Darkness.
Then—pain.
A crushing weight pressed on his lungs, squeezing the last breath out of him. Li Fan remembered metal screeching, flashing headlights, and the violent impact that shattered the world around him.
" …So this is death…? "
Everything dissolved into a cold, empty void.
But in the next moment—
He felt warmth.
Softness.
A heartbeat.
A gentle rhythm like waves against the shore.
Something wrapped around him, pulling him close.
A voice—faint, melodic, trembling with emotion—whispered above him.
He couldn't understand the words; they sounded ancient, foreign, and flowing like old countryside dialects.
Another voice answered, deeper, steady, vibrating like a drum.
" Where… am I? "
Li Fan tried to open his eyes.
Heavy.
Slow.
Sticky.
When the world finally appeared, it was nothing like he expected—
Everything was in black and white.
Blurry.
Shapes without edges.
Light without color.
Faces without detail.
His heart clenched.
" Did the accident make me blind…? No… this feels different. "
A shadow moved—a soft, rounded shape.
Warmth pressed against his lips.
He startled.
" This… am I… drinking milk? "
His newborn instincts took over, and his tiny body suckled despite his mind screaming in confusion.
He heard the woman laugh—a warm, relieved sound that vibrated through her chest and into his tiny bones. Her voice felt like sunlight filtered through clouds.
A larger, heavier shadow leaned closer from the side. Through the blur, he noticed broad shoulders, a muscular silhouette from years of manual labor. The man's voice was low and soft, filled with pride he didn't try to hide.
The woman pulled him closer, and even through his poor newborn vision, he sensed her smile.
Her warmth wrapped him like a blanket.
Her scent—earthy, natural—reminded him of old wooden houses and farmlands.
Then he noticed something else.
The room was small.
Walls made of rough wood.
No machines.
No lights.
No modern sound.
Only crackling fire.
The smell of hay.
The distant moo of cattle or some livestock creature.
" Is this… ancient times? Did I time-travel? "
He could see nothing clearly.
Only shapes.
Movement.
Emotion.
" Or… is this a rebirth? "
The man's calloused hand gently brushed his cheek.
A strict father, by the tone of his voice—stern, disciplined—but his eyes, even blurred, carried a soft gleam of joy and nervous pride.
The woman was middle-aged, but beautiful in that warm, natural way.
Loving.
Kind.
Her touch eased the panic inside him.
His tiny heart pounded too fast for his fragile body, but slowly—very slowly—it settled.
" Okay… breathe. Think. "
He tried to speak, but only a weak noise escaped his newborn throat.
He couldn't move properly.
Couldn't see colors.
Couldn't lift his head.
" I… really am a newborn. "
The realization hit him like a wave.
" I died on Earth… and was born again here. "
But then another thought struck him, even heavier:
" I can't see. Everything is blurry. Am I… blind? "
Panic surged.
He forced his newborn eyes to focus—squinting, straining—but the world stayed in gray shadows.
His mother hummed and held him tighter, mistaking his distress for hunger or cold.
Her warmth slowly soothed him.
" No… no… calm down. A newborn's vision is weak. If this world follows Earth's biology, I won't see colors until weeks from now. Maybe months… "
He clung to that logic.
To science.
To the only anchor he had left.
The father's shadow leaned in again.
A large, rough finger touched Elias's tiny hand.
Instinctively, his newborn fingers curled around it.
The man sucked in a breath—deep, shaky—and let out a laugh filled with relief and wonder.
At that moment, Li Fan felt something unfamiliar—
Safety.
Warm arms.
Gentle voices.
A world simple and untainted by noise and machines.
He was alive.
Loved.
Protected.
Even if he couldn't see clearly.
Even if this was a primitive age.
He would adapt.
He would grow.
For now, he let his tiny body relax in his mother's arms as sleep pulled him under.
" Whatever world this is… I will survive. "
The last thing he heard before drifting into unconsciousness was his mother's whisper:
"Welcome to the world, my little one."