🚪 ARC1: Imprinting of a Broken World

From the beginning, the world was not intact.

……The air was taut with silence. In the shadow of collapsed buildings, the wind rolled rubble along the ground. Clack, clack…… a dry sound echoed from somewhere strangely far away.

It was the next moment.

“—Someone’s down!!”

The shout burst, and the stillness split open. Thud-thud-thud!! Footsteps piled on top of each other—someone running, someone dropping to their knees. Dust rose, and the view turned white.

“Next, over here!” “Hurry—!!”

Before I knew it, I was inside the swirl. I wasn’t special. Not the one giving orders, not the one making calls. Just one person who was meant to be there.

“Magic, ready.”

A short command. No reason. No explanation. And yet everyone there looked in the same direction in an instant. ……Of course. Because it was needed. That was all.

A magic circle unfolded. The air warped, as if it had softened.

—Gii……n.

In the back of my ear, something rang like metal scraping, and the edge of my vision chipped away for the briefest moment. Something was being shaved off. That was what it felt like—only for an instant.

“Continue!!”

A voice flew. There was no time to think. No time to confirm. The magic fired, light ran through the air, and the body that had been lying there—moved.

……Saved.

Only that fact remained, as a result. “Life confirmed.” “They can move.” Reports went up, and the next instruction came immediately.

“Alright. Next site.”

No voices of relief. No cheers. The life that had been saved was sent on as a “processed result,” as if a single step in a procedure had been completed.

I watched that flow pass by. Something small snagged in my chest. ……Something had shifted. The edge of my vision. The rhythm of my breath. The feel of my body.

“……”

Not enough to turn into words. No one had stopped.

“No issues.”

With that one line, everything was settled. I didn’t think any further. Not thinking was “right” here.

“Move.”

At that word alone, my body went forward on its own. Why move? Why not doubt? Those questions didn’t exist from the start.

Magic is useful. Lives are saved. There was no reason to question that.

But—after the processing was done, for only an instant, the world receded. ……Click, the sensation of something chipping away. And that, too, was swept along.

Next instruction. Next site. Next decision. The world does not stop.

Far off, something collapsed again. Gogo…… low, reverberating from deep under the ground.

Next site. The next command would come soon.

My body moved first. Before thinking, my foot stepped forward.

In that moment, something faint caught in my chest.

……What was that?

Only an instant. My breath lagged, and the world slipped away.

But—

“Next, incoming!!”

The shout cut through, and the unease was drowned out by sound.

……DON!!

Rubble fell, and dust surged up.

There was no time to check. No reason to stop was given.

The world moved again.

There had never been a standard here for judging whether something was broken or not.

Just being called, moving, fulfilling a role.

—That should have been enough.

— Lumi🪄💕