Year 2024, Somewhere oh—
Rain drops tapped against the window, soft but steady, like a quiet remihat the night wasn’t going anywhere. The wind slipped through the cracks in the frame, carrying a chill that made the small room feel even smaller. The faint glow of a ptop s flickered in the dim space, its light casting soft shadows on the walls.
A boy sat at the bed, still, his eyes fixed on the s. The room wasn’t much—just four walls and barely enough space to stretch his legs without bumping into something. It felt more like a stopover than a pce to belong.
The professor’s voice droned on from the video lecture, spilling words about programming logic. He was supposed to be paying attention, but the sentences blurred together, mixing with the sound of the rain. His fingers hovered over the keyboard, unmoving.
With a quiet sigh, he leaned back. The night stretched ahead, long and unging. The rain outside showed no sign of stopping, aher did the endless stream of lessons waiting for him on the s.
He sank deeper into the bed, the fabric creakih him. He let out a long, exasperated sigh—more a release than a breath. "Isn't my life just... too ordinary?" The thought was uninvited, but it g to him, gnawing at his insides. Every day felt like the same, unbroken cycle: wake up, go to college, listen to lectures, e home, waste time on the bus, only to repeat it all ain.
The thought was unbearable. Novels. Anime. Sleep. That was all he had. And even that—his one remaining escape—felt hollow. The stories that oirred his soul now seemed like faded echoes, distant and unreachable. He couldn't find anythihere were no worlds left to explore, no characters to root for.
His mind wandered back to the st novel he'd read. It had been one of those reination stories, the ones he had devoured so many times. A boy, weak and alone, was reborn into a world brimming with power, magid potential. He had been nothing in his first life—just a recluse, a ghost in the world. But then he had gained unimagirength, and his life, his destiny, had ged. "That character... he was nothing before," he thought, his fingers curling into fists. "Just a nobody. But those powers... they ged everything. They gave him a ce."
He looked down at his own, the ordinary, unremarkable hands. "I've got friends, family, a life that supports me. But it's not enough." He thought of his parents' ed faces, the nagging voices telling him to stop wasting time on fi. "They don't get it. They don't uand why I his," he thought bitterly. "Why I o escape."
The frustration tightened in his chest. His jaw ched. "At least my life is better than his was before. At least I'm not alone," he tried to reassure himself, but the words tasted empty. "What's the point of all this? Why even think about things that will never happen? It's not like I'm going to die and wake up in some other world."
He stared at the ceiling, his breath slow but heavy, as if the weight of his thoughts were too much for his chest to bear. "tent... but not happy," he whispered to no one in particur. The thought sat there, a jagged, unfortable truth. What was the point of a life that was only half-lived? What was the point of waiting for something—anything—that would make it all worth it?
The storm outside howled louder, its fury mirr the turmoil inside him, but he didn't move. The world outside raged, but here, in this small room, nothing ged. Nothing ever ged.
Few mier -
He tidied up his bed ao sleep after scrolling through reels for half an hour.
3:00 AM
The room was still, the silence broken only by the faint hum of the fan. But then, without warning, his eyes snapped open. His breath hitched, his chest heaving as a sudden wave of panic surged through him. What the—? His mind raced, his body frozen for a moment before instinct took over.
With trembling hands, he threw off the b, his heart pounding as he reached down to check. The damp fabric met his fingers, and a frustrated groan escaped his lips.
"Another wet dream," he muttered bitterly, his voice ced with annoyance. "Just great."
Dragging himself out of bed, the wooden floor beh his feet creaked softly, a sound that echoed iillness of the night. His movements were sluggish, his body weighed down by exhaustion and irritation. He shuffled toward the closet, pulling out a fresh set of clothes before trudging to the bathroom.
The faint spsh of water filled the air as he ed up, the cool droplets jolting him slightly from his haze. But wheuro his bed, the soce of sleep eluded him. He tossed and turhe minutes dragging on like hours, the rain outside a relentless rhythm against the window.
His gaze drifted toward the gss, the storm beyond mirr the turmoil in his mind. His chest rose and fell unevenly, frustration bubblih the surface. I've got college tomorrow, and here I am, wide awake, he thought, his lips pressing into a thin line. Another wasted night.
With a defeated sigh, he reached for his phohe blue light gring in the darkness. He k was a terrible idea, but his resolve had long since crumbled. Navigating to his usual guilty pleasure—Japanese "mature" anime videos—'the ones he had sworn he'd stop watg' .He let himself fall into the numbing distra, the tension in his chest momentarily dulled.
---
Ten Minutes Later—
The room was silent again, save for the soft shuffle of his footsteps as he made his way back to the bathroom. His refle in the mirror stared back at him, but he avoided its gaze, his eyes hollow with exhaustion and something deeper—shame, perhaps.
The cold water spshed against his skin, chasing away the st remnants of heat. His movements were meical, almost robotic, as if he were going through the motions without thought. He dried off and trudged back toward the bed, his shoulders slumping uhe weight of his restless thoughts.
But just as his body met the mattress, a sharp, searing pain tore through his chest. His eyes widened in shock, his hand instinctively flying to his heart. The agony was unlike anything he had felt before—tight, suffog, aless.
"What… is happening?!" he gasped, his voice barely a whisper as the pain intensified. His breathing grew shallow, erratic, eahale feeling like he was trying to breathe through water.
His mind spiraled into chaos, panic g at his senses. I was fine… I go to the gym every day! I'm healthy! This 't be happening. Is it… is it a heart attack?!
Sweat beaded on his forehead, cold and cmmy. His legs gave out beh him, and his knees hit the floor with a resounding thud. His hands cwed at his chest as if trying to tear the pain away, but it was futile. His thoughts blurred, the world around him spinning into darkness.
"No… not like this…" was his final thought as the void cimed him. His body colpsed to the floor, a soft *thump* marking the end of his struggle.
---
Somewhere in the Vast Expanse of the os—
The void stretched infinitely, an endless vas of bck speckled with distant stars that shimmered like fragments of fotten dreams. At the heart of this emptiness, a radiant white light pulsed, its glow shifting and twisting as if it defied the very cept of form.
Slowly, the light began to take shape—a t, ethereal figure whose presence exuded an overwhelming sense of divinity. Its edges flickered, undefined, yet its sheer aura was enough to and reverence. If a mortal were to see it, they would fall to their knees, awestrud terrified in equal measure.
The figure turs attention to a tiny flickering orb floating nearby. The orb trembled, its faint glow dwarfed by the being's immense radiance. pared to the t entity, it was insignifit—a mere speck of dust before a mountain.
"A soul…" the being mused, its voice resonating through the void, not as sound but as a presehat filled every er of the space. "How curious. How did it e here?"
The figure extended a hand, its fingers—if they could be called that—reag toward the orb. With a subtle motion, it began unraveling the secrets of the fragile light. Memories, emotions, and thoughts unfolded before it, like pages of a book being read in an instant.
"A human soul from a primitive world," it mused, its tone ptive, yet there was something deeper—a flicker of intrigue, perhaps even… amusement. "But this… this is peculiar." The light surrounding the figure dimmed momentarily as it paused, the air growing heavier. "This soul… knows of the Otsutsuki baron family. The weakest… yet the most a of bloodlines. How could a world so backward hold suowledge? Even as fi, such truths should remain beyond their grasp."
The being's form flickered as its thoughts deepened. "It seems my seclusion has sted too long. The threads of fate are stirring, as beyond my sight are in motion."
Its gaze returo the orb, whiow shone brighter, its light growing purer in the sacred space it floated in. The divine energy surrounding it refihe soul, shaping it into something more than it once was.
"You were nht here by act, little ohe being said, its voice tinged with something almost like amusement. "Perhaps it is his will. Or perhaps… it is yours."
The orb quivered, its light flickering as though it uood the weight of the being's words.
"You desired power," the figure tinued, its tone shifting—colder, more calg now. "A life beyond the mediocrity of your existence. Very well. I shall grant you this ce. But be warned, mortal: the path ahead is one of suffering and strife. The world I send you to holds the keys to your salvation and your destru. You know of its future, yet even that will not prepare you for the trials that await."
With a deliberate motion, the being raised its hand, its movements as graceful as they were terrifying. The void seemed to shudder, gaxies trembling as a powerful swoosh echoed across the vast expahe soul was flung into the infinite bck, hurtling across dimensions, through stars and gaxies, its light trailing like a et against the abyss.
"Prove yourself, little ohe being murmured, its voice lingering in the empty space long after the soul had vanished. "If you rise above the greatest of that world, if you shatter the s of mortality, then… we shall meet again. Until then, this gift shall serve you well."
And with those final words, the light began to fade, the figure dissolving into the void as though it had never existed. Only the fai eained, a whisper that would never reach mortal ears.
"Do not disappoint me."
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