...
In the endless silence of space, countless meteor fragments shimmered with a faint violet glow, drifting without sound. Time itself seemed frozen, as if someone had pressed pause on the universe. Everything hung in stillness.
And in this place where no human could survive—
A black-haired girl floated among the asteroids.
Suddenly, a massive halo appeared before her. At its center was a diamond-shaped void, like the pupil of a god, radiating prismatic light made of pure frequency, as if some higher being had cast its gaze upon her.
Another girl stepped forward from within that glow.
Her long black hair sparkled like starlight. She wore a white dress, her crimson eyes open and calm. Two golden rings turned slowly behind her, and she carried herself with the solemn grace of a goddess descending into the mortal world.
She gathered light in her hand and pressed it into the black-haired girl's chest. Pity flickered in her eyes. A scar-like mark surfaced on the back of the girl's hand.
"You must set out once more."
With that, she pushed her.
The girl fell into an unknown tide. Beneath it lay a world woven from frequency itself.
Its name—
[Solaris].
"First Instance (Time) objective complete. Second Instance (Space), take over… Mission end. Hm?"
Just as the goddess finished her duty and prepared to depart for her next task, a figure suddenly appeared in the void.
Her eyes widened.
"Huh? How is there… another one of her? A different variant?"
She hesitated for only a moment.
"Well… no matter. I'll send this one down too."
She repeated the same motion as before and pushed the newly arrived boy into the tide below—the world known as Solaris.
"Ugh! Cough—?!"
(Where am I? This feeling… am I drowning?)
Aegon's consciousness hadn't fully returned, but the suffocating pressure and wet chill hit him first. His brows knit together as he instinctively flailed, pushing against the surrounding water until he broke through the surface.
Then he saw it.
And for a second, he thought he was dreaming.
The world ahead of him was upside down. Mountains, forests, even entire cities hung inverted in the sky above his head.
Or maybe—
The world wasn't upside down.
Maybe he was.
The sea he floated in defied gravity, hanging above the land like the sky itself. It was surreal, like something out of a dream.
Which raised a very practical problem.
(How am I supposed to get down from here?)
He couldn't fly. He was just a normal guy. Waking up in the Sky-Sea with an entire world overhead… If he fell, wouldn't he splatter into a human pancake?
Just then, a stunning blue butterfly fluttered into the high sky and stopped in front of him. From it came an impossibly gentle female voice.
"Don't worry. I'm here. I will send you both to a place that has not yet run aground… Target confirmed. Initiating… teleport."
"Wait. Both?"
Unlike the goddess who governed Time, this blue butterfly wielded the authority of Space. It settled lightly on Aegon's shoulder, then burst into dazzling light.
Before he could question who "both" referred to—
He vanished from the Sky-Sea.
Huanglong · Jinzhou-Somewhere in Yunling Valley
A crushing wave of dizziness filled his head. It felt like he'd drowned, then immediately ridden a roller coaster.
Even so, he could hear two voices close by.
"…Signs of drowning. Strange… How could someone drown on land? No external injuries. Breathing and heartbeat are stable."
"They should wake up soon, right? But how did they faint in a place like this? Also… don't they look kind of alike?"
"Mm. They do. Ah, one's waking up!"
When Aegon opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a black-haired girl leaning over him.
His head rested against something incredibly soft.
It took him half a second to realize it was her thigh, wrapped in black stockings.
"Yangyang, look! The one on my side woke up too!"
He turned slightly and saw another girl—red hair braided neatly, her whole vibe bright and energetic. Totally different from the gentle girl giving him a lap pillow.
"Who are you?" x2
He shook his head and asked.
Everything that had just happened left his mind spinning. Still, something about these two girls felt familiar.
Like he'd seen them before.
In a game, maybe?
"My name is Yangyang. This is Chixia. You're in Yunling Valley, outside Jinzhou City under Huanglong."
"…Yunling Valley? Jinzhou? Huanglong? Never heard of them."
"Are those even real places? Where the hell did I end up?"
"Well, anyway, it's good that you're okay. This area is dangerous. Tacet Discords show up around here. You're lucky you didn't run into any."
"Tacet Discords? What are those supposed to— Huh?" x2
About a minute had passed. His dizziness was gone. His body felt fine.
And that was when he noticed something.
From the start, the girls had been using the word "you two."
And just now, when he spoke—
It sounded like two voices layered together.
But one person only has one mouth.
So how could there be stereo sound?
He slowly turned his head ninety degrees.
"!!!" x2
A black-haired girl with golden eyes was staring back at him in the exact same shock.
It wasn't just their looks. Even the way they raised their brows, the pitch of their exclamation—it was identical.
Yangyang and Chixia blinked.
"Yangyang, they really do look exactly alike."
"Yeah. Even their expressions and what they say are the same."
To them, it had been obvious from the start. The boy and girl in front of them shared jet-black hair, golden eyes like polished gemstones, and the same presence. Aside from gender, they might as well have been copied and pasted.
Twins. Obviously twins.
And yet—
"Who are you?!" x2
The moment they registered each other's presence, both Aegon and the black-haired girl reacted the same way.
Wariness.
They sprang to their feet at the same time, creating distance.
A black Swiftblade materialized in each of their right hands, emerging from the scar-like mark on the back of their hand as if summoned by instinct.
Left hand gripping the sheath. Right hand on the hilt. Blade drawn three inches.
Bodies angled forward, posture lowered, ready to strike at any moment.
Even the furrow of their brows and the tightness of their lips matched perfectly.
Yangyang: "???"
Chixia: "???"
It wasn't that the two girls were slow to react. On the contrary, they were both strong and sharp.
But these two were just too fast. In the blink of an eye, they were battle-ready.
"So fast… I didn't even see it clearly."
"Uh… aren't you two twins?"
"…We're twins?" x2
Aegon and the black-haired girl froze again.
She frowned and pressed a hand to her forehead.
"I… don't remember anything. Not even my name. Are you… really my twin? My… family?"
That startled Yangyang and Chixia.
"You don't remember anything? You don't know why you're here or who you are?"
"…Mm."
"Bai Zhi didn't say there'd be side effects like this."
While the two girls were at a loss—
Aegon stood there with his mouth slightly open.
Because unlike her, he hadn't lost his memory.
(Okay. Think. I went home after school. Finished my homework. Logged into Wuthering Waves to burn stamina. Wait. Wuthering Waves?!)
His head snapped up as he looked at Yangyang, Chixia, and the amnesiac black-haired girl.
He sucked in a breath.
His mind rebooted.
And then he realized—
He had transmigrated into Wuthering Waves.
And not only that—
He'd become the Rover.
(No. More precisely, the male Rover. Because the female Rover is right in front of me. And Yangyang and Chixia are here too. No wonder when I first saw her, I thought she looked like someone who writes great letters.)
He took a few deep breaths.
He couldn't quite describe how he felt.
Excited. Nervous. Thrilled.
Being transported into your favorite game? It felt unreal.
"Yeah. Not a dream. This is real."
He looked down at the beginner weapon in his hand—the Originite: Type I Swiftblade. The dark blade reflected his face.
His golden eyes burned a little brighter as he tightened his grip.
And by the way—
The male Rover looked exactly like Aegon did before transmigrating.
Because the truth was… the developers had "followed" him for three years while designing the male protagonist's appearance.
"I only agreed to provide reference material. Who knew I'd actually transmigrate and become Rover? Well, since I'm here, I'll decide what happens next. No…
We will."
His gaze shifted to the female Rover.
And at that exact moment, she looked back at him.
Thus—
The journey of two Rovers in Wuthering Waves began.