption, depletion, and meridian erosion. As they maneuver against one another, they also face the impending warnings of the apocalypse.

There are no all-powerful, invincible heroes, nor are there villains who are evil through and through. A victim's pain can be understood, but suffering cannot simply erase guilt. The apocalypse has yet to arrive, and everyone is living in the silence before the storm.