I died long before my heart stopped beating.
Not on stage. Not on camera.
Just in the shadows, where no one clapped, and no one watched.
I used to be called a prodigy. A child actor with perfect tears, perfect smiles, perfect pain.
But all of that ended the day they destroyed my sister.
She was my everything my anchor, my light, my only reason for staying in that hellhole of an industry. We had started together, dreamed together. But the world only had room for one rising star.
They chose me.
And so, they framed her.
Said she cheated. Lied. Slept her way into roles.
She was fourteen.
The press devoured her alive.
Sponsors pulled out. The studio dropped her.
Our family collapsed.
She never blamed me.
That's what made it worse.
I tried to fix it. I gathered proof. Leaked footage. Internal messages. I burned bridges and scorched the stage behind me.
> "If I can't save her, I'll end them all."
And I did.
For a moment, I thought we'd won.
But the industry doesn't die from truth it just hides.
They moved on. She couldn't and I received a new that she was died.
The world couldn't believe it.
Neither could I.
After that, I couldn't act anymore. Every scene, every line felt fake. Even my face in the mirror stopped looking like me.
So I stopped eating. Stopped caring.
Until my body followed.
---
I don't remember dying.
Only the feeling of cold.
Like the world forgot me mid-sentence.
---
Then came the light.
Not the warm, peaceful kind. No. This light burned. Too white. Too loud. Too real.
I woke up to machines beeping, IV lines in my arms, and a strange tightness in my chest.
My mouth was dry. My skin pale.
And everything hurt.
"...Nurse! He is awake!" He is awake!"
The voice was soft, trembling. A girl?
I turned my head. Slowly. Every muscle in my neck creaked like rusted metal.
She was standing near the door. Maybe ten. Same age as this body.
She had short, messy hair and puffy eyes like she'd cried for hours. A hospital blanket draped over her shoulders.
But her eyes…
They lit up the second I looked at her.
"Elias?" she whispered, voice cracking. "You're awake… You're really awake..."
Elias?
The name echoed strangely in my head.
Familiar, but not mine.
Not yet.
---
[Stage System initializing… Loading Persona Core...]
Assigned Identity: Elias Vale (Deceased)
Synchronization: 2%
Status: Reincarnated Soul Detected
System Reboot Complete
---
I was… reborn.
But not in a fantasy world. Not with a sword or magic.
I was lying in a hospital bed in another modern world a mirror of my own, yet not quite the same.
I didn't know who Elias Vale was. Not fully.
But I knew this body. I was in it now.
> And that girl…
She ran forward and hugged me so tightly I almost lost breath.
"I'm I'm your sister. Eva. Don't scare me like that again. Please... don't leave me too..."
I froze.
Sister.
The word hit me like a blow to the chest.
She wasn't my sister.
Not the one I lost.
But the way she clung to me like I was the last thing in the world keeping her from falling apart it broke me all over again.
I let her cry. I didn't say anything.
Because for now, I didn't have the right to speak.
---
A few minutes later, a woman entered the room.
She looked exhausted black sunglasses pushing back into her short hair, a tailored coat, and a sharp jawline that said she didn't suffer fools.
Her presence filled the room like an agent walking onto a set.
"...So the rumors were true," she said, her voice low. "You really woke up."
She walked to the side of my bed and stared at me like I was some ancient artifact.
"I'm Mira. I was your mom's manager and best friend. I paid your medical bills. You don't remember me, do you?"
I shook my head slowly.
She sighed and looked away for a second. Then back.
"Celestine Vale… your mother. She was a star. My brightest client. She died in that crash six months ago. You were in the back seat. No one thought you'd wake up."
Crash?
So not murder. No trauma scene. No villain to chase.
Just an accident.
A mother and son… both lost.
Until I came.
---
Eva wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
"Can we go home, Aunt Mira? He's awake now. I don't wanna stay here anymore…"
Mira hesitated.
Then nodded.
"Yes. We'll leave tomorrow."
She turned to me.
"Elias, I don't know how much of your memory you'll get back. But for now, just rest. You're safe."
---
Safe.
That word felt heavier than anything else.
In my past life, I had everything fame, awards, followers and still never felt safe.
Now?
I had nothing. Not even my name.
But I had a sister again.
And a new role.
---
[New Role Assigned: Forgotten Son]
Skill Unlocked: Passive Empathy Detection
Performance Trait: Emotional Absorption
---
As Eva held my hand and Mira dimmed the lights, I stared at the ceiling.
This wasn't the stage I trained for.
But it was mine now.
And this time…
I wouldn't let it all end in silence.
> Even if I had to fake every smile
I would survive this script.