Ki Hajar Dewantara Academy. The academy, named after its founder 350 years ago, is renowned for the motto: "Lead by example in front, inspire in the middle, and support from behind."
Lala Rosalia, a girl born to a farming couple in Carrington Village, had today, the 20th of the 6th month in the year 676, officially been declared a student of the academy.
In a modest inn room in the western part of Batavia—the capital of the Nusa Kingdom—the long-haired, soft pink-haired girl woke earlier than her two companions still asleep on their beds.
Her delicate arms opened the window, and behind her soft palms, Lala Rosalia was more than she appeared: a martial artist trained in pencak silat and a young sorceress from a village of laborers and farmers.
Her gaze fixed on the sunrise coming from the east, streaming directly into the inn room. "Sunrises are beautiful, no matter the world," she thought, unwilling to look anywhere else.
Inside her mind, the voice of an adult man echoed.
Yes, this view is always beautiful.
The voice wasn't hers—it belonged to another. Lala immediately responded:
"Do you ever sleep, Agoy?"
In the inner world, the two conversed silently, unnoticed by anyone else in the room. A kind of telepathy, yet more complex than that.
Honestly, I envy you. You're from a parallel Earth, different from mine. And I'm the original writer of this novel world… yet somehow, I've transmigrated into your shadow.
The voice—Agoy—was filled with his trademark teasing. Not a separate being, but a soul sharing Lala's body. They were two consciousnesses in one vessel.
Alright… don't be so sad, you foolish shadow.
I'm no longer Yoga. I've been transmigrated for sixteen years, yet my current age is only fourteen.
Yoga and Agoy were two humans from different parallel worlds.
Despite the warm morning greeting, Yoga, now transmigrated into the body of a novel character—Lala Rosalia—reflected on all that had happened so far.
The novel's world was titled Pe and Kob.
Back on Earth, Yoga had been a lazy, heartbroken writer. One day, while writing a prologue, the cracked laptop screen sucked him into the novel world, a system resembling computer tabs with strange sounds—like the echo of a most beloved ex.
I used to think this world was a novel whose prologue I hadn't written yet.
Suddenly, he awoke in the body of a side character never intended in the original premise. Who would've thought he'd enter a world he himself had written in a different Earth?
Lala remembered waking in a strange room at age four—the first memory in the novel world.
A foreign ceiling, unfamiliar surroundings, a smaller body, short steps. Panic? Of course. Her soul had been flung from a dark realm filled with "body transfer data tabs." Even then, the voice of his ex urged him to write the novel from within.
Yoga had to live as the girl born to Dave and Liria, Lala's parents. Six years later, at age ten, she was killed by Litch wielding a massive sword in the eastern forest of Carrington Village, toward Mount Lunagen.
Hey, foolish shadow. If I hadn't died, you probably wouldn't have transmigrated into this novel world.
Lala Rosalia's death sent Yoga back into his original adult male body on Earth. He awoke in a limbo-like place, standing above a pool of incredibly deep water.
It was the first time Yoga met his other-world self.
I don't know why I went along with you back then, Agoy added, recounting past events. Agoy had entrusted his soul into Yoga, sending him back as four-year-old Lala Rosalia. Knowing everything about the novel world, Agoy became the shadow within Lala's body, serving as a mentor during the time repetition.
Back in the small inn room, Lala glanced at her two companions still asleep.
Without you, I wouldn't have come this far.
Even the world had changed around them—Ryan, Natasya, James, Silvanna, and Larasati. Time had repeated up to today. She had survived the prologue phase at age four, living to reach the first chapter of her academy life.
Ten years had passed since Yoga's transmigration. In total, sixteen years had been spent in the time-repeating novel world.
Ryan, Natasya, and James were her childhood friends from the village. Larasati, a green-haired elf with a chest as grand as Mount Puncak Jaya, was someone Lala had saved from Litch and bandits. Silvanna, a Sebertan monster—a large horned wolf—was saved alongside Ryan when they were children.
Finally, Lala Rosalia spoke through her naturally red, thin lips.
"Seeing Ryan grown into such a handsome man reminds me of our childhood battle against Bercula."
Her soft voice woke Ryan from slumber.
"Hoamm," he yawned like a lion cub, "Ah… Lala, you're awake?"
Ryan, a cold-haired blue noble, was outwardly aloof but always warm toward Lala. He was the son of Joseph and Chintya Shevchenko, six months older than Ryan, a sword-user trained in the family's unsurpassed blade art.
As time passed, Yoga's sense of self slowly faded. He was nearly fully transforming into Lala Rosalia, for Lala's heart was that of a girl in the novel world.
"Yes, I'm awake. Today, we must prepare," Lala continued, "Today is our first day as students."
Larasati, still half-asleep, mumbled: "Hayang jengkol disanguan…" (I want jengkol with rice.)
The green-haired Sundanese elf hailed from the Tree of Life, brimming with mana. She had chosen to become an adventurer in Batavia's Adventurer Guild, a capital city where all races were treated equally under the law.
Hearing Larasati mumble, Ryan and I laughed freely.
"…Hahaha."
The elf woke, squinting. "Eh, why are you laughing?"
Lala Rosalia and Ryan Shevchenko prepared to become students at the most prestigious academy in the Nusa Kingdom. The first day of the next three years awaited them.
In the past, education had been reserved for nobles. Ki Hajar Dewantara initiated the Taman Siswa educational institute to provide equal opportunities. Over time, it became Ki Hajar Dewantara Academy.
I will endure… until the very end.
The name Ki Hajar Dewantara Academy stirred deep nostalgia within me.