Chapter 1
Chapter 1: Awakening from the Abyss
***
“Hey, Chen Yuxuan. Tell me… if you had a chance to live your life again, what would you choose?”
The night was cool as water.
Even those distant neon lights flowed with moonlight.
On the rooftop of a building, a man sat alone in the wind, perched on the edge of the railing while talking on the phone.
A magnetic male voice came from the other end of the phone.
“Why are you suddenly asking this?”
I looked down, beneath my dangling feet was an endless abyss cliff, which somehow seemed strangely alluring at this moment.
“Just playing a game, come on, tell me quickly.”
The voice on the phone was impatient. I rolled my eyes irritably and raised the Jägermeister to my lips for several big gulps.
“What am I supposed to say? This is so random… At least give me some options, like a red button or a blue button.”
“Hmm… you’re right. Let me think… How do those reincarnation novels usually go… Ancient cultivation? Urban fantasy? Or maybe just go for a world of swords and magic? I haven’t read many, that’s all I know. What would you choose?”
“I choose a world full of lolis.”
“…There’s no such world.”
“Hey, then what’s the point of reincarnating—”
I let out a soft sigh.
“Hey, I’m being serious here, don’t brush me off like that.”
“Fine, fine, then the world of swords and magic… they’re all equally boring anyway, I’m tired of these aesthetics.”
“Swords and magic, huh… Those worlds usually have a Demon King and a Hero, right? Choose between these two identities then, would you be the Demon King or the Hero?”
“The Demon King, of course,” I said nonchalantly.
The cold wind had grown fierce, making my coat flutter violently.
“Why?”
“Because only idiots would choose to be the Hero. They’re always burdened with some troublesome mission, right? Like defeating the Demon King to save the world and such. They’re just pawns in the hands of those in power. The people at the top use righteousness to manipulate you into risking your life. If you succeed, they reap the benefits; if you die, they’ll just find another fool. Whoever wants to do that can go ahead, but count me out.”
“…So being the Demon King is more carefree, huh.” The voice on the other end sounded somewhat wistful. “OK, then Demon King it is. Last question, would you stay as a man, or try being a woman for a change?”
“Of course I’d be a man… wait.”
I frowned, realizing things weren’t so simple.
If I became the Demon King… that’s someone meant to be defeated, right? No matter how powerful I might be, someday some stronger idiot would show up in front of me with a holy sword, yell “RUAH! RUAH! RUAH!” three times and take my life.
Thinking back, in many novels and anime, Demon Kings without protagonist plot armor are quite pitiful, they’re the type of characters I know will die as soon as they appear.
So what kind of Demon King could survive?
The ones who can act cute, be moe, and cry.
Better yet, be a loli, a busty loli, an elf loli, or even a beast-eared loli would work.
Add silver hair and red eyes to the mix.
End every sentence with a “nya.”
Then I could go wild without worry, even if death flags were raised everywhere.
Tell me she’ll die, and I’ll bet my head against it.
After all, if I can’t win, I can always act cute and cling to someone strong!!
“Please let me be a woman!!!!”
“Eww— I didn’t expect you to be that kind of person.”
“Well, being a Demon King isn’t easy.”
“You’d still choose that even if it means bleeding three feet high every month?”
“Uh…”
That question stopped me in my tracks.
After hesitating for a moment, I sighed again.
“What are we even talking about…”
“Just chatting.”
“Then let me ask you something.” I scooted my bottom forward, adjusting to a more comfortable sitting position.
I swirled the nearly empty bottle in my hand before drinking the last drops.
The slight warmth in my stomach couldn’t reignite my cold body.
“Honestly, how does it feel now that your sister is gone?”
After I said those words, there was a moment of silence on the other end.
“…Are you asking for a beating? How do you feel now that your fiancee is gone?”
Yes, my fiancee, who was also his sister, passed away a week ago due to illness.
That’s probably why we’re having this meaningless phone call on this night when neither of us has anyone waiting at home.
“I don’t feel anything,” I said.
“…What?”
His voice showed a moment of bewilderment.
“Don’t misunderstand, brother-in-law. What I mean is… it doesn’t feel real at all, I can’t believe it from the bottom of my heart. Because I keep thinking that maybe in the next moment, she’ll suddenly appear in front of me like before, surprising me just like that.”
“…Don’t think too much. There are still many people at the company counting on you for their livelihood. Let’s talk about the problems we need to solve tomorrow.”
I didn’t respond to his words, even though what he said was true.
Three years ago, I chose the path of entrepreneurship, foolishly trying to change my fate. Knowing I couldn’t compare to those second-generation rich kids with parental support, I devoted more time, relying on my desperate work ethic to keep the company running for three years, yet still haven’t achieved profitability.
I really regret choosing this path.
I regret that when my fiancee was alive, I couldn’t treat her better because I was too busy with work.
Looking back, it seems I’ve been making mistakes all along, never doing anything right.
I’m really tired.
“What do you think the world after death is like…”
The girl named Xiaoxi who once asked me this has already gone to that world after death.
“How am I supposed to answer that… Even though Xiaoxi is gone, we still need to live on properly. After all, you still have your parents… Have you told them about this?”
“Not yet.”
As for why I haven’t…
Because some elders can’t understand your feelings. Sometimes they’re even less enlightened than children who know nothing but are full of hope for life.
“They say living is mostly a detestable endurance race. That’s my favorite quote.”
“Hey, Yuxuan…”
“Thanks, brother, good night.”
I hung up the phone.
Tossed the phone away, stepped up on the railing, and jumped off.
The wind howled in my ears.
I recalled my parents’ accusations that burst out during dinner, all their thousands of words eventually converging into one sentence.
“Why don’t you just die!”
But if I can’t die.
Then please let me fly.
…
I had a dream.
In the dream, I sat at a dinner table full of delicacies. Mom walked out of the kitchen, took off her apron, and smiled at me saying, “Eat up, business is like war, failure is common in military affairs. Don’t be sad, you’re still young, there are plenty of chances to start over. Rest at home for a while first, Dad and I will always be your strong support.”
Dad, sitting on the sofa, put down his phone, walked over to pat my shoulder and nodded at me.
My heart softened, I held back my grief and smiled at them, though tears had already blurred my vision.
Dad, Mom, do you know that Xiaoxi is gone… I’ll never see her again…
My parents’ figures gradually receded, I turned my head to see a girl in white standing there gracefully.
“Don’t be sad,” she said, “I’ll always be with you.”
She walked towards me, reached out her fair hand, fingers brushing across my cheek, wiping away the tears on my face.
“Xiaoxi, I’m tired…” I stared intently at her face, where there was the smile that haunted my dreams.
“It’s not time to rest yet~” she said, then cupped my tear-stained face and kissed my eyes. “Wake up, I’ll always be with you.”
“Wake up, I’ll always be with you…” she said.
“Wake up…”
“Wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up…”
That voice no longer had Xiaoxi’s usual sweetness, becoming heavy and harsh, like a demon’s whisper.
“【Abyssal Language】Wake up, Sylvia Labishmers.”
…
I suddenly awoke!
My consciousness was still somewhat hazy, unable to grasp the situation for a moment. My mind remained blank for a long while before gradually reestablishing its connection with the world.
I found myself seemingly immersed in some kind of cold, viscous liquid, surrounded by complete darkness, unable to see anything.
What… what happened to me?!
I remember… I think I jumped from the rooftop.
24th floor, I should be dead, right?
Then why do I still have consciousness?
How is this possible?
So am I… reborn?
You’ve got to be kidding, I really reincarnated?!
I carefully felt the viscous liquid enveloping me, it was slowly writhing. The liquid felt smooth and cold, surprisingly comfortable. Strangely, while my conscious senses could clearly detect that the liquid’s temperature should be extremely low, my physiological mechanisms seemed well-adapted to this temperature, a sensation that’s difficult to describe in words.
I began to carefully assess my body’s condition.
Looking down, looking up, shaking head, raising arms, making fists, kicking legs.
Hmm… something feels strange, it seems a bit different from before.
First, my hands, I noticed when making a fist that the proportions were different. Both my arms and fingers seemed to have grown longer.
I started to carefully feel the changes in muscle movements and found that not just my arms, but other parts felt subtly different too. These differences made me uncomfortable, as if I was controlling someone else’s body.
Constant noisy sounds kept coming from around my ears, seemingly including human voices. People were conversing in a language I couldn’t understand at all, feeling quite distant, probably thousands of meters away.
Think about it carefully, could you normally hear conversations from such a distance?
Hmm? And how did I judge that thousand-meter distance…
Although I couldn’t see, I felt my senses becoming increasingly acute. Gradually, I could hear the clear writhing sounds of the viscous liquid around me, the distant clamorous voices seemed to explode next to my ears, occasionally mixed with loud shouts and beast roars. Further away, birds were flapping their wings, creating piercing gusts of wind; the rustling of wind passing through vegetation, accompanied by countless clanking sounds of armor friction and orderly marching footsteps, rapidly amplified in my ears…
The flood of complex information rushed into my consciousness all at once, making my head throb with pain as my brain instantly crashed.
The next moment, something from the liquid surrounding me slowly seeped into my body.
The black liquid instantly began to boil.
It enveloped my body and flowed rapidly, a lifting force came from below, and I felt my body gradually rising.
The distant voices seemed even more clamorous. Although I couldn’t understand what they were saying, I could sense the tense and trembling atmosphere of anxiety. The occasional loud shouts were mixed with a certain kind of resolution, all reflecting the impending disaster and determination they were about to face.
What’s going on? What happened?
The lifting force pulling me suddenly accelerated again, now with enough power to throw me upward. I panicked a bit, waving my hands trying to grab onto something, but could only stir aimlessly in the mud-like liquid, finding no point of support at all.
I was forced upward without any power to resist, the whole process taking just an instant before I suddenly felt lightweight, and the dazzling light made me involuntarily close my eyes.
I’m out! That was my first sensation.
So warm, so refreshing, the oppressive feeling of being wrapped in the viscous liquid immediately disappeared. I took a deep breath, my nostrils filled with the fragrance of vegetation, the air quality seemed very high. This was my second sensation.
Then I suddenly realized, when I was inside earlier, I seemed to not have been breathing?
Thoughts flashed through my mind in an instant, though only a second or two had actually passed. Then a mighty battle cry rang out from afar, followed by something whistling through the air with a “whoosh whoosh” sound. I quickly opened my eyes, and after a brief white light, I saw balls of fire filling the sky, heading straight for me.
Holy crap!
There was no time to be shocked, I instinctively closed my eyes again and quickly raised my right hand to shield myself.
Boom boom boom boom boom————
Ah——! It hurts so much!
Amid the series of violent explosions, an unbearable burning sensation immediately invaded my entire body, making me throw back my head and roar loudly.
“Roar——” What came out instead was a long, melodious strange roar, the sound like an ancient melody played under moonlight, which I actually found somewhat pleasant to hear, but clearly, it wasn’t a sound a human could make.
No time to think deeply, at this moment my mind was filled with panic about being burned to death, I hastily opened my eyes, but what I saw wasn’t the scene of being engulfed in flames that I had imagined. I let out a slight sigh of relief, thankfully.
Although I had avoided the fate of being burned to death, the scene before me couldn’t make me feel at ease. Another smoke-like blackness, as if from hell, replaced the imagined flames, enveloping my body. The black smoke danced vigorously like fierce flames, full of ominous aura, and occasionally revealed blue-green objects within the smoke and dust.
——That was my arm.