When Nox opened his eyes, everything was... wrong.
The sky above glowed an unnatural shade of blue—too smooth, too pristine, like stained glass lit from within. There was no sun, no clouds, only light that shimmered as if reality itself was backlit.
A massive archway loomed in the distance, its frame carved with swirling silver glyphs. At its peak, elegant letters etched themselves into his vision:
ASTRALIS ACADEMY: WHERE THREADS BECOME FATE.
> "Where... am I?"
His voice came out hoarse, unfamiliar in the echoing silence.
He sat up slowly. No pain. No injuries. His body felt intact—but the uniform clinging to him wasn't his. A black jacket with intricate silver thread patterns, glowing faintly like breathing embers. A white undershirt, crisp and clean. His fingers ran along the fabric, confused. Too real to be a dream.
---
> > [System Alert: Unauthorized Male Presence Detected.]
[Error: Threadline Not Registered.]
---
Nox froze.
A voice—metallic, emotionless, and uninvited—had echoed directly into his mind. Mechanical. Cold. It spoke like a program reading out a death sentence.
> What the hell was that...?
> Is this... a game? A simulation?
He stood quickly, his heart hammering now. The ground beneath him pulsed with faint, luminous patterns, as though the entire campus had been woven from glowing thread.
He looked around. The buildings resembled gothic cathedrals—tall spires, floating platforms, stained glass windows etched with animated runes. Yet scattered among them were suspended digital screens, holograms, floating charts written in a language he didn't recognize.
Magic and machinery—intertwined.
And then he saw them.
Girls.
Dozens of them in elegant uniforms, glowing with the same threadlight embedded in their clothing. Their eyes locked onto him—wide, shocked, unreadable.
> One of them gasped.
Another stepped back.
A third pointed directly at him.
"Is that—?"
"He's not supposed to be here!"
"A male inside Astralis Academy?! He'll unravel the whole weave!"
Panic bloomed in the crowd like wildfire.
One girl raised her hand. A strand of radiant light coiled out from her wrist—forming a glowing whip that cracked with magical tension.
Nox instinctively stepped back.
> They're going to attack me...
---
> > [System Warning: Male Entity in Threadspace.]
[Classification: FORBIDDEN.]
[Council Alert: Initiated.]
---
The system's voice returned, cold and final.
FORBIDDEN.
The word echoed louder than any scream.
And in that moment, as threadlight coiled around him like chains waiting to strike, Nox understood just one thing:
He wasn't supposed to exist here.
Not in this academy.
Not in this world.
And yet—he did.
---
[Note: This was originally Chapter 1. It is now marked as Prologue to reflect the true beginning of the story.]