Reborn within the void
"Everyone… where are you?"
"How did this happen? They shouldn’t have been able to break it…"
"Can anyone hear me? Anyone at all?"
Few years ago:
"Hm..the weather feels nice today." I muttered.
My name is Tomoki Tsukishiro.
Just an ordinary student living in a city that never really stood out.
The sky was clear, the wind was calm—everything felt like another forgettable day.
Or at least… it should have been.
I slipped my hands into my pockets and walked forward without thinking much about it.
People passed by me, laughing, talking, living their normal lives.
Nothing hinted that anything was wrong with the world.
And yet…
For a brief moment, I stopped walking.
I didn’t know why.
It was like something far away had blinked.
Not visible.
Not audible.
Just… felt.
I frowned slightly, looking up at the sky again.
"…My name is Tomoki Tsukishiro," I repeated under my breath, as if confirming it to myself.
"How about that…"
I paused.
Strange.
Why did saying my own name feel… heavier than it should?
A distant crack of sound broke the calm air.
Not thunder.
Not anything natural.
Just something sharp enough to make the world feel briefly… unstable.
And for a split second, I thought I heard something else—like a voice trying to reach me from somewhere far beyond this moment.
But then it was gone.
And I kept walking.
I don’t know how long I kept walking, but the city started to blur, like a painting left out in the rain.
I felt dizzy—my steps grew heavier.
And just like that, a sharp pain, a sudden impact—I was falling.
The sky spun.
The ground rushed up to meet me. And then—nothing.
When I woke, everything was different.
This wasn't my body anymore neither the world I lived.
I tried to stand but failed.
I was injured.
But I slowly began to remember everything.
I used to be an adventurer, chasing forgotten legends and rare artifacts with a group I trusted—or so I thought.
We had set out toward the Whispering Peaks, searching for a relic known only as the Silver Echo.
But as the days passed, something in the air changed—trust began to crumble.
It was late one night, as we crossed a narrow ridge.
One moment, I was following their trail, the next—my foot slipped. I tumbled, rocks crumbling beneath me, until I plunged into darkness.
When I woke, I was no longer in the cold mountain air.
I lay in a vast, shadowed cave, every muscle in my body aching.
A faint trickle of water echoed somewhere in the dark, and as I sat up, disoriented, I realized—this wasn’t just another place.
This was a different world.
And the betrayal still weighed heavy on me.
I realized how much the real owner of this body suffered.
I was also betrayed once.
It hurts when you get betrayed.
But we need to keep push forward.
After that I began to walk but still getting failed because of the injured body.
I dragged myself toward the mouth of the cave, each step sharp with pain.
The air was cooler outside, a strange, foreign breeze that carried the scent of moss and rain.
I winced, feeling the weight of my body as I stumbled onto solid ground.
Then, in the distance, a figure appeared, silhouetted by the faint dawn.
A woman, tall and calm, carrying a leather satchel that gleamed with vials and herbs.
She approached me quietly, kneeling beside me as I groaned in exhaustion.
"I’m not from here," she said softly, her voice like a gentle stream. "But I know how to help you. Stay with me, and we’ll find the way."
As I looked into her eyes, something inside me stirred—a glimmer of hope in the vast, empty void.
As the woman knelt beside me, her fingers pressed gently along my ribs, checking for fractures.
Each touch sent a sharp reminder of the fall, and I winced, though I kept my breathing slow.
She handed me a small vial of liquid, its scent earthy and calming, and I took a sip, letting the warmth spread through me.
"I don’t fully know where I am," I finally whispered, my voice hoarse.
"It was supposed to be a routine journey. My team and I—we reached the ridge, and then... I slipped."
She nodded, eyes dark with empathy.
"You don’t have to say all of it now," she said, her voice like a soft wind.
"Just rest. I’ve traveled through many villages, bringing herbs and healing. I’ve seen people lost like you, and I know it takes time."
I met her gaze and nodded, feeling a small flicker of trust inside me.
"I don’t know if I can explain everything. I just know... someone I trusted—they left me."
Her fingers tightened slightly on the vial, as if weighing my words.
"We’ll figure it out, step by step. Just stay close. You’re not as alone as you think."
I closed my eyes, the first flicker of hope warming me, even as the shadows of what happened still clung to me.
As the evening sky darkened, I stood at the edge of the forest, the weight of everything pressing on my shoulders.
The woman’s silhouette faded behind me, but as I breathed in, a strange longing tugged at my core—a memory, half-forgotten, of a kingdom called Lyria, shining on the horizon, just beyond this void.
And though I couldn't yet grasp how, I knew my journey wasn’t over. It was only beginning—toward Lyria, and what lay beyond.
