It felt like a dream to me at first.
The moment the Night_Hawks' hideout burned to the ground.
That place was my home, my sanctuary.
Not for a day or two, but for ten long years.
However, because of one betrayal, everything ended.
Because of one reckless new teammate who begged the boss to let him join our crew.
All because of him, I watched my friends, and most of all my boss, die.
The police had caught them and immediately executed them.
Not because their charges were proven.
No. It was because of one feared man.
Me.
Just like the boss had promised, she had made me the greatest programmer and hacker.
She was like my mother. My mentor. And my lover.
Yet, she had died.
If only I had ignored her words and checked that bastard's background.
If I had been more careful...
However, I didn't die without avenging them.
First of all, I killed the bastard who caused all this.
After I was done with him, I hacked the cameras of the president's house and stole his private photos.
I then posted them online and hacked all the platforms so they couldn't be taken down for three hours.
Following that, I released all the scandals I could find of different celebrities and their partners.
The world descended into chaos because of me.
I watched as relationships tore apart and countries began launching missiles.
And I, the most wanted man in the world, closed my act by myself.
I infiltrated the Red House where the president worked.
I didn't go there to kill him.
No. I went to end my life.
What better way was there for a wanted man to die with pride?
As I climbed to the roof of the massive building, the wind brushing against my skin, I couldn't help but stand in awe at the beauty of the world.
Maybe, if there were another life, I would enjoy it.
I chuckled at the thought.
"Who am I kidding?"
I knew myself.
I, Allen Park, didn't settle for anything less than the best.
Using my drone, I activated the livestream and showed the world my final moments.
The moment the stream started, I began hearing the sounds of helicopters as the birds scattered from the trees.
"Hello world!" I raised both hands like a chorister.
Letting out a small smile, I said, "Seems like the chase is over. The incompetent people in power couldn't catch me in the end."
This was my final farewell.
"Does anyone know how many countries came after me?"
I knew no one could answer; regardless, I asked myself.
Maybe I was trying to reassure myself that what I was doing wasn't foolish.
'I've never been right in the head to begin with.'
I raised a finger. "Twenty-five world powers came after my life, and they failed."
The sounds of the helicopters grew louder as loud microphone static rang in my ears like music.
The police and armies had surrounded the premises.
The air force was in the sky, and I was certain the navy waited somewhere at sea.
"This is such a grand farewell befitting of me."
I lowered my body in a noble bow.
"Remember this world, I am Allen Park..."
I raised my head slightly, a confident, practiced smirk forming.
"...The world's legendary programmer."
With that, I turned and fell to my death.
The distance looked long from below.
But while falling, it felt so short.
My mind was completely blank, even as I landed with a loud splash on the ground.
My bones fractured first, then my brain went blank.
It seemed my intelligence hadn't thought this far.
It was truly a gruesome death.
And I was ready for hell.
After the world went blank, I felt my soul drifting for what seemed like eternity.
Then a sudden force pressed against my chest.
The force wasn't crushing, but like a hand pushing me back into something.
In an instant, I, or whoever that was, jolted upright.
I was in a small, scattered studio apartment.
I could hear the buzzing of cars, and even from where I sat...
Neon lights from the streets casted flickering patterns in the room.
The apartment was definitely not mine.
The area outside the window behind me, and by my side, was undoubtedly my planet Earth.
However, something felt wrong.
Something was very wrong...
The world looked like Earth; it had cars and high-rise buildings.
But none of those technologies gave me the same warm feeling tech usually did.
With hazy thoughts, my head snapped up to a large digital billboard on the road.
At first, it showed a live anime image, the kind that creeps you out if you stare at it too long.
After a moment, though, the image changed.
This time, it was of a lady in Chinese clothing, the type sect sisters wore.
She held a silk cloth shaped like a whip.
She danced with it for a moment, arcs of blue energy forming alongside her movements.
They didn't look like edited works to me.
They couldn't be.
And as my gaze shifted from that billboard to another showing a live news channel, my thoughts were confirmed.
On the screen was a man and woman explaining the events on the Valoria continent, how many rifts had recently opened, and how the Hunter Association urged newly awakened or hidden hunters to register quickly.
"What kind of sick joke is this?"
I froze as I heard the foreign voice leave my lips.
The voice sounded a little childlike, almost cute.
But one thing I knew—it wasn't mine.
I quickly removed the blanket covering me and tried to stand, only for my knee to buckle as if I wasn't used to my own body.
The room smelled of perfume mixed with sweat.
Except for the neon lights flickering from the streets, nothing else illuminated the room.
There was one bed where I had lain.
A large mirror stood a distance away near the window behind me.
A large wardrobe, a fridge, and that was about it.
Back on Earth, I had read my fair share of novels.
Or rather, the boss had forced me to, since she believed I was too obsessed with technology.
I forced myself to my feet, the warm wooden floor pressing against my palms.
During the days, she had given me web novels and even made me pay for them. There was one particular Webnovel she had given me.
It was a week before the betrayal, if I remembered correctly.
The only reason I could remember the plot, unlike the others I forgot in a day, was because that day was our two-year anniversary, and I had forgotten it because I was working on a new software.
She had scolded me and taken all my tech, leaving me only with her phone while she slept in my arms.
I was forced to read a thousand chapters in one night and then explain the plot to her and what I had learned from it.
The plot was rather generic.
In a world just like Earth, a strange phenomenon called rifts began to occur.
Humans soon discovered that these rifts were portals leading to the demon realm.
However, they found out too late, and by the time the rifts cracked open, they had no means to win.
After a long fight against low-ranking demons and mana beasts, humans also learned how to awaken.
Every year, the rifts, personal ones, not those connected to the demon realm, opened for different people.
If those people conquered their rift, they were given a prospect rank, and start advancing from F-rank.
Just like every cliché story, there were classes of mages and knights, divided by mana and aura.
However, the main plot followed an annoying guy named Jake Kim, who came from an ordinary home.
One day, he went out to buy milk for his siblings and mother, but when he returned, they were all dead, except his twin sister.
It seemed a rift had opened in their house, and a demon had come out and killed his family.
Instead of killing his sister, it turned her into a demon, as if mocking him.
However, Jake's sister had control over herself, unlike other demonic humans or demonoids.
Because of this, she was able to hide from demon hunters.
But since she needed a special type of blood to avoid running berserk, Jake made it his life's mission to slay all demons and cure his sister.
The most interesting thing about the novel, and the reason the boss had given it to me, was the lack of tech in the world.
Even though it was an advanced civilization, nothing in that world was technological.
Instead, everything was magic-powered.
Magic-powered phones, magic-powered cars, even magic-powered toilet paper.
And the feeling I had been sensing since opening my eyes…
The lack of technology.
I sprained my ankle as I stood, my hand gripping the edge of the dressing table tightly.
The moment I saw the reflection in the mirror, I almost shouted.
The person standing in front of me wasn't myself.
I was certain now.
"I've been reincarnated."