From the depths of darkness, a faint sound began to echo.
"...Ray…"
The voice was soft at first, distant, like a whisper in a dream. Then it grew clearer, firmer.
"Young master Ray… can you hear me?"
His eyelids shook. He pushed them open slowly and laboriously. Above him, a blurred figure hovered, shapes changing until his vision stabilized.
A man wearing loose, long robes, and a pouch full of herbs at his waist, leaned in with calm, practiced hands. His hands were light yet careful as he put his fingers on the boy's wrist, checking for a faint pulse. A faint flicker of spiritual energy flashed at his fingertips—a healer's art.
The boy blinked, his dry lips parting. His thoughts spun in confusion. Ray…? He called me Ray.
While he lay motionless and gazed at the ceiling, the truth started to take shape inside his head. Thus, Ray is the name of this body. Both my new life and my previous life have the same name.
The realization sank deep into his heart, heavy yet strangely comforting.
As he completed checking Ray's pulse, the healer's brows furrowed. He stood up straight and faced the servant who had been standing silently by the bed.
"The poison has deteriorated his core and blood vessels," the healer explained in a quiet and somber voice. "Though he survived, his body is really fragile. He needs to avoid stress, heavy exertion, or strong emotions. It will take months of intensive care for him to become stable."
The servant's face softened with relief as he nodded rapidly. "Thank God he's still alive.Mister Healer, I'll get everything you need ready."
But before the healer finished, a frail voice broke the silence.
"Wait... who... am I?"
Both men froze. They turned together toward the bed, where Ray lay with his eyes wide and the hint of uncertainty. His face was pale, and his lips trembled as if the question itself had caused him pain.
"I… I can't remember anything," he said slowly, confusion heavy in his voice. "Who am I? W-what… happened to me?"
The healer and servant shared a long, uncomfortable look. His words loomed over them like an anchor.
The healer's face became solemn, almost morbidly so. Then leaned toward close to the servant and softly said, "It's worse than I feared. Waking up memory loss after poisoning it could mean that significant damage was inflicted on his soul. We can not speak loosely. His parents must be told immediately."
The servant swallowed hard and nodded. "Yes... we must inform Madam and Master immediately."
Ray, still lying weakly on the bed, watched their troubled faces, his own heart sinking into a storm of uncertainty.
The healer and attendant slipped quietly out of the room, their hurried footsteps fading as they matched toward the end of the hall. In its silence, the room settled once again, with only the faint cough of the oil lamps, and the shallow exhaustions of Ray's breath disturbing the peaceful quietude currently dominating the room.
Ray lay still in the bed, his slight body motionless beneath the sheets, and his eyes half-open, fixed on the carved images in the ceiling. He finally gathered the energy to sigh softly.
So… this is how it is.
His mind spun. I really can't recall a single memory of this body's previous life. No family faces, no childhood, nothing. If I had been too confident in my answers, they may have suspected me. Pretending to have parcelled my memory away... that was the only way.
He closed his eyes again, remembering the last flickering moments of his old world - his computer, his game, the flash of electricity. I died there. And, yet, here I am. Another body, another life... another chance.
A weak clench of his fists under the blanket. If I'm not careful, they will see right through me. For now, I will pretend to be, a boy who has forgotten everything, until I can figure out where I am, who I am, and what kind of world this is...
A faint lift of his lips, but he was still pale. Whether I am reincarnated or not, I'm not letting this second life go to waste.
He sank back into the pillows after thinking that, feeling the weight of his weakness, but a spark of resolve had already started to burn inside of him.
The heavy curtains swayed slightly in the evening breeze, but otherwise the room was quiet. For a while, Ray remained motionless, but his curiosity kept growing. What do I look like now if this is my new body?
In his mind, he saw his former self—handsome features, piercing expressions, the face his fans frequently praised during his streams. He was restless because of that memory. He had to know.
He stood up from the bed with some effort, his legs shaky. He took careful steps, his hand lightly resting on the wall to maintain his balance. The polished floor below him reflected a faint blur of himself as he slowly approached the tall mirror standing in the corner.
When he finally reached it, his breath caught.
A stranger stared back at him.
His eyes—different from anything he had seen before—were pale white with a faint hint of grey swirling inside, almost of an other-worldly essence, almost hiding a secret. The soft locks of hair around his face were a combination of a deep-jet black, with streaks of silver-white. His appearance was completely unusual, almost other-worldly.
A solo yellow earring sparkled from above his left ear, shining right in his line of sight. His skin was smooth, traveling a direction of medium white and light brown, and gleamed faintly under the warm lamps.
Touching his jaw, his cheekbones, the strangely refined but unfamiliar features, he raised his trembling hand to his face.
His heart was racing as shock swept through him. This isn't the same as it was previously.
And yet, as he gazed at the reflection, he found himself unable to deny it—he did look good. Different from his previous life, and certainly beautiful in its own right, one that instantly drew the eye. Still… he couldn't compare it to the face he remembered.
With mixed emotions, Ray exhaled slowly, his gaze now at home with the unfamiliar guy in the reflection that belonged to him.