Nina woke to the sound of her phone buzzing violently beside her head.
She reached out with half-lidded eyes, ready to slap the snooze button for the third time, only to realize—this wasn't her alarm.
It was her ringtone.
A very persistent, very loud ringtone.
She groaned and answered without looking.
"Hello?"
"Nina, what did you do?"
Leo's voice barked through the phone.
Nina blinked, still not entirely present in the world of the living.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"You're telling me you haven't checked your phone?"
"I just picked it up."
She mumbled, sitting upright now.
There was a long sigh on the other end.
"Don't move. Don't talk to anyone. Don't post anything. I'm going to handle it."
"Wait—handle what?"
But Leo had already hung up.
Nina stared at the screen for a second, then flopped back onto her pillow.
"What is he even talking about?" she muttered.
Her phone buzzed again, this time with notifications pouring in like an avalanche.
Group chats, news alerts, social media mentions—hundreds of them. She opened the app with the least number of red dots and scrolled.
That was a mistake.
Her name wasn't the only one trending. So were Leo and Luna.
The top posts were all dramatic headlines with flashy thumbnails and way too many exclamation points.
Apparently, during the recent dungeon break, someone had spotted a mysterious figure referred to as The King of Humanity, Nero, swooping in to help close the gate—and the internet had spiraled.
Nina's expression flattened.
"Seriously?"
Speculation was rampant.
People claimed they saw Nero. Others insisted they'd spoken to him, drank tea with him, had deep philosophical conversations with him in the middle of collapsing buildings.
Some swore he looked like he had a sister.
A few people even connected the dots between her recent fight outside the café and Nero's rare appearance, painting elaborate theories as if they'd uncovered some ancient conspiracy.
Nina scoffed.
"Lies. All of them."
Her Patron, resting quietly in the back of her mind, hummed in agreement.
[Humans love the sound of their own voices, especially when it's baseless nonsense.]
"Right? And I don't even do anything, and somehow I'm in the middle of this."
[You don't have to respond. Let the noise pass. You owe them nothing.]
"Thanks. Maybe I'll even start my day early for once. See? Growth."
She muttered, pulling her blanket off.
She slid into her slippers and shuffled toward the door. Downstairs, the smell of toasted bread and eggs hit her nose just as her mother's voice did.
"Oh, look who's finally awake. The queen of the night returns at last."
Her mother called out from the kitchen, arms elbow-deep in suds.
"I woke up early today."
Nina said, not bothering to defend herself.
"Early? The sun's been up for hours!"
"It's literally seven."
Her mother didn't miss a beat.
"Seven is late when you're planning to get into college. But no, what do I know? I've only raised three kids on my own. Who needs sleep schedules?"
Nina smiled to herself. The words rolled off her like water off an umbrella now.
Years ago, they might have stung. Now they were just part of the daily morning routine—right up there with brushing her teeth and wishing she had more time to nap.
She slipped into her seat at the table and picked up a slice of toast.
"Thanks for breakfast."
"I didn't make it for you."
Her mom huffed, scrubbing harder at the plate in her hands.
"Still tastes good."
Nina said around a bite, and watched her mom's mouth twitch into the faintest grin.
[You're in a good mood today.]
Her Patron noted.
"I'm trying. Might as well enjoy the small stuff before someone throws another monster at my face."
Nina thought back.
[Reasonable. Though I must admit I'm less amused by all this 'Nero' nonsense. Someone is getting too bold with their speculation.]
"Should we do something about it?"
[No. But I'll keep a watch on anyone who digs too deep. You, on the other hand, should worry more about digesting that toast properly.]
Nina snorted.
"Fine, fine. No more drama today, please."
But even as she said it, she glanced at her phone again.
The message notifications hadn't stopped.
And she had the sneaking feeling… the drama was just getting started.
Nina stepped out the front door with a long yawn and a heavy backpack slung over one shoulder.
I'm tired."
She muttered, dragging her feet down the path.
[Would you like me to provide real-time commentary on your morning walk? I could do voices. Background music. Perhaps a dramatic recap of yesterday's events—]
Her Patron offered in a cheerful tone.
"No. Please. No commentary."
Nina said flatly.
[Understood. I'll just narrate internally to myself, then.]
She rolled her eyes, but a small smile tugged at her lips.
The streets were already lively, students streaming toward the school gates, chatting, laughing, darting between shops for last-minute snacks.
It was a world that moved on autopilot without her, and stepping into it always felt like coming in halfway through a play.
On her way toward class, she spotted a familiar group of girls from her year huddled near the shoe lockers.
Something about their easy laughter pulled her in, and before she could talk herself out of it, Nina changed direction and headed toward them.
The conversation dipped for a split second as they noticed her approach.
"Oh—hey, Nina,"
One of the girls said. Her smile was friendly, but there was a flicker of surprise there too.
"Morning. Mind if I join you guys for a bit?"
Nina replied, hands shoved into her jacket pockets.
"Of course not."
Another girl chirped, scooting slightly to make space.
The circle widened to accommodate her, but Nina felt it—the distance. Invisible but solid, like a sheet of glass between her and everyone else.
They smiled, they welcomed her, but she knew she'd always been something of a shadow at school.
Not cold exactly, just… distant. Always dodging questions, always slipping away before things got too personal.
It was hard to make real friends when you couldn't even say who your siblings were.
Still, she stood a little straighter and made the effort.
"What were you talking about?"
"Oh! We were talking about this new light novel that just came out. It's getting crazy popular."
One of the girls lit up.
"Already hit number one on the forums. Everyone's obsessing over it."
Another chimed in.
Nina tilted her head.
"A light novel?"
"Yeah! It's this fantasy-dungeon setting with a twist—something about a rogue angel descending into the human world and hiding among them."
"Oh…."
Nina said before she could stop herself.
"What?"
"I mean—uh, sounds cool. Can I check it out too?"
She tried to recover, smiling awkwardly.
Nina's question seemed to freeze the group. The chatter faded, replaced by an awkward shuffle of feet and darting glances between the girls.
One of them laughed nervously.
"Uh… it's not exactly what you'd expect from the title. It's kind of weird. Not sure if it's your type of thing."
Another nodded quickly.
"Yeah, it's got a lot of… speculation. You know, fan theories. People are treating it like it's based on real stuff, even though it's totally fiction."
Nina blinked.
"That's fine. I'm just curious. I'd like to try it out anyway."
She said with a shrug.
A few exchanged looks again, but the tension eased a little. The girl in front of her hesitated, then gave a small nod.
"Okay, I'll send you the link. During class. You can check it out and see for yourself."
"Thanks."
Nina said with a faint smile.
The conversation slowly picked back up, but the atmosphere had shifted.
There was still that subtle line drawn in the sand, still a quiet caution in the way her classmates spoke around her.