For as long as I could remember, my world was confined to four white walls and the steady beep of machines. My name was Akira Sato, and I had been terminally ill since I was five. Cancer, they said—a rare, aggressive kind that twisted my body and stole my childhood. Twenty-three years of hospitals, treatments, and false hopes. I never ran through fields, never chased dreams under the sun. Books and games were my escape, tales of heroes in fantastical worlds where magic healed all wounds.
On my twenty-eighth birthday, the pain finally won. As my vision faded, I whispered to the empty room, "If there's an afterlife... let me live for once."
Darkness enveloped me, but it wasn't the end. A warm light bloomed, and I found myself standing—actually standing— in a vast, starry void. Before me floated a figure, ethereal and glowing, with eyes like galaxies.
"Welcome, Akira Sato," the god said, his voice echoing like thunder wrapped in silk. "You've endured much. I am the Weaver of Fates, and I offer you a second chance: reincarnation in a world of sword and sorcery, where your soul can thrive."
My heart—or whatever passed for it here—raced. "Yes," I said without hesitation. "Anything but that bed."
The god smiled. "Very well. But fate is whimsical. You'll enter as no ordinary human. Embrace your new form, and forge your path."
The void swirled, and I plummeted into light.When I opened my eyes, the world was dim and damp. Stone walls surrounded me, flickering torchlight casting shadows on jagged rocks. I wasn't in a grand castle or a peaceful village—no, this was a cave, echoing with distant roars and skittering feet. A Status Board
Name: Akira (Reincarnated Soul)
Race: Hobgoblin
Job Title: Dungeon Merchant
Level: 1
HP: 150/150
MP: 80/80
Strength: 12
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 15
Skills:
Merchant's Appraisal (Lv. 1): Evaluate items' value and properties.
Item Box (Infinite Storage): Store and retrieve merchandise without limit.
Dungeon Affinity: Cannot leave the dungeon boundaries. Enhanced senses within.
Barter Tongue: Improves negotiation success.
Unique Trait: Reincarnated Knowledge – Retain memories from past life, adapt quickly to new worlds.dungeon.
I looked down at my hands. They were green, calloused, with claws tipping my fingers. My body was muscular, taller than before, but not human. A mirror-like puddle nearby reflected my face: pointed ears, sharp teeth, a more humanoid build than the goblins I'd read about in stories. A hobgoblin.
Panic surged, but then a blue screen materialized in my vision, like a game interface.