Light had always thought nothing could be worse than living paycheck to paycheck. But life had once again proven that it always finds a way to hit harder.
Grease on his hands, the smell of gasoline in his nose, his heart humming in rhythm with the clang of metal tools. The auto repair shop was his sanctuary, the only place where he truly felt needed. At twenty-seven, he had no family, no surname, not even close friends. But cars… Cars at least growled gratefully after a repair.
Today, everything went differently.
He had fixed an old car, a thoroughly beaten-up sedan. The job had taken him several hours. When the engine came to life and purred smoothly, Light wiped his forehead with a greasy rag and handed the keys to the owner.
Job's done. As agreed, he said calmly.
But instead of money, the man scowled.
"Hey, you hack, you think I'm gonna pay for this?"
Light frowned.
"We had a deal. I didn't fix the car for free."
The answer was a contemptuous snort. The man waved his hand, and three burly guys emerged from around the corner.
"Think you're smart?" one of them shoved him in the chest. "You get work—be happy you even get jobs."
Light felt anger tighten his chest. He had always been patient, but not to this extent.
"I'm not a dog to work for scraps. A deal is a deal."
That was the last straw. The blow came swiftly, then another. They kicked and punched him until he fell onto the cold concrete. Someone kicked him in the ribs; the air rushed from his lungs. Everything around him became a red haze of pain.
The last thing he heard before darkness swallowed him was:
"Throw him in the woods. Let him die."
…
Cold.
Darkness.
Silence.
Light opened his eyes—and didn't understand what was happening. He couldn't feel his body. There were no cars or people around, only endless gloom.
«Am I dead?!» The thought flashed.
He tried to remember the details, but there was only chaos in his head. Forest. Body. Ground. Darkness. Everything had ended abruptly and senselessly.
For the first time in a long while, he felt afraid.
He tried to scream, but he had no mouth, no voice.
And suddenly… light.
It appeared like a thin crack in the darkness, then grew, filling everything. Light felt himself being pulled somewhere, like a branch carried by a river.
…
"Congratulations, it's a boy!"
A strange voice, loud and joyful.
His body was flooded with warmth and moisture; bright light hit his face. He squinted—and suddenly realized: he was breathing. He had lungs. His heart was pounding wildly.
«What?..»
He cried. Naturally, like any newborn. The cry cut through the air, and his tiny body trembled.
"My little… Seito," he heard a woman's voice. Warm, tired, but full of happiness. "Seito Kagami."
Seito? Kagami?
A name? His name?
He didn't have time to understand anything before a new radiance flared in his eyes. For a moment, it seemed only he could see it. Transparent letters materialized right in the air before him.
[Welcome to the System.]
His heart clenched. Light, now Seito, froze.
«System?..»
He blinked. The words disappeared, but new ones immediately appeared.
[User registration… Complete.]
[Name: Seito Kagami]
[True Name: ———]
[Age: 0]
[Height: 47 cm]
[Weight: 3.1 kg]
[Parameters: Locked.]
Seito froze. The True Name was crossed out. An emptiness, as if someone had deliberately erased his past.
«What the hell? Is this like a web novel?..» The thought flashed.
The system remained silent. But at the end of the line, where numbers and symbols flickered, it was as if someone had placed a tiny emoticon—mocking, taunting.
Light, who had fought for scraps of respect all his life, felt for the first time that he was being laughed at, even here, in this new world.
But instead of anger, he felt a strange resolve.
If this is a game—then he can play by its rules. If there is a system—then there is a path to power.
In his past life, he died for simply demanding fair payment. He was weak. Helpless.
Now, everything would be different.
…
Childhood in the new world began with silence and sleep. Seito quickly realized that his past memories remained with him. He was no ordinary child: his mind belonged to an adult man. But his body obeyed the instincts of an infant.
He couldn't speak, couldn't walk, couldn't even hold his head up straight. But every night, when his parents put him to sleep, he saw the familiar window before his eyes.
[System Active.]
Sometimes the parameters updated:
[Age: 0 years]
[Height: 55 cm]
[Weight: 5.2 kg]
And again—an empty space next to the "True Name" line.
Why was it empty? What did that line hide?
Seito didn't know. But he knew one thing: the system was waiting.
Sometimes, new messages flashed in the window.
[Tip: Even an infant can begin the path.]
[Hint: Strength begins with awareness.]
They looked like someone was teasing him, but they also gave direction.
"You're laughing at me…" he wanted to say, but his lips only produced baby babble.
The system didn't answer.
…
The world he had entered was far from the noise of megacities and humming cars. It was a world that smelled of wood and stone, where houses were built from thick logs, and mountains rose above the roofs. A world where people lived by the laws of strength, and magic was as natural as breathing.
Seito grew up listening to adult conversations. He learned new words, absorbed knowledge about the village, the land, the gods and spirits. But in his heart, he always remembered: he was not from here.
Sometimes, lying in his cradle, he thought: I am no longer Light. I am Seito Kagami. But I won't let this life pass like the last one.
He didn't need fame, didn't need riches. But he needed strength. The kind of strength that grants the right to live by one's own rules.
And every time he thought this, the system quietly updated the screen:
[Path chosen.]
[Beginning—accepted.]
And again—the mocking symbol at the end of the line.
He clenched his tiny fists.
«Fine. Laughing, are you? We'll see who has the last laugh.»
…
Thus began his new life.
The life of a child with the memories of an adult.
The life of a mechanic who became a seeker of power.
A life without a surname in the past—and with a new surname in the present.
Seito Kagami.
The name given by his mother.
The name under which he would begin the path to greatness.
But somewhere deep within the system's lines, beneath the crossed-out emptiness of the "True Name," something was hidden that would one day change everything.