Yui sat upright in bed, heart hammering.
The room was silent. Shadows flickered across the obsidian walls. But the voice… it had echoed through her soul.
> "Daughter of flame... do you truly believe you can change fate?"
She opened her system.
> [Dream Interference Detected]
Entity: Unknown
Origin: ???
Classification: Primordial Signature
Note: Warning. This voice does not originate from your system or soul-bond.
"What the hell?" she whispered. "Primordial?"
The screen flickered. A glowing symbol appeared—something ancient, older than anything she'd seen.
A burning eye with a spiral flame at the center.
Suddenly, her vision blurred.
---
Dream World: The Broken Flame
She stood now in a vast, starless void. Fire crackled in the air, floating like snow.
And in the center stood a figure cloaked in gold and ash.
He—or it—had no face. Just burning light where its features should be. Yet she knew it was watching her.
"You carry a shard of something long forgotten," the figure said. "The flame that can rewrite endings."
"Who are you?" she demanded, her voice echoing in the dark.
"Not your enemy… yet not your friend. I am the Remnant. The one who watched your soul die… and followed it here."
Thesystem pinged—but instead of its usual chime, the screen was warped.
> [Hidden Quest Discovered]
Title: The Fire That Defies Destiny
Objective: Discover the origin of your reincarnation
Rewards: Unknown
Risk Level: Cataclysmic
Progress: 1%
Yui clenched her fists. "Why me? Why this world?"
The Remnant tilted its head. "Because you were broken… and because she chose you."
"She…?"
"Lilliana," it said. "The original. The true owner of your body. She burned her soul to summon another. You."
Yui's breath caught. "She summoned me?"
> [Warning: Truth Threshold Passed – Your identity as a Reincarnator is no longer hidden.]
"She wanted revenge," the Remnant whispered. "You want freedom. We will see whose fire wins in the end."
---
Back in the Real World
Yui gasped awake—sweat pouring down her face.
Her system glowed a deep crimson.
> [Flame Core Awakened – 2%]
A soul fragment within you has begun to burn.
New Trait: Will of the Reincarnated
Immune to mind control below Level 40
Bonus damage to fate-bound enemies
WARNING: Entities beyond this world have taken notice.
And far off, deep in the heart of the continent… a second flame flickered to life.
Watching.
Waiting.