A cold, hard surface beneath her body dragged Wish back to consciousness.
"Is this a hospital bed? Why the hell is it so damn hard?" She groaned, her thoughts sluggish and confused. "Wait—didn't I die?" Her chest tightened with a different kind of panic. "I don't want to live. I don't want to struggle with medical bills too. My life was already shit, now it will be fucked up."
As she lay there, lamenting, a chill seeped into her skin. Not the cold of winter air or ice—something deeper. Unearthly. Like it was meant to freeze her heart from the inside out.
Wish gasped, the sound sharp and painful.
Her eyes flew open.
Firelight exploded across her vision.
For a breathless second, she thought she was still trapped in the wreckage—headlights, glass, blood—but no. There was a ceiling above her, and it felt wrong. Too high. Too vast. Carved with spirals and symbols she didn't understand.
The air smelled of incense and iron.
She tried to move.
Ropes bit into her wrists.
Her pulse thundered. Her chest rose too fast, panic surging raw and animal. "What the hell is happening? Where am I?"
Wish sucked in a breath and turned her head.
The hall was massive. Circular. Pillars carved like towering beasts rose toward the ceiling, their stone eyes glowing faintly gold. Crystals lined the walls, their light making shadows dance across the crowd gathered below.
They weren't human.
At least—not fully.
Some had tails swaying behind them—thick and furred, sleek and scaled. Ears peeked from hair—wolf, fox, jackal. Eyes glowed in shades too sharp, too bright.
Beastfolk.
Her stomach dropped.
What! What is this? I'm in a dream. No, a nightmare. They want to eat me.
She tried to scream.
Her throat worked, but only a broken sound escaped. Her voice felt wrong—higher, softer, unfamiliar. Her body felt wrong too. Heavier.
She swallowed hard and glanced down.
Her hands were rounder than she remembered. Softer. Her fingers looked short and plump, wrists thicker beneath the rope. Her chest rose fuller than before. The weight of this body pressed into the stone like she didn't belong here.
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
"She's awake."
"That has never happened before."
"My daughter is alive!"
"She's supposed to be dead—her body should disappear in a flash of light, right? Isn't that what's supposed to happen?"
"Did they spell the incantations wrongly?"
Her heart hammered.
Wish turned her head again, forcing herself to look past the altar—down to where her legs rested.
And froze.
A tail. Fluffy. Round. Pale as moonlight.
It twitched once, uncertain, like it didn't belong to her either.
Her breath hitched.
"This is one of the weirdest dreams I've ever had," she whispered.
"The Maiden of the Mating Moon has awakened," a voice announced.
An old man stepped forward. His beard was long and silver, braided with bones and gems. His eyes gleamed sharp as they swept over her body. He stood among four others—two women, two men. The five platinum elders of the Auris Kingdom.
"Fear not, for this is just a flicker of bad luck, nothing more. We shall restart the ritual again," he said calmly. "She will ease the seal. She will offer her life so the Auris Kingdom may endure."
Her ears rang.
Ease the seal. Offer her life.
No.
Her mind screamed, scrambled. This isn't reincarnation. There was no such thing. Why does this dream feel so real?
A sob tore from her throat.
"I—I think there's been a mistake," she choked out. "Please. I don't belong here. I just died—"
Laughter rippled through the crowd. Soft. Uneasy. Pitying.
The old elder tilted his head. "You belong precisely where fate placed you."
Tears streamed down her temples, soaking into stone.
Memories she didn't own pressed against her mind—this body's past bleeding into her thoughts. A girl born plain in a world that worshiped beauty. A weak beast form. Parents who loved her but could never protect her from humiliation and constant bullying.
A maiden chosen as a sacrifice not because she was special—but because she was expendable.
Her mind raced.
Then a message appeared before her eyes, out of nowhere.
[Divine Goddess System Initialized.]
[Host Detected: Wish.]
[Status: Deceased (Original World).]
[Current Role: Sacrificial Maiden — DOOMED.]
[Cause of Death (This World): Scheduled.]
[Primary Objective:
Survive. Make the Solar Deity stand up for you. This is the only way to prevent your death. ]
Who is the solar deity? What is this thing?
As she thought, she scanned the area. Far ahead to her left, she saw a throne settled atop a series of stairs.
Gold and white stone curved into a sun-shaped sigil beneath it, ancient and worn. And seated there—a man.
Tall. Bare-chested. Skin glowing faintly as if kissed by light itself. Long hair the color of molten fire cascaded down his back, bound loosely with gold rings. His legs were crossed in meditation, hands resting on his knees, eyes closed.
That must be the solar deity.
Below, the five elders gathered, whispering to each other, probably looking for a solution. The rest of the crowd talked among themselves.
Wish pulled at her restraints. The rope scraped against her skin, burning. She yanked harder. Blood welled at her wrists.
Wait. She ran her tongue over her teeth. Her canines were sharp. Pointed. I'm a beast now.
She twisted her wrist, bringing the rope to her mouth. Her canines sank into the fibers. The taste was bitter—dried herbs and something metallic—but the rope frayed. She tore at it, working her jaw until the binding snapped.
Her hands came free.
She bent forward, fingers fumbling with the knots at her ankles. They loosened. She kicked them off.
Then she rolled.
Wish tumbled off the altar, hitting the stone floor hard. Pain exploded through her shoulder, her hip. She sucked in a breath through her teeth.
"Ouch—it's real. The pain is real."
Her movement caught attention.
"Restrain her!" The old elder shouted.
Guards surged forward, armored boots thundering against stone. Spears flashed. Swords scraped from sheaths. Their movements were coordinated, practiced—closing in like wolves on wounded prey.
"Seize her!" a man sitting on a throne, situated on a lower dais near the high throne commanded. Beside him sat two young women and an older woman. They looked like royals.
"Wait!" A woman's scream tore through the hall. "Please, she's just a child!"
"She didn't choose this!" A man's voice cracked with desperation. "Take me instead! Take both of us!"
Wish spun—and saw them.
Her parents.
Standing at the edge of the crowd.
Her father's hair was deep ocean-blue, usually tied back neatly, now loose and trembling around his face. Her mother's hair, white as frost, spilled over her shoulders as she stumbled forward.
Her father fell to his knees.
Guards grabbed them both.
"No, don't kill her!" Her mother sobbed, thrashing wildly. "Wish! Wish, run!"
"She's afraid!" Her father's voice broke. "She's always been afraid—please, don't do this to her!"
Their cries tore through her chest.
Wish staggered backward as guards lunged for her.
If I somehow plead with that calm man, my life can be saved.
Her eyes snapped to the high throne.
Her heart slammed.
"That's it." she breathed. "That's the only way."
The guards closed in.
Wish turned—and ran.
Gasps exploded across the hall as she bolted straight toward the high dais.
"Stop her!"
"She's violating the sacred steps!"
Her feet hit the first stair.
Light flared violently beneath her.
Pain shot through her legs like fire, but she didn't slow. She ran, breath tearing from her lungs, ignoring the shouts, the magic snapping at her heels.
"How dare she!"
"She's committing sacrilege!"
Behind her, her parents screamed her name in warning.
Ahead of her, the Solar King remained motionless—eyes closed, unmoving, untouchable.
She climbed faster.
Her foot slipped. She caught herself, palms burning against the stone.
"This is so stupid," she gasped, tears streaming. "Wake up! Please—wake up!"
A guard drew back his arm and hurled his spear. The weapon whistled through the air, spinning end over end. It struck the step beside her, the metal head embedding in stone with a crack. Splinters of rock sprayed across her legs.
Wish sighed in relief, That was close.
"Kill her now!"
The five elders stepped forward almost in unison.
"She has committed a grave crime," one of the elder women declared coldly. "No one should approach the throne."
Wish reached the final step.
Her legs trembled.
She stood before him—small, shaking, ridiculous in her thin white sacrificial cloth, her useless fluffy tail trembling behind her.
She reached out.
"Oh no—oh no, if she offends the deity, we might all die from his anger!" one of the young male elders cried, his voice climbing into hysteria.
"Is she trying to wake him up?" Someone in the crowd shrieked, the question edged with disbelief and raw fear.
"Has she gone completely insane!" Another man shouted, his voice cracking with terror.
"He won't wake up since the ritual isn't actually completed," a woman said, though her voice wavered with uncertainty, her words sounding more like a prayer than a statement—as if she were trying to convince herself as much as anyone else.
Her fingers brushed his arm.
Gold flooded the hall.
The light was blinding.
The pressure crushed everyone to their knees.