Hao Kai opened his eyes and quickly closed it feeling the harsh bright light fall on his face.
He had a ponding headache but only felt relieved. He survived. When he recovered, he would make sure to personally send that disgusting man to jail.
Hao Kai gritted his teeth in hatred and felt a sting in his heart. He had spent so much time preparing for that case. His plan was foolproof. After the win, he would give himself a two day vacation. Who knew that man would be such a snake.
He opened his eyes a crack and finally had a good look around but the more he looked, the colder his heart became. Who could tell him why he was in this dilapidated building?
Why wasn't he in a hospital?
At first glance, he would have thought he traveled back in time and was at the orphanage but even the orphanage wasn't this broken. He was about to stand up when the door was pushed open from outside.
He raised his head and caught the eye of a girl. Her whole countenance lit up and she rushed over.
"You're awake. Do you know how worried I was?"
She gently pushed him back onto the bed and Hao Kai wisely did not say anything. She felt his forehead with the back of her palm.
"It's okay. The fever has gone down. Just rest well okay. Sister will bring you something to eat."
She rushed back out leaving Hao Kai alone on the bed. Hao Kai and his many years of experience in reading online novels could already more or less guess what was happening but he was still in denial.
He fell back heavily on the bed then a bunch of memories poured into his brain. He groaned in pain and curled up on the bed holding his head. After a while the pain eased but he was covered with cold sweat.
He flipped around and stared straight at the roof riddled with roles then cursed.
"Fuck! What kind of rotten luck is this?"
Perhaps this was what they called Karma. The body he entered was called Leon Veylan and the girl who just left was his older sister. Lyra Veylan.
This was a mana based world. Everyone was born with a mana core and they could cultivate their mana. The original owner however, was born weak and had always had difficulty cultivating. When he was ten, his cultivation stopped making progress completely.
His sister had been raising him since their parents deaths and he passively accepted it. He was finally bullied into getting a job and became an advocate but before his first case, be was pushed into the river and died then Hao Kai crossed over.
Hao Kai was forced to accept that he really died and crossed over to a new world. He kept staring at the roof blankly then tears flowed from his eyes and hit the bed.
One drop after another, drip drip drip and his silent crying slowly turned to soft sobs. He studied hard, saved money, denied himself luxury just so he could live comfortably in retirement and he just had to die.
Thinking about the unused amount of money in his account, his soft sobs turned to full fledged wailing. He wanted to ask why. What did he do wrong? He was just trying to survive. Why wouldn't they let him live? Why did he have to die now? He never even bought a new car because he was scared of wasting his money. He rarely bought new clothes and saved up most of his money. He never went to regular restaurants and just ate cheap street food just so he could save money.
This was supposed to be his biggest break. This was where he was supposed to finally start enjoying his money why did he have to die? He could have died AFTER he spent at least some of the money. Why why why?
His loud crying attracted Lyra's attention who came running in. She held him in her arms and patted his back.
"There there."
She didn't know what happened but for her brother to cry so loudly meant he was really aggrieved. He had stopped showing his emotions early on and most of the time she couldn't even guess what he was thinking.
Hao Kai hiccuped then calmed down a little bit. He was embarrassed to be comforted by a girl who looked no older than twenty-one so he pulled away missing the reluctance in her eyes.
"Are you okay?"
Hao Kai turned away to hide his tear flushed face.
"I want to be alone."
Lyra paused slightly then stood up without a word. She hesitated at the doorway, her lips pressing into a thin line. She wanted to say something, maybe comfort him more, but seeing his rigid back made her swallow her words. With a soft sigh, she nodded even though he wasn't looking.
"Alright… I'll be right back with the food" she whispered and quietly closed the door behind her.
The small, creaky room was silent again. Hao Kai sat on the bed, hugging his knees, staring blankly at the cracked wall. His tears had dried, leaving faint tracks on his face, but his chest still felt unbearably heavy.
"I really died" he murmured under his breath, the reality sinking deeper. He clenched his fists tightly until his knuckles turned white.
In his old world, he was Hao Kai. The cunning defense lawyer who could twist any case to his favor. He had money piling up in his accounts. Here, he was Leon Veylan—a weakling with no cultivation, no reputation, no wealth, and no parents. Just a young sister trying to hold everything together.
His throat tightened. "This isn't fair."
He leaned back on the bed and closed his eyes, forcing himself to breathe evenly. Panicking wouldn't help. He had been through worse… right? At least, that's what he told himself. But the more he thought about it, the more helplessness clawed at his chest.
After a while, hunger gnawed at his stomach, pulling him back to reality. Just then, the door creaked open again and Lyra entered with a small wooden tray. On it was a chipped bowl of porridge, thin enough to see the bottom, and a few slices of what looked like dried meat.
"Eat" she said softly, placing the tray on the rickety table beside him.
Hao Kai glanced at the meal, his brows twitching. "Is this all?"
Lyra smiled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck. "I… I'll try to get more tomorrow. Work's been scarce."
Her clothes were patched in several places, and her hands were rough, evidence of years of labor. Hao Kai looked at her properly for the first time and felt a pang of guilt. She was barely holding herself together.
He sighed quietly, picking up the spoon.
"Thank you."
She froze for a moment, then smiled faintly.
"You're welcome."
After she left again, Hao Kai sat there, slowly eating the bland porridge. It tasted like nothing, but every bite was a stark reminder of his current situation.
He finished the meal in record time and set the tray aside then settled into the bed. He would think about his future tomorrow. Now, he would sleep and mourn his past.