Everything was silent. The darkness made it so that, even with his eyes open, Thomas could not see anything.
'Ah… now I remember. I was in front of the computer, and a brutal pain overwhelmed me...'
"...How pathetic. Thomas Hughes, twenty-four years old, software engineer… death by a cerebral aneurysm while you were arguing with a stranger on the Internet."
A dry, sarcastic voice echoed out of nowhere.
'And this fussy, repulsive voice?'
Thomas tried to move his body, assuming he was still asleep.
Then a luminous silhouette appeared in front of him, vaguely human in shape.
"Your thoughts are like subtitles to me, you know? 'repulsive voice'?"
His tone sounded clearly annoyed.
"Eh? Who are you? Am I dreaming?"
"Silence. There is no way I will reincarnate a human like you, and I do not want you in our paradise either. So let's see…"
"Reincarnation? Hey! I want to know where we are."
Thomas was ignored, and the mysterious being began to read what, before his eyes, seemed to be sheets made of light.
"...Hey!" he insisted.
"Transmigration… demons… perfect. Now you will leave! There are souls who died with purpose waiting for their turn."
"Hey, don't ignore me! Demons? What are you talking about?"
There was no response.
He felt a violent pull, as if something were sucking him through a tube.
And everything turned black again...
...
"Young Jubei… Young Jubei…"
Thomas woke up with a start. Strange memories, mostly blurry, flooded his head as he heard the voice of a girl.
'Aaaah… fuck...'
He tried to bring his hand to his head and felt something strange. There was something hard coming out of his forehead.
'…?'
"Y-young Jubei… do you feel better? You were unconscious for two days."
With his vision still blurry, he slowly raised his gaze.
"…Two days? Where...?" he asked, confused.
"In the Recovery Atrium, young Jubei. You were injured during training."
The girl placed both hands on the bed, staring at him while leaning slightly.
Violet eyes. A piercing gaze.
Small horns, curving from her forehead.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"
Thomas jumped backward and stumbled, falling on his ass onto the floor. He got up immediately to run out, but something stopped him.
He saw his reflection in the window.
"Eh… eh… eh… EH..."
"WHAT AM I NOW?!"
A timid voice sounded at his side.
"Young Jubei, calm down!"
She hugged his head, pressing it against her chest.
"...I thought you would not wake up. I was very worried."
'Jubei? Ah… now I understand. This is what that shitty deity meant by demons and transmigration. Demons... This girl is also a demon. And I...'
Thomas was bewildered, trying to process everything, considering that he might be dreaming.
"Do you feel better now, young Jubei?"
The girl let him go and smiled at him. Her cheeks were slightly flushed.
"...Circe."
"Yes, young Jubei?" she replied with a pleasant smile.
'Did I say her name?'
Then he understood.
'These memories are not mine. She is the assistant of the boy named Jubei.'
He reflected.
'If it is as I imagine, I will not be able to leave this place. For now, it will be better if I do not keep acting strange.'
"It's nothing, sorry for scaring you."
"Don't worry… I was very concerned. I thought his brothers had done something worse to you."
'Brothers? How much more does that shitty deity want to mess with me?'
Thomas Hughes no longer existed. No one in his previous world was going to miss him. His absence would probably only be noticed because he would not deliver the software code.
And Jubei… from what he saw in the blurry memories, he had not had an easy life either. His brothers treated him like trash, and this enormous house felt more like torment than a home.
"Since you are better, young Jubei, let's leave the Recovery Atrium. You must be hungry, right?"
She said it with a warm smile.
Jubei smiled without realizing it.
'The feeling of someone caring about me doesn't feel bad.' He naïvely thought that maybe this second chance would not be so bad...