Rain fell the moment his phone died.
Kaito Mizushima tilted his head back, staring at the thin veil of water that blurred the city lights. The bus stop's plastic roof rattled with each droplet, echoing the dull rhythm of his heartbeat. Midnight trains had stopped running an hour ago. His umbrella had snapped earlier in the storm. Perfect.
He stood there, soaked through, holding a convenience store bag with nothing in it but an expired onigiri he never ate. Twenty-one years old, jobless, and fresh off another failed interview.
"Guess this is the part where I laugh at myself," he muttered, but no sound came out.
It wasn't like he hadn't tried. The university drop-out thing had already branded him, and every smile he faked in interviews felt heavier than the last. It was easier to drift, to let the world pass him by.
But tonight, something felt wrong—he could feel it under his skin, a quiet hum like static.
He crossed the empty street, the crosswalk light blinking red too late.
That's when he saw it.
A girl in white.
Standing in the middle of the road, barefoot, hair clinging to her face from the rain. She looked about his age, but there was something off. Her eyes reflected no light, just an endless gray void that made his stomach twist.
"Hey!" he called out, running toward her. "You're gonna get hit—"
The headlights came from the other side. A truck, swerving too fast.
The horn screamed.
Time slowed.
For a heartbeat, Kaito thought about stepping back. Self-preservation flared up like instinct. But then the girl smiled—a small, tired smile—and that was enough.
He lunged forward, shoving her out of the way. The world turned white.
He woke to silence.
No rain. No pain. No road.
Just… sky.
A silver one, vast and still, stretching forever above him. Beneath him was soft earth that glowed faintly blue, as if lit from within. The air was clean—too clean. Every breath tasted like spring water and ozone.
Kaito sat up slowly. His body felt weightless.
He looked down at his hands—unscarred, steady. His soaked clothes were gone, replaced by a loose gray tunic and boots that actually fit.
"…Okay," he whispered. "Either I'm dead… or someone hit 'new game' on my life."
He stood. The field around him was dotted with crystal-like flowers that shimmered in rhythm with his heartbeat. No city in sight. No sound but the wind.
Then came a voice.
"You shouldn't have done that."
Kaito spun around.
The girl from the road stood a few meters away, the same white dress now dry and clean. Her gray eyes glowed faintly in the dim light.
"You—"
"You died," she said flatly, cutting him off. "Trying to save me. It was foolish."
He opened his mouth to speak, but words tangled up inside him.
"Are you a ghost or something?"
"I was." She tilted her head, as if tasting the word. "Now, I'm something else. And so are you."
That didn't help. Not even a little.
She stepped closer, the ground not quite reacting to her weight. "Your world ended for you. But another one—this one—has accepted you. It's not mercy. It's… necessity."
Kaito blinked. "You're saying I got isekai-ed by accident?"
Her lips twitched. "You could put it like that."
There was a flicker of humor in her tone, dry and almost human. But the moment passed. She looked upward, toward the endless silver sky.
"You'll find the town of Lathen beyond that ridge." She pointed toward distant hills, faint lights shimmering past them. "They'll think you're a wanderer. Don't tell them otherwise."
"Wait, wait—hold on. You're just gonna drop me here with that cryptic nonsense? What am I supposed to do?"
She turned, her hair drifting like mist. "Live. Or die again. Whichever suits you this time."
"Hey—!"
But she was gone.
The light where she stood faded into the soil, leaving only the quiet hum of the wind.
Kaito stared at the empty space for a long time. His heartbeat was steady, but his mind raced. Every instinct screamed at him to panic, yet a strange calm held him still.
He looked down at his reflection in a puddle—same black hair, same tired eyes—but something was different. The faint glow beneath his skin. The way his breath shimmered in the air.
He exhaled. "Great. I'm glowing. That's probably fine."
There wasn't much else to do but walk.
The hills rolled like soft waves, leading him to a dirt path. The world darkened as he moved, the silver sky giving way to something like night. Stars appeared—too close, too many.
When he reached the ridge, he saw it: Lathen.
A small town wrapped in pale blue mist. Wooden houses with glowing windows. Smoke curling lazily from chimneys. And beyond it, a towering structure—something like a clocktower, but pulsing faintly, as if alive.
Kaito's steps slowed. He could almost feel the town breathing.
As he approached the outskirts, a sound split the air—wings.
A creature swept overhead, half-eagle, half-lizard, its cry sharp and ancient. It vanished into the clouds before he could process it.
"…Yeah. Definitely not Japan."
The dirt road led him to a gate where a lone guard sat half-asleep, lantern swaying. The man wore armor that looked carved from stone. When he spotted Kaito, his hand went to his sword.
"Traveler?" the guard asked warily.
"Uh… yeah. From far away."
The guard eyed him, then relaxed. "You look it. Haven't seen your kind of clothes before. Got any name or coin?"
Kaito hesitated. "Name's Kaito. As for coin…" He patted his tunic—nothing but air.
The guard sighed, scratching his beard. "Figures. Alright, Kaito. Lathen's got an inn that won't throw you out for being broke. Ask for Mira. Tell her you'll work for a meal."
Kaito nodded, relief washing through him. "Thanks, man."
The guard grunted, then waved him through. "Keep your head down. The moon's pale tonight. Bad omens."
Kaito looked up.
The moon here wasn't round—it was cracked, like a mirror. Each fragment pulsed faintly with blue light.
Something deep inside him stirred at the sight, a faint ache behind his ribs.
He didn't know what it meant. Not yet.
But as he stepped into Lathen, the air shifted—like the world itself was whispering his name.
And somewhere in the distance, the girl in white watched from beneath that broken moon, eyes soft and sad.