Chapter 160 - Better

Archie woke up feeling as though the world had just flipped over and set him down in a new life. For a moment, he lay on a narrow bed, trying to understand where he was. It was a small room, walls of rough wood, a thin blanket covering him. A single window let in crisp morning air. He blinked, raising a hand to his face—these were not his old hands. He remembered dying. He was sure he'd died back in his own mundane world. Yet here he was, alive, breathing, and undeniably younger than he had been. Outside, he heard faint bleats and the low hum of a distant village starting its day.