Chapter 100: I’ve been reincarnated as a noble in a magical world
It hurts...
The man stood up with difficulty, wiping the blood from his lips.
The metallic taste lingered, reminding him every second of what had just happened.
What a mess... so pathetic...
He began walking down the street under the gaze of passersby, whose looks offered no comfort whatsoever.
Some looked at him with contempt, others with indifference... but none of them stopped.
What can a man like me do after my parents’ death? I shut myself away to play. What do they know about me? Don’t I suffer? Do I not care about my parents’ deaths?
Thoughts jostled one another, disorderly and unfiltered.
Memories of his childhood flashed through his mind as he ate dinner with them: his father’s laughter, who wore a wig in public to hide his baldness.
Small details... but impossible to forget.
Now, what can a 25-year-old homeless man—who’s been kicked out onto the street by his aunt and uncle—possibly do? How is he supposed to make a living?
The question had no answer.
He looked at his reflection in one of the windows of a building; he, who had a decent appearance, was neither too handsome nor too ugly... in short, an ordinary face.
A face that didn’t stand out... that went unnoticed.
Is there really nothing I can do anymore?
The question came out weakly... as if he already knew the answer.
He collapsed, covering his face as tears streamed down like a waterfall.
"I want to start over and thank my parents for supporting me so much..."
His voice broke as the words came out. But that was of little use now... It was too late.
"Help...!"
The scream shattered the moment, snapping him out of his thoughts.
He looked up toward the source of the voice, where some guys were kidnapping a little girl on a motorcycle. Without realizing it, a sense of determination flooded his body, and he ran toward the attackers.
He didn’t think... he just moved.
"They’re taking my dear daughter... help!"
The scream faded behind him as everything around him began to move faster.
He kept running, and a few meters away, he lunged at the men, knocking them down in the process; they rolled several times across the ground.
The impact was clumsy, uncontrolled... but enough.
Feeling his skin being torn, he lifted the girl, who wouldn’t stop crying, but suddenly he heard the loud sound of a truck approaching quickly, and he caught a glimpse of the driver asleep at the wheel.
It all happened in an instant... too fast to think.
Without a second thought, he threw the girl aside, accepting her death as... After that, everything was a cacophony of noise and chaos.
There was no time to finish that thought.
Images came and went; he saw himself lying on a stretcher as it moved down the hallways, his vision growing blurry. The ceiling lights flashed by like distant sparks.
Muffled sounds... distant voices... hands moving over his body.
Is this how I’m going to die...?
It was the last thing he thought before darkness fell over him like a final curtain.
...
In a vast expanse.
There were no clear boundaries... just an expanse that seemed to go on forever.
The man opened his eyes.
The absence of pain was the first thing he noticed.
He was standing, pain-free, in a garden made of stardust. Nebulae floated like golden smoke among crystalline trees. The sky—if there was a sky—was a perpetual dance of constellations.
Nothing felt solid... and yet, everything was there.
A majestic ancient palace stood in the distance. Its vast dome, supported by imposing stone pillars, towered over the immense expanse.
It didn’t look built... it seemed as though it had always been there.
Then, a voice. Ancient. Immeasurable. It didn’t come from any particular place. It was everywhere.
[Hmm... this is truly unexpected. I didn’t expect a young man like him to be dragged here.]
He turned, on high alert. The surroundings, though beautiful, offered no comfort.
"Have I died...?"
[You have died, young man.]
"Huh? What?"
His memories flooded back all at once: the truck, the stretcher, the darkness.
"Wait! Where am I? Who are you?" he asked cautiously, fear washing over him as he found himself in an unfamiliar place.
"You were dragged to this place when you died, even though that shouldn’t have happened," said an unknown entity calmly.
The man turned toward the source of the voice. What he saw left him frozen in place.
In front of him stood a young man. His face was his own. But his body was trembling, warping like water. One moment, it was himself. Then the nurse. Then an older man. Then a child.
The entity shifted its form as if its identity were a collection of masks.
"What the hell are you?"
The entity remained silent for a moment.
[The one who will change your miserable existence]
A door appeared behind him. It was formed of countless layers of spherical light, each enveloping translucent tentacles that writhed with a hypnotic rhythm.
He looked at it and swallowed hard.
He didn’t know where it led... but, for some reason, he was sure that if he crossed it, his life would no longer be as miserable as it had been.
"So... do I open it or what?" he muttered, still watching as one of the tentacles seemed to gesture at him.
[??]
The entity decided to ignore that comment. Even as it shifted shape with every Step, IStepgan walked slowly among the ethereal flowers in the garden, whose petals shimmered like stardust suspended in the air.
[You still don’t believe me, do you? But I understand. That’s how the human mind works: it needs to see to accept, it needs logic to believe.]
The man took a deep breath. Despite the whirlwind of thoughts assailing him, he asked the most pressing question:
"What do you mean, you’ll change my existence?"
The entity paused. For a moment, it took on his exact features, with a serene and distant expression.
[You weren’t supposed to be here. But because of the influence of that door, you were drawn in.]
He frowned, even more confused.
"Are you saying that... that door will give me a second life?"
[Exactly. Although... It’s not all good news. Once you move on to a better life, your memories will be sealed away.]
This time, the entity spoke with the face of an old woman, its eyes glassy.
He turned his gaze toward the door: it was made up of countless layers of spherical light, wrapped in translucent tentacles that writhed, as if expressing emotions he couldn’t understand.
Would that be why he was getting a second chance? It was absurd. Irrational. But at the same time, it was the only thing that could explain his presence in that impossible place.
He took a deep breath and got straight to the point.
"So tell me... How exactly are you going to give me this second life?"
The entity didn’t answer right away. Its form distorted once more; tentacles covered in sinister symbols emerged from beneath its robe.
[Simple.]
He paused. His voice dropped in pitch.
[Through that door.]
"Just... that?"
The entity seemed to expand, growing like an eclipse.
[That’s right. You will be reborn in a new world. But your memories will be sealed until you realize it.]
Its voice no longer came from any particular place. It seemed to speak to him from within his own body.
The entity extended an arm. It didn’t snap its fingers. It simply pointed, and reality itself seemed to give way.
The door appeared before the man, even more immense than before. In its hand, the entity held a glass bottle filled with a silvery liquid, like quicksilver.
[Step through the door and drink the potion. The rest... will happen on its own.]
"..."
He hesitated, but then took a step forward. He did not disappear immediately. His body began to sink slowly, as if submerging into an ocean made of shadow.
He raised his right hand, brought the bottle to his lips, and drank.
As he sank into the darkness, he looked up at the entity from the depths and smiled gently.
"Thank you for giving me this second chance."
The entity watched him until even his silhouette faded away.
And then, in a low voice, as if bidding farewell to an impossible memory, it murmured:
[Have a happy second life...]
...
..
.
"Mast..."
"Maste..."
"Master!"
"Huh?"
Adam finally snapped out of it when he saw Synes’ face so close to his own. Frowning, he pressed his hand to his forehead as he processed all the memories that had suddenly come flooding back.
It wasn’t just information... it was a heavy burden.
Many questions that had previously lingered were now clear, as were the dreams he’d had recently... the idea that he had died and been reincarnated.
Everything fell into place now... including what had once seemed incoherent.
A smile spread across his face as he thought about his situation.
It wasn’t happiness... it was disbelief.
I’ve been reincarnated as a noble in a magical world.
The thought struck him as absurd... and yet, at the same time, completely real.
Adam almost burst out laughing; it was the perfect title for a novel... though he was still in shock, even though this would be his third life.
The irony didn’t escape him.
Quite ironic, isn’t it?
There was no one to ask... only himself.
Although that also explains the system’s appearance, it was given to him by that strange entity when he drank that strange potion.
Adam pushed his thoughts aside as he let out a long sigh; later, he would look more closely at the memories of his first life.