Location — ???
I'll be the first to tell you. Reincarnation? Not all it's cracked up to be. People always talk about second chances and grand cosmic adventures—new lives, fresh starts, the works. Honestly? It mostly just feels like a letdown. Endless waiting, no big revelations, and none of that magical awakening people rave about online. Turns out, the afterlife is a lot more boring—and a lot weirder—than anyone lets on. I've been stuck in this void. No light, no sound. Just circling thoughts. Even my own thoughts get old after a while. Funny thing is, I remember exactly how I got here. A car. Headlights. A scream. Not mine. I didn't even think. Just moved. One second I was running toward my classmate—frozen in the street—and the next… Impact. Yeah.
Not an experience I'd repeat. It hurt. Not just physically, either. It was like everything—bones, nerves, existence—just got erased all at once. And then—I woke up. Not here. No… I woke up there. It wasn't a place. Not really. It felt like standing inside infinity. Not stars—more like swirling forms taking on the illusion of stars, hung in every direction like countless eyes, each both there and not. When I tried to focus, their shapes would unravel. They twisted and blurred out of sight. Unfamiliar colors seethed and bled, bleeding into each other in a restless turmoil. Sometimes the space itself seemed to pulse hot, then cold in my veins, as if some silent tidal force pressed directly against my mind. It was like my mind stretched and screamed, straining against the edges of reality. Desperate to make sense of anything in that vast madness. The fear was cold, coiling tight beneath my ribs. As though trying to look at something too big… too real. And at the center of everything—something stood—or existed—there. Not a being I could name, but a distinct presence. I don't know what to call it. God? Entity? Cosmic horror? Looking at it hurt. Not like the car. Worse. My mind kept trying to make sense of it. Every time I got close, it changed shape. It was like staring into a night sky that kept shifting. Stars flowing into each other without end or pattern. I remember trying to speak. My voice didn't feel like my own. "…Am I dead?" The thing didn't move. Didn't blink. Didn't breathe. But it answered, not by sound.
No words. Just…existence. Yet I got the message.
Yes
Of course. I let out a breath. No drama, no freak-out—what's the point? I rubbed my neck, but it was pointless. The void remained: infinite, impossible, unsettling. "So what now?" I asked. Reality flexed.
You have been chosen.
That got my attention. "A chosen?" I repeated. The endless sky above pulsed, aware of me, folding light and darkness around its invisible form. Then—images. No, concepts. Worlds. Flashes of things I recognized: cities with heroes and villains.
Beings born from fear and darkness.
Hunters enter dungeons filled with monsters.
Warriors bending elements. Every story I'd seen, mashed together. My heart raced. "You're kidding."
You will be sent to entertain.
"And the catch?" I asked back. There is always a catch. For a split second, the shifting stars zeroed in on me.
You will begin at the lowest point.
Growth is not guaranteed.
Survival is not ensured.
You will struggle and fight for every bit of power.
There it is. Start at the bottom, no safety net, no guarantees—another shot at life, this time with monsters. I thought about my death and how I didn't hesitate.
Didn't think. Just moved. A tired smile threatened. Not much, but enough. "Do I get anything, or am I just monster chow right away?" Silence, then a shift. Not outside. In me.
You will be granted an Aspect.
"What is that exactly?" I asked.
An Aspect—or, as some call it, a Quirk. A sort of special power, unique to each person, that shapes what they can do in this world. Sometimes it's a weapon. Sometimes a talent. Sometimes something stranger. But nobody gets to choose what theirs will be.
The phrase felt… heavy. Important. Like it meant more than I understood. "…Can I choose it?" I asked.
A brief pause. No, the being spoke finality.
Of course not. I exhaled. "…Figures." But that wasn't a deal breaker. If those flashes were real—even half this wasn't just another life. This was a shot. To grow stronger.
To push further.
To actually be something.
I looked up at the shifting infinity one last time. "…Send me." No hesitation this time.
No fear. Just certainty. Dying once dulls the edge. The entity didn't respond, but I felt its overwhelming presence focusing on me. Then: begin.
Everything shattered. Darkness devoured me, violent, fast—like the end of one story and the violent birth of another. Memories not mine slammed into me—a name.
A life.
A family.
Pain.
Loss.
Confusion.
The name flew into my head, Kai.
My heart pounded in my chest. It felt like it was trying to break free. Memories flooded in—mine and not mine, all at once. A small apartment.
A tired mother.
A world filled with Hunters. Gates. Monsters. Flashes of rules: mana surges draw monsters. Gates open without warning. Only Hunters can close them before chaos spills out. The fragments pressed at the edge of memory, promising secrets I hadn't grasped: power—or its lack. I clenched my hand and felt it: small, weak.
"E-Rank." The word comes, obvious as breath. It's my definition now. I study my hand—weak, ordinary. But slowly, I smile. Not much. Not wide.
Not crazy. Just enough.
"…Guess I gotta climb."