"Something is wrong."
Cayden drummed his fingers on the car's window.
He ignored the rain droplets stuck to the glass, and his father and little brother on the car's front seat.
His focus was on the face reflected on the window.
The bushy beard, dirty hair, and lifeless eyes were missing.
He saw a young boy who looked at least 10 years younger than him.
The reflection had sharp eyebrows, high nose, chiseled jaw and fair skin.
He had ash white hair and sea blue eyes.
He was extremely handsome.
"Was this how I looked ten years ago?"
"I still can't believe it…"
"I time traveled to the past."
Ten years.
In just ten years he lost everything.
His father, betrayed by his best friend, lost the company and their family went into crippling debt.
The betrayal changed his father.
The man, once kind and capable, became a gambling addict, he wasted all of his wife's hard-earned money and abused her.
She never complained.
His mother worked as a housemaid in several places to earn money for her husband and two sons.
She believed, that as long as they preserved, their situation would change.
But.
She couldn't bear it when Cayden's father still did not change after Cayden's little brother had an accident and went comatose.
She took her life.
The loss of two family members brought his father to his senses.
However, it was too late.
Struck with grief, he ended his life, leaving Cayden alone with his comatose brother.
"I'm back to the past. I should be happy. So why am I feeling like this?"
His arms were trembling and his heart was palpitating.
A sense of impending doom was choking him.
"Is it because of this?"
He stared at the back of his left hand.
A '0' was written there in black ink.
He didn't know what the tattoo meant, but he instinctively knew it was of great importance.
His little brother exclaimed,
"Ah! Dad! Dad! Look!"
He showed his left hand to the dad.
Cayden also looked over.
His pupils dilated.
"It's just like the mark on brother's hand!" Hein smiled.
Contrary to his cheery brother, his dad looked gloomy.
Seeing the '0' on Hein's hand made him suddenly age a decade older.
"I'll go with brother! Yahoo!"
The ten year old kid failed to see the despair hidden behind his father's gaze.
Just then, a surge of memories invaded Cayden's mind.
They were familiar memories of his childhood.
However, something was different.
Cayden quickly realized that this wasn't just his world.
He had transmigrated to a parallel world.
As more of his memories poured, he came upon a shocking realization.
This world was similar to the novel 'Soul Reaper's Return'.
A lot of things suddenly made sense.
The sense of impending doom he had been feeling was Omen of Death.
Hein had also sensed his Omen of Death yesterday.
The '0' tattooed on their hands was Fate Points.
It was the number of days they had left to live.
A surge of anger swept over Cayden.
He shouted at his father.
"You fucking piece of shit! Stop the car right now!"
"We will stop after a little tour."
"Tour!? Are you thinking of dying with Hein and me!? Stop the car this instant! Fuck! We need to go to the police station! Not on a tour!"
"Bro…brother… don't shout at father…"
Hein began to cry.
However, Cayden did not have time to look after him.
Omen of Death couldn't be ignored.
Once it appeared the person would die no matter what they did.
The death could be a heart attack, an accident, or a murder.
Hein and he were guaranteed to die.
Their father wanted to die with them.
Tour was just an excuse.
He was waiting for a car accident.
Although the deaths caused by Omen of Death were random, they could be manipulated to a certain extent.
If two people who had Omen of Death were traveling in a car, there was a high chance they would die from a car accident.
"Stop the car! Fuck!"
…
One hundred years ago 'Death' disappeared.
Those who died would have their souls transferred to demonic worlds.
If they completed their tasks in the demonic world, they would gain tremendous powers and return to the real world.
If they failed, their souls would be corrupted. They would become mindless demons and wreak havoc in the real world.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of souls failed their tasks.
Demons, ghouls, evil spirits, ghosts and rakshasa invaded the earth after possessing the deceased's bodies.
The death toll surpassed the combined casualties from World War I, World II, World War III and World War IV.
Humanity lost two-third of their living space in the blink of an eye.
It was only when the successful souls returned after completing their tasks that humanity gained a minor chance of survival.
These successful souls were called Exorcists.
Century later, humanity was still confined to one-third of earth.
With the help of Exorcists, the human domain had its 'space' expanded.
Similar to a magical inventory, although it was small on the outside, the space inside was many times larger.
No one knew how large the human domain was.
Many suspected it to be the size of the solar system, but it could be easily ten times larger.
All of this was done by Exorcists.
Their powers were unfathomable.
They were like the Gods from the myths of the bygone era.
However only a small number of deceased souls could become Exorcists.
Even among the Exorcists, most would lose their minds, after witnessing the horrors of demonic worlds.
"I can't let you two go to such a dangerous place alone," Cayden's father answered as he drove.
By now Cayden had calmed down.
He understood why his father wanted to die with them.
But.
As expected.
It was too much.
"Please… don't do this… What about mom? You can't leave her alone."
"I have talked about it with her. She agreed."
He patted Hein who had fallen asleep.
"I haven't received an Omen of Death but I don't intend to leave my children to fend for themselves."
Cayden couldn't words his feelings.
His memories were filled with an abusive and alcoholic father.
While his mind told him his father was once a good man, he couldn't remember anything 'good' about him.
And yet, his father was prepared to give up his life.
His father's Fate Points had not reached zero.
He was not meant to die with them.
There was no guarantee he would survive the hell of demonic worlds and return with them.
And yet.
Dammit.
"I'll take care of Hein. You should go back to mom."
"We should—"
"No. You are not coming with us. You'll just be a burden."
Cayden did not have much time left.
The Omen of Death was intensifying.
He had to get his father to stay away from them.
Even if that meant being harsh to him.
"Hahaha…burden? Isn't that too much to call your father a burden?" He asked with a strained smile.
Cayden did not hold back.
"We might be transported to the same demon world since we will die together. But our spawn points will be different.
"Are you saying the three of us should keep searching for each other? That will just increase the risk of being caught being a demon.
"It can't be helped with Hein and me but you are a different case.
"And what after we return to this world?
"Unlike us, your death will be counted as a suicide. It's a federal crime.
"Nothing good will come from you dying with us.
"So leave us."
His words stabbed into his father's heart. He could tell that by his sorrowful gaze.
The two did not speak after that.
Cayden wanted to believe it was a confirmation on his father's part.
They drove into the city.
The car stopped in front of the police station.
Cayden got out and woke up his brother.
"Mhm… brother? Where are we going?" Hein asked while rubbing his eyes.
"There."
He pointed to the police station before turning back to his father who was in the car.
"Don't look at me like that. This is not a goodbye. We'll meet again. Take care of mom in the meantime."
"Cayden, I think I should come—"
"See you later."
He turned around and entered the police station with Hein.
Just as he stepped into the building, he heard a female voice inside his head.
[Binding Ultimate Bragging System...]