Unbeknownst to her, five years had passed.
Five-year-old Qiu Meng sat on a wooden chair, holding her still slightly chubby cheeks in her hands, listening to her mother, Shalin, explain about “mana.”
She had completely learned this world’s language and gradually understood her family: her father, Dante, was the captain of the town’s guard; her mother, Shalin, worked as a receptionist at the Adventurer’s Guild. She had apparently been an adventurer herself for a while when she was younger. They weren’t particularly wealthy, but life was happy.
There was a guild. Knights. Priests. Crystal lamps that glowed. Magical tools powered by mana. Even the kids selling fruit on the street could easily climb trees to pick the topmost fruits.
This world was far more vibrant than she had imagined.
So, naturally, she began to hope. As a reincarnator, it wasn’t unreasonable to expect magical talent in a world like this, right?
“Little Qiu Meng, you’re already five years old.”
Shalin patted her hair, her voice gentle.
“The official mana test won’t be until you’re 12, after your mana circuits have fully stabilized. But from now on, you can start trying to sense the presence of mana.”
Qiu Meng’s eyes lit up immediately.
“Really?”
“Of course.” Shalin smiled. “But it will be very hard at first. Many children can’t feel anything. That’s normal. So don’t be nervous. Just follow my instructions and slowly listen to the voice inside your body.”
‘The voice inside my body.’
Qiu Meng nodded seriously.
Shalin taught her step by step, from the rhythm of breathing to focusing her mind, to imagining the mana flowing through her blood, bones, and meridians.
After finishing, Shalin smiled and stepped back half a step.
“Come on, give it a try.”
“Okay!”
Qiu Meng closed her eyes.
She tried her best to quiet herself, slowly following her mother’s method to sense her own body. She imagined herself standing in a pitch-black night. If she just reached out her hand, she could summon her own star.
But…
Nothing happened.
No mana gathered. No feeling of flow. Nothing happened.
But Qiu Meng didn’t give up. She tried again.
Still nothing.
A third time. A fourth time. A fifth time…
The only things she could feel were her own heartbeat, her own breath, and a slight dizziness from concentrating for too long. But the feeling her mother had described, the resonance with her body, never appeared.
When Qiu Meng opened her eyes, the anticipation on her face had faded considerably.
“…Nothing.”
Shalin paused for a moment, then immediately put on a comforting smile.
“It’s okay, little Qiu Meng. Didn’t I say? This is very difficult. If a five-year-old could sense it so easily, no one would wait until they were 12 for the formal test.”
“But…”
“No buts.”
Shalin gently pinched her cheek.
“You tried your best. Let’s stop here for today, okay?”
Qiu Meng looked down and murmured in agreement.
Back then, she was still willing to believe that it was just “too early.” Perhaps as she grew a little older, as her body truly matured, as inspiration suddenly struck her one day, she could hear the power that belonged to her, like the main character in a story.
But day after day passed, and the answer remained unchanged.
When she turned 10, she started secretly training her physical body.
If magic wasn’t responding for now, she would work on her body. At least in this life, she didn’t want to be someone who fell over at the slightest breeze. So at dawn, dusk, in the cool air before rain, in the empty space by the street, even on the uneven path behind the yard, one could see her running, swinging a wooden stick, doing the most basic exercises.
But the longer she trained, the clearer a cruel truth became.
She truly seemed incompatible with this world.
In her original understanding, her trained physique wasn’t too bad. At least in her previous life, she could be called healthy. But here in Karasel, this level was pathetically average. The children her age in town, even just ordinary commoners, could easily jog around the training field a dozen or twenty times without panting. Some girls could even jump up and grab tree branches by using the trunk as a spring. The boys could lift wooden logs several times heavier than her, laughing and playing.
And her?
Being able to endure a few laps was already a good day.
She came to vaguely understand later that in this world, even non-mages had their bodies nurtured over time by the most basic mana flowing within them. In other words, what they called ‘ordinary people’ were different from her previous understanding of the term.
She was the only one who seemed to have no mana affinity at all.
Finally, she was 12.
The day of the mana test had arrived.
That day, Dante and Shalin accompanied her, one on each side, to the Border School responsible for the tests. The school building was tall and solemn, with several carved rune pillars in front of the gate. In the center of the courtyard was the crystal ball used for testing. Many children came for the test, mostly wearing clean, tidy clothes, with nervousness and anticipation written on their faces. Some whispered prayers, some excitedly discussed what rank they might get.
Qiu Meng stood among the crowd, looking nervously at her parents.
She knew better than anyone that she had never truly felt mana in all these years.
But even so, she believed she must have some.
As child after child stepped up, the crystal ball lit up with varying degrees of brightness.
“E-Rank.”
“D-Rank.”
“C-Rank.”
Even the worst had an F-Rank qualification. It might be low, but it at least proved there was power within that could be awakened and guided.
But Qiu Meng’s breathing started to become erratic with each result.
She involuntarily started remembering the feeling of standing in the middle of a crowd in her past life, being stared at by everyone. She remembered the classroom. The hallway. The laughter and whispers.
Even though her parents in this life had never pressured her, even though she had a life far gentler than before, the fear rooted deep in her soul had revived in a similar scenario.
‘I can’t fail… at the very least, I can’t disappoint them.’
“Qiu Meng.”
The priest called her name.
At that moment, it felt like her head buzzed, and all sounds seemed to fade away.
She looked up and saw the priest on the test platform looking at her. She saw the surrounding crowd also looking at her. She saw her parents standing at the edge of the crowd, their gazes not urging, but full of quiet encouragement.
Shalin waved gently at her.
“Little Qiu Meng, good luck!”
Qiu Meng bit her lower lip and slowly walked forward.
One step.
Another step.
When she stood before the crystal ball, she realized her legs were trembling.
“Don’t be nervous, child.” The priest’s voice was unhurried. “Relax. Try to sense the mana within you. Guide it, and then release it.”
Qiu Meng didn’t answer.
She just gently placed her hand on the crystal ball.
Cold.
The sensation was almost identical to the first time she had tried to sense mana as a child. She closed her eyes and prayed again and again in her heart.
‘Please.’
‘No matter who it is.’
‘A god, fate… at least let me have something to stand on.’
But the crystal ball remained dark.
Silence fell for several seconds.
From somewhere in the crowd, someone let out a low laugh first.
Then, like an infection, snickers rose from several corners. The sound wasn’t loud, but it was sharp enough. Qiu Meng’s other hand, hanging by her side, unconsciously tightened on her skirt. Her knuckles turned white. Her eyes burned faster than her hands.
She had failed again.
She had mentally prepared herself for so long. She had known this worst-case outcome was the most likely. But when reality came crashing down, she still couldn’t accept it.
A teardrop fell onto the test platform.
Another.
The priest looked at the dim, lifeless crystal ball, a hint of regret and pity in his expression. He let out a soft sigh, but still announced the result according to protocol.
“…No mana reaction detected.”
“Lacks mana talent. Unqualified.”
Those two words, “unqualified,” sent Qiu Meng’s mind back to the experiences of her previous life, and the group of people who had laughed at her incompetence.
She lowered her head, roughly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, said nothing, and just turned and walked down from the test platform.
She didn’t even know how she managed to walk to her parents, or how she could face them.
Shalin didn’t ask about the result. She just immediately pulled her into a hug.
Her mother’s embrace was very warm.
This feeling instantly reminded her of the dreams by her hospital bed in her past life, of the words she had never gotten to say. The emotions she had been holding back finally broke completely.
She grabbed Shalin’s clothes, her shoulders trembling slightly. Suppressed sobs leaked from her throat little by little, carrying the grievances of her past life and the fear of becoming useless again in this one.
‘Why is it like this again…?’
‘Why… is it another cycle? Why am I going through the same… ordeal as last time…’
It was then that Dante crouched down in front of her.
Her father didn’t say much. He just reached out his large hand and gently ruffled her hair, his tone as steady as always.
“It’s okay, Qiu Meng.”
“There’s always a path.”
He looked at her, simply offering a reassuring smile.
“Your father’s mana is also very average, but didn’t I still become the Guard Captain? Power never takes just one form. Even if you can’t become a mage, you can still wield a sword, you can still learn, you can still find your own place.”
He paused for a moment. His smile was shallow, but very earnest.
“You are my daughter. I believe in you.”
Qiu Meng stared blankly at him.
In that instant, she suddenly understood one thing.
Perhaps this world wouldn’t hand her a cheat. It wouldn’t grant her extra favors just because she was a reincarnator.
Perhaps she truly had no talent. No miracles. No protagonist’s luck.
But at least in this life, she already had something completely different from the last. Someone would catch her when she failed. Someone wouldn’t see her weakness as a burden. Someone was willing to tell her—
“I believe in you.”
She sniffled, slowly raised her hand, and wiped away her tears.
“…Okay.”
Her voice was still a little hoarse, but it no longer sounded as unstable as before.
“I understand.”
She took her mother’s hand, then looked at her father.
This time, she didn’t pray to any god in her heart.
She simply said to herself:
‘Even without talent. Even without anything.’
‘In this life, I won’t run anymore.’
At the very least… she had to protect the parents who were comforting her now, and this family…
***
Meanwhile.
In that abandoned “Reincarnation Chamber,” the sound of a page turning echoed softly.
A young girl sat in a high-backed chair, closing the book in her hands.
She wore a cloak. Her hair color was remarkably similar to Qiu Meng’s, a mix of white and light tangerine. But the expression on her face was calmer and far more dangerous. A vast, nearly space-warping aura of mana swirled around her, like an invisible ocean, silently drowning the entire hall.
She looked at the floating screen in front of her. On the screen was an image of Qiu Meng crying on the test platform.
Then, the hall door opened.
A girl with green hair walked in.
“Angel No. 37.”
She stared at the cloaked girl.
“What exactly are you trying to do?”
The cloaked girl raised her eyes and slowly revealed a smile.
“Which thing are you referring to?”
“Don’t play dumb.” The green-haired girl’s voice was thick with barely suppressed anger. “You made a reincarnator enter your body, and you stole the power that was rightfully hers!!”
“And that was a blessing bestowed by the World Tree! You have no right to use it privately!”
“Using my body?”
The cloaked girl seemed to find this an interesting statement and let out a light laugh.
“How strange. Am I not sitting here right now? Since I exist and my physical body is also here, the body she is using is just an empty shell that I had already taken care of.”
She raised her hand, her fingertip lightly touching the light screen, landing precisely on Qiu Meng’s forehead in the image.
“And besides, ‘stole’ is such an ugly word.”
“Her wish, from beginning to end, was just to have a new life. A healthy body. A new world. A chance to start over.”
“That is what she truly wanted. As for that power? That ability? It was never meant for a mortal in the first place.”
Her smile didn’t waver, but her tone grew stranger.
“So, what’s wrong with me taking the part she can’t use?”
The green-haired girl’s pupils constricted.
“This is theft.”
“Theft?”
“No, no, think of it as a fair exchange.”
“She got a new life. I got the power I wanted. A fair trade, don’t you think?”
“Have you lost your mind?!” The green-haired girl glared at her. “Do you even know what you’re doing? If that authority is misused, it will directly shake the foundation of the world!”
“Of course, I know.”
Angel No. 37 answered softly.
She stood up, walked to the window, and looked out at the ruined tower in the distance. Then, she turned around and picked up a rusty iron box, looking at it. On the box’s lid was an imprint of a dim six-pointed star.
“That’s exactly why I need that power.”
“Mortals are too foolish. We Celestial Wings are too weak. The only way to get what’s ours is to use people from other worlds.”
She turned back, only her eyes fixed on the crystal ball.
“And that girl, Xia Yin…”
“She will become a very interesting chess piece.”
The green-haired girl looked at her with utter disgust.
But Angel No. 37 didn’t care.
She just smiled, placing her hand on her chest, looking at the green-haired girl, her fellow Celestial Wing.
The girl who should have received a blessing had lost her own miracle.
The angel who should have blessed others was committing acts befitting a demon.
All fates continued to turn. She just smiled, taking out a card with the sequence number XVI from the iron box. She aimed it at the distant tower.