BOOM! CRASH!
The impact was brutal — not just to his body, but to his very soul.
Bones shattered. Metal screamed.
A strangled "Ahhh!" escaped Rei's throat before darkness swallowed the sound.
His thin body was flung three meters into the air, crashing down hard — not onto solid pavement,
but into a filthy gutter filled with trash, mud, and the stench of rot.
Pain.
Not the kind that screams, but the kind that devours.
It coursed through every nerve, from his toes to the roots of his hair.
His ribs were broken — shards of glass piercing his lungs.
Warm blood mixed with the cold, disgusting filth around him.
The car paused.
The driver realized what had happened — he had hit someone.
Then, panic.
The engine roared again, and the car vanished into the storm, leaving behind only tire tracks and silence.
Rei coughed. Blood spilled from his mouth… his nose… his ears.
He tried to move, to call for help,
but only bubbles of dirty air escaped his lips.
He lay there, helpless,
the mud embracing him like the final arms of a cruel, indifferent world.
> Is this... the end?
Rei lifted his gaze, staring past the curtain of rain.
Far above, the city lights shimmered — beautiful, distant, heartless.
He felt no anger. Only numbness.
His face could no longer even twist in pain.
He had worked hard.
He had struggled.
He had survived every humiliation life threw at him.
And in the end… he died alone.
Hit by a car. Forgotten in a gutter.
> I didn't even get to say goodbye.
No one will come looking for me.
What's the point of hoping... at the end of it all?
His consciousness dimmed.
The cold from the gutter seeped into his bones,
snuffing out the last flickers of warmth inside him.
His lungs spasmed, his heart raced—then slowed.
The pain faded. Only peace remained.
Rei's eyes opened one last time, catching the falling rain.
> "Beautiful…" he whispered.
Then — stillness.
No more pain.
No more light.
And in that silence… something changed.
The world froze.
Raindrops stopped mid-air.
The roaring downpour fell silent — utterly silent.
Then a voice echoed, not from outside, but from deep within.
Not human.
Not natural.
Not mechanical — at least not of this world.
It was cold, resonant, and pure,
like a machine speaking directly to his soul.
> Rei's body was gone.
Only his consciousness remained,
drifting in endless darkness —
a void without light or warmth.
> It feels... like a suffocating room... endless and dark.
Then—
{DING}...
> [Soul synchronization detected.]
[Status: Deceased.]
[Cause of death: Vehicular impact and internal trauma.]
"Whose voice... is that?" Rei thought, trying to speak.
Only silence answered.
{DING}...
> [Analyzing soul data.]
[Compatibility with The Immortal System: 99.99%.]
[Subject displays exceptional determination and untapped spiritual potential.]
{DING}...
> [Question: Do you wish to live again?]