The traffic signal just turned red.
Tristan, a 19-year-old college student, exhaled through his nose, his foot tapping against the floor.
"Come on… There are no cars, the road is clear, just become green again…"
"Should I just cross the road?" He shut this thought down as fast as it came.
Tap-tap-tap-tap.
The sound of running came to his ears as he turned his head.
He saw a woman wearing a fitted office suit running towards him while talking on her phone.
She came and brushed past him.
"Seriously? Even old ladies have more guts than me…"
"Hey—!" The word slipped out, half a warning, half disbelief, and ashamed. But she is too focused on her phone.
The road is empty. There is no one on either side of the road besides the two of them.
"Whatever. She'll make it—" Feeling a bit embarrassed, he also stepped onto the road to cross it.
Honk! Honk!
CRASH!
In a split second, he saw a truck crash into the woman. It was so fast that his mind did not process a thing.
"Shit. No. No, no, how?" Many questions came to his mind, like Why did the truck not stop?, When did the truck come?.
The impact sounded like an explosion.
The boy hurriedly approached her and slid to his knees beside her, hands hovering uselessly before trying to lift her shoulder.
Seeing her eyes closed, he checked if she was breathing, and yes, she was breathing, but her blood was flowing out like water.
"Hey! Hey! Wake up!"
"Shit."
Not knowing what to do in a situation like this, he tried to find help.
He spun in every direction, searching for anyone—any help. Nothing. The emptiness froze him.
Streets empty. Sidewalks deserted. Not one face.
The truck is gone.
"This isn't real. No way this is real." His head was spinning seeing all this blood and not knowing what to do. He tried to find her phone to call her home.
His fingers tightened around her limp hand as if to reassure her, and with the other hand, he tried to find something in her purse.
But suddenly the air thickened. Cold sank in, pressing heavily against his skin. The colors bled out of the world like draining ink.
"What the hell—"
Darkness slammed down.
Everything went black.
…
The void pulsed with white silence. A circle flared at the being's feet, lines of runes burning bright before dimming into stability. The chant ceased.
Two forms collapsed onto the floor of light.
The being's glow flickered. "Two? Impossible". Its eyes—if light could have eyes—narrowed at the sight of a boy and a woman tangled together. For an instant, hesitation. Then a flick of its hand, a whisper of command. The woman dissolved, snatched away by the summoning pull meant for her alone.
Only the boy remained.
The being's thoughts sharpened. "How did two humans cross at once? Did I-"
The silence was ruptured with a cold ping.
*Ding!*
Red text sliced through the white space.
⟦
[Warning: Unauthorized soul summon detected. The summoned soul's lifespan remains active in its original universe and has not reached natural termination.]
[Clause: Summoning of a soul whose lifespan has not reached natural termination. Violation of Law #984 is confirmed.]
[Restriction Applied: You are restricted until the anomaly is resolved.]
[Required Action: As reversal is impossible once summoning is complete, compensation equivalent to the soul's leftover lifespan must be provided to stabilize the law.]
[Notice: Failure to comply will initiate Law Enforcement Protocol.]
⟧
The being stilled. "Unauthorized summon? No…" It exhaled light like smoke. "Damn it."
Calculations rippled across its mind. "So he had 55 years in that universe, so if I calculate it to this universe time, it comes to 37.2 years. So, 3 Skills and the other 7.2 are for making a connection to his body and soul to this universe. And for my mistake, another 2 skills, and also I have to solder the transportation."
Another sigh, heavier this time. "I did not make any mistake in my summing for sure… how did he come here? Even if someone is connected to the summoned hero, they are not supposed to come… they are supposed to forget the existence of the one who is being summoned… how did it happen?..."
"Whatever, I will just send him where he will die, and everyting will be fixed."
All of this unfolded in less than three seconds.
The boy stirred.
…
Tristan's lungs burned as he jerked awake, chest heaving. The ground beneath him wasn't ground at all—smooth, endless white stretched in every direction.
"Where is thi—?"
A figure of light hovered ahead, human-shaped but faceless, radiating like a sun wrapped in skin. His pulse spiked.
"Oh, you're awake."
The voice echoed inside his skull, calm but heavy.
Tristan staggered to his feet, knees trembling. "Who…?"
"You may think of me as an angel, god, or deity."
"God? No, this has to be a dream. Did I—did I die?"
"Am I dead?" His voice cracked. "Or is this a dream?"
"You are dead," the figure said, each word sinking into him like lead. "But you were not supposed to be. You came here by mistake."
The memory punched through—the office woman, the truck accident. His stomach lurched. "The lady… what happened to her? She was with me."
"She was the intended summon. Her lifespan ended in her world. But you… You slipped through with her. An error."
Error. Just a glitch in the system. His fists clenched. "So I'm not supposed to be here."
"Then… can't you just send me back?" His voice wavered.
"No. Reversal is impossible."
The words hit harder than death.
"No. No, this has to be wrong. I like fantasy, sure—reading it, not living it. This is insane." His breath quickened. "Wake up, wake up, wake up."
"Then what?" He barked, almost desperate. "Do I get powers? Reincarnate or something?"
"Yes," the being said simply. "You may choose five skills. Then you will be transported."
"Transported?" His throat felt dry. "Not reincarnated?"
"If you reincarnate, your memories will be erased. That is the law of this universe."
"But… that's not how it works. In novels, they always keep their memories. The god bends the rules. Cheats the system." His eyes narrowed. "Maybe this one isn't powerful enough… he already screwed up summoning me."
The light-being tilted its head, as if reading the doubt twisting in his thoughts. "Your memories must be removed in reincarnation, or the law itself will punish. That is why you cannot. Do not fear—when you are transported, your lifespan will reset. You can also live longer by becoming strong."
Tristan's nails dug into his palms. "So is this real? Well even if it's a dream it doesn't feel like a dream... maybe lucid dream?..."