Rey was pacing back and forth in the hallway when suddenly his friend, who had been sitting behind, shouted.
"Can you stop doing that?"
Rey ignored his friend, or precisely, he couldn't hear his friend.
His mind was currently occupied by anxiety.
Because it was his turn next to enter the room behind.
Because he needed to be mentally prepared for his presentation.
And because he would soon graduate from college and must live the life of a corporate slav—employee.
Annoyed by Niveus's behavior, his friend stretched her legs forward, causing Niveus to trip.
Falling down with a loud thud in the quiet corridor, the voice of him colliding with the floor echoed awkwardly.
"You—You tripped me!"
"And you annoyed me."
Clara was known as a mischievous and playful girl in their college.
But who would have thought someone with those personalities could feel irritated by the sight of her anxious friend who was pacing back and forth in front of her?
She was anxious, too.
She felt the same emotion as Niveus.
She thought the same thing as Niveus.
They both worried about their futures.
What would they become after graduation?
They had the same dream: to be creators—developing games, drawing comics, writing novels, and more. They wanted to be true artists, expressing their visions through diverse and imaginative mediums.
However, the world was unfair.
Only one of them achieved their dreams.
While Niveus kept striving toward the road to success, Clara was stuck in the mud as an ordinary office worker.
While Niveus continued producing popular works, Clara was there as his consumer.
Despite the difference in their careers, the two still remained a friend.
Despite the difference in their accomplishment in pursuing their ideal dreams, their bonds only strengthened.
One day, they reunited after eight years of being online friends.
"Help me!"
Unsatisfied with her monotone life, Clara asked for Niveus's help.
She wanted to realize her dream.
But she had lost her touch. Her once extraordinary skills had been eroded by time.
But that didn't matter. As long as she got the basics, Clara could just relearn everything.
Niveus took her in, making Clara her assistant for his ongoing comic.
Since then, the quality of the comic has been improved in the story aspect, transforming it from a "good art, no story" to a "masterpiece" comic.
Niveus always knew Clara's writing was extraordinary. But he never thought it would remain extraordinary unlike her programming, drawing, and more.
Realizing her potential, Niveus suggested Clara hone her writing more.
"How?"
"Web novels are popular these days, you know?"
"Hmm... I'm not sure people would read my book."
"Fret not, my friend. I'll help you."
"You? How?"
"I'll lend you my name."
Thus began the other piece's road to success.
However, it didn't last long.
Before they could fully achieve their dreams...
"This is your captain speaking. We've lost control and can't regain altitude. Brace yourselves for impact. I repeat, brace for impact."
...they were gone.
===
Niveus regained his senses after experiencing excruciating pain from the flooding memories of his past life.
'What was that...?'
When Niveus was wondering about the memories, he caught something moving in the corner of his eyes.
"Princess!!"
"Catch him!!"
The guards who were standing near the carriage Niveus saw before were running toward him full of rage.
The Shadows emerged from all directions, surrounding Niveus as they pointed their weapons at his neck.
'What is this situation?'
He was clueless at first. But when his eyes spotted the maid who was carrying the royal heir into the carriage, he finally realized how messed up the situation was.
Without being given a chance to explain himself, the Shadows subdued and captured him on the spot.
Niveus thought it would be more troublesome if he retaliated. It would be much better to be thrown into the royal castle's dungeon and explained to the authorities later.
So he allowed himself to be captured without a fight.
'I'll make sure to receive full compensation from the queen later.'
...
Niveus was thrown into the cell in the deepest layer of the royal castle's dungeon.
With no further speech from the guards, they left Niveus alone.
Looking in the direction where the guards disappeared behind the metal door that was absolutely enhanced by magic, Niveus sighed deeply.
"Well, let's just think about the returning memories," he muttered.
All this time, Niveus never realized he was reincarnated with only a partial of his past life's memories.
While that might sound better than just a reincarnation without remembering one past life, it was actually difficult.
With only partial memories, Niveus had suffered from every aspect, particularly mental.
His life before acquiring Nono was difficult for him.
He had to deal with an identity crisis since a child. If it were other people, they would go crazy just by retaining partial memories, especially if they were born as a baby again and already had to deal with contradictions.
Before he had Nono by his side, he couldn't fully trust his own memories, he found it challenging to trust others. It was one of the reasons that shaped him into someone with detached feelings.
His relationships with those other than his deceased brother who died protecting him were strained.
The emotional weight of his past mixed with the confusion of his present left him in a constant state of emotional instability. Moments of sudden, overwhelming grief or inexplicable anger would surge through him, leaving him vulnerable and out of control.
If not for Nono, Niveus would have become someone entirely different than he was now—or worse, he wouldn't have become anything as he would have died from the avalanche.
He was thankful to Nono for giving him the support and power to endure the situation where he was buried alive in the blanket of biting, cold snow.
He was also thankful to Starling and Glacend Knight for finding and saving him before he died of freezing.
But now that he fully regained his memories, though a bit conflicted, Niveus felt more ready than ever to survive and live longer than his first life, especially since he was a half-angel now.
'Thanks, Nono.'
["Hmm? Where does that come from? But I mean, you're welcome?"]
If not for Nono's help and support, Niveus would have taken more time to accept the newly regained memories because he would have had deep trust issues and an identity crisis.
But not anymore.
As Niveus lay on the stone floor, staring at the dark, grim ceiling, he heard a psst noise somewhere.
"Huh?"
He tried to focus on the noise and found out it was coming from the right wall of his cell.
'Is there someone here besides me?'
As he thought that, a brash and hoarse voice reverberated in the quiet dungeon.
"Hey, you there. What's your crime, newcomer?"