"What... is this?" he whispered, his voice barely audible amid the pulsing pain and the system's relentless chatter.
[Class: Unknown]
[Relic Affinity: Fragmented]
[Status: Error in soul classification.]
[Do you wish to access Inisial Data?]
[Yes / No]
Yafi stood frozen. He hadn't answered, but the screen waited. Motionless. Silent in its threat.
And somehow, deep within, he knew—the answer he gave would determine everything.
"Am I... Vale? Or Yafi?"
That question suddenly surfaced in his mind—like a whisper demanding an answer amid the growing chaos of a fractured identity.
[Yes]
Without hesitation, he chose it. Yafi knew he had no other choice. Right now, only this system might be able to cure the disease ravaging his body.
[Loading...]
[Bonus: Inisial System Reception]
[Status: Headache and body condition neutralized.]
Yafi jolted. He immediately touched his head, confirming that the pain that had nearly driven him insane… was now completely gone.
His eyes widened, fixed on the pale blue hologram floating before him. Strange symbols blinked slowly, as if waiting for the next command.
"I don't believe this… it's like something straight out of a novel I've read."
He gave a small smile—mixed with awe, disbelief, and a lingering tension.
He righted the chair that had fallen earlier. Carefully, Yafi sat and stared at the still-active system before him. Deep down, he knew—this wasn't just some bizarre dream. This was the beginning of something much greater.
"So... what should I do?"
Vale's memories slowly began to merge, forming fragments that felt foreign yet familiar. Yafi—or perhaps now Vale—stood and grabbed the cloak hanging on the closet door. A shimmering crystal was embedded in the chest of the cloak.
He put it on slowly, then stepped toward the door.
His desire was simple: to search for answers out there. And to understand the body he now inhabited.
The bedroom door opened. He stepped outside, now realizing he was inside an apartment. After closing the door carefully, his hand still on the handle… a voice startled him.
His body froze instantly.
He didn't move an inch, only slowly turning his head toward the source of the voice, alert, ready, yet confused.
Standing there was a woman. Her long black hair flowed down her back, slightly messy as if she'd just woken up. Her bright blue eyes—so familiar—looked sleepily at Yafi.
"What are you talking about, bro?" she asked with a yawn, her tone lazy and disoriented.
The woman was Viona Zorca, Vale's older sister. She was twenty-five years old. And just like that, Vale's memories surfaced, recognizing her face instantly.
Viona rubbed her eyes, still half-asleep. But the commotion from her brother's room had disturbed her enough to wake her fully. With lazy steps, she tried to check what was going on—only to find Vale standing there.
"Hah!? What the hell do you mean by that, huh?"
Her voice suddenly rose, booming through the narrow apartment corridor.
Yafi, now in Vale's body, felt a chill down his spine. Viona's sharp glare seemed to pierce through him—her menacing aura threatening to kill him on the spot.
"Huft... I get it. Did she hear me scream earlier?" Yafi muttered, trying to remain calm. He forced a small smile toward Viona, hoping to diffuse the situation.
But that smile only made things worse.
Viona's face tensed, her teeth grinding in fury. Without a word, she stormed forward—and a heavy punch landed square on Yafi's cheek.
Thud!
[Danger detected!]
[System active: Passive Defense Mode]
[Identification: Hostile Detected!]
"What!?" Yafi gasped, eyes wide.
The system's voice echoed in his head. A red alert blinked in the corner of his vision.
But what shocked him most wasn't the pain from the punch...
It was the fact that the system had neutralized it.
And the system made him think of something else entirely.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Vale!? Making all that noise in the middle of the night, and now you're smiling like an idiot!" Viona snapped, her breath ragged with emotion, unaware of the far bigger change unfolding before her.
Yafi stood frozen. His mind in disarray.
"The system... sees Viona as an enemy?"
"Tch, damn system. Shut up! Stop hurting my ears like this!"
Yafi growled, his tone sharp with irritation. The system notifications blaring in his mind pushed his emotions to the brink. Without another word to Viona, he turned quickly and left the apartment, abandoning her in the darkness.
Once outside, he stopped.
The buildings around him looked strange and otherworldly. Stone walls etched with glowing carvings, curved rooftops like dragon scales, and streets fused with glittering tree roots. It was all too unfamiliar—too different from the modern world he once knew.
He stood in awe. His eyes scanned the landscape, as if staring into a dream or some ancient tale.
Then… the light appeared.
A sharp glare struck his eyes, making him squint. As his focus returned, his gaze turned to the night sky, painted with deep crimson hues. And at its center, a beam of light shone near the moon—which now looked larger, and bloodier than ever.
"A red light… in the middle of the moon? And the sky this red?" he muttered, barely believing it.
Curiosity sparked a fire within him. The cold night wind blew hard, making his cloak ripple like crashing waves. The chill pierced to the bone, but he didn't care.
Yafi began to run, his strides firm, heading toward the source of that red light.
Minutes passed—he kept running without stopping.
But suddenly, the light… vanished.
"What just happened?"
He looked up, panting.
And what he saw in the sky made his blood run cold.
"Hey… hey... this has to be a joke!" he shouted, eyes wide in disbelief.
The sky had cracked—like shattered glass breaking slowly, opening in surreal patterns. And from those fractures, something dark... began to crawl in.
[Teleportation Will commence shortly!]
"Is this the system's doing?" he muttered, as a blinding light engulfed his vision
leaving him unable to see anything at all.