Inside the bathroom of an unknown store, a young woman stood before the mirror. Her reflection was unfamiliar, silver hair cascaded down her shoulders, framing a face graced with scarlet-red eyes so striking that they could hold anyone's gaze captive. She wore a simple white shirt paired with black trousers, but the ordinary clothes did little to mask her otherworldly beauty.
Slowly, she lifted her hand and touched the cold surface of the mirror, tracing the outline of a face that was no longer her own. The skin staring back at her was unnaturally pale, so fair that, with the slightest shade lighter, she might easily have been mistaken for a vampire.
"Who...?" The word slipped from her lips like a whisper.
She waved a hand before the mirror, then raised a finger to her mouth, pulling at her cheeks to inspect her teeth. Ordinary. Perfectly normal.
"My teeth seem fine," she murmured. "I'm... not a vampire."
But if not that, then what was happening? Her thoughts churned in chaos. 'Just a minute ago, I was on my way to an interview. Now... I'm here. In someone else's body, in a place I don't recognize'
Her fingers rested against her chin as fragments of yesterday came rushing back.
Yesterday, she had received a call from her aunt, news that shattered what little peace she had. Her fiancé had broken off their engagement, choosing instead to run away with her cousin.
As the only child of a humble family in a rural village, her parents had sent her to New Delhi, to her aunt's home, so she could complete her studies and secure a better future. Both she and her cousin had grown up together under the same roof, though the money for her education and living expenses came entirely from her parents. For that reason, she had never suffered any outright mistreatment.
But her cousin... her cousin was a venomous snake. Always belittling her, always finding ways to make her feel small. And now, that same cousin had stolen the man who was meant to be her future. The engagement arranged by their families, shattered, without so much as informing her, just so they could elope.
"Pathetic," she thought bitterly.
After a long night drowning herself in alcohol, she woke late for her interview. In a haze of exhaustion and defeat, she stumbled through the city, only to be stopped by a fortune teller. The old woman read her fate and warned her sternly: avoid all forms of transportation, or misfortune would strike.
Superstitious as she was, still clinging to the beliefs of her village upbringing, she heeded the warning.
That was her first mistake.
She decided to walk home. Yet fate mocked her. A speeding truck came hurtling toward her out of nowhere. By sheer instinct, she managed to dodge it, escaping with only a fractured elbow.
Believing the worst was behind her, she called a cab. Misfortune laughed again. The cab nearly struck her when the driver lost control, forcing her to leap aside and dislocate her shoulder in the process.
The shaken driver, wracked with guilt, offered to cover all her medical expenses and insisted on taking her to a hospital. She agreed, clinging to the hope that the nightmare would finally end.
But life had other plans. On the way, the brakes of a bus failed, and the runaway vehicle barreled straight toward them. Miraculously, the driver, a former Tokyo heavy-vehicle operator, avoided disaster and got her safely to the hospital.
She thought it was over. But she was wrong.
As she stepped out of the hospital, an ambulance came screeching around the corner and slammed into her, hurling her against a wall. That was her final memory.
Now, she had awakened in an unfamiliar body, in an unfamiliar world.
Her gaze drifted downward to the card hanging from her neck. She lifted it closer, scanning the neatly printed words:
Evangeline Virelle
Age: 18
Position: Manager, Panda Convenience Store
"What... is this supposed to mean?" she muttered under her breath, bewilderment twisting her expression. Everything felt absurd. Yesterday, her world had collapsed when her engagement was called off. Now, she was trapped in a body that wasn't hers, staring at an ID for a job she never accepted.
Shaking her head, she let out a faint sigh and ran her fingers through the cascade of silver hair framing her face. The strands slipped like silk between her fingers. "So soft..." The words escaped unconsciously as she marveled at the texture.
Collecting herself, she adjusted her hair, squared her shoulders, and pushed open the bathroom door, only to halt at the bizarre sight before her.
A panda.
Yes, a panda. Its head was jammed inside a bucket, and the creature stumbled clumsily across the floor, bumping into empty shelves with a comical wobble, rolling and tumbling like a drunkard.
A soft chuckle slipped from her lips before she could stop it. "Hehe..."
Against all logic, she found the scene strangely... adorable.
Moving closer, she crouched down. The panda barely reached her knees in height. Wrapping her hands around the struggling creature, she gave a firm tug and freed its head from the bucket with a loud pop.
She set the bucket aside, only to freeze when the panda lifted its paws to its face, patting its cheeks with exaggerated relief.
"Oh, my beautiful face is still here... nothing happened," a voice exclaimed, high-pitched, sweet, almost childlike.
Her heart lurched. The voice hadn't come from behind her. It had come from the panda.
Instinctively, she stumbled back a step, eyes darting toward the nearest exit. Did... did that panda just talk?
Before she could react, the creature straightened up on its stubby legs and looked directly at her.
"Hello, miss! Welcome to the Panda Convenience Store!" it chirped cheerfully. "I'm Panda, the boss of this place! And I summoned you here to become the manager of my store!"
Her mind blanked as the panda extended one furry paw toward her, as if offering a handshake.