Tiger was standing inside his school.
But something immediately felt wrong.
The entire school was empty, and it was nighttime. There wasn't a single student, teacher, or sound anywhere in the building. Tiger slowly looked around, confused about how he had gotten there. Then, without any warning, fire suddenly began appearing in different parts of the school.
Tiger looked around in confusion. "What kind of dream is this now?" he thought. He tried walking toward one of the burning areas, but an invisible barrier suddenly stopped him. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't pass through it or explore the rest of the building.
Then Tiger suddenly started breathing heavily. "Ha... ha..." Before he could understand what was happening, the ground beneath him seemed to disappear, and he began falling into an endless abyss, almost like he was being pulled into a black hole.
Tiger suddenly woke up.
He immediately sat up on his bed and began breathing rapidly. Something about that dream felt different. He looked toward the clock and saw that it was 1:23 A.M. Tiger held his head in frustration.
"What is happening to me? Why am I always having these dreams? Why... why... WHY?!" His final word came out much louder as he slammed his hand down in frustration. "Great... now I won't be able to sleep properly either. I'm tired of all of this."
Tiger tried lying down again, hoping that he could somehow fall asleep. But after a few moments, he realized there was no point. He sighed and sat back up. "If I'm not going to sleep, I might as well go outside and walk for a while."
He got out of bed and stretched his body before changing into black clothes. After getting ready, Tiger left his apartment and took the elevator downstairs. The night outside was cold, and the streets were mostly quiet.
Tiger walked for some time, trying to clear his mind. Eventually, he reached a park and sat down nearby. The area was quite dark, making it difficult to see anything far away. He leaned back and took a deep breath, enjoying the silence.
Then Tiger suddenly noticed something.
Two white eyes were staring at him from the darkness.
Tiger immediately froze. He didn't say anything and quickly walked toward the place where he had seen the eyes, but by the time he reached there, nobody was present. He carefully looked right, left, above, and around him, but there was nothing.
Tiger silently returned and sat down again. The cold outside felt stronger than it had near his apartment, while the moon above looked unusually beautiful. But when Tiger looked upward again, his expression immediately changed.
The same two white eyes were there.
This time, they were beneath the moonlight, watching him.
Tiger immediately ran toward them, but the moment he reached the area, they disappeared again. He stopped and looked around carefully. "Who's there?" he asked quietly. There was no response.
Tiger raised his voice. "WHO'S THERE?!" Suddenly, something pushed him from behind. Tiger immediately turned around, but there was nobody there. He looked ahead again and noticed something white lying on the ground.
Tiger picked it up.
It was a white ribbon, the kind of ribbon a girl might wear in her hair.
Before Tiger could think about it further, something pushed him from behind again. He quickly turned around, but once again, nobody was there. Then the two white eyes appeared again, this time on top of a nearby wall.
Tiger immediately moved toward them.
As he got closer, everything suddenly became clearer. His eyes instantly changed from white back to their normal blue. At that exact moment, a ninja-like figure silently appeared behind him in an attack position.
A sword was aimed directly toward Tiger's left eye.
The blade was only moments away from hitting him, but it suddenly stopped in midair. Tiger's Swiga had activated an invisible shield, blocking the attack before it could reach him.
Tiger slowly turned around.
The mysterious ninja immediately jumped backward, creating distance between them. Tiger looked toward the figure calmly. "I don't know who you are, but I do know one thing. You're incredibly weak. My Swiga's invisible shield alone was enough to stop your attack."
The mysterious figure remained silent for a moment before speaking. "So, how far do you think I rank on the scale of destructive power?"
Tiger's expression immediately changed.
"Wait a second..." He stared at the figure. "That's a girl's voice?"
Before Tiger could say anything else, the mysterious girl suddenly attacked again. This time, however, her face was completely visible. She wasn't wearing a mask anymore.
But instead of continuing the attack, she suddenly sat down directly in front of Tiger, face-to-face, as if she hadn't just tried attacking him. Then she smiled.
Tiger stared at her in confusion. She was attacking me just a moment ago... and now she's sitting here like nothing happened? Who is this girl? And why is she smiling?
Before Tiger could react, she suddenly moved directly beside him with incredible speed. In what felt like a single blink, she had placed her left hand against Tiger's back and began spinning him around.
Tiger looked directly at her as they moved.
"What are you doing?" Tiger asked, slightly shocked.
The girl simply smiled. "Nothing much. I'm just having a little fun with you."
Suddenly, she jumped onto the wall and stuck herself against it. Tiger watched in shock as she casually began walking along the wall before standing normally on the upper side.
"What...?" Tiger muttered.
The mysterious girl looked toward the moon. "You probably won't see me again."
Tiger immediately stepped forward. "Wait a second!"
She stopped and looked back at him. Then she started laughing. "Ha ha. One second is already over. Can I leave now?"
Tiger sighed. "That's not what I meant. At least listen to what I'm saying."
She looked at him for a moment. "Fine. But hurry up." She slightly moved part of her clothing and checked the time.
Tiger looked directly at her. "Why were you here? And why did you attack me?" His voice became angry.
The girl smiled again. "Aww... the little cub is angry."
Tiger clenched his teeth.
She continued, "I wanted to attack you because—" But she suddenly stopped herself. "Never mind. There's no time to talk about all that right now."
She turned toward the moon.
For some reason, Tiger's anger slowly disappeared as he watched her. The moonlight fell across her, and her hair moved gently with the cold wind. Tiger couldn't explain why, but at that moment, she seemed like an incredibly skilled ninja, and her appearance beneath the moonlight made her presence feel even more mysterious.
Then she finally spoke again.
"I'm under someone's command... probably because of that."
She looked back toward Tiger. "Anyway, that power of yours is impressive."
Before Tiger could ask anything else, she suddenly disappeared.
Her speed was so incredible that Tiger couldn't even see where she went. Only the wind remained behind.
Then something fell through the air.
Tiger took a small step forward and caught it.
He looked down at his hand.
It was the same white ribbon.
Tiger stared at it silently before looking toward the moon, then toward the place where the mysterious girl had been standing.
She was gone.
Tiger remained there quietly, holding the white ribbon in his hand, wondering who that mysterious girl really was.