Darkness.

A creeping silence, enveloping everything.

I don't know how long I've been here. There is no pain, no air, nothing at all. Just an emptiness pressing in from all directions. I try to move, but my body does not feel like my own. I want to speak, but my voice is swallowed by the void.

Then, suddenly—

"Wake up."

That voice… it's familiar.

Like an echo from a place too distant to reach, yet too close to ignore. I cannot describe its tone—cold, monotone, yet carrying something deeper, something I was never meant to understand.

And as my consciousness returns… I see it.

A sky filled with cracks.

Not ordinary cracks. It looks like shattered glass, but beyond the fractures is not emptiness, nor darkness—rather, something indescribable. Light and shadow intertwine, colors that should not exist flicker like flames consuming the boundaries of reality.

And in the midst of it all, I stand.

Or at least… I think I do.

Slowly, my vision sharpens. I feel the hard surface beneath my feet—black marble, cold to the touch, adorned with strange patterns glowing faintly. Around me, the towering structures of the academy rise, but something about them feels… wrong. The buildings seem to shift ever so slightly, like an illusion that isn't entirely stable.

Then, a sharp pain strikes my head.

Memories flood in.

I am… Hiro Lancaster, the strongest student of Evernight Academy. Heir to a noble family, a genius who has mastered more magic than anyone at my age. I am the villain fated to stand against the true protagonist of this world.

That was how it was supposed to be.

But… why does something feel off?

A strange sensation stirs in my chest, and as I glance down, I see a tiny crack on my skin—like glass beginning to shatter.

And beyond that fracture…

Nothing.

No flesh, no blood. No organs or bones. Only a void, pulsing as if something was waiting to emerge from within me.

I close my eyes, forcing myself to stay calm.

Stay rational. Think.

There's a high chance this is a side effect of a high-tier spell, or perhaps the result of a failed experiment. I just need to find the answer.

But before I can take a single step—

The world trembles.

No, not just the world—reality itself.

As if something was shifting my very existence, forcing me to see what should have remained hidden behind the veil of this reality. In an instant, the world around me changes.

Evernight Academy vanishes.

In its place, I see… words.

Code.

Lines of text and numbers flickering in the air, forming something beyond comprehension. The structure of this world unravels before my eyes, and amidst it all, a voice whispers in my ear.

"You're finally aware?"

I freeze.

That voice… it's not one I recognize. And yet, at the same time, I feel as if it has always been there—watching, mocking, waiting for the perfect moment to speak to me directly.

I turn.

And there—beyond the fracture in reality—I see it.

Someone who should not exist.

Someone standing beyond the limits of this world, gazing inside—like I am nothing more than a character in a game.

And the worst part?

He's smiling.