My name is Lira, and I don't know how I got here.
One night, during late August, as I slept in my bed, I opened my eyes and I found myself lying in the middle of a frozen meadow under a sky painted with shimmering colors. It wasn't the kind of aurora I had seen in pictures. No—this one, this time, it was alive, moving like waves of silk, like it was breathing, and every time the colors shifted, I felt them tugging at my heart.
"Am I… dreaming? What the hell happened?" I whispered. My voice sounded tiny against the endless night sky and snowy valley.
The last thing I remembered was sleeping in my tiny apartment, exhausted after studying for an exam I didn't care about. After a while, I opened my eyes as strange feelings crept over me. I couldn't move. Strange lights begin flowing into my window like a mist. I got scared and quickly close my eyes. Then there was… nothing. Darkness, silence, then this.
I stood up, my boots crunching in snow that didn't even feel cold. It was strange—like the world was welcoming me instead of freezing me to death. In the distance, I saw tall mountains, as sharp as blades, and beyond them, I saw something strange. A faint golden city that seemed to float in the air.
That's when I noticed something even stranger.
The aurora above me began to coil down, like a ribbon falling from the sky and heaven itself, and before I could even scream, it sank right into my chest.
I gasped, clutching myself. I felt no heat, but warmth spread through my veins, glowing under my skin like faint rainbow veins. My hands lit up, faint blue and pink lines tracing my fingers.
And then, words appeared in front of me. Floating, glowing letters like a hologram:
[Welcome, Aurora-Bound.][This world has chosen you as its heir.]
"Heir?!" I shouted. "WAIT, HUH?!—what is this? a game?!"
But the words didn't stop.
[You have been granted the Seed of the Aurora.][Nurture it, or be consumed by it.]
I froze in place. My brain didn't know how to process it, but another part of me. The part that used to binge webnovels or watch manga recap at 2 AM was screaming: Have I been summoned? Am I isekai-ed?
I lifted my hand, and light shimmered between my fingers. It was burning in colors like the northern light, but also watery, almost like liquid colors dripping from the palm of my hand. It was beautiful, but when it touched the snow, the snow hissed and evaporated instantly.
"Oh crap…" I muttered.
Before I could think further, a howl echoed from the trees at the edge of the forest. Something wolf-like but deeper and heavier. Shadows flickering in the forest, and glowing red eyes began to appear one by one.
Of course. First day in another world and I'm already someone's dinner.
I stumbled back, raising my hands instinctively. An aurora light flowed through my chest and veins, bursting out waves of shimmering color from my hand. For a moment, the whole meadow looked like it was underwater, hues of green and violet painting the snow.
The creatures hissed, stopping at the edge of the light, like it was burning them.
I was shaking, but somehow… I was glad.
Because in that instant, I wasn't just a girl who failed exams and lived in a cramped room. I was someone else. Someone new.
"Alright" I whispered, holding my glowing hand forward. "If this is my new life… then must fight for it."
The aurora flared brighter, and the beasts roared and they charged.
And that's how my story in this world began.