Prologue
Life is a relentless mystery, a labyrinth of endless secrets. Just when you think you've unraveled its truth, it twists and shatters everything you believed, dragging you into a darker dimension. Life is a merciless institution—one you never truly graduate from, except in death's cold embrace. It forces upon you courses you never chose, battles you never wished to fight. And when you finally conquer a course, you earn your scars as a certificate.
Passing through these trials is no simple feat. Some courses leave you broken and bleeding, others threaten to steal your very soul or the things you hold dear. Many perish in the struggle; some collapse from exhaustion before the end. Some rise again from the ashes, defiant. Others attempt to buy their freedom, only to find it impossible.
To some, life is a dazzling illusion of beauty. To others, a cruel torment. It is a bittersweet torment—sometimes tender and sweet, other times sharp and bitter, and often fiery and sour beyond bearing. You must learn to dance with its chaos if you hope to survive.
But life was never kind to Luna. She never tasted its sweetness. For her, it was nothing but relentless shadow.