After my reincarnation, I thought things would be different. I spent my last life staring at the same walls and ceiling, which were basically engraved in my mind.
"The frog at the bottom of the well knows nothing of the vast ocean," my grandma always said. I knew full well that I was the frog at the bottom of the well.
Now she was lying dead on the floor while burglars rummaged through our things. A surge of anger washed over me as I watched her slowly bleed out on the ground.
"Hey, check her purse; she must have something," one of them said.
"I can't find it; these drawers are full of nothing but junk," the other replied, slamming the drawer and kicking my grandmother's corpse in frustration.
His eyes turned coldly to me as he pulled the gun from his waist.
"Hey, cripple, where does your grandmother keep her jewelry?"
I didn't respond; instead, I coldly stared at him, thinking about how I could pry the gun out of his hand and use it to smash his head to paste.
The two looked back and forth between each other when I didn't respond.
"Is he deaf?"
"I don't know; they only said he was paralyzed."
The two burglars were dressed entirely in black, with ski masks covering their faces. One was tall and lanky, while the other was short and a bit chubby.
It was the tall bastard who hit my grandmother over the head with his gun, then continued to wail on her until she stopped moving. She was so frail that she couldn't even let out a scream to alert the neighbors that she was in trouble. And I was so sickly that I couldn't do anything but watch.
Blood flowed from her eyes due to the trauma.
"Should we kill him too?" the short one asked. I could see that he was losing his nerve, as his hands were shaking. "I've never killed anyone before man. If we let him live and he identifies us... That's it!"
The tall bastard didn't respond; instead, he gritted his teeth and rammed the tip of his gun into my forehead. The cold metal pressed against me, and for a second, I thought I was going to die.
My only hope was the phone I had hidden under my bedsheets. I dragged my frail fingers across the screen, desperately trying to dial the police.
Three digits. That was all I needed to type, but I couldn't even manage that much. My fingers couldn't stop shaking; not from fear, but from my own frailty.
"Last chance," the tall man said, sinking the gun into my head even further. "Do you really want to die today?"
Moron. With my grandmother dead, it meant my fate was already sealed. Better sooner than later if the result would still be the same. At least this way, I could die with my dignity intact rather than if I gave him what he wanted. His grip tightened around the gun. It was his final warning.
At that moment, I summoned all the strength I had to finally say my peace.
"The only treasure in this house is the woman you just murdered!"
The gun went off with a sound that made it feel like the whole world was ending. In the midst of it, I heard a bloodcurdling scream. A scream that couldn't have belonged to any of the robbers. The robbers panicked, their faces turning to horrified expressions as they ran out of the room.
My grandmother staggered to her feet, her face smeared in her own blood, but it was too late. I knew I had been shot. I didn't know where, but her expression told me everything. Somehow, I felt happy. Happy that my precious grandma had survived.
"No!! Please, no!! Not you too!! Don't leave me!!"
The last thing I heard was her horrified wailing before everything went black. The world around me turned to a haze as I floated inside a blackened abyss. The space felt empty, everything around me pitch black until small golden particles began swirling around me.
More particles began to emerge until they formed a giant mass. The mass constructed itself until it took the form of a giant woman. She looked like a being made of golden light.
"Who are you?" The question somehow flowed from my mind, but there was no sound.
The being responded, her thoughts flowing into my mind like a stream.
"I am Enma, the goddess of love and fertility." Her face morphed into a gentle smile. "I have watched over you, and my heart aches for the life you have lived. A life confined to a single spot, all because of my wrongdoing."
What she said completely caught me off guard. It made me realized that I was dead but then a question lingered in my mind...
"Your wrongdoing? How was my sickness your fault?" I asked.
Her golden eyes portrayed a deep sadness when she heard my question.
"I am the goddess of fertility. Every life that is born into this world is because of my doing. There was an error in your creation that caused you to be paralyzed from the waist down. Even your upper body was so weak that you could barely hold a phone."
An unexpected feeling welled up in my chest when I heard her words.
It was her fault?
I wasn't angry. As far as I was concerned, I lived a fulfilling life until that mess happened with those robbers. I spent my life doing what I loved; reading and studying things that interested me. Plus, I got to spend my days chatting about nonsense with my grandmother.
She shook her head vigorously. I got the feeling she was reading my thoughts.
"Your life was not fulfilling," she shouted, puffing out her round cheeks. "You never got the chance to do or experience so many things. Even if I am punished afterward for breaking the rules, I have to make things right."
"What will you do?" I asked, feeling a little intrigued.
"I will reincarnate you."
Reincarnate me?
"Will I get the chance to see my grandmother again?"
I felt happy after hearing her words, but then the sadness in her eyes returned.
"I am sorry. I can't reincarnate you into the same world as before. If I could, I would; you must believe me. It's just that things are a bit complicated… I will transmigrate you into a world of swords and magic. You will live the life of Prince Percival Solmire, the crowned prince and heir to the throne of the kingdom of Palasia."
A prince?
I could hardly believe what she said. Suddenly, my grandma's words echoed in my mind.
'The frog at the bottom of the well knows nothing of the vast ocean.'
I never fully understood what she meant. What had I really missed out on in life? Maybe this time I would finally understand what she meant. A bit of déjà vu hit me just then, and I realized that this situation was eerily similar to what happened in the thousands of web novels I had read.
Usually, it is at this part where the god or goddess gives the person who is being reincarnated a gift to aid them in their new life. It was worth giving it a shot, so I decided to ask.
"Do you have anything to give me that will help me going forward?"
Her look turned solemn real quick, and I realized that I was in for some more bad news.
"I'm sorry. This goddess is a useless one. I don't have anything of value to give," she responded.
"That's alright, I guess. But what about the prince? Does he have a special type of magic or something?"
She shook her head, and my heart sank again.
"Those of the royal bloodline are usually born with a special type of light magic, but the prince was born without any magic."
"You have to be joking. Isn't there anything you can give me? Anything at all? I can't just go in blind!"
"Well…" she placed her hand on her chin as if deep in thought. "Centuries ago, I picked up something that was said to be of great importance, but I was so freaked out by it that I ended up tossing it into my storage space without giving it any thought."
She shivered as she recalled what she picked up. It intrigued me.
"What was it?" I asked.
"Well, it's sort of a long story, but I ended up giving someone something that I shouldn't have, and it caused a lot of problems."
"You screw up a lot, don't you?"
"I'm sorry. It was a mistake," she protested, trying to fix her reputation, but I already saw her as a screw-up. "Anyway, most of what was causing problems was erased, except for one thing that was left behind."
Her explanation sounded unusually vague.
"Hold on; let me get it."
A mass of cosmic energy began to form, then dispersed in the same instant with a loud bang. What was left behind caused my mouth to hang open in shock.
"Eyeballs?!" I asked. "Actual eyeballs!"
What was floating in front of me was a pair of golden-colored eyes that shone as brightly as the goddess in front of me. In fact, both of them seemed to light up the darkness we were in.
"This is all I have," she said. "These are the eyes of the first demon king. I'm not sure how much use they'll be to you, though."
Indeed, it didn't look like much, but what else could I do?
"Thank you?" I said.
Her eyes squinted as a smile appeared on her face.
"I'll install them on your new body once you are transmigrated," she said joyfully. "So, are you ready for your new life?"
I thought back to my old life, and the only thing that came to mind was the face of my grandmother and the room I spent most of my life in. I hoped that at the end of this life, more faces would pop up.
"Yes, I am ready."