Chapter 0: Prologue

I traced lines on the screen of my pen tablet as I reminisced about the past.

I never really had any particular goals or interests.

I was just an average person, aimlessly following the path laid out by others, walking in the footsteps of those around me.

I wanted to be someone you could find anywhere in the world.

It was because I believed in the saying that if you stand out too much, life becomes exhausting, and if you lag too far behind, life becomes miserable.

Perhaps it was because I grew up hearing such words. I got close to people but never allowed them to fully occupy a space by my side.

That was how I went through kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school, college, and even the military.

I had people I could call friends, but none I could call my best friend.

We were the type to contact each other only in passing or when one of us came to mind.

To me, that was the most comfortable kind of life.

Returning to the present, I faced the glaring white screen in front of me.

“The deadline…”

Looking at the time in the bottom corner of the screen, I noticed the numbers were creeping close to midnight.

“Ah, I’m screwed.”

At this point, it was already late. I might as well just go to bed.

Normally, that’s exactly what I would have done. But for some reason, the illustrator inside me stirred to life today.

After spending several hours on the drawing, I ended up with an illustration of a beautiful girl with white hair and blue eyes.

“I wonder what it would have been like if someone like this actually existed.”

Leaning back in my chair, I gazed at the picture I had drawn.

My energy drained away, and my eyelids grew heavy.

It felt like the final flicker of a flame just before it dies out.