*Crack.*

A hairline fracture split the ice encasing the monster’s body. Like a contagion, the crack raced outward, spiderwebbing across the frozen surface.

Within seconds, the ice shattered before my eyes, collapsing into glittering shards that scattered across the ochre earth.

“Is it over?”

I stared at the monster’s lifeless form. No triumph surged through me—only a bottomless grief.

*Whimper… whimper…*

I clutched my chest, hollowed by sorrow.

One tear… two tears… three tears…

They cascaded down my face like a broken dam, splashing onto the dusty ground. A grief no one could fathom drowned me.

Blind to the world through tear-blurred eyes, I didn’t notice the gray haze clinging to reality begin to bleed away… replaced by color.

“That lady’s clothes are so weird!”

A child’s voice pierced my grief. I lifted my head slowly.

“Am… am I back?”

Azure sky flooded my vision—familiar, yet impossibly distant. For a moment, I floated in a dream.

I looked down where my father had fallen. No blood stained the earth. No remains. Only silence. Only me, standing alone in a world both known and strange.

“Come on, let’s go! Don’t get involved—she might be unstable!”

A passerby yanked her child away, footsteps scrambling into the distance. I didn’t watch them flee. My heart still drowned in that gray sea.

Wind lifted strands of cyan hair across my vision. Annoyed, I reached out—and froze. The silk-soft texture against my palm jolted me awake.

*My hair?*

Post-battle haze cleared slightly. Gazing at those cyan strands, despair crashed over me anew.

I’d survived. But as someone else. My father was gone, devoured in that twisted gray world. How could an ordinary college student bear this?

I knew contracts demanded payment… but not *this*.

My hand drifted to my waistband. As I unclasped it, my perspective shifted upward. Things I’d needed to crane my neck to see now met my eyes levelly.

Stunned, I bolted to the nearest reflective surface—a storefront window.

The face staring back was mine. Unchanged. Relief washed over me, warm and trembling.

*So I only become a girl when using my power?*

I waved; the reflection mimicked me perfectly. The pieces clicked.

“But Father…”

Joy curdled to ash. I slipped away before store staff could shoo me off.

I wandered like a lost fly until a familiar figure stopped me cold.

Lin Jincheng. My best friend from university.

I rushed over, waving. “Jincheng!”

He walked straight past me, chatting with another classmate.

I spun around. They laughed together—Jincheng and that other guy. Someone I barely knew.

*He didn’t even see me.*

Cold dread coiled in my chest. I grabbed Jincheng’s wrist.

“Lin Jincheng! Ignoring me now?” I forced a smile, brittle as ice.

He blinked. “Who are you?”

“It’s me! Chu Dongyu! Seriously?”

“Oh! *Right!*” He snapped his fingers, feigning sudden recall. “What’s up?”

“Nothing… but you couldn’t even say hi?”

My voice cracked. He’d always been my anchor.

“Sorry! Didn’t spot you. Won’t happen again.” His apology sounded rehearsed.

“No worries. Where are you headed?”

“To Comic Con!” his friend chirped.

“Ah. Have fun.”

“Gotta run—tickets sell out fast. Catch you later!”

No invitation. Just polite dismissal.

My hand fell. The chill deepened.

*Father’s gone. My best friend treats me like a stranger.*

I turned and crossed the street.

“You know her?” the friend murmured behind me.

“Kind of. Not really close. C’mon, we’ll miss the tickets!”

*Not close.*

The words carved into my ribs. Tears burned. Nose stinging, I clamped a hand over my mouth and fled.

Running home, memories tore through me:

—

*“Hey, why’re you just standing there? No money for lunch?”*

*“Uh…”*

*“You donated your meal money to beggars again, didn’t you? I’m Lin Jincheng. You?”*

*“Chu Dongyu.”*

*“Dongyu? Sounds girly~”*

*“It’s D-O-N-G Y-U! Director and universe!”*

*“Ohhh? Really?”*

—

*“Five-player squad! We’re one short!”*

*“You’ll drop my rank again…”*

*“After I saved you from starving at the cafeteria gates? Ungrateful!”*

*“Don’t bring that up!”*

*“Saw you slip cash to that beggar. Detective Jincheng strikes again!”*

*“Little Dongyu, say ‘Detective Jincheng’ one more time and you’re sleeping on the floor tonight.”*

*“Aren’t you staying at the internet cafe?”*

*“Trying to skip out on us?”*

*“Yep!”*

*“Guys—weapons ready!”*

—

Each happy memory was a knife twisting deeper. My chest split open, raw and bleeding.