A young man woke to the same sound he hated most, the relentless ticking of his cheap alarm clock. His body screamed in protest as he sat up, staring at the ceiling of his cramped apartment. The walls were bare, the mattress stiff, and the air thick with the stench of sweat and fatigue.
His limbs ached as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. His hands, rough and calloused, ran through his unkempt black hair. The cracked mirror across from him reflected a face too young to look so worn—dark eyes, sunken cheeks, and bruises from accidents at work. He barely recognized the man staring back at him.
"Still breathing. Guess that's unlucky."
Bills sat on the table, unpaid. The rent was overdue. His fridge was empty except for a half-drunk bottle of cheap beer and some expired food. He didn't care to eat. Hunger had become a familiar companion.
He reached for a crumpled cigarette on the nightstand, only to find the pack empty. A humorless chuckle escaped him. "Figures."
With no reason to linger, he pulled on his worn-out work clothes, grabbed his boots, and left. The morning air was cold, but it didn't bother him. He had long since stopped feeling the small discomforts of life.
The construction site was already buzzing with movement by the time he arrived. Workers shuffled around, faces grim, hands busy with their tools. The air smelled of cement, dust, and sweat.
Axel stepped into line, grabbing his hammer like always. The foreman, a man with a face as hard as the steel beams surrounding them, shot him a glance.
"Didn't think you'd make it today," said a voice beside him. It was Jonah, one of the few guys Axel spoke to. "After all the extra shifts, I figured you'd be dead in a ditch somewhere."
Axel smirked, but there was no humor in it. "Not yet. Though I wouldn't mind."
Jonah frowned. "Man, you've gotta stop talking like that."
Axel didn't respond. What was there to say? He had no dreams, no goals, no future. He had nothing except this job, and even that was slipping away. He could feel it.
The work was brutal. Sweat dripped from his brow as he swung the hammer, breaking down a wall that needed to be replaced. The vibrations shook his arms, but he kept going because stopping meant thinking, and thinking was the last thing he wanted to do.
"Axel," the foreman called.
He turned, wiping dust from his face.
"You've been looking like shit. You sick?"
Axel hesitated. His chest had been tight lately, his cough getting worse. The blood in the sink every morning told him enough. But what did it matter?
"Just tired."
The foreman studied him for a moment. "You fall apart on the job, you're out. We don't need dead weight."
Axel nodded. He already knew.
After work, he went to the only place that ever gave him a shred of comfort—his girlfriend's apartment. Or at least, she was supposed to be his girlfriend.
The moment he stepped inside, he knew something was wrong. Clothes scattered on the floor. A pair of boots that weren't his. Then he heard it—soft laughter, a voice he recognized. Hers.
His stomach twisted as he walked toward the bedroom, the door slightly open. He pushed it fully, and there she was, tangled in bed with another man.
She turned, eyes widening. The man beside her barely looked up, uninterested.
"Axel…" She pulled the sheets over herself, but there was no shame in her expression.
Axel said nothing. He only stared, as if trying to make sense of it.
"You really thought this was serious?" she said, voice laced with amusement. "You're broke. You have nothing. What did you expect?"
The words stung more than they should have. But deep down, he had always known.
Axel exhaled sharply, turned around, and walked out.
Days passed, and Axel felt himself slipping further. His sickness worsened. The fever came in waves. His cough was worse, and his body felt heavier with every passing day. But there was no money for a doctor.
He still worked because he had no choice. But the foreman noticed his slow pace, his heavy breaths.
"You're done here," the foreman said one evening. "You can't keep up. We're not a charity."
Axel just nodded. No anger, no pleading. He left without another word.
No job. No money. No food. No love.
He found himself at the bar again, his usual escape. The place was packed, laughter filling the air, but none of it reached him. He drank, and drank, and drank.
At some point, the bartender leaned in. "You don't look good, kid."
Axel smirked, swirling his drink. "Wasn't planning on it."
The alcohol dulled the pain, but not enough. It never did. He thought about what was left for him. The answer was simple.
Nothing.
Hours later, he stood on the rooftop of an abandoned building. The wind was cold, howling around him. The city stretched below, indifferent, uncaring.
His fingers curled into fists as he stared down at the streets. No one was looking up. No one would see him. No one would care.
He exhaled, closing his eyes.
"Maybe this is the only choice I've ever truly had."
He took a step forward,The world rushed up to meet him, There was no pain, no fear. Only silence.
And then
Nothing.
When Axel woke up, it wasn't the familiar streets of his city, the loud noise of traffic, a hospital, or even the feel of rough pavement beneath him. It was… nothing but a void.
He blinked, confused. "What the hell… Did I?" His voice echoed into the nothingness, but no one answered.
"Hello? Is anyone there? I can't die now, I'm still…?"
And then, the voice came.
"Welcome, traveler. You were the lucky one to be selected among countless people who died at the same moment, to leave your home world and manifest in a new one. This is the Second Chance Platform…"
It wasn't male. It wasn't female. It wasn't anything Axel had ever heard before. It was… strange. A mix of both, and yet neither.
Axel's confusion only deepened. "What the hell does that mean?"
Before he could process anything, the fog around him morphed. The void turned into a strange stage. In the middle of it all, a massive screen appeared, displaying two words: Race and Soul.
"Please, choose a race you want to manifest in."
Axel took his time to think. It's not wise to choose something other than what I already am. No one knows if being one of the other races is worse than being a human.
"Human. I choose human."
The screen blinked. The word Soul lit up, and a list of strange objects flashed across it weapons, tools, random items. His eyes skimmed the list until one word caught his attention.
"Grim Scythe."
Axel felt a strange pull, like the weapon called to him, and before he could question it, the voice came again.
"Congratulations, you have successfully completed the transfer."
"Transfer? What transfer?" Axel barely had time to question it before his mind went blank, and everything faded out.
Axel woke up again. This time, he was at the bottom of a high cliff, blood pooling around him, pain shooting through every inch of his body. His surroundings were unfamiliar, but that wasn't the worst part.
The worst part was when he looked down at his hands. He wasn't the same person. Pale skin. Sharp golden eyes. Long black hair. Pain shot through him, and the unfamiliar body felt like a prison.
And that wasn't all. A figure stood above him. A young man, just about his age. Medium height, wiry build. Short, messy silver hair. Staring down at him with sharp blue eyes.
"You… I thought you were dead, hahaha, glad I found you. Eliza is mad as hell. If you're lucky, she'll only beat you. Nothing more," the stranger said.
Axel blinked, his mind a swirl of confusion. "Who the hell are you?"
His mind suddenly turned into a storm of memories—memories from before his life, before crossing into the new world, and the memories of the person he had just become. The impact was too strong that he passed out again before he could get an answer.
When Axel woke up again, he was in a church, surrounded by children. They were playing, laughing, eating. It felt wrong. This wasn't his life. This wasn't his world. Memories someone else's memories flooded his mind.
A voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Axel… Thank the gods you're alive."
He looked up to see a woman with blonde hair, dressed in a simple but high-quality gown. Her blue eyes, however, held an exhaustion Axel recognized all too well.
"I told you not to go to the inner gates of the city. It's not safe for people like us." She sighed, like she'd given this speech a hundred times.
Axel didn't even have the energy to argue. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again." His voice was quiet, apologetic, but his mind was already elsewhere.
The woman, Elizabeth, just shook her head, muttering something about nature's blessing before placing her hands on him. Axel felt a rush of energy, green and soothing, flow into him. The pain in his body slowly faded.
After a moment, she let go, her face pale. "Promise me, Axel. No more reckless stunts."
Axel looked at her as if lost in thought. "Yeah, yeah. I promise."
But deep down, he knew the promise wasn't for her. It was for him. He had lived a colorless life before, but now, it seemed different. According to the memories he had, this place was his home, and he had to blend in. He wasn't going to be that same guy again.
Three weeks later, Axel was napping under a tree, his thoughts cloudy. He didn't care about the passing days. The world had changed, and so had he. But before he could sink too deep into his thoughts, a small voice broke through.
"Big brother, Mat is having his Awakening!"
Axel's eyes snapped open. He was already running before he even realized it.