Jimmy and Luna shared a light meal in quiet contentment before drifting into a peaceful sleep. The room, filled with the soft hum of night and the warmth of companionship, felt like a small world of its own—just the two of them, away from the noise.
When morning light broke through the curtains, Jimmy woke up early, habitually checking his phone for updates. No classes. No emergency notices. No obligations. A free day.
He gathered his essentials neatly, placed Luna gently on his shoulder, and stepped outside into the gentle morning chill.
On his way out of the building, he caught sight of a familiar face—Kira, a fellow Class B student. He was heading out with a travel bag and an eager expression. Jimmy stopped, curious.
Kira noticed him and waved. "Hey. Thanks for not showing up yesterday. I got selected for the Inter - school Tournament," he said with a half-smile.
Jimmy paused, then wrote in his notebook and showed it:
"Congratulations."
Kira blinked. "Aren't you… angry?"
Jimmy shook his head, scribbled again, and held it up with a soft smile:
"No. I don't care. Win for Class B."
There was a pause. Kira stared at the message for a moment, and then he chuckled—embarrassed, maybe even a little ashamed. He stepped forward and offered his hand.
"Hey, Jimmy. Let's be friends."
Jimmy hesitated. A flag fluttered inside his chest—a strange, almost unfamiliar feeling. No one had ever said that to him before. Not at the orphanage. Not at the academy. Not ever.
He nodded, slowly, and shook Kira's hand. It felt… heavy. Real.
"I have to go," Jimmy signed, and turned to head downstairs.
Just as he reached the lower corridor, he bumped into two teachers: his class advisor and a woman in a high-collared coat and flowing violet scarf—Professor Renaris, if he recalled correctly from school database.
"Where are you going so early?" his teacher asked.
Jimmy wrote: "Training."
"In the morning?" the professor raised a brow.
Jimmy smiled and wrote another line:
"Morning starts the day."
Without waiting for more questions, he bowed lightly and continued on his way.
The professor watched him leave, her expression thoughtful. "That boy… he's really something. Does he always train like this when there's no class?"
The nearby hostel guard, sipping tea, nodded. "Every single time. Good kid. Silent, but not idle."
Jimmy signed his name at the main gate and was about to step out when the guard called after him.
"Don't forget your phone this time."
Jimmy held it up and nodded—lesson learned.
As he walked toward the outer city boundary, Luna stirred lightly in her sleep on mind's garden.
"She's tired," Jimmy thought. "She used a lot of energy converting elements yesterday. Her body can't keep up without stabilization."
He looked ahead, the morning light dancing across the pavement.
"Time to find her a stabilizer food for her body."
.............................
Jimmy stepped off the city tram and into the buzzing heart of Kliken City—a place that pulsed with colour, commerce, and hidden chances. This wasn't his first time here, but today he wasn't looking for auction houses or mystery alleys. He had only one goal in mind:
The lottery.
More specifically, the whispered rumors of a special "Whisp Lottery" held only during the rare seven-day appearance cycle of Kliken's mysterious phenomenon—the Dawn Mirage, a glowing shimmer that hung faintly above the city's skyline. Some called it a glitch in reality. Others believed it to be a blessing from an ancient Whisp goddess. Whatever it was, Jimmy had heard one thing clearly:
Winners of this lottery didn't just walk away with money. Some walked away with fates rewritten.
Clutching his phone and a small foldable paper map, Jimmy visited shop after shop—a dusty gear merchant, an elemental tea stall, a small temple of the Flame Circle, even a Whisp tattoo parlour—asking anyone he could find:
"Where are the lottery tickets sold?"
Most gave him vague answers or shook their heads. Some just glanced at him strangely—perhaps because of the cloth over his eyes.
After almost two hours of searching, Jimmy finally came across an older man sweeping outside a back-alley data registration shop. The man looked up at Jimmy's notepad when he scribbled:
"Lottery ticket sales?"
The old man raised a brow. "You mean the K-Linken draw? You're late. Line's probably full already. Head to District 9, just past the Sky Bridge. Big yellow sign that reads'WISHCRAFT EXCHANGE.' They sell the tickets."
Jimmy bowed slightly and took off in that direction. The streets grew louder, more chaotic, filled with vendors shouting over one another and Whisps flitting between buildings like glowing butterflies.
When he reached Wishcraft Exchange, it was past 10 AM.
He stopped dead in his tracks.
The line was a sea of bodies—adults, teens, even elderly people. Some had their Whisps resting beside them, many already registered with thick ID bands glowing on their wrists. It wasn't just long—it wrapped around the block, snaking like a giant beast of desperate hopes.
Jimmy approached someone near the end of the line and wrote:
"Why is there such a crowd?"
The man looked at him once—saw his blindfold, his plain clothes, and hesitated. His lips curled slightly in discomfort, or maybe judgment. But before he could turn away, Luna peeked out from behind Jimmy, blinking with her bright, intelligent eyes as she wakes up some min before.
The man's expression changed.
He leaned in and whispered, "You really don't know? When Kliken's Dawn Mirage appears, it only lasts seven days. During this time, the Wishcraft Lottery opens for limited seats. Some say the first hundred people get the best chances… even to get chance of rare Whisp, blessing tokens, or—" he dropped his voice, "money tickets."
Jimmy's heart skipped a beat.
Without wasting another second, he rushed to the end of the line and stood there, heart pounding, ignoring the stares and whispers. This time, he wouldn't miss his shot.
But just as he was about to step into his place… a tall man in a sleek robe brushed past him, bumping him roughly. The man glanced over his shoulder, looked directly at Luna, and gave a strange, knowing smile. His eyes were pale… almost glowing.
Then he vanished into the crowd.
Jimmy paused, unsettled. That face—it felt oddly familiar.
But the line was moving.
And opportunities didn't wait.
"Just hold on a little longer, Luna. If luck smiles at us…"
"…we might win more than money."