Chapter 1- Death And Awakening
It was cold and rainy that night. The city was submerged in darkness, the weather cold and hostile. The streets were barely lit with the occasional source of light coming from random buildings.
Everyone was asleep, or getting ready to sleep. The winter that year was rather harsh, and so people resorted to remaining within the confines of their homes to avoid the freezing cold outside.
"Fuuuuh…"
In one of the many high rises of this massive city, a man stood on the balcony, watching the beautiful view of the city in silence. His eyes were calm and serene, almost as if he were having the most peaceful moment of his life.
He puffed the smoke from his cigarette as he rested his hands on the rail. The cigarette was barely lit, still due to the rain. However, he didn't seem to care whatsoever. Nothing…really mattered much at that point.
Taking another puff of smoke, he slowly moved his hand to his back pocket and pulled a wallet out of it. Staring down at the wallet, he eventually put the cigarette in the side of his mouth and then grabbed the wallet with both hands.
Slowly, he opened it. Inside, there were pieces of paper, several ID cards, and at the far front… a single picture.
The picture looked pristine and clean, showing a beautiful woman smiling in it. She looked happy, blissful, as if she were living in paradise. The man admired the picture for a good while, not uttering a single word as he sucked the smoke and exhaled it regularly. He looked like he had completely lost himself in that picture.
'I'm finally done, Sherry.' He whispered in his head. 'I'm sorry for making you wait. Haha… I know I always say that, and you somehow always understand me and never feel annoyed about it.'
A small, tired smile appeared on his face. 'You always told me that my job is understandable. But I could see it in your eyes that you wished we would spend more time together. You didn't want to put more pressure on me.'
Slowly, the man pulled the picture out of the wallet and got it closer to his face.
'You won't have to wait any longer now. I don't have to wait any longer.' His smile widened.
BANG
At that moment, the door to his apartment suddenly made a loud bang. The man didn't bother looking over his shoulder to know who it was. He didn't frankly care. The door kept banging and banging loudly, threatening to be broken at any given second.
'I can finally join you. I'm so tired…'
Slowly, he put the barely lit cigarette against the picture as it slowly caught on fire. A few seconds later, fire was completely eating the picture, bit by bit, as the image of the woman faded while the man watched.
The remains of the picture were caught in the wind and flew far away. What remained of it was nothing but burnt scraps that he eventually released.
*BANG*
The door was finally broken, and several men rushed inside. They were all clad in black armor and holding large weapons.
"Hold it right there!!! Don't move!!" Seeing the man near the balcony, they rushed toward him to catch him. However, by then, the man had already climbed on the rails and stood tall for a second.
"What a night to bite the dust." He muttered as he looked over his shoulder before he made a salute with two fingers. "Wear your raincoats when you leave, gentlemen. It's raining cats and dogs out here."
"Agent X, don't you dare move a single inch!" The men aimed their guns at him. "You are under arrest for suspicion of treason and espionage!"
"Sigh." The man rubbed the back of his head before he replied. "Feel free to arrest my dead corpse."
*Swish*
"NO!!!"
Pushing himself forward, the man named 'Agent X' fell forward. The other armed men tried to rush toward him, but by then, it was far too late. All they could see was his body flying down at a rapid pace before…
Everything went black, and an ugly sound filled the rather quiet city. Everything happened within a few seconds.
It was a seemingly ordinary night, one that didn't differ from any other night. However, for those who knew, it was the night when the greatest mercenary this world has ever seen died. An end to a legend that lasted 20 years.
***
For Rein, everything became pitch black. He was seeing the beautiful city merely seconds ago and then… None.
He couldn't feel any pain, any wetness, any discomfort… Nothing. Yet, a rather weird numbness took over his body. He didn't know what was happening to him, and his mind didn't seem to have the ability to think either.
That pitch-black world has swallowed him whole, engulfed him in its arms, and wrapped him in its embrace.
For God knows how long, he remained within that darkness, unable to see, unable to think, unable to even breathe. Nothing seemed to change that state… Until.
A small light appeared in the distance. It was faint, but in this world, it appeared as bright as a star in the sky. That light then started growing, and growing, and growing.
Until eventually, that light was everything in that world. It swallowed the darkness with ease, and with it, Rein was also swallowed. He didn't feel it for a good moment, but when he did, everything had already shifted beyond recognition.
"Ummm…" Slowly, he opened his eyes, only for him to squint again as he felt the rays of the sun hit his face. It took him a few moments to adjust to the bright light before he could finally open his eyes.
That was when he heard it… The sound of birds chirping.
"What…?" He muttered as he slowly rose up and looked around him, still drowsy and confused. "Where am I?"
What he saw confused him even more. He was in what looked like a bedroom, a very messy and dirty one. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a year or so. Rein rubbed his eyes, trying to understand what he was looking at.
"I didn't… die?"
How could that even be possible? He had jumped from the 20th floor onto hard concrete. No human could possibly survive a fall like that. Certainly not a human who could move normally after.
Yet, here he is, not feeling any pain or discomfort.
'You have to be joking me. What kind of nonsense is this?' He slowly looked down to check his body. That was when the second realization struck him like a truck.
That wasn't his body. What he saw down there was a chubby stomach and soft, weak arms. He was also sweaty and smelled horrible.
"What the fuck…" He cursed. 'This isn't my body. No, this isn't even my height. What is going on?'
Instinctively, Rein stood up and realized how much shorter he was than before. His movement was also way more sluggish and slow. It felt really odd. That room was also not a room he was familiar with.
"What's even going on?"
He had so many questions that he didn't even know where to begin. Sucking in a deep breath, he calmed his mind down to start thinking rationally.
'The last thing I remember is that I stood on the rails and jumped off before the agency could get to me. Then, everything went black, and I woke up here. I would assume I have died. There is no feasible way they could've revived me in time.' He muttered. 'Also, this body isn't mine, and the technology isn't there yet to transfer brains from one body to another.'
The research on that topic could only reach the point where they can transfer brains in rats and not humans, which are infinitely more complex. So, both options were just not possible.
So, that left only one single option… One Rein didn't even think it was possible before.
"Did I reincarnate?" He asked himself. That was the only possible answer: that he had died and reincarnated in a different body. 'So, reincarnation is real? Is there something after death?'
The realization made his eyes widen slightly. He took a second to think about it before he spoke.
"Damn… This sucks… This sucks really badly."
Slowly approaching the bed, he sat down as he rubbed his face. Rein didn't want to somehow survive that fall and reincarnate; he simply wanted to join his wife wherever she is. He's had enough of life and of everything else and has embraced death.
Yet, by some sort of divine intervention or coincidence, his life wasn't cut short as he intended for it to be.
A sense of deep disappointment and despair filled his mind.
"Who told you I want to reincarnate? Do I look like someone who likes being alive? Have you no regard for suicidal people?"
Even though he was being sarcastic, he couldn't hide the bitterness in his heart. 'I just want to be with my Sherry.'
As he was like that, suddenly, something appeared in his vision that made him look up.
[Loading memory.]
[Importing data.]
[Transferring all past experiences.]
[Brain analysis activated.]
[...]
[Brain analysis was successful.]
[Current condition: Stable.]
[Transferring memories…]
"Huh-"
As he was about to make a sound, he suddenly felt a rush of information get injected straight into his mind. An overwhelming amount of pictures, words, sights, and all kinds of experiences invaded his brain as he grabbed his head.
It was extremely uncomfortable, as if someone was fidgeting with his brain. However, Rein didn't grumble or make a noise as he sat there.
'What is going on?! My head… It hurts.' He cursed.
For several cruel seconds, he couldn't even breathe. But, eventually, the pain started dissipating slowly.
[Memory transfer was successful.]
[System implementation completed!]