It was Friday night.
I thought maybe if I went outside for a little fresh air, I might feel better. If you asked me why… well, let's just say some people are better at using others than you'd expect. That little b**** had treated me like a walking ATM. I'd seen it coming, of course—but I'd ignored it. One day, she might dump me. And today… apparently, that day was now.
SCREECH.
CRASH!!
Where the hell did that come from? Dammit.
"Sir… sir, are you alright?" a panicked voice yelled.
Of course I'm not, moron. Can't you see I'm dying? I thought, staring at the blood pooling around me.
"He's losing a lot of blood! Call the ambulance!" someone shouted.
Blackout.
Beep. Beep.
Huh… how am I still alive? My thoughts wavered as consciousness returned, strangely suspended in a haze. *Still alive… huh.*
The doctor's voice rang in my ears: "He's still alive!"
I felt overwhelmingly tired. *Why do I feel so sleepy?*
Light.
I opened my eyes. And then… I saw it.
**NOTIFICATION**
*You have proven worthy to be given a second chance.*
*Will you Accept or Decline?*
Of course I'd accept. Who in their right mind would decline a second chance at life?
Blackout again.
Hmm… nothing. Was that it? I thought I'd get the full anime/manga reincarnation experience. Guess that was fictional, huh?
Of course, I died.
It was inevitable. The world I had known was too small, too weak, too… boring. I had survived every minor setback, every pathetic struggle, only to be undone by the mundane cruelty of chance. And yet, as my vision faded and the last warmth of my old life slipped away, I couldn't help but feel… relieved.
"Ow… he's cute! Let's name him Kael," a soft female voice said.
"Hmm… Kael? Okay, I guess," a male voice responded.
"Yippee!" the woman squealed.
I opened my eyes again. The first thing I saw was a man's face. Really? A man? Come on… why couldn't it be a cute girl? Not that it mattered. What mattered was figuring out where I was and how I ended up here.
I tried to move, to push myself upright… but my body wasn't cooperating. My arms were tiny, my legs were barely functional. Baby hands and legs. Great.
"Odd… he doesn't cry like other babies," the man muttered.
Ooh. I see. I'm reincarnated in another world. That explains a lot.
"I dunno, maybe you aren't holding him right," said the woman.
"Yeah, maybe you're right…" the man replied hesitantly.
Hmm… is that a dog down there?
"Woof! Woof!" it barked.
Dang it. It doesn't seem to like me.
"Ooh, it looks like Rufni likes him! How about you say hi to her?" the woman suggested.
No. No. No.
Waaawawaaaaa!! Of course I'm crying! If they bring me closer to that dog, it'll bite me!
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, JOHAN? YOU COULD HAVE HURT THE BABY!" the woman shouted, furious at the man.
"But you said…"
"I SAID WHAT?!" she interrupted, cutting him off.
Dang. This woman is scary. I can't believe she's supposed to be my mother. Well… I guess I better adapt.
And so began my new life.
A life where I was tiny, helpless, and utterly at the mercy of these chaotic adults and the oversized canine terror lurking in the corner.
Seven years passed before I even realized it.
Time has a funny way of sneaking past you when you're trying to survive an overprotective mother, an overly cheerful father, and a sister who seems to think your face exists solely for her to poke.
Life in this small village—Taren Vale, as I later learned—was peaceful. Too peaceful.
The kind of calm that felt suspicious. Like the quiet before a storm.
I sat on a wooden fence one morning, legs dangling as the sun rose behind the hills. Rufni, that same dog who once tried to eat me, was now my loyal companion. Well… "loyal" might be pushing it. He mostly drooled on my shoes and ignored my commands.
"Kael!"
My sister's voice pierced the calm air. Loud. Always loud.
I turned to see her stomping toward me, her long silver hair swaying. She was thirteen now, always acting like she was twenty.
"Mom said you're supposed to help her with the water buckets! You're not gonna get away with sitting here again."
I shrugged. "I was thinking."
She frowned. "Thinking? About what? You're seven. The only thing you should think about is not breaking your neck when you climb trees."
She wasn't wrong. But she wasn't right, either.
I tilted my head, looking at the endless blue above us. "About the sky," I said simply.
The words slipped out without thought.
She blinked, thrown off. "The sky? What about it?"
"Don't you think it looks… too big?" I asked, quietly. "Like there's something waiting above it. Something we're not meant to see."
Her expression softened just a bit. "You say weird things sometimes, you know that?"
"Maybe," I replied with a small grin. "But someone has to."
She sighed and smacked the back of my head lightly. "Just don't make Mom worry. You know how she gets."
Yeah. I knew. My mother's temper could shatter glass.
Still, she meant well. Everyone here did.
But every night, when the house grew quiet, and my sister was asleep across the room, I'd find myself staring out the window—watching the stars. There was something… off about them.
One night, I saw it clearly for the first time.
"System recognizing."
"Subject: Kael. Status: Preparing for awakening."
I froze. My heart skipped.
"...Huh?"
The screen was light transparent and somehow I couldn't touch it.
I rubbed my eyes, wondering if I was dreaming. Rufni lifted his head from where he slept at the foot of my bed, ears twitching. He barked softly once, like he seen it too.
Then silence.
Its gone. Just the sound of the night insects and the slow creak of the wind outside.
I lay back down, trying to calm my heart.
Maybe I imagined it. Maybe I didn't.
But something told me that screen wasn't a dream.
It felt like… the beginning.
The next morning, my sister found me in the same spot I'd fallen asleep, eyes still fixed on the sky.
"You're hopeless," she said, ruffling my hair.
"Maybe," I muttered. "But I think something's coming."
She laughed. "What, aliens?"
I smiled faintly. "Something like that."
And deep down, I knew I was right.