Prologue

It was a normal winter afternoon. I was coming back from school, wearing a thick jacket against the cold. The atmosphere in the city was cold—everyone ignoring each other, or rather, I was ignoring my surroundings. I had a lifeless look in my eyes. As I walked, I bumped into a woman around 30 years old wearing a thick jacket and scarf.

My mind told me I should apologize, but the words wouldn't come out. I simply walked past her and kept going.

"Hey, at least check to see if the other person is okay. I could have fallen," I heard the woman complaining behind me. I turned around to say sorry and continue on my way—it was the shortest path to end this.

"Sorr—"

"Wow, you look worse off than I am," the woman cut me off before I could finish.

"Huh?" My face showed my confusion. I didn't know what she was talking about. I wasn't the most athletic person, but I was in good health. I didn't have any problems.

"Your eyes—they have no life in them," she said in a serious tone. I didn't know how to react. She was just saying weird things. It would be easier to ignore her and continue on my way, but for some reason I stayed and listened.

"You know, the world is more interesting than it seems."

"Don't tell me—are you one of those people who just travels around?"

"No, I'm a sorceress."

"Do you pull rabbits out of hats?" At this point I thought this woman was either crazy or playing a joke on me. She'd laugh at me and leave.

"Maybe you'll understand better if I use the word 'witch.' If not, look around you."

I looked to the sides and saw people completely frozen. Cars weren't moving, birds weren't flying, leaves weren't falling—everything was stopped.

"Is time frozen?" I said in shock.

"Do you like my trick? It's better than pulling out a rabbit, isn't it?" she said with a smile on her face.

"What do you want from me?"

"You've simply made me curious."

"Curious? I'm just a normal person."

"Would you like to stop being one? I could give you a new life."

At this point I thought nothing made sense. This had to be a dream. I'd gone completely crazy, and all of this had to be a hallucination.

"A new life?"

"I told you—this world is more interesting than it seems. There are many hidden things you don't know about, that most people don't know about. Dragons, ghosts, goblins—all of that and more exist in this world, but most people don't know them. I'm offering you the chance to discover it, if you come with me."

"Go with you?" I was very nervous. I was so nervous I could have fallen if I'd taken a step.

"The truth is that people on that side of the world are very reluctant to let 'normal' people know about them, so if they discover you're not from that world, they'll kill you right away—and everyone you know."

"Are you telling me I have to abandon everything to go with you?"

"Yes."

How was I supposed to make a decision like that? Abandon my entire life for something I didn't even know was true and had never heard of in my life. They could easily kidnap me, and all of this could be an illusion from some drug. This was all suspicious. I couldn't make a choice like that.

"I suppose it's a very difficult decision, but I can help you in one way. I can seal your name."

"My name?"

"Sealing your name is sealing your existence, more or less. The memories people have of you will also be sealed, and most of your memories will appear blurry to you."

"That's practically ceasing to be me."

"It's just a seal. At the right moment you can break it and everything will return to how it was. This way you can explore everything new without any chains binding you, and if you regret it, you can go back. It would be like starting over."

"Why?" Those words came out of my mouth. I didn't think about it—they just came out.

"Why?" the woman said, puzzled.

"Why are you doing this?"

"I already told you—mere curiosity. You could call it instinct. I think it could produce an interesting result."

This woman definitely had to be crazy to make this proposal to someone she'd bumped into on the street. Nothing about this made sense—nothing made sense.

"So, what's your answer?"