That morning was bright. Sunlight slowly slipped through the window of a man named Akagami Rio.
He was 28 years old.
164 cm tall.
Jet-black hair, slightly messy.
And one thing that had never changed since the day he was born into this world—
he had never been in a relationship.
In other words… a forever single.
"Ahh… it's morning already, huh…" Rio muttered in a hoarse voice as he let out a long yawn.
"Guess I'll take a shower first…"
Standing in front of the mirror, he stared at his own reflection.
A tired face.
Dull skin.
Eyes so exhausted they looked like they had already given up on life.
He rubbed his cheek, then lightly pinched it.
"Ahh… my face already looks like an old man's…" he sighed bitterly.
"No wonder… I'm still single at this age… damn it."
He quickly put on his work clothes.
A wrinkled shirt, black slacks, and his favorite shoes—already peeling, yet still loyally sticking with him.
The house felt empty.
No voices.
No presence of anyone else.
Just silence.
"I'm heading out!" he shouted, even though there was no one there to hear him.
He smiled.
A bitter one.
"Haha… like it even matters… I live alone anyway…"
At the office, Rio's steps were sluggish. Dark circles were clearly visible under his eyes. Every movement he made looked like that of someone who had lost all motivation to live.
Suddenly, a rough hand slapped his shoulder.
"HEY—RIO!"
Mika shouted, his loudmouth friend and coworker.
"You alright, man? You've been looking like a zombie all morning."
Rio turned toward him, his face wrinkled like crumpled paper.
"Damn it… you think I wanna die while still single?!" he snapped back—half joking, half… completely exhausted.
Mika burst out laughing and patted Rio's back.
"Haha! Fair point! But seriously… why don't you try getting a girlfriend already, huh?"
Rio let out a long sigh and stared at his desk, buried under endless piles of documents.
"A girlfriend, huh… I can't even finish my own work…"
"How am I supposed to take responsibility for someone else's heart…?"
Night slowly arrived.
One by one, the office lights shut off, leaving only the dim glow of Rio's monitor still shining.
Coworkers packed up and went home.
"Rio… we're heading out first!" someone called.
"Oh… yeah," Rio replied without turning around, his fingers still dancing across the keyboard.
Not long after, Mika came over again, stretching his arms.
"Bro… you're still not done?"
Rio kept typing, his expression flat.
"Not yet. Still got things to finish tonight. You go on ahead."
Mika nodded, then grinned.
"Alright then, I'm out. Tonight I'm binge-watching my favorite anime!"
Rio glanced at him and gave a faint smile.
"Damn weeb…"
Mika froze. He turned around, striking a dramatic pose like an anime hero.
"Not a weeb, bro. I'm an animation enthusiast."
With exaggerated flair, he walked away.
Rio chuckled softly, then sank back into silence and work.
But that night… would be his last.
The monitor was still on.
Rio was still typing.
"It feels so empty… and I'm… so damn tired," he murmured quietly.
"I'm almost… almost done…"
His body grew heavy.
His vision blurred.
The world felt distant.
A thought surfaced in his heart.
"If I… die here…
I want to live again…
in a world without insane work like this…"
Then—
Brak!
His head slammed down onto the keyboard.
Darkness.
Silence.
Warmth.
His consciousness slowly drifted upward into a formless, radiant dimension—
the Altherion Realm.
A sacred place between worlds.
Where souls are purified before being reborn.
But… Rio's soul was damaged.
Shattered by life's burdens, emptiness, and a tragic death.
The reincarnation system could not purify him.
At the brink of collapse, a light appeared—
an unnamed entity, known only as the Fragment of the Primordial Light.
Its voice was gentle, yet it shook the soul.
"You did not die because you were weak…
but because the world itself was rotten.
Accept my eyes…
and see this world through true light."
The light fused with Rio's soul…
granting him a pair of silver, glowing eyes—
The Eyes of Light.
A curse… and a blessing.
Truth… and a new form of suffering.
Then everything… vanished.
When Rio opened his eyes again, he did not realize that he had been reincarnated.
His body was small.
His hands were tiny.
And the only sound that came from his mouth was… a baby's cry.
"Ugh… w-where am I…?" he thought, since his lips could not speak.
A woman held him gently, overflowing with love.
Her face was soft.
Her smile sincere.
Her eyes glistened with emotion.
"Ahh… our child is so adorable, dear!"
Her name was Akagami Arleya.
Beside her stood a man—calm and dignified.
His aura was cold and sharp.
His gaze empty, as if carrying countless secrets of the world.
"I hope our child can inherit my work… as an Assassin."
Rio panicked.
"A-An Assassin?! What kind of world is this?!"
The man slowly stepped closer, staring at the tiny baby in his wife's arms with sharp eyes.
"Rio… no. From today onward, you are Akagami Rio.
I am your father.
And I want you to grow up… to become like me."
His name was Akagami Zero.
Trapped inside a baby's body, Rio could only laugh bitterly in his heart.
"So even after reincarnating…
I still get stuck with the same name, huh…
Haha…"
A new world…
A new body…
A new fate…
Had begun.