"My name is Yagami Tsukihara. I always wished… the world I lived in had magic."
But in reality, I was just an ordinary dreamer.
This world... was too real, too boring.
"Magic doesn't exist," I whispered softly, right before that dream shattered completely.
I woke up.
Sunlight pierced through the window, blinding my eyes.
The same morning. The same world.
No spells. No miracles.
I got out of bed, my mind still adrift. My feet carried me to the dining table, and there...
"Ah, you're already up, Onii-chan."
My little sister greeted me with a warm smile, handing me a plate of toast and eggs.
I stared at her face for a moment.
Still with a blank expression, yet something warm stirred inside my chest.
"...So you got up first, huh."
Her name is Hiyori Tsukihara, my one and only little sister.
It's just the two of us now… ever since our parents passed away.
Even so, she always smiled.
As if trying to patch the emptiness we feel every single day.
After breakfast, I stood and headed to the bathroom.
"Don't take too long in there, okay, Onii-chan!" she shouted from the kitchen while washing the dishes.
I didn't reply.
Just a nod and the sound of a door closing.
Cold water touched my face.
The mirror in front reflected my figure, a normal teenager... in a boring world.
A few minutes later, I walked out wearing my school uniform.
Bag on my back. Same blank expression.
I walked along the same street, same morning air, and the same faces repeating their life scripts over and over again.
Someone greeted me.
"Good morning, Yagami!"
I glanced sideways.
"...Morning."
I replied flatly. No expression. No tone.
Because in the end, all of it… was just formalities.
I was just a background character on the stage of this dull world.
But that morning…
My steps stopped.
I heard a scream.
A girl's voice… panicked and frightened.
I immediately turned my head.
In a narrow alley, a few men with savage eyes. Their gazes were disgusting. Their intent worse than city garbage.
Without thinking, I stepped forward.
"Hey, you guys!!" I shouted, cold and sharp.
They turned with irritation.
"Hah!? Who the hell are you, brat!? Playing hero?"
I picked up a small rock from the road.
And without hesitation, I threw it at one of their heads.
"Me...? Just a passerby background character."
Two of them charged at me. I welcomed them with clumsy kicks and punches.
A brief scuffle that I knew wouldn't last long.
Two down.
But one of them… the one who had fallen… quietly rose behind me.
Screech....
A small knife pierced my back.
"Agh…"
Hot. Painful. My breath caught. The world blurred.
I turned and kicked him with all my strength. He stumbled and ran like a rat.
But I...
Fell to my knees.
Blood poured. Breathing ragged. Vision fading.
The girl I helped ran over in panic.
"You... you stay here... I'll get help!"
Her face was pale. Her hands trembled.
But I knew...
My body was going numb. The world… was fading away.
Looks like… I wasn't meant to be saved.
Then...
It felt like my body was being dragged by force.
Burning from the inside. The pain... beyond logic.
"AARRGGHH!! IT HURTS!!"
My scream echoed in the void.
"I JUST WANTED TO LIVE EVEN ONCE!!"
My breath was broken.
Consciousness fading. But my heart still clung to one thing…
"I WANT A WORLD WHERE MAGIC EXISTS!!"
Then… everything disappeared.
Darkness.
Silence.
Stillness.
And when I opened my eyes...
My world had changed.
A small body. A narrow view.
The sound of a baby's cry came from my own mouth.
"I... I'm a baby...?"
I moved my tiny hands.
And in that moment… I felt a warm flow envelop my body.
Magic.
"This… mana? I can feel it... This is light magic."
A large man stood beside me. Bald, deep voice.
"That... is Father?"
Beside him, a beautiful woman with white hair cried with joy.
She held my hand tightly, her eyes full of love.
"That… is Mother? Her hair looks like mine."
Not long after, a little girl with snow-white hair appeared.
She looked at me with sparkling eyes full of happiness.
"Little brother!!" she cheered joyfully.
I said nothing.
But deep inside… something blazed.
Finally… this world has magic.
And now...
My name is Kazuki Altherion.
A shadow reborn to shake this world… from behind the curtain.