"…Ugh…"
The bitter smell of herbs hit Kano's nose before anything else.
His eyes fluttered open, greeted by a dim wooden ceiling. His body felt like it had been run over by a truck, then set on fire for good measure. Everything hurt… but he was alive.
Barely.
> (Where… am I…?)
The soft pounding sound nearby drew his attention.
A girl sat beside him, quietly crushing roots with a small wooden mortar. Her long hair shimmered faintly under the sunlight sneaking through the wall slits. Her presence was calm, almost fragile.
When she noticed him stirring, she paused and gave him a faint smile.
"You're awake… I'm glad… You had a high fever," she whispered, her voice barely louder than the rain outside.
Kano tried to sit up.
Bad idea.
"Easy," she said, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Your body's still recovering. That wound… it's strange. Like something inside you is healing it… slowly, on its own."
He stared up at the ceiling, eyes unfocused.
> (Flashes of that green light… the monster… the voice…)
"…I'm… still alive," he muttered.
He didn't sound relieved. He didn't even know how he felt.
The girl put her tools down and scooted closer, sitting on the edge of the straw bed.
"You must be an Outer, right?" the girl said softly, her voice almost lost in the wind. "No one from around here walks into the forest alone."
Kano turned to her, his throat dry.
"Outer?" he echoed.
"That's what we call people like you," she said. "Those who come from... Earth."
He rubbed his face, his head still spinning.
"I... I don't even know how I got here. Feels like a nightmare that won't end."
"I used to feel like that too," she said. Her eyes softened. "But if you're alive… maybe that means you've been given a second chance."
"…Second chance, huh?"
He chuckled dryly.
"Do people like me even deserve that?"
Her lips trembled, but she didn't look away.
"Deserving doesn't matter," she said. "Life never asks us if we deserve to keep going."
Her voice cracked slightly—raw, real.
"I'm just… scared," Kano confessed. "Scared I'll fail again."
She looked down, taking a shaky breath.
"I was scared too. I even stopped hoping for a while. But somehow… I'm still here. And now, you're here too."
Rain tapped gently on the bamboo roof. Her hand found his, fingers wrapping around his like a lifeline.
"…Even if the world's dark," she said, "there are still small lights out there. You just… have to keep looking."
For a long time, Kano didn't speak. He just held her hand, feeling its warmth.
"I'll try…" he whispered. "Even if I don't know how yet."
"That's enough," she said with a smile. "For me."
She stood up and returned with a small bowl of steaming herbal medicine.
"Here. Drink. It'll help your body recover."
Kano sniffed it and grimaced, but drank anyway. The bitterness was sharp, like biting into bark.
She sat beside him again.
"Get some sleep. I'll stay here until you're better."
"…Thank you."
That was the last thing he said before sleep claimed him.
---
Later that night, they sat by a small campfire outside the hut. Crickets chirped in the background, and the fire crackled softly between them.
Kano hugged his knees, staring at the flames.
"This place… is peaceful," he said quietly. "It's hard to believe it's real. Is this really another world?"
Serina—he finally remembered her name—glanced at him.
"Can I see it again?" she asked. "The mark on your chest."
"…Sure."
He pulled his shirt aside. The strange black mark was still there—shaped like a fracture, glowing faintly like living ink.
Serina leaned in.
"…This should be a spirit contract mark," she murmured. "Outers—people from Earth—get one when they form a bond with a spirit. But yours…"
She frowned.
"…Yours doesn't follow any pattern I've seen. No elemental signature, no clan trace. It's not even… alive, nor dead. It's like a scar. Or… a crack."
"…What are you saying?" Kano asked, brow furrowing. "What even is this world?"
She hesitated.
"…This world is called Zamrad," she began. "We live alongside spirit creatures—ancient beings born from the soul of Ariath, the god who created everything here."
She stared up at the stars.
"Long ago, Ariath split his soul into pieces—into the earth, sky, sea… From those shards, the first spirit monsters were born. They weren't just powerful. They were aware. Guardians of the elements."
"…Fire, water, light, darkness, wind, and… something else?"
"Celestial essence," she said, nodding. "There are even spirits of void and chaos."
Kano swallowed hard.
Serina continued, her voice growing distant.
"Sometimes, spirits visited your world. Earth. But only as energy—souls, echoes. That's why you humans… told stories about gods. Zeus, Gorgon, Amaterasu… all born from glimpses of Zamrad's truth."
Kano's jaw dropped slightly.
"…So those myths… were real?"
Serina nodded.
"And when the first outers crossed over through the portal, they didn't come to learn. They came to take."
"They forced contracts onto spirits. Built clans. Carved out territories. Now, Zamrad is ruled by outer clans—divided by their old world nations. Japan. Nusantara. China. Egypt. And more."
She looked away.
"We Zamradians… the original people of this world… we were pushed aside. We are nothing to them. Many of us are slaves. Others… worse."
"…And I'm one of them," Kano said quietly. "One of the outsiders. …So why save me?"
Serina met his gaze, tears brimming in her eyes.
"I know you're an Outer. You could bring destruction. But when I looked into your eyes in that forest… I saw someone like me. Lost. Broken. And I couldn't let you die."
Her voice cracked.
"I've lost so many. I just… wanted to save one." she whispered. "Even if he's an outer. Even if it's dangerous."
A long silence followed.
Kano didn't speak for a long time. The fire crackled between them.
"…You still care. After all that's happened," he said quietly. "You still chose to save a stranger."
Serina smiled faintly.
"If I stop caring… I don't know what would be left of me."
The fire crackled quietly between them.
He gently took her hand.
"…Thank you, Serina," he said at last. "For saving me."
She turned to him, her eyes shining.
"Maybe… you weren't saved just to survive. Maybe you were meant to change something."
---
Serina stood, her hand glowing faintly.
Pale green light danced on her fingertips.
"But we're not all powerless. We Zamradians… we can't contract spirits. But we resonate with the world itself. That power is called Nyara."
"Nyara?" Kano echoed.
She nodded. "It's the flow of Ariath inside us. Nyara is different for each of us. Some summon fire, some heal, some can bend steel. But… it comes with risk. If we go too deep, we can lose our souls."
Kano stared in awe.
So… you healed me with that power?"
She nodded.
"Yes... I'm not powerful. But I can feel Ariath's flow in plants and water. That was enough to… keep someone alive," she said, smiling faintly.
She sat again, hesitating.
"…Can I ask something?"
"Go ahead," Kano replied.
"Your spirit… it's strange," she murmured. "I've never felt energy like that. It's dark… ancient… but not evil. Like something that was asleep for a very long time."
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"Whatever it is… it's not part of our world's usual system."
Kano's throat tightened.
> (The voice… that whisper from the void…)
He didn't answer.
Instead, he clutched his left hand—the place where his blood touched that crystal. The beginning of everything.
Serina noticed but didn't press.
She rose slowly, fixing her shawl.
"Let's go inside. It's getting cold."
Kano nodded.
They walked back into the wooden hut together.
Inside, Serina quietly laid out his bedding, poured a bowl of water, and dimmed the lamp.
"Good night," she said softly.
Kano looked at the ceiling, his eyes growing heavy.
> (Maybe… I wasn't just brought here to survive…)
The darkness wrapped around him, but this time—it felt warm.
> (…Maybe I was meant to live.)