CHAPTER 1
Inside a room, walls lined with worn books, a desk was pulled to the side, and on top of it was a clutter of tech gadgets. A boy sat behind the desk; his black hair was gelled back, and dark freckles sprinkled his eyes like constellations, with eyeglasses gently perched on his nose.
His gaze was intently fixed on the laptop lying on the desk in front of him. He heaved a sigh as he read through the lines of text boldly appearing on the screen of the device and slowly turned his gaze to the window.
Through the windows, warm rays danced across the room, across the worn books and the cluster of tech gadgets glinting. He could hear the occasional screech of tires and the chatter of passersby outside.
He lingered for a while and then slowly turned his gaze back to the laptop, his eyes darting through the lines of text. He carefully read every word, every line, every sentence, and then he carefully leaned back in his chair, heaving a sigh once more.
He mumbled under his breath.
"Man, I should find something else to read."
Reaching his hand forward, he closed the laptop and turned his gaze to the side, his gaze instantly falling on another teenage boy in the room with him.
He was seated on a couch on the other side of the room with his legs crossed and a book in his hands. He seemed to be very immersed in the story as his pupils continued to move around.
He watched him for a while, and then called out to him.
"Hey, Josh."
His friend looked up, and having drawn his attention, he quickly continued.
"Do you know any other good books that I should check out?"
Josh stared at him for a moment, and then he sprang up from his seat, a cheeky smile quickly spreading across his face. He ran across the room toward him and immediately came between him and the laptop.
He typed in a few words, quickly navigating through the device's interface, and slowly raised the laptop after finding what he was looking for, almost shoving it in his face.
He flinched as he quickly grabbed hold of the gadget and feasted his eyes on the screen. It turned out his friend had taken him to a site, a book site, and had chosen one of the books published there for him to read.
His lips gently parted as he read the title:
"Gaze of Moonlight."
Then he looked up at his friend; on his face was a clear expression of genuine intrigue.
"I'm really trusting you on this one, Josh. I remember you ranting about this book a while ago, and I really hope you have good taste."
His friend chuckled, patting him gently on the shoulder.
"Trust me, bro, it's really that good."
Then, Josh turned around and walked back to the couch he had been sitting on earlier, instantly immersed in his book once more. He sighed and stared at the screen for a while before opening up the prologue of the story.
It started off decently, with the mention of a war between humanity and a great enemy. The foe wasn't given a proper description, and his lingered on the brief text describing what it was humanity had to deal with.
Their enemy was an abyss—a void that consumed hope, crushed faith, and spat out despair. Humanity had only managed to endure, but for how long?
He couldn't help but enjoy the story, his eyes now gleaming.
'Man, that was kinda…'
He paused in his thoughts as he read further; the prologue only drew him in better, although it felt redundant in some places.
But reading as the abyss—a void or perhaps darkness slowly creeping up on humanity like a noose—genuinely interested him. Though a bit reluctant, he wanted to see where the story was heading.
The coastal lands echoed with warriors' dying breaths; flesh torn, steel shattered, and the stench of blood filled the air like a dreadful curse. Waves kissed the beach sands, as if trying to wash away the carnage, but only managed to paint the waters crimson. And what remained? The brutal tang of blood, the hollow moans of the dying, and the great abyss slowly growing stronger.
He was just as eager as he was reluctant to continue the story, but before he could read any further, the alarm on his wristwatch suddenly rang.
His attention was immediately drawn to the sound of the alarm, his eyes widening as he stared at the time digitally displayed on his watch. He sprang up from the table, clutching his laptop as he rushed to the room's exit.
'Damnit, it's almost past my curfew.'
He waved his friend goodbye before leaving.
"I'll see you at school, Josh, and you should probably try to put the book down and get some sleep."
He rushed out of the building and quickly dashed through the streets. The sky was only a fleeting moment away from being swallowed by the night, purple hues bleeding into navy blue, with a sliver of orange clinging to the horizon. The streets lit up with luminescent lights.
At this rate, it was probably going to be a while before he reached home. He had to reach the station and board a train, and slowly he reached into his pocket, bringing out his cell phone.
But then he suddenly paused, his fingers lingering on the screen as he abruptly stopped in the middle of the street.
'Yeah, that's right...'
There wasn't supposed to be anyone at home waiting for him; well, there used to be. His head hung low as he slowly put the phone back in his pocket.
Slowly, he took another step forward, and that was when the worst happened. Someone ran past him, bumping their shoulders into his, causing him to lose balance.
He swayed to the side, his laptop falling away as he crouched down to keep himself steady. His eyes involuntarily closed due to the shock, and when he opened them again…
… He couldn't see.
"Dammit! Where the hell are my glasses?"
As he crawled on the floor, searching for his glasses, he heard the footsteps of another person as they ran past him, and then the sound of glasses shattering echoed in his ears.
His eyes widened in shock as the footsteps suddenly stopped and then quickly continued, hastening as the person rushed away. And he didn't need anyone to tell him what had just happened.
His glasses had been broken.
'Curses!'
With nothing left for him to do, he managed to find his laptop and continued forward, his eyesight now barely manageable. The streetlights did make his night blindness a little better, but without his glasses, he was almost as good as blind.
The lights became fuzzy halos, almost like Vaseline had been smeared on the world; the streetlights morphed into big, blurry blobs.
But he still managed to use the blurry lights to his advantage as he advanced.
Or so he thought…
He stumbled onto the curb of the street, the loud screeching of car tires against asphalt echoing in his ears. He turned around, a loud gasp escaping his lips, and his vision desperately swam.
But it was too late…
'Boom!'
The vehicle slammed into him, throwing him airborne. The world spun as the sound of the people around him screaming sounded like muffled wails; the last thing he saw…
Faint smudges in the sky shattering into a multitude of shards.
As his world shattered in pain, he felt himself slowly drowning in darkness. All around him was nothing but an endless void as he slowly began to break apart.
=====================
In his dying moments, he dreamed of a new world, a new life, one that was peaceful and happy.
He was inside a room, matted with tatami flooring and walls adorned with delicate shoji screens. On a low wooden bed, he lay centered beneath a silk canopy, and lying next to him, draped in traditional birthing robes, was a woman with raven-black hair and delicate crimson eyes.
There were bags under her eyes, but they did nothing to stir away the feeling of warmth he felt from having her right next to him.
She leaned closer and slowly grabbed his delicate little…
'Wait, what? Why the hell are my hands so tiny?'
Suddenly, he felt his senses slowly coming back to him as a gentle kiss was planted on his cheek. Her face gently rubbed against his, her gentle voice whispering into his ears.
"Let's have a celebration. The heir of the Fujiboma clan, Megumi Fujiboma, has just been born."
Had his new body been any use, then his eyes would have probably widened at that moment due to the shock he was going through.
'How could this be…? Wait, Boma?'
His mind wandered for a while as more memories continued to return to him until it finally dawned on him. He instantly realized why the name sounded familiar.
How could he not?
'Well, I'll be damned...'
'To think that I'd actually get reincarnated... and in his favorite novel of all things.'