The day I died wasn't anything special.
No slow-motion heroics, no dramatic speeches, no cinematic music playing in the background. Just me, standing on a cracked sidewalk in the middle of the city, holding a cup of instant ramen like a broke college student, while the sky tore itself apart.
It started with the clouds.
One second, they were dull and gray, the kind you forget five seconds after looking at them. The next, they split like shattered glass, spilling an unnatural black light across the horizon. Yes, black. A color that shouldn't be light at all. The kind of thing that makes your brain stutter because it simply doesn't belong.
Cars screeched. People screamed.
Me? I just stood there with my ramen. Tuesdays already suck. This one just decided to up its game.
The black light spread, swallowing the skyscrapers, devouring the afternoon like some cosmic predator. Then came the silence. Not just the absence of sound—no, this was a silence so loud it roared in my skull. Every car horn, every panicked shout, every heartbeat just… stopped.
And that's when the shadows moved.
Not mine.
Everyone's.
I froze, watching as the shadow of a lamppost stretched and twisted across the pavement like a living snake. My own shadow rippled unnaturally beneath my feet, as if it wanted to crawl away. Then came the whisper. A voice so low I couldn't tell if it was in my ears or in my bones.
You're mine.
Great. Either I'd gone insane, or I was being personally hunted by a cosmic stalker.
"Move, kid!"
A man slammed into my shoulder as he bolted past, face pale with terror. I didn't move. Couldn't. My body felt locked in place, anchored by something that wasn't fear but… recognition? Like this wasn't new. Like I had felt this presence before, maybe in a nightmare I'd long forgotten.
The ground split.
Not cracked—split. A jagged line of blinding white light tore through the asphalt beneath me, and for a split second, I saw something staring back. Eyes. Dozens of them. All blinking in perfect silence.
Then I fell.
The world around me died.
No sound. No air. No gravity. Just endless cold.
When I opened my eyes again, I wasn't in the city anymore.
I wasn't even sure I was on Earth.
Wind howled against my ears as I stumbled to my feet. My vision swam with too many colors—green skies, silver clouds, and a crimson moon bleeding light across the horizon. I stood in the middle of what looked like a battlefield. The earth was cracked, burned, and littered with blackened stones that pulsed faintly with an eerie blue glow.
I turned in a slow circle, trying to process. No traffic. No people. No ramen. Just me and…
A roar.
Not the kind you hear in movies. This one vibrated through the ground, rattling my bones and making my chest tighten like a drum. My instincts screamed at me to run, and for once, I listened.
I barely made it ten steps before something lunged out of the shadows—a beast, its body shaped like a wolf but twisted, with scales instead of fur and glowing crimson eyes.
"Oh, hell no," I muttered.
It snarled, crouched low, and leaped. I threw myself sideways, tripping over a jagged rock and crashing to the dirt. Pain shot through my shoulder. This was not a dream. Dreams don't hurt this much.
The beast landed with a thud, turning its head slowly, saliva dripping from rows of jagged teeth. My brain ran through the options. Fight? Yeah, with what—my empty hands and charming personality? Run? Sure, if I wanted to trip again and die tired.
It lunged again.
This time, something inside me twitched.
The shadows beneath me moved.
A ripple. A wave. Like black water boiling up around my feet.
The beast's claws should have shredded me in that instant, but the shadows surged—instinctively—coiling like chains and yanking the creature sideways. It slammed into the ground with a yelp, stunned.
I stared at my own hands. They were trembling, but not from fear. The shadows around my feet slowly melted back into the ground, as if nothing had happened.
"…What the hell was that?" I whispered.
No answer. Just the sound of the beast staggering back to its feet, now angrier than ever.
"HEY!"
A voice cut through the chaos.
An arrow slammed into the beast's side, making it howl in pain. I spun to see a girl—maybe my age, maybe younger—standing on a ridge with a bow in hand. Her hair whipped around her face like fire in the wind.
"Are you stupid or just suicidal? MOVE!" she yelled.
I didn't need a second warning. I scrambled up the slope, half crawling, half stumbling as she loosed another arrow. The beast roared, then retreated into the treeline with a low growl.
The girl lowered her bow, scowling at me like I'd just committed a war crime.
"Great. Another clueless idiot from the villages," she muttered.
"Villages?" I wheezed, still trying to catch my breath.
She gave me a once-over, her eyes lingering on my jeans and hoodie.
"…What are you even wearing?"
"Uh… fashion?" I offered weakly.
She rolled her eyes. "You're lucky I came by, or that thing would've had you for dinner. Come on. The city's not far."
We walked in silence, or at least I did. She kept muttering under her breath about "newbies" and "wasted arrows," while I tried not to stare too hard at the floating lights hovering in the distance. This world—wherever it was—was glowing. Mana. That was the word that popped into my head uninvited.
When we reached the city gates, the guards gave me the kind of look you give a homeless raccoon that wandered into your backyard.
"What's this?" one guard said, pointing at me.
"Lost villager," the girl replied. "Needs a core test."
"Core test?" I asked.
The guard sighed and waved me through. "Follow me. Let's see what kind of trash core you've got."
Trash core? That didn't sound promising.
Inside the testing hall, a crystal orb the size of a basketball sat on a pedestal. It glowed faintly as the guard motioned me forward.
"Hand on the crystal. It measures your mana core's rank. If you even have one."
"Wait, you're saying some people don't?" I asked.
The guard smirked. "Oh, don't worry. With your look? I'm betting on cracked trash. Maybe even broken."
I sighed and placed my hand on the orb.
The crystal pulsed once… then flickered violently. The glow sputtered between black and silver, like it was glitching out.
The room went dead silent.
"…What the hell was that?" the guard muttered.
I grinned. "Guess I'm special?"
The crystal orb was still flickering, sputtering like a dying lightbulb. The guard stared at it with his mouth hanging open, which—judging by his armor and the axe on his back—wasn't a good sign.
"That… that's not normal," he muttered, squinting at the unstable glow.
The girl who had saved me earlier raised an eyebrow. "Well? What's his core grade?"
"Grade? This isn't even a grade," the guard said, his voice dipping into a whisper. "I've never seen a crystal flash like that. It's… broken."
"Broken?" I asked. "Wait, are you saying I'm so special I broke your magic rock? Because that's honestly the coolest thing I've ever done."
The guard scowled at me. "It means your mana core is cracked. Worthless. You won't be able to cast a spell even if you begged the gods for it."
The girl smirked. "Figures. You've got the look of someone who'd lose a fight to a rabbit."
"Wow," I said. "Thanks for the confidence boost. Truly uplifting."
They tossed me out of the testing hall like I'd stolen something.
"Next," the guard barked, waving me off.
I stood outside, brushing dust off my hoodie. "Alright. I get it. I'm trash. The lowest of the low. Weak. Pathetic. Whatever makes you happy." I paused and glanced at my shadow. It flickered faintly, just for a second, like black smoke twisting in the breeze.
Yeah, something was definitely wrong with me. But not in the way they thought.
The girl, who apparently couldn't shake me, crossed her arms. "What are you planning now, 'trash core'?"
"Survive," I said. "And maybe find out if this place sells ramen."
She groaned. "You're hopeless. Fine, I'm going to the Academy entrance trials. Stay out of trouble."
"Wait—Academy?" I perked up. "Like… magic school Academy?"
She gave me a look like I'd just crawled out of a cave. "Yes. The Royal Arcane Academy. Only the best get in. You? Not a chance."
"Well, you know what they say," I said with a grin. "Miracles happen. And I'm feeling miraculous today."
The Academy's selection arena looked like someone had mashed a medieval colosseum with a sci-fi stadium. Tall stone arches framed a glowing field, where candidates were already lined up, dressed in fancy tunics, robes, and armor that screamed rich noble brat.
I, of course, was still in jeans. And a hoodie with a ramen stain. Perfect first impression.
A boy with golden hair and a jawline that could cut glass glanced at me and sneered. "Did they start letting peasants in now?"
I smiled. "No, I'm just here to make you look better. Don't thank me all at once."
He turned to the group around him, laughing. "This one thinks he's funny. Bet he won't last ten seconds in the exam."
"Oh, I can last," I said. "I'm built different. Mostly on instant noodles and bad decisions."
The exam proctor, a middle-aged mage with a staff taller than me, cleared his throat. "The first trial is simple. Survive a duel."
The crowd cheered.
I blinked. "Survive… a duel? As in, don't die?"
"Yes," the mage said with a smile that was far too pleasant for someone explaining a death sport. "Don't worry. The arena's healing wards will prevent fatal injuries. Probably."
"Probably?" I muttered. "That's comforting."
When it was my turn, I stepped onto the field with all the confidence of a guy walking to his own funeral. My opponent? The golden-haired noble with the sword and the ego. Of course.
"This will be quick," he said, smirking.
"Yeah," I replied, stretching my arms. "Quick nap for me, quick embarrassment for you."
He didn't like that.
The duel began.
He charged. Fast. Faster than anyone had a right to be in shiny boots.
I did what any sane person would do.
I dodged. Badly. Nearly tripping in the process.
The crowd laughed.
The noble smirked.
I grinned. Perfect.
He slashed again, aiming for my shoulder. That's when it happened.
My shadow… moved.
It rippled up like smoke, just enough to make him stumble, his blade slicing the air where my neck had been a second ago. My body reacted before I even thought, twisting, grabbing his arm, and—
Wham.
He hit the ground. Hard.
Silence.
The crowd stared. I stared.
"…Did I just win?"
The proctor looked shocked, but he nodded. "Winner: the… peasant boy."
"Hey, I have a name," I said. "It's—"
I froze.
What was my name again? It slipped my mind like a shadow in the dark.
The crowd whispered. The noble groaned, humiliated, as I walked off the arena scratching my head.
Great. Now I was mysterious and dangerous.
That night, as I sat on a bench outside the Academy gates, the girl who saved me earlier walked by, raising an eyebrow.
"You're still here?"
"Yup," I said, leaning back. "Turns out I'm not completely useless. Who knew?"
She smirked. "Don't get cocky. You've got no mana, no beast bond, and no clue what's coming."
"Maybe," I said, glancing at my shadow as it shifted slightly in the moonlight. "But I've got something better."