On the cold streets of a desolate town, at moonlight spilled across the empty street, lightly illuminating the world with its silver glow.
The air was filled with a silence that pressed in, broken only by the faint sniffling of a boy.
Sebastian, a skeletal boy with ripped, dirty rags, was slumped against a trash can by the wall.
His body barely moved, so still that many would have assumed he was dead, if not for the way his fingers twitched or the faint whimpers that were escaping him
His body was so malnourished that his cheeks had sunken inwards, his lips were cracked, and he had giant dark circles under his eyes. He looked less like a living, breathing human and more like a corpse
He didn't move, his every breath barely lifting his chest.
He had long stopped caring about the world and its people, and the world has long since returned its favor.
He let out a long laugh, but there was no humor. "Guess it's time to end this pitiful life, "
"Maybe I wasn't destined for anything in this fucking life." his voice carried no emotion except exhaustion.
Pushing himself up, Sebastian looked around at the place he had called home these past few days. Red brick walls that towered high above him, an alley filled with overflowing green trash cans, and the comforting smell of piss and cat shit. 'What a heavenly house.'
He started to move towards the street, each step a painful reminder of his current situation. On the sidewalk, pedestrians sidestepped, avoiding him like he was a bad omen.
They looked at him as if he were misfortune itself. They might have been right. Their eyes sparkled with disgust, not bothering to hide it.
'These types of people were the worst, the ones who acted like saints, even as they kicked beggars in their faces. Hypocritical fucks, all of them.'
"Are you that jealous of my beautifulface?" Sebastian said, his voice coming out as a wheeze.
"Crazy bastard," someone mumbled, not even glancing at him as they passed.
The irony wasn't lost on him, after all, a few years ago, before his parents jumped, he would've acted the same way. So maybe he has lost his right to judge.
His destination was in sight, just a few more blocks till he reached the bridge, perfect for jumping.
The biggest mistake in Sebastian's life was being born. His parents had proven it by jumping off this bridge; his girlfriend had proven it by abandoning him at his worst, and now he would prove it himself, the only way he could.
'Such a wonderful life.'
As he made his way towards the center of the bridge, a single thought was slowly consuming him.
'If I hadn't introduced that damn book to them, none of this would have ever happened'
Many years ago, Sebastian had read a book about a boy who was left an orphan after the followers of the god of war attacked his village.
Sebastian's parents had been drowning in debt since the day he was born, and when they found him reading about an orphan, they took that as a message, a divine message, as if GOD himself was telling them to leave their 13-year-old child.
Before his parents jumped, they had said something that haunted him to this day.
His mother had said, "My son, we don't want to do this, but death has chosen." with tears streaming down her face.
'Back then, I was too young to understand, but maybe it was all an empty excuse for abandoning him. '
Lost in the last memories of his parents, Sebastian didn't notice the truck that was barreling towards him.
CRASH!
BANG!
'AH, so this is how those isekai protagonists felt when Truck-kun hit them . . . not exactly pleasant but better than being buried alive under books, I guess.'
That was the last coherent thought Sebastian had before he blacked out.
---
Sebastian had expected death to be cold, cruel, and final, but what he was witnessing was far from it.
Death was not cold; it was warm, like a mother's embrace. It was not cruel; it was patient, impartial, and inevitable. It went after everyone equally. It wasn't final, it was more like an open door.
Looking around him, he could see nothing, maybe because there was nothing.
No darkness, no emptiness, just the lack of everything. The ground, the sky, and even himself were all swallowed by the endless void of nothingness.
'What a plight, to hide my divine beauty from the world, surely it must be a crime worthy of death.'
The void stirred, and pulled him before he could comment how even nothingness was obsessed with him.
It first it was slow, almost curious to see how he would react. Then it surged, violently dragging him faster than he could resist.
And then just as he felt he was about to reach wherever he was being pulled, it stopped. The pull ended as suddenly as it began. leaving only a deafening stillness in its wake.
Sebastian watched as the world surrounding him started to change.
The black void pulsed, reshaping itself around him
Beneath his feet, smooth black stone spread like wildfire. Overhead, the sky turned a listless grey. The walls darkened, red veins pulsing faintly through them, as if they were alive.
At the center of the room was a throne, and on it sat a statue of a woman so beautiful that Sebastian almost compared his looks to hers.
Emphasis of Almost.
'While she may be beautiful, I'm definitely better.'
The statue had long black hair that shone like polished obsidian, and eyes so black they seemed to make the room glow in comparison.
Its outfit was nothing more than silk scraps, legs bare to the thigh, chest daringly exposed.
'Not bad,' Sebastian thought, 'But you'll need to do more than that to make me attracted to a statue.'
'What is all of this?' 'Weren't you supposed to just ... have an eternal rest after you died? Why am I still alive?' the question echoed through his mind.
He stepped forward, attentive despite himself. Each step echoed in the empty hall, bringing him closer to the throne.
Sebastian tilted his head, now that he was closer to the statue. He could confidently say that no mortal could have made something this beautiful.
'I want to touch that statue, who knows when I'll have the chance to see something made by a divine being.'
Sebastian confidently walked up the steps leading to the throne and placed his hand on the head of the statue.
The pain was instant. Fire burned beneath his skin, crawling from his hand to his arm. At first, the fire was cold, almost comforting, but it consumed him, searing hot flames crawling up and down his body.
His skin melted. Bones burned. His blood boiled. The air was filled with the stench of burned meat and the sizzling of flesh.
Sebastian's confidence shattered into a terrifying scream.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Within seconds, his body crumbled away. Fingers, arms, chest, all of it turned into unmoving ash
---
Sebastian's eyes snapped open. Pain flooded his senses, momentarily making him blind. The lingering sensation of being burned alive was still alive in his mind.
Before he could even think, a black window materialized into existence in front of his eyes.
Status
Name: Sebastian Nekros
Age: 17
Rank: F+
Affinity: Life, Death
Bloodline: Locked
Attributes
Strength: F+
Agility: F+
Endurance: F-
Perception: F
Willpower: F+
Luck: unpredictable
—
Unique Skill: Soulforged Duality
Titles:
-Son of Death
-Apostle of Life
-Anomaly
---
'What the fuck?'