That morning, sunlight fell slowly but something felt off.
As if the sun itself was hesitant to shine fully.
No birds chirped. No wind passed by. The air was… silent
not the silence of nature, but the silence of something secretly watching the world from behind the curtain of reality.
Hana stood in the empty field behind the old house they were temporarily staying in. Only dry grass, a rusty iron fence, and a sky that seemed to hold its breath.
She stared at her hands.
"Big Bro… even my brother who's literally like a cheat code for the universe keeps saying I'm 'unstable.' How am I supposed to learn if I don't even understand what's inside my body?"
The Ancient Ancestor stood before her, hands behind his back, like a teacher who's already tired of his student but still cares.
"That's exactly why you train."
"But"
"Hana."
That tone alone made Hana straighten up.
"Breathe. Focus. Not on the fear, not on the power… focus on yourself."
Hana exhaled deeply.
She closed her eyes.
For the first time since the light appeared… she tried to reach for it.
And the world reacted immediately.
Bzzzztt..
The grass around her slithered away.
The air buzzed like a snapped power cable.
The sky dimmed slightly.
The Ancient Ancestor raised an eyebrow.
"…You've barely started and it's already like this?"
Hana opened her eyes. "Is this… good or bad?"
"Both."
"Big Bro…"
"Good because you have power. Bad because your power has no brakes."
Hana sighed. "So I'm basically an old motorcycle."
The Ancient Ancestor rolled up his sleeves.
"We begin."
Hana lifted her hands, confused. "Begin what?"
"First training: controlling your light so it doesn't accidentally kill the whole city."
Hana: "…"
"…Big Bro. Why does lesson one already sound like a final exam?"
"Because we don't have time."
Hana slapped her own cheeks. "My life is a mess."
The Ancient Ancestor lowered his hands.
"Ready?"
"…no."
"Good. Start."
Hana tried to steady her breathing. And the light what she thought was just "random energy" glowed softly from her chest… like a firefly drifting in fog.
But every time she tried to control it, the light acted like it had its own will.
She growled. "Big Bro… it won't stay still!"
"Command it, don't ask."
Hana inhaled deep.
And for the first time.
She forced the light.
Craaaack!
The ground beneath her split wide, fractures stretching like glass smashed by the hammer of a god.
Hana stumbled. "Why is it cracking?!"
"That's a small fracture," the Ancient Ancestor said casually.
"Small?! Big Bro this looks like a Marvel side effect!"
"Small. If it were big, the world would be gone."
Hana: "Big Bro please don't joke like that."
"I'm not joking."
"Big Bro PLEASE."
But Hana didn't have time to complain.
Because the light in her chest started swirling… heating… pressing outward.
As if something was trying to break free.
Hana panicked. "Big Bro! This is different! It feels like like"
"Hold it."
"I can't"
"Hold it."
"Big Bro I really can't"
"Hana."
That tone froze the world.
"You weren't chosen to lose. You were chosen to hold the beginning of the world."
Hana gritted her teeth.
She raised both hands
And wrapped the light with her own resolve.
The sound of air being swallowed echoed loudly, like the wind being devoured by something unseen.
A small memory surfaced:
Little Hana, falling off her bike.
The Ancient Ancestor lifting her and saying,
"You're strong. You never see it, but I do."
Another memory:
The day the first monster appeared.
The Ancient Ancestor standing in front of her trembling body.
"I'm here. You endure."
Those words echoed through her mind.
Hana opened her eyes.
Her pupils glowed gold.
"I...can."
And the world loosened its shoulders.
The light shrank, shrank… then vanished like dew swallowed by morning.
Hana staggered.
The Ancient Ancestor caught her.
"I I think…" she gasped.
"This is… progress?"
He nodded.
"Remarkable."
Hana smiled weakly. "Serious, Big Bro?"
"Yes."
He gently tapped her head.
"First training, and you already almost cracked the world."
Hana: "Big Bro…"
"It's a compliment."
Hana: "...whatever you say."
But before they could even take a breath.
Crk..Krrrk..KRAAAK...
A cracking sound from above.
The sky.
Hana and the Ancient Ancestor looked up.
A new fracture.
Bigger than yesterday.
Darker.
More… alive.
The Ancient Ancestor frowned.
"Hana."
"Yes… Big Bro?"
"Second training starts now."
"SECOND TRAINING WHAT?!"
"Survival."
Hana stared at the torn sky.
"…Big Bro."
"Hm?"
"I'm not ready."
"I know."
"Then why"
"You still have to move."
Hana clenched her fists, swallowing her fear.
"…Alright."
And for the first time since this all began Hana faced the catastrophe, not as a victim,
but as a guardian.
With that small light in her chest.
And a fierce new resolve blooming within her.