A huge city resembling a modern metropolis on Earth — yet at its center stood a massive castle, majestic and imposing, emitting a mysterious energy upward that connected to a platform frozen in the sky. Around it, like rings spreading from a stone thrown into water, the metropolis stretched far in every direction.

  Standing in the middle of a small square where people walked to and fro, Niro still couldn't shake the feeling that none of this was real. Two days ago, he had woken up in this world — in the body of a young man named Niro.

  The last thing he remembered was a game he'd downloaded on his phone. An offline RPG with pixel graphics, the kind that practically played itself — you just watched your character level up endlessly. He'd played it day and night whenever he had free time, and eventually got very far. Until, finally, he got bored. Deciding not to waste another minute on it, he performed one last action: the game had a mechanic that let you sacrifice all your items and stats in exchange for something new. After so much time playing, he'd noticed the items were mostly the same anyway — only the numbers kept climbing. So he figured, why not? Maybe he'd get something with insane stats.

  He selected everything at once. Rays of light enveloped the hero on screen, and when the animation ended, his level, stats, skills, and items had all vanished — reset back to one. Then the chest that held all the glowing orbs began to shake violently. It couldn't hold, and burst open — different from every other time, when it had simply swung open on its own. From the wreckage, a single item appeared: a black book with two large circles touching at one point, and a small dot in the center. He'd never seen a book-type item in the game before.

  When he touched it, nothing happened. Then the game froze. Then the phone itself stopped working entirely. He tried everything to get it back on, but nothing worked. His break ended, and he went back to the construction site — the job he'd ended up at after never finishing his programming degree. When the elevator broke down and he had to carry a bag of cement up on foot, he tripped. And fell straight out of the unfinished building.

  Lying on the ground, the last thing he saw was his phone flickering back to life, its screen smeared with his blood — and the book, frozen mid-opening, suddenly spread wide. The world cracked like glass. Then darkness.

  He woke up in the body of a young man named Niro.

  ...

  The city was large and mesmerizing. The buildings weren't so different from Earth's, but here and there, fantastical elements had been woven in — as if someone had photoshopped magic into an otherwise ordinary skyline. People walked around holding holographic devices, but according to the memories he'd inherited, those weren't technology. They were magic. For the previous Niro, that was perfectly normal. For the current one, it was still surreal.

  After two days of wandering through libraries, he'd pieced together the history of this world. It had always had magic — not as myth, but as fact. And yet humanity here, for all its power, had been reduced to something close to slavery. Almost a thousand years ago, five beings calling themselves the Monarchs arrived. At first, no one took them seriously. Strong mages and warriors rose to fight them. The battle lasted five months. By the end, everyone understood what they were dealing with. The five had destroyed them all.

  After establishing their rule, the Monarchs interfered with the world itself — limiting how deeply humans could comprehend or wield magic, as if pulling a cap over the sky. They called this world the Forgotten Lands, and from that point forward, every appearance they made brought catastrophe. Once, someone figured out a path to freedom. The Monarchs found out. Rivers of blood followed, and kingdoms fell. Since then, no one had tried again.

  Magic hadn't grown stronger — but it had spread. Over centuries, people found ways to make it simple, practical, ubiquitous. In terms of raw power, humanity was stunted. In terms of daily use, magic had reached something like an industrial age. That was why the city looked so familiar, so almost-Earth — the shape of progress without the substance of true strength.

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  Niro stood in the square, turning all of this over in his mind. It was an extremely dangerous place — and not only because of the Monarchs. Other races existed here, far superior to humans. That was one problem. The second was the card in his hand. The previous owner of this body had been a theoretical mage — no combat ability, no awakened core, but his theories were unusually advanced. A week before Niro arrived, he'd published a new theory on upgrading standard spells to medium-level. Two days later, he received this card: an invitation from the director of the Blue Crystal Magic Academy. But the previous owner had also been poisoned. The timing wasn't a coincidence. Someone had wanted him dead, and now Niro was wearing his face.

  He didn't know how he'd gotten here. He didn't know what happened the moment that book opened. What he did know was that he had a meeting to get to.

  =====================

  The café was quiet, but Niro couldn't stop scanning the room. He'd felt watched for days. After thirty minutes, his contact finally arrived — a middle-aged man in a black cloak that managed to look both ancient and modern at once, his hair already touched with gray.

  "Hello, Mr. Niro. I am Director Fon from the Blue Crystal Magic Academy. Thank you for accepting my invitation. I have a proposal that may interest you."

  He sat down without waiting to be invited. Niro watched him in silence, keeping his expression neutral. He needed a safe place to hide, and the Academy — not the best, but not the worst — was safer than the open street. He wasn't going to let the director know that, though. He still had something to negotiate with.

  "You seem cautious," Fon observed.

  "Of course. Why would a director come personally? I'm not anyone special — my discovery just caught your attention."

  "You're right, it did." Fon raised a hand toward the waiter without looking away. "But that's not the main reason I wanted to meet you."

  He ordered two coffees. When they arrived, he took a slow, deliberate sip before continuing. "Your discovery isn't trifling, Mr. Niro — though you may not have realized its full significance yet. But what truly brought me here is something else: you made this discovery at nineteen. Not yet twenty, and you already understand theoretical magic at this level." He set the cup down. "It's a pity you never awakened a magic core. You would have gone far."

  Niro absorbed the praise carefully. Could that also be why the previous owner was killed? He kept his voice even. "So — what are you offering?"

  Director Fon raised an eyebrow, a faint smile at the corner of his mouth. "That depends on what you consider reasonable. But don't ask for too much." He produced a stack of papers from nowhere — a storage item, or spatial magic — and placed them on the table. "I took the liberty of drafting a contract."

  The terms were clear. The Academy would provide protection, housing, a laboratory, an assistant, and unlimited access to the library. In return, Niro would deliver four lectures per week, share data from his research, and acknowledge the Academy as co-author of any breakthroughs. He read it twice. The protection clause told him Fon already suspected something — or was simply playing every angle. Either way, it didn't matter. He couldn't guarantee he'd be alive tomorrow without it.

  He looked up, ready to push back on the terms. Fon's expression hadn't changed.

  "This is the final offer. If you disagree, I'll say goodbye now."

  Niro felt the walls close in. He was being managed, and they both knew it. "Director Fon. I agree."

  Fon reached into his cloak and produced a small, ornate dagger, setting it on the table between them. "A magical contract requires blood to seal."

  Niro's pulse spiked. He knew what that meant — a blood contract was binding on both sides, with real consequences for breaking it. That, at least, was some protection. He took the dagger, cut his thumb, and pressed his print to the designated spot on the page.

  He waited for Fon to do the same.

  Instead, the contract lit up on its own.

  Niro stared at it. That wasn't right — both parties had to sign. He checked for a second bloodstain and found nothing. When he looked up, Fon was still smiling.

  "The contract is sealed. Welcome to the Blue Crystal Academy."

  "Wait — why did it activate without your confirmation?"

  Fon stood, folding the contract away. "What a pity you never awakened your core. If you had, you probably wouldn't have survived this long." He held the paper up, then snapped his fingers. A ripple passed across the surface, and a second bloody print materialized beside Niro's. "Illusion magic. Useful against ordinary people — but anyone with an awakened core can use magical sight to see through it. You couldn't."

  He gestured toward the door. "Let's go. Everything in the contract will be provided. Everything you owe will be collected."

  Niro stared at his back for a moment, jaw tight. He had no leverage, no real options, and no idea what came next. But he was still alive — and for now, that had to be enough. He got up and followed.