The night after her surprise birthday party, Mariana lay in bed, unable to sleep. Her fingers traced the faint glow on her wrist—a mark that only she could see. Since her return, the system had been quiet, almost dormant. But tonight… it stirred.
[Ding!]
New Quest Available: The Garden Calls.
She sat up, heart racing. A soft hum filled the room. The walls didn't shake, but something shifted. Reality felt thinner, as though something ancient had just opened its eyes.
"You were not reborn without reason," the system's voice echoed in her mind, more human than before. "You carry not just a heart, but a seed."
A garden bloomed within her vision—not of this world, but somewhere deep inside her soul. Plants glowed with otherworldly light, and minerals pulsed like stars buried in soil. The system explained that every flower or stone she collected strengthened this inner world. The Garden was alive. And it was hers to grow, protect… and someday, use.
Use how? The system didn't say.
The next morning, Mariana felt changed. As she walked through the streets of Silvercity on her way to university, every flower stall, every park tree shimmered faintly in her eyes. She realized some of them weren't from this world. The line between the real and the hidden had blurred.
She knew this wasn't magic—it was a mission. A tool for something greater.
At lunch, she wrote to George, simply: "There are things growing around us, things unseen. I'll teach you. You'll see soon."
He replied with a drawing: a little boy holding a glowing leaf, smiling.
She laughed quietly. He didn't understand yet—but he believed in her.
That night, the system whispered one more thing before fading again:
"To heal a world, you must first cultivate your own."