Rain fell over Edenfall Cit like the heavens were weeping.
Thin sheets of silver water rolled down rooftops, bounced off neon signs, and gathered into rivers that rushed along the broken sidewalks. It was supposed to be summer, but Edenfall never followed the rules. The sky always looked bruised, the sun rarely pushed through, and the night arrived too early—as if darkness was the natural state of the world.
Seventeen-year-old Kairo Val pulled the hood of his faded jacket tighter around his head as he walked through the slums of **Lower Gloomridge**, the poorest district of the city. Every step he took splashed cold muddy water against his worn-out sneakers. His stomach growled, but he ignored it. He'd been ignoring hunger for years.
A gust of wind slammed into him, pushing him sideways. He steadied himself and clenched the envelope in his hand—the envelope he had carried with trembling hope all day.
Inside it was his application for the scholarship to **Skyline Academy**, the best school in Edenfall, the place where talented kids became future leaders. Kairo had dreamed about going there since he was eleven. It was the only chance he had to escape poverty, to build something better, to prove he wasn't the worthless failure everyone believed he was.
But today, that dream had crashed.
He swallowed hard as the memory stabbed him again.
---
**Earlier That Afternoon**
He stood in the marble office of the administrator, his heart thudding as he waited for the verdict. She looked at him like something she had scraped off the bottom of her shoe.
"Your grades are good," she began, tapping his file. "But grades aren't everything."
Kairo straightened. "Ma'am, I've worked so hard. I—"
"That's not the issue," she interrupted coldly. "The issue is your background."
Kairo's hands tightened. "My background?"
"Yes. Students from Lower Gloomridge… don't integrate well. They cause trouble. They don't meet the image the Academy wants."
It felt like someone punched him in the chest.
"But I'm not like that—"
"You live in the slums," she said flatly, as if that alone made him unworthy. "We can't risk our reputation. Scholarship denied."
With that, she closed the file, stood, and gestured toward the door.
"Please leave."
He stood there for a moment, stunned. The room blurred. His throat burned. But he forced himself to turn around and walk out. The guards at the entrance stared at him with bored expressions, already knowing he had failed.
Outside the gates of Skyline Academy, the sky had darkened as if it were mourning for him.
That was hours ago.
And now he walked home through the storm, the rejection still burning like a fresh wound.
---
**Back to the Present**
The rain grew heavier. Kairo tightened his grip on the useless envelope, his fingers numb.
He had promised his younger sister, Lani, that he would get the scholarship. He had told her their lives would change, that he would make things better. That he would give her the life their parents couldn't.
But now…
"Lani," he whispered into the storm, his voice cracking. "I'm sorry."
His sister was only ten. Too young to carry the weight of this cruel world. Too young to know hunger. Too young to see their mother collapse from exhaustion every night.
And now Kairo had failed her.
Failed everyone.
Lightning flickered across the sky, illuminating the narrow streets. He passed graffiti-covered walls, flickering lamps, and shuttered shops. A stray dog ran across the street, its ribs visible beneath its fur.
This was his world. A place where hope wasn't allowed.
The thunder rolled again—and suddenly the rain wasn't the only thing blurring his vision. He wiped his eyes quickly, annoyed at himself.
Crying wasn't going to fix anything.
He stepped onto the cracked main road that led to his home when a black car suddenly swerved around the corner, its headlights blinding him.
Kairo froze.
The car's tires screeched violently against the wet pavement. The vehicle fishtailed.
And then—
**SHRIEEEK—**
The impact never came.
Because destiny had other plans.
---
**THE MOMENT BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH**
Time slowed.
Kairo wasn't hit.
The car passed through him.
Not around.
Not beside.
Through.
His breath caught. The world glitched—like a broken video frame. The rain paused midair. The wind froze. His heart stopped.
Then everything turned black.
A single mechanical beep echoed in the darkness.
Another beep.
Then—
> **[BOOTING… 1%]**
Kairo jerked at the voice. It wasn't human. It wasn't real. It came from… everywhere and nowhere.
>[SYSTEM DIAGNOSTICS: Searching for compatible host…]
A soft blue glow formed above him. It expanded until it shaped a floating panel with shifting data.
[HOST FOUND.]
[HOST SUITABILITY: 99.8%]
[INITIALIZING: ULTIMATE LIFE-REWRITE SYSTEM]
Kairo tried to speak, but the words wouldn't form.
The panel blinked.
[CONGRATULATIONS, HOST.]
[YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED FOR REBIRTH.]
His eyes widened.
Rebirth?
"What… what is this?" he whispered.
[HOST HAS SUFFERED AN UNFAIR LIFE.]
[HOST HAS DIED.]
Kairo's breath hitched.
Died?
"Died? But… I'm still—"
[DEATH CONFIRMED.]
Everything inside him went cold.
[AS COMPENSATION, HOST WILL RESTART ONE WEEK BEFORE THE EVENT.]
[ALL MEMORIES RETAINED.]
Kairo's heart hammered.
He would go back?
A second chance?
A chance to change everything?
The blue light intensified.
[INSTALLING SYSTEM.]
[3%... 19%... 42%...]
A sharp pain shot through his skull. Not unbearable, but overwhelming—like his brain was being rewired.
[95%... 100%
A final beep.
Everything flashed white.
---
**REBIRTH**
Kairo screamed as he sat upright.
He looked around wildly.
He wasn't on the street.
He wasn't dead.
He wasn't in darkness.
He was in his tiny room.
In his old bed.
With sunlight—not rain— pouring in through the cracked window.
His breathing quickened.
"No… no, this can't be real."
He scrambled to his feet and stumbled to the calendar taped to the wall.
**June 12th.**
He died on June 19th.
He was exactly **one week in the past.**
His hands shook violently.
"It's real," he whispered. "The system… rebirth… everything."
As if responding to his voice, the air shimmered.
A glowing blue screen materialized in front of him.
He froze.
> **WELCOME, HOST.**
> **YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY BEEN REBORN.**
Then a smaller line of text appeared beneath it:
> **DAILY QUEST UNLOCKED**
> **Quest: Make a Decision That Changes Your Life**
> **Reward: $500, Strength +1, Luck +2**
> **Penalty for Failure: None**
> **Time Limit: 24 hours**
Kairo blinked.
"Five hundred dollars?" he whispered.
To him, that was a fortune. His family barely made that in two months.
He looked around his small room—the peeling paint, the broken chair, the shirts hung on a rope because they didn't have a proper closet.
$500 could feed his family for a month.
$500 could pay for medicine.
$500 could change everything.
His heart raced.
"What decision?" he asked aloud.
Another box popped up.
> **THE SYSTEM DOES NOT TELL YOU WHAT TO CHOOSE.**
> **CHOOSE SOMETHING THAT CHANGES YOUR FATE.**
> **CHOOSE SOMETHING THAT DEFINES YOU.**
Kairo swallowed.
The weight of the moment pressed on him.
A life-changing decision…
Apply for the scholarship again?
Refuse to be bullied?
Save someone?
Take a risk he never dared before?
So many choices.
So many ways to rewrite his life.
His thoughts raced until a small voice called from the doorway.
"Kai?"
He turned.
Lani stood there in her oversized pajamas, rubbing her sleepy eyes. Her hair was messy. She looked so small, so innocent.
"Kai, are you okay?" she asked softly. "I heard you shouting."
His chest tightened.
She was alive.
She was here.
She didn't even know he had died.
Kairo's eyes burned.
"Yeah," he said, forcing a smile. "I'm okay. I'm better than okay."
She tilted her head. "Why are you crying?"
He wiped his eyes quickly. "Just… happy to see you."
Lani giggled. "You saw me last night, silly."
He exhaled shakily.
Last night.
Before his death.
Before everything.
She stepped closer. "Kai?"
"Yeah?"
"You're going to change our lives one day," she said with total faith. "I know you will."
Kairo froze.
A decision that changes his life.
He looked at the glowing screen.
Then at his little sister.
He knew exactly what decision he needed to make.
He knelt down and touched her shoulder gently.
"Lani," he whispered, "I promise you… from today onward, everything will be different."
Her little eyes sparkled. "Really?"
"Yes," he said. "I'm done letting life push me around. I'm done giving up. I'm going to fight. I'm going to win. And I'm going to rewrite our fate."
The blue screen behind him beeped.
> **[DECISION DETECTED.]**
> **[DAILY QUEST COMPLETE.]**
A burst of golden light filled the room.
> **REWARD GRANTED:**
> **+$500**
> **+1 Strength**
> **+2 Luck**
Kairo gasped as pure energy surged through him. His muscles tightened. His mind sharpened. His heartbeat steadied. For the first time in years, he felt… powerful.
He wasn't a nobody.
Not anymore.
He raised his head, eyes burning with determination.
"I'm going to change everything," he whispered.
And the system answered:
> **[WELCOME TO YOUR NEW LIFE, HOST.]**