Maayuri (murmuring):
"Why is it so hot today…?"
The classroom hummed with idle chatter and half-hearted laughter. The
overhead fans spun in lazy circles, doing little to soothe the prickling
heat that clung to the air like an invisible fog.
Maayuri sat near the window, her chin resting in her palm, eyes dull
and distant. Her voice was barely a whisper, more like a passing
thought than a question.
From behind, a few of her classmates approached, their steps loud, their
laughter louder.
CLASSMATE 1:
"Hey, Maayuri! Wanna come with us to the amusement park?"
CLASSMATE 2:
"Why bother? She's always daydreaming in her little world—
HAAHA!"
CLASSMATE 3:
"That's kinda harsh… but yeah, it's true. Hahaha!"
ALL:
"HAAAAAAAHAHA!"
The mockery barely touched her. As the final bell rang and students
poured out into the corridors, Maayuri gathered her bag, pushed back
her chair, and exited the class in silence—just as she always did.Maayuri (thinking):
What do they even want from me?
It's like I offended their tiny egos just by existing.
I'm not here to entertain their idiocy.
My name is Maayuri Sazae, 18 years old.
I've graduated from one dull chapter of life—school—into another
duller one: college.
I don't care for people. I don't care for their plans, their parties, their
pointless smiles.
What I care about is what lies beyond them. Beyond this world.
I want to be alone with my computer, my books, and my questions.
Space.
The universe.
The idea that Earth isn't alone.
Because I believe—
No.
I know that we are not alone.
Somewhere in the cosmos, beyond the starlight and the silence, there
are others.
Other beings. Other minds. Other souls.
Perhaps like us.
Perhaps far greater.
Infinite dimensions. Parallel eternities. Unknown physics and unseen
miracles.
And I… I won't stop until I uncover them all.
They call me weird.
A freak.Too quiet.
Too lost.
But none of them knows why I am this way.
Maayuri wasn't always like this.
She once smiled. She once laughed.
She once chased butterflies across fields and dreamed of nothing but ice
cream and blue skies.
But that was before.
Before the night when everything changed.
Before she saw them—her parents—murdered before her eyes.
Before the blood.
Before the silence.
Before her world shattered.
She was eight.
Since that day, she had lived in a shell—breathing, but not living.
Moving, but not feeling.
Searching… for something.
Anything that would fill the void.
Maayuri (sighing):
"Let's see if there's anything new to explore today... Maybe coffee will
help. I'm too frustrated to think clearly."She stepped out of her house, the late afternoon sun burning against her
skin like a curse. The heat was oppressive, like the whole sky was
pressing down on the earth.
She had been tracking the unusual weather as part of her latest research
project, but there were no updates on meteorological sites. No
announcements. No satellite abnormalities.
Just... this unbearable heat.
SHOPKEEPER (cheerfully):
"Good afternoon, miss. Take your time and grab whatever you need."
MAAYURI:
hot today?"
"Yeah… Just a cappuccino powder. And—uh, do you know why it's so
The shopkeeper hesitated, then shrugged.
SHOPKEEPER:
"Not really. Maybe just a freak heat wave…
Or maybe it's because of that star that fell on Lino Mountain last
night."
Maayuri froze mid-step.
MAAYURI:
"A... star? What do you mean? What star!?"
Before she could press further, more customers entered. The shopkeeper
turned to assist them, his attention vanishing like a breeze.
SHOPKEEPER:
"Thank you, miss. Come again."She stepped out, her mind reeling.
A star fell? How had she not heard about that? No reports, no alerts, no
news—nothing.
It made no sense.
She quickly unlocked her phone and began searching for any mention
of a meteor or impact near Lino Mountain.
But before her fingers could finish typing—
CLANK—SHHH—WHOOSH—BURN—AAAAAAAH!!!
A searing, blinding pain sliced through her right eye.
A thin, incandescent ray—hotter than fire and sharper than steel—
struck her vision.
MAAYURI (screaming):
"Aaaaaaahhh! What the—!? What's happening?!"
She dropped to her knees, hands clutching her face.
But then—
Just as suddenly as it had started—
The pain stopped. Completely.
There was no trace of the burn.
No mark.
No blood.
Just silence.MAAYURI (shaken):
"What… was that?
It felt like my eye was... set on fire, but now it's like it never happened."
To test her sanity, she tore a slip of paper from her notebook, held it to
the place where the light had struck—
And it disintegrated.
To dust.
Without a spark.
Without a flame.
She gasped.
But something stranger lingered.
She couldn't see the beam anymore...
But she could feel it.
Like an invisible current. A pull. A thread leading her somewhere
beyond logic.
The sensation was faint but undeniable. As if the ray had embedded
itself into her soul—and now whispered: Follow.
And so she did.
She walked.
Not because she understood—
But because something inside her said she must.The trail led her through narrow paths and empty streets, up winding
slopes and quiet cliffs—until she stood atop Lino Mountain.
There, surrounded by scorched earth and eerie silence, she found it.
A crater.
And in its heart…
A boy.
He lay broken—his body wrapped in supernatural flames that didn't
consume but clung. His skin was blistered. His breathing was shallow.
Blood pooled beneath him.
MAAYURI (panicked):
"A child!?
Wh-who is he!?
Why is he here—why is he... burning!?"
She rushed to his side.
MAAYURI:
"No—no—he's still breathing!
Oh my God, he's still alive!"
She knelt down, tried to lift him.
But the moment her hands touched his charred skin, her vision blurred.
Not from pain—
But from memory.
Her mother's screams.
Her father's bloodied hands reaching for her.
The killer's eyes.
Her chest tightened. Her breath caught.She clenched her jaw and forced herself to rise.
She ran.
Tears streaked down her cheeks as she carried him through the
descending dusk.
The shadows grew longer. Her doubts grew louder.
MAAYURI (crying inside):
"Why… why is this happening again…?"
Why was she reliving that night?
Why did the universe keep putting death in her arms?
She didn't know.
All she knew was—
She had to save this boy.
MAAYURI (thinking):
I don't know what's going on...
I don't know what this child is...
But I feel something dark around him.
Something impossible.
Even as he lies broken, his presence… it chills me.
What… should I do?
MAAYURI (screaming):
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!"
To be continued in Chapter 3—