Ichido once dreamed of an ordinary life.
Growing up in the secluded village of Hikmah, his future seemed simple: stay close to his older brother Taizen, protect his younger sister Nayuri, and someday become a merchant. But that future disappears in a single night when his mother transforms into a monstrous creature and his family is forced to flee. By the time the night is over, Ichido has lost his home, his parents, and eventually Taizen, leaving him alone with one responsibility:
keep Nayuri alive.
Years later, Ichido has managed to build something resembling a life again. He and Nayuri have found a home with a kind elderly woman they call Granny, and the horrors of Hikmah have begun to feel distant.
Then
Vidar
returns.
Years earlier, when Ichido and Nayuri were starving, the mysterious warrior saved them. In desperation, Ichido promised him a favor in return. Now Vidar has come to collect.
Forced away from Nayuri and everything he rebuilt, Ichido is subjected to brutal training before being taken to the
Grand Selection
, a mysterious competition where six hundred young fighters enter and survival matters more than victory.
The rules are simple.
Complete the trials.
Defeat whoever stands in your way.
Survive.
Inside the Selection, Ichido encounters contestants capable of extraordinary abilities and quickly realizes how insignificant his own strength is. But where others survive through cruelty, Ichido repeatedly makes the dangerous choice to trust people. He forms unlikely bonds with
Saara
, a fierce girl he refuses to abandon;
Kiyora
, whom he becomes determined to protect; and
Kyo
, a nervous, seemingly weak boy whose cowardice hides more than Ichido realizes.
Together, they endure lethal arenas, betrayals, dwindling supplies, and contestants willing to murder for the slightest advantage.
But the Grand Selection is designed to destroy more than bodies.
It destroys bonds.
As the people around Ichido begin to fall, the compassionate boy who entered the tournament starts disappearing with them. Grief turns into anger. Anger becomes violence. And the promise to protect everyone becomes increasingly impossible to keep.
When Ichido finally reaches the last stages of the Selection, he discovers that the people he trusted may have been hiding their true identities—and that Vidar never brought him there simply to make him stronger.
Something has been sleeping inside Ichido.
Something powerful.
And when it finally awakens, Ichido may survive the Grand Selection only to discover that
winning was never the same thing as escaping.
Neverlasting: Origins
is a dark fantasy survival story about brotherhood, grief, betrayal, power, and a boy desperately trying to remain human in a world that rewards becoming a monster.
