The lights went out without warning.
Kairav stood alone in the records hall, the hum of the city dying with them. Papers lay scattered across his desk—files no one cared about, names no one would remember.
He had stayed late again.
Not for praise.Not for reward.Only because unfinished work felt heavier than sleep.
A dull crack echoed through the corridor.
Then shouting.Then silence.
By the time Kairav reached the doorway, smoke was already flooding the hall. He hesitated—just for a moment—then stepped forward.
The ceiling collapsed.
Pain came fast.Then nothing.
He woke to darkness.
No fire.No body.No breath.
Only awareness.
A voice spoke, calm and cold.
[System initializing.]
Kairav tried to move. He couldn't.Tried to speak. Nothing answered.
[Life record detected.][Judgment pending.]
Faces surfaced in his mind. People he had ignored. Decisions he had postponed. Wrongs he had justified as "not my responsibility."
He had never stolen.Never killed.
He had only watched.
[Evaluation complete.]
The darkness tightened.
[Result: Rejected.]
The word crushed him harder than death itself.
Rejected by what?By whom?
A pause followed.
Longer than before.
[Secondary condition met.][Commencing probationary existence.]
Pain returned. Cold air tore into his lungs. Dirt pressed against his palms as breath forced its way back into him.
Kairav opened his eyes.
An unfamiliar sky stretched above him, pale and indifferent. Somewhere in the distance, bells rang—not in warning, but routine.
As if his death had meant nothing.
[This time, you will choose.]
Kairav stared upward, understanding one thing clearly.
This was not mercy.
This was a test.
The thought settled into Kairav's chest with a strange calm.
Cold earth pressed against his back. The ground beneath him was uneven, rough with stones and roots. When he tried to sit up, pain flared along his spine—sharp, real, undeniable.
He was alive.
No—alive again.
The sky above him was pale, almost colourless, stretched wide and indifferent. Clouds drifted slowly, uncaring. Bells rang in the distance, steady and rhythmic, as if marking time rather than warning of danger.
A village bell.
Kairav pushed himself onto his elbows. His hands were smaller. Thinner. The skin was unmarked—no ink stains, no calluses from years of paperwork and sleepless nights.
He stared at them for a long moment.
"This isn't a dream," he murmured.
The voice that came out was younger. Hoarse, but unfamiliar.
As if in response, something flickered before his eyes.
A translucent panel slid into view, hovering silently.
[Judgment Complete.][Status: Reincarnated.][Host Body: Compatible.][Cause of Death: System Interruption.]
Kairav froze.
His breath caught.
"System…?" he whispered.
The word tasted wrong in his mouth—absurd, unreal—yet the panel remained, steady and unblinking.
Another line appeared.
[Life Record Summary:]Moral Alignment: Passive]Major Crimes: None]Major Virtues: None]
Passive.
The word struck harder than any accusation.
Faces returned to him—again.
The woman who had begged him to correct a falsified record.The junior clerk blamed for an error he hadn't caused.The countless names he had processed without question.
He had followed rules.He had obeyed systems.He had never interfered.
He had watched.
[Verdict:]Not Guilty.]Not Innocent.]
Kairav clenched his fists.
"So that's it?" he said quietly. "That's my life?"
The panel did not answer.
Instead, a new message appeared—slower this time, as if written with intent.
[This world does not reward neutrality.][Weakness is guilt.][Inaction is choice.]
A chill ran through him.
Memories that were not his own surged forward—this body's memories.
A boy named Kairav.An orphan.A nameless village at the edge of a kingdom that barely noticed it existed.
Hunger.Cold.Being overlooked.
Being useful, but never valued.
The irony almost made him laugh.
"So I get a second life," he said. "In a world where watching is a crime."
The bell rang again, closer now.
Footsteps followed.
Voices—rough, impatient.
"Check the outskirts.""If he's alive, drag him back.""The Commander won't wait."
Kairav's heart tightened.
Commander.
That word carried weight. Authority. Consequences.
The system pulsed once, as if sensing his fear.
[Trial Phase Initiated.][Objective: Survive.][Restriction: No Guidance.]
"No guidance?" Kairav muttered. "Figures."
The footsteps drew closer.
Branches snapped.
Kairav rolled to his side and forced himself upright. His legs shook, but they held.
He looked around quickly.
Tall grass. A dirt road not far ahead. The village gates visible through the trees.
Running toward the village meant being found.
Running away meant the unknown.
He remembered the records hall.The desk.The papers he had never challenged.
A choice.
For the first time, no rulebook waited for him.
Kairav stepped away from the road.
The system did not stop him.
As he disappeared into the trees, a final message appeared—small, almost quiet.
[Observation Mode: Active.][This time… your decisions will be recorded.]
Kairav did not look back.
If this world demanded judgment—
Then he would learn how to give it.