Buildings, vehicles, and civilians gossiped as they walked through the bustling street, while others were occupied with small gadgets that they called smartphones.
This was the world where Zack Silva had spent his 32 years of life. The planet Earth.
In a crowded street, A group of individuals gathered. Among them was a black haired man with brown eyes, muttering to himself.
"Ah... this suck, Why am I even here force to work on a shitty company." Zack grumbled.
"How I wish to be reincarnated in another world, too bad that the thing such as reincarnation doesn't exist but only a mere fiction."
As Zack murmured to himself, a suspicious vendor caught his eye. A mysterious alley with one suspicious vendor. There, an old woman with white hair and yellow eyes sat in the corner of the stall.
With curiosity, Zack approached the old lady. As he was approaching the stall, the old lady's lips was curling into a faint smirk—as if she was expecting Zack's presence.
Surprisingly, the old lady sells some suspicious books with weird names. From a glance, it's obvious that the books she's selling is one of those fantasy books that's currently on trending right now in the whole world.
'So why is she here in this suspicious alley if she's only selling some fantasy novels?' Zack thought to himself. 'Something about this feels off—there's definitely more to this than meets the eye.'
'Or maybe I'm just overthinking too much.' Zack's shook his head and sigh. 'Nevermind, I found something interesting anyway, might as well give it a try.'
What caught Zack's eye was this small book on the corner. Despite all the interesting books, it was this plain looking book that drew him in.
"Reincarnation huh? How much for this one?" Zack asked, holding the book up showing a hint of curiosity.
"Interested in it, young man?" The old lady asked with a grin on her face. "You see, that one is quite special—so it'll cost you a fortune.
"This? Special?" Zack asked with a mocking smile.
"You'll understand once you use it" The old lady replied while smirking. "That would be ₱1450.00."
'This is clearly a scam.' Zack thought to himself while handing over the money. 'To think I'm this desperate to leave my own planet hurts my heart, I even ended up purchasing a suspicious book from a random stranger.'
'No one on their right mind would even dare to approach that shady stall, thank god I'm insane.'
As he rejoined the group, a colleague spotted him coming out from the alley. "Zack, where did you disappear to?"
"Oh, nowhere special," Zack replied with a slight smile, hiding the book under his coat. "Just bought myself a little gift."
His colleague raised an eyebrow. "Really?" He asked with a tone filled of disbelief. He then shook his head and sigh. "Nevermind that, let's go or that baldy will start yelling at us again."
'Lunch break is over, back to work again' Zack thought to himself with a sigh. 'What a crappy life I have, everyday's the same and nothing's new.'
"I really wish I could have an adventure in a fantasy world, just like those fantasy novels I have read" Zack murmured to himself as he entered the building.
After a few hours of tedious works, Zack finally left the company and headed straight to his apartment. As he lay down on his bed, he felt something in his coat—surprisingly, It was the book he had bought earlier. He had completely forgotten about it.
'Damn, thinking back earlier, I must have been really desperate huh' Zack thought to himself. 'Since I've already ended up purchasing it, I might as well read it.'
To his surprise, the book wasn't a novel. It's contents is just all about how reincarnation works and a suspicious ritual. Zack wondered. 'What is this? Is reincarnation truly a real thing?'
"Draw a star on a table and write, --Fia the goddess of embrace and warmth, may you hear my prayer and answer my desire to grant my soul a new beginning--" With Zack's curiosity, He decided to follow the book's instructions. "Then put a candle in the center of the star and start your prayers?" Zack swallowed hard and started chanting.
Despite his nervousness, he still did it. This was Zack's desire to have an adventure. His cravings for a journey impossible.
Zack's lips parted slightly. "By the will of Fia and her grace of eternity, I summon the essence of rebirth to grant this soul a new beginning. In the cycle of life and death, be reborn." Nervous yet Excited, Zack was ultimately disappointed.
Nothing happened.
"What now?" Zack murmured to himself feeling a little bit of frustration. "The book, where is it?"
"What the? I'm pretty sure I put it on my bed." Confused and panicking, Zack started laughing.
"HAHAHAHAHA"
Zack began laughing as he put his hand on his head, tears streaming down his cheek as he lay back on his bed.
"I'm pretty stupid aren't I? That lady made a complete fool of myself." Zack said to himself while crying.
"Is there someone out there more stupid than myself, someone who would do something as ridiculous as what I just did." He shouted pathetically. "To think I'm this desperate to escape my own life to the point I began doing some ritual."
After a few minutes of shouting, The room finally grew quiet. Zack was already asleep.
Hours passed by, morning came. Zack opened his eyes, absorbing the sun's rays from his window.
"Damn, what a mess." Zack murmured to himself. "I've completely lost it."
"To think I cried so much that I fell asleep in my work clothes." Zack continued ranting as he got up from his bed.
As Zack got up from his bed, he went directly to the shower room. Afterward, he put on his suit and said to himself. "Guess I'm skipping breakfast again. Sometimes, I wonder why I'm still alive—didn't even manage to eat dinner yesterday." Zack sighed as he left his place.
As Zack walked along the side of the road, with his mind occupied with what happened to the book that vanished without a trace last night. Lost in thought, just when he was about to cross, Zack failed to notice the red light as he stepped onto the crosswalk.
"Stop that man!" A man shouted.
Zack who's immersed on his thoughts finally came back to his senses only to see a car speeding towards him.
The car didn't slow down. Time seemed to stretch as Zack's eyes widened, his body froze due to extreme shock—but his lips slightly raised. Zack smiled and whispered to himself.
"God truly exist."
The screech of tires filled the air, mixed with the horrified gasps of bystanders. The impact was sudden and brutal, sending Zack's body flying across the asphalt.
"Oh my god!" A woman screamed as he saw Zack's body rolling across the asphalt.
"Someone, call an ambulance!" A man shouted with his voice trembling as he reach out to his phone.
People rushed to the scene with faces covered of shock and concerns.
Zack's vision blurred, and the sound of his surroundings started to fade. With him facing the blue sky, Zack's tears run down to his cheeks as he thought to himself.
'So this is the feeling of death, hearings and visions will gradually started to disappear as if it's guiding you to eternal darkness.'
'I guess this is my end, how pathetic of me.'
Zack Silva has finally fulfilled his terrible fate.
'Hmm, so even dying I still have my consciousness.' The man thought to himself as he slowly open his eyes.
"Wh-Where am I?" He murmured when his sight meet the foggy surroundings. "Is this hell?"
Just when he pushed himself up slowly, he finds himself on a wet grass in a dense, fog-shrouded forest.
The air was chill and filled with heavy mist, almost covering everything beyond a few feet. Confusion clouded his mind as he inspected his surroundings.
The man found himself to be in the middle of a foggy forest, with a shattered carriage lay nearby, and dead bodies everywhere—as if it was an ambush.
Despite this unpleasant sight, the man didn't show any fear on his body language. A normal person would vomit if they were faced with such sight. Instead, the man ran without a second thought, as if it was a puppet that received the order to run.
The man turned on his heel, running blindly through the foggy forest. The sound of his feet on every step it took in the uneven ground, his heavy breath comming in ragged gasps as he push himself faster.
Branches whipped at his face, and then he mumbled. "I-Is this some kind of sick joke?"
Just as he was about to collapse from exhaustion due to running on extreme speed for hours. The man spotted a faint light through the fog, with a thought that it will lead him to safety—he then slowly approached it.
The light grew brighter as he drew closer, showing the outline of a small cabin among the trees.
With his heartbeat becoming more louder and louder and his tired legs, The man slowly pushed the creaking door and entered the cabin with a mixture feeling of suspicion and fear. The cabin was dimly lit by a few candles, casting long shadows on the wooden walls. There, an old figure sat by near the fireplace, His face was obscured by the flickering light.
The man's breath came in ragged gasps as he looked at the figure. The old person, cloaked in a robe, raised their head slowly, with eyes gleaming with surprise and excitement.
"Who—who are you?" The man asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.
The old figure's was shocked and speechless before the man with tattered clothes in front of him. "I should be the one asking you that young man," the old voice croaked. "How about you take a seat here and I'll get you a tea."
As the man moved cautiously, his eyes fell upon an old mirror hang against the wall. Drawn by a mixture of curiosity and apprehension, he approached it.
The reflection that stared back at him was not his own—it was the face of a stranger that has long black hair, and white eyes wearing tattered clothes and a dull sword on its waist.
Shocked and confused, the man reached up to touch the mirror, his fingers move through the cold glass. He thought to himself. 'This is not my appearance, this is no longer the Zack Silva who spent his 32 years of life in earth and died pathetically.' As he continued to inspect the unfamiliar face, a sudden flood of memories began to invade his mind.
Images flashed before his eyes—scenes of memories he did not recognize but somehow felt intensely personal. He saw glimpses of an orphanage, battles fought with dirty tactics, and faces of those who were massacred in the middle of the forest. The memories were vivid and overwhelming.
The man's breath caught in his throat as the memories merged with his own. He was no longer Zack Silva—he was now someone else, someone whose past was colliding with his present.
As the memories continued to flood in, he struggled to process the sudden changes. He thought to himself while tears slipped down his cheeks as he stood before the mirror.
'The book was real, reincarnation truly exist. And now, I'm on a body of a young man who had just died from the sudden ambush of an old man—the reason why I was able to keep my cool and ran despite the unpleasant sight instead of vomiting was because I have Zhylax's mentality.'
The man murmured to himself wiping his tears. "I am no longer Zack Silva."
"I am Zhylax Froes, a mercenary."