The screech of tires. A terrified scream—her little brother's. Then blinding pain, and nothing.
Miko Hayashi never expected dying to feel so... anticlimactic.
When consciousness returned, it wasn't to hospital beeps or worried faces. It was to cold stone beneath her palms and a sky swirling with impossible colors—auroras twisting like living ribbons across two pale moons. Towering crystal spires pierced the horizon, and floating orbs of soft blue light drifted lazily overhead like fireflies on steroids.
Miko blinked. Her body felt wrong. Lighter. Smaller hands. Longer hair—jet black and cascading to her waist in glossy waves. She pushed herself up, heart slamming against ribs that weren't quite hers.
A shallow pool of water nearby caught the aurora light like a mirror. She staggered over and stared.
The reflection showed a stranger: sharp crimson eyes glowing faintly, pale porcelain skin, delicate features framed by that midnight hair. A thin, thorny tattoo-like mark curled across her left collarbone, pulsing with dim red light.
"This is not me," she whispered, voice higher and softer than she remembered. "This is some insane isekai bullshit."
Panic clawed up her throat. She pinched her arm—hard. The sting was real. The mark flared in response, sending a warm jolt through her veins. Flashes assaulted her mind: shadows coiling into razor-sharp blades, flames erupting from fingertips, lightning arcing across a stormy sky. Each vision felt instinctive, like a muscle she'd never known she had.
She clutched the mark, breath hitching. "What the hell is this thing?"
Voices drifted from an arched stone entrance ahead. A group of teenagers in sleek black-and-silver uniforms hurried past, excitement buzzing in their tones.
"Did you see the aptitude test results? Someone activated a triple Echo!"
"Triple? That's impossible. Only legends—"
Miko froze. Echo? Aptitude test? This was definitely not Earth.
She needed answers. Clothes that weren't this weird flowing white robe would help too.
As she crept toward the building, the mark burned hotter. The ground trembled faintly. Miko's pulse spiked.
A low, cool voice sliced through the air behind her.
"Lost already, transfer student?"
She spun. Leaning casually against a crystal pillar was a guy straight out of a shonen opening: tall, silver hair falling artfully over one violet eye, uniform tailored to perfection, exuding an untouchable aura. Shadows seemed to cling to him like smoke, curling lazily at his fingertips.
Kael Voss.
Even in this new world, the name hit like a truck. The academy's undisputed top student. Heir to the Voss clan. Wielder of devastating shadow Echoes. The guy everyone feared and admired in equal measure.
His gaze dropped to the crimson mark on her collarbone. His eyes narrowed.
"That seal," he said quietly, "shouldn't exist anymore."
Miko's mouth went dry.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Liar." He stepped closer, voice dropping to a dangerous murmur.
"The Crimson Seal only awakens in those who die with unfinished regrets. And it devours them from the inside out."
His fingers brushed the edge of the mark—barely a touch. A sharp spark jumped between them, electric and hot. Miko jerked back, cheeks flaming despite the fear.
"Personal space, jerk!"
Kael's lips curved into the faintest smirk—the first crack in his icy mask.
"Most people scream when it flares. You just blush. Interesting."
Before she could fire back, the ground shook violently. A black tear ripped open in the courtyard ahead—writhing, pulsing, spilling out shadowy creatures with glowing red eyes and jagged limbs. Abyssal Rifts. The monsters everyone trained to fight.
Screams erupted. Students summoned their Echoes in flashes of light: flaming swords, swirling wind barriers, ice spears forming in midair.
Kael's expression hardened. Shadows exploded around his hands like living ink.
"Stay behind me."
But the seal on Miko's skin burned hotter than ever. Power surged through her—wild, unfamiliar, but instinctive. She locked eyes on Kael's shadow tendrils... and something clicked.
Darkness erupted from her own fingertips, mirroring his perfectly—coiling, sharp, alive.
Kael's head snapped toward her. His violet eyes widened in genuine shock.
"You... copied my Echo? On your first day?"
The monsters lunged.
Miko grinned, fear mixing with adrenaline. "Guess I'm not your average transfer student."
Shadows clashed—hers and his weaving together in eerie harmony as they met the first wave. Claws met darkness. Red eyes shattered under combined strikes. For a split second, their movements synced perfectly, like they'd fought side-by-side for years.
The academy bell tolled, deep and ominous.
More rifts tore open around them.
Kael glanced at her, something unreadable flickering in his gaze.
"This isn't over. You've just painted a target on your back."
Miko's mark pulsed brighter, whispering promises of more power... and more corruption.
She swallowed hard.
Whatever this world was, whatever this seal really did—she was in deep.
And Kael Voss, the untouchable genius, had just become her reluctant ally.
To be continued...