In a world where a few can bend probability through raw will, a quiet drifter named Kai Kurozawa discovers his gift isn’t luck—it’s a loaded weapon. Each choice twists the odds, but the universe charges interest.
SERIES BIBLE (Concise)
Power System — Will / Odds / Backlash
• Dwellers: Rare individuals who can impose Tacks (micro‐edits to probability) via focused Will.
• Odds: A visualized “grain” of reality; Dwellers sense vectors of likely outcomes as shimmering filaments.
• Tacks: Intentional nudges (“make that rope snap,” “let the bus be 8 seconds late”). Each Tack accrues Fate Friction—stress that rebounds later as Backlash (nosebleeds → fractures → catastrophic karmic events).
• Edges: Personal rituals or anchors (coin flips, mantras) that stabilize Will and reduce friction.
• Zeroshift (mythic tier, late series): A liminal state where Odds are a silent ocean and Will is a blade—do not reveal yet.
World
• Haven District: Port-city sprawl; rusted rooftops, market alleys, flooded underpass murals.
• Glassline Metro: Arteries of the city; reflective tunnels where odds feel “loud.”
• The Quiet: A rumored zone where Odds stop moving—foreshadowing endgame forces.
Factions
• Municipal Risk Office (MRO): Bureau that tracks statistical anomalies; polite on paper, predatory in practice.
• The Erased: Black-bag unit rumored to “remove” unstable Dwellers.
Recurring Antagonists
• Rael, “The Eraser”: Uncanny calm; his talent dampens other Dwellers’ Tacks in close range. He is the city’s whispered full stop.
• Anti-Kai (Kairo Tsukami): Never named on-page yet. Thematic opposite of Kai—fixes outcomes by stealing other people’s Will.
Themes
• Choice vs. inevitability, the cost of power, anonymity in crowds, the math of mercy.
VISUAL STYLE GUIDE (for art consistency)
• Line: Clean, high-contrast inks; thin outline on faces, heavy shadows on urban geometry.
• Tone: Filmic noir with sharp whites for the “Odds” filaments.
• Odds Visualization: Fine hairline threads and moiré patterns drifting off objects; when Kai focuses, threads bloom like dandelion seeds frozen mid-gust.
• SFX: Minimalist lettering, small caps with long em dashes for sustained sounds (e.g., VRRR—).
• Panel Rhythm: Quiet micro-panels for intention → explode into wide panels for consequence.
CAST (Core + Non-Dwellers — at least 5)
Kai Kurozawa (17)
• A drifter with a coin ritual. Soft voice, sharp eyes. Edge: Coin Flip.
• Quirk: Counts his breaths when deciding; breath 7 is commitment.
• Flaw: Terrified of being the cause.
Mei Arakawa (19) — Journalism student, street photographer. Non-Dweller.
• Brave to a fault; sees patterns in people. Keeps instant camera on wrist.
Jun “Switch” Tanaka (18) — Electronics stall kid; builds things from city trash. Non-Dweller.
• Grease smudges, perpetual grin, a tool roll like a scroll.
Aya Mori (20) — Med student volunteering at a night clinic. Non-Dweller.
• Steady hands; refuses to look away from ugly truths.
Inspector Haruto Ishii (34) — MRO field officer. Non-Dweller.
• Polite, dry, exhausted; catalogues “anomaly sites.”
Koji Nakamura (52) — Market grocer. Non-Dweller.
• Kind man, jokes in proverbs. (Mark as at risk in early arcs.)
Daichi (12) — Rooftop runner, orphan. Non-Dweller.
• Knows every shortcut; sells maps he draws by hand.
Rael (??) — “The Eraser.” Dweller.
• Neutral face; shoes make no sound. The city gets quiet when he arrives.
HIDDEN SEEDS in Chapter One
• Page 3: A passerby with a ring—three triangular prongs. Later revealed as an Erased marker.
• Page 17: Black van reflection in puddle (MRO plate pattern: 131-21).
• Page 28: Blank spot in Kai’s Odds vision (Rael’s signature dampening at distance).
• Final Page: A second coin in gutter, heads scratched with a thin inverted cross (Anti-Kai sigil—unexplained).
CHAPTER ONE: PAGE-BY-PAGE SCRIPT & STORYBOARD
Length: 36 pages (tankōbon pacing).
Goal: Introduce Kai, demonstrate low-tier Tack, show cost, hook with a moral pivot.
