"Who the hell dyes their hair silver?" Aria asked, pointing an accusatory finger straight at Damien's head like she was ready to exorcise a demon.
Damien, strolling confidently toward the waiting school bus, smirked like he was about to walk a runway.
His silver hair gleamed in the sunlight — freshly dyed the night before in what he'd called a "drastic rebranding arc."
"It looks fine," he said, swooshing his bangs with dramatic flair. "I look like that Sun Kim guy from—"
"It's Sun Kim Jae-hyun," Aria snapped. "And no, you don't. Not even close. You look like if his NPC cousin got rejected from his own spin-off."
Oof. That one actually hurt.
Damien sighed and shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets, muttering something about "a lack of appreciation for aesthetic vision."
Still, he wore a smirk as he tilted his head at Aria.
She, despite her sharp tongue, was his closest friend — the fellow loner, the low-key nerd, the unofficial president of the school's I'd Rather Be Reading club.
Aria rolled her eyes behind her thick-rimmed glasses.
Her long black hair was tied in a messy ponytail, and she clutched a thick paperback in her arms.
Probably another BL Manhwa.
Damien had stopped keeping track after she tried explaining why "two swordsmen falling in love mid-duel" was peak literature, while "actual boys flirting in real life" made her gag.
"Double standards," he muttered, stepping past her.
"Shut up and get on the bus, K-Pop reject," she said, though her lips curled upward.
Damien paused before stepping in, offering a warm smile and a casual, "Good morning, Miss Bernice. You look lovely as always."
Miss Bernice, their homeroom teacher — and the quiet crush of at least seven boys in class — smiled back graciously.
She was in her early thirties, with long auburn hair, sharp eyes, and the kind of elegance that made PTA meetings feel like red carpet events.
"Thank you, Damien," she replied. "That's very kind of you."
Damien grinned, gave her a casual salute, and boarded the bus.
He slid into a seat by the window and slapped his backpack onto the other half of the bench to reserve it.
Aria hopped in moments later, eyeing the backpack like it had personally offended her. "I was going to sit by the window."
"Finders keepers, losers weepers," Damien said, stretching and leaning back smugly.
"You're lucky I left my steel ruler at home," she muttered, shoving him with her hip before plopping into the aisle seat.
She stuck her tongue out at him and then cracked open her manga on her phone.
'Seems like the textbook wasnt BL after all.'
Miss Bernice got on last, standing at the front of the bus with her usual calm but authoritative presence.
"Alright, everyone, settle down. Yes, it's our final trip before exams, no, this isn't a vacation, and yes, your grades still matter when we get back," she said with the exhausted tone of someone who had repeated this speech to twelve graduating classes already.
The bus rumbled to life. The wheels rolled forward.
The excitement of the final-year trip buzzed through the air like a barely-contained storm.
Some students were already taking selfies.
Others were gossiping.
The class clown, Jasper, was trying to convince people that he'd secretly brought alcohol, even though everyone knew he cried when he drank soda too fast.
Damien turned toward the window, the breeze rolling in as the city gave way to greener scenery.
The wind rustled his silver hair as the sun warmed his face.
For a rare moment, things felt good. Calm. Like maybe life was—
"Mmmh❤️~"
He glanced at Aria. Her face was flushed.
Her glasses were fogging up. Her phone was tilted at a suspicious angle.
"Are you seriously moaning at manga?" he asked.
"I'm reading," she hissed, eyes glued to the screen. "This scene is peak emotional payoff. Shut up and let me suffer."
"Peak something, alright."
They passed under an overpass. And then—
The world turned gold.
There was no warning, no sound, not even a dramatic boom or shaky cam effect.
Just a sudden, blinding glow that engulfed the entire bus.
Damien blinked, shielding his eyes.
A pressure like diving underwater wrapped around him.
When the light faded, the bus was gone.
The road was gone.
The city, the skyline, the billboards telling him to study for his future — gone.
They were standing on white marble tiles in an endless hall of shimmering columns, under a sky painted in eternal twilight.
The air shimmered with sparkling motes of gold.
Students blinked in confusion, some screaming, some gasping, others frozen.
Miss Bernice looked stunned but instinctively stepped forward to shield her students.
And then she appeared.
A woman floated above a raised dais at the center of the hall.
She was beautiful in a way that defied logic — her hair flowing like starlight, her dress spun from clouds, her smile serene and terrifying all at once.
"Welcome," she said, voice echoing in their minds like a hymn. "To the world of Amarynth, dear heroes."
Nobody spoke. Nobody even breathed.
"I am Lysiriel, the Goddess of Harmony," she continued, arms outstretched. "You have been chosen. Summoned from your realm to aid ours in a time of great crisis."
Damien stared.
His first thought was Cool, quickly followed by This seems like a scam, and finally Damn, the goddess is hot.
The rest of the students were already whispering, eyes wide.
Jasper fainted.
A few of the gamer nerds muttered something about this being "just like that one isekai."
Lysiriel's eyes glowed softly. "Each of you must be astounded and I understand your plight, it's not everyday that people are brought from their normal lives to fight for the lives of others but what is happening in this world is serious."
"What is happening in this world… Goddess?" A student spoke up, her voice shaky but she calmed herself.
"The total annihilation of the world as we know it, the demon lord has awakened."