“Dear God… I really have to stop watching so many anime.”

  Lydia Wren dreams she’s standing in a marble hall, surrounded by chanting figures.Runes spiral around her feet, glowing brighter with every word. Someone calls out, “O Hero, lend us your strength!”

  She blinks.

  “...Me? A hero? Yeah, right.”

  The disbelief barely leaves her lips before the light beneath her shatters like glass.

  Sunlight pries her eyes open. Lydia groans and slaps at her alarm clock.Okay. No more late-night isekai binges, she tells herself — fully aware she’ll probably do it again tonight.

  By noon, she’s standing at the front of her Literature class, trembling behind her notes. Twenty pairs of eyes stare. The projector hums.A classmate in the front row looks at her for a second too long.

  Her lungs tighten. Her throat closes.

  The words on the slide dissolve.

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  “I—excuse me—”

  She bolts from the room.

  In the restroom, her reflection looks as pale as the tiles. She leans over the sink, fighting the urge to cry as cold water splashes her face.

  It’s fine. People fail all the time. No one will remember. You’ll just be one of many.

  Her voice sounds hollow, even to herself.

  She grabs her tote bag and trudges into the gray drizzle outside campus.

  “I’ll just drop the semester. Not like anyone would care,” she mutters.

  Then she stops.

  There’s something strange in the air — a faint scent of sea salt, sharp and clean, even though she’s miles from any shore. Static prickles along her skin.

  She looks down. A faint light curls beneath her sneakers, swirling into patterns she doesn’t recognize.

  “...No way. No freaking way.”

  The circle brightens, wind whipping her hair as the drizzle turns to sparks.

  “I was joking! I was joking!”

  Her scream vanishes as the magic surges. The world folds in on itself, and Lydia Wren disappears into light.

  When she opens her eyes, there’s no floor — just an endless expanse of shimmering stars. Her reflection floats nearby, distorted and weightless.

  “This has to be a dream. Please let this be a dream.”

  But her panic spikes, and the light around her ripples in response. The summoning circle flickers, unstable, unable to anchor her.

  One last burst of energy ——and Lydia falls, scattered across a world drowning in mana she was never meant to touch.