My legs dragged against the rough ground with every step heavier than normal. The waves crashed again.
I glanced around at the hundreds... no thousands... millions of faces in line, but I just couldn't focus on anyone right now.
My mind still danced around. How could my life come to an end when it had just begun? I was 28 and successful.
Now everything was just... gone. The silence pressed in on me.
And then the world shifted.
A tall and large figure cast a shadow over the horizon. I gasped.
The figure was far, but I couldn't make it out clearly. I held my breath. Those around me shifted uneasily, their eyes darting towards the looming figure.
Okay. This was scary.
The figure stayed still taking up all the space until a loud voice came from it , shaking the ground.
"Welcome to the crossroads."
The sound vibrated in my chest, rattled my teeth. I instinctively reached up to smooth my braids, wondering if no one else felt it.
I blinked. My body just stiffened. Obey. That was the only possible response to the voice.
"You are now part of the competition for reincarnation."
What? What did you mean by reincarnation? It was no surprise that others around me stiffened too while looking around as if begging for more answers.
"You didn't choose this."
The call from the voice through the ground again, speaking to everyone without the slightest understanding of what was going on. "But some of you did."
Voluntary? Did some people actually desire this? The figure continued, leaving my questions unanswered.
"For those who volunteered—the old ones—will be difficult, filled with challenges.. You will have knowledge others do not. You chose to fight for your rebirth. You will face the hardest trials, but you came prepared."
What was happening? I searched the faces around me, seeking someone who understood. Did any of them know? I would have to listen carefully to find my path.
"And for those of you who were chosen... the ones who died young," the voice lowered, and I felt the weight of its attention shift to me, to the ones like me. I died young. "You will receive certain... compensations. Bonus abilities. Easier rounds."
Wait… What? My breath stopped. Bonus abilities... easier rounds. Questions filled my brain as I tried to catch up with everything this figure was spewing.
"But your path is not without consequences," the voice boomed again, reminding me of the reality I'd been dragged into. "If you fail... you risk far worse than death. You risk losing yourself entirely."
My whole body shook. How could participating in this game lead to fate worse than dying? Losing myself. My heart pounded in my chest as my breathing became faster.
"Three chances to fail," the figure continued, its voice more serious. "Fail more than that, and you will be trapped. Your soul forfeited.
Or worse, you may become one of the workers—permanently bound to this place to perform hard labour."
Workers? Bound here? The thought sent chills through me. She wanted nothing more than to escape this nightmare.
My life—or what was left of it—was on the line.
This place was for failures, not me! I wasn't a commoner.
I would never be a mindless sheep! Lara needed answers now. She shoved through the queue.
Out of my way, please," I snapped, brushing past a few bodies. They barely even fought back or acknowledged me for pushing them like they were nobodies. My nose flared. Idiots.
"Hello!" I screamed, baring my teeth. I just couldn't tell who I was shouting at this point. "I need to speak to someone!"
My fist clenched at my sides as the cold air grazed my skin. Just move!
I shoved another person harder than I meant to, and they stumbled forward. He glared at me.
"Watch where you're going!" he growled, pushing back a lock of unruly, sandy-blonde hair that had fallen over his forehead. His irritated gaze was fixed on me as he steadied himself.
"Do you know who I am?" I bit back. Does he know who I am?
He waved me aside like I was a fly, pestering him— like I was nothing, and then turned away. Me? Nothing?
My face flushed hot, and my ears itched. I wanted to lash out. I wasn't nothing!
No one ever dared to dismiss me like I was unimportant .
I frowned. My fingers curled into fists. I wanted to scream, to break something.
I took a sharp breath. But my body still shook uncontrollably enough to make me want to deal with him. I thought of my life.
I didn't belong in this... place, competing with a bunch of nobodies for a chance to reincarnate like a lowlife. I had so much power. I deserve to be reincarnated.
Then I felt someone watching me, so I turned my head slightly and caught the gaze of a man standing just a few paces away. I pulled at my sleeves.
His striking grey eyes held mine, and I felt a shiver run down my spine. It was like his eyes were stripping away my balance and sensing the pressure building inside me.
What's his problem ?
He chuckled loudly enough so I could hear as he shook his head. I shivered. This was even more condescending than his gaze.
I glared at him. "What's so funny?" I raised a brow.
He said absolutely nothing. My jaw clenched so tightly. The words stopped in my throat as heat ran through my body. Who the hell are these people?
First the one who shouted at me, now this man? Why did they think they were treating me like I was just... part of this place?
I shot the guy another glare. Nothing. He didn't even flinch.
"You wouldn't understand," I rolled my eyes and turned back to the figure looming ahead, the one who had made the announcement about this silly game of reincarnation.
He was still there. The figure towered over the lines of people. Perfect. This was the perfect moment to assert myself and get answers. Set things straight.
I smoothed down the ill-fitting sleeves of the plain white coveralls I was now forced to wear, straightening my spine and made my way through the crowd. They moved out of the way. Good. It was like they knew better.
"Excuse me!" I called out, raising my voice to cut through the murmurs. "I don't know what kind of mistake this is... but I shouldn't be here."
The figure said nothing. Its silence only fueled my anger. I was determined to get its attention.
"Do you even know who I am?" I demanded the familiar words slipping off my tongue. "I'm Lara Richards. Heiress of Sterling Horizons Group. My family owns more property and resorts across the globe than anyone else. We make billion-dollar deals.
This... whatever this is, doesn't apply to people like me."
There. I'd said it. I would never ever participate in a game when I deserve to be given another chance at life. I knew how many lives I had changed—provided jobs to a lot of people, and somehow, that wasn't enough?
So yeah, I said it. The thing that always made people listen. The thing that always made the world bend in my favor. Now they would understand.
Then the figure slowly turned towards me, but I could barely make out its face in the shadows, but I felt its red eyes on me. Creepy. But I held my head high. I was Lara Richards, and not even this creature would scare me.
"Your wealth, your status—none of that matters here."
The ground shook again when the figure spoke to me. Was it a god? Its voice was cold. Indifferent.
I froze, the certainty I had clung to washing away. "What?"
My wealth mattered. It should.
"You are an involuntary entrant," the figure continued, voice steady, like it had delivered this speech a thousand times before. I bet it has. I was sure there'd be other important people who had questioned this creature before. "That means you have no choice. You will compete. Or you will forfeit your soul essence and face eternity as one of the workers."
The words struck me, leaving me short of breath. Workers. I blinked, trying my best to process everything the figure had said. No choice? There was always a choice. No way I'd be a worker here. Forfeit... my soul?
I stared up at the figure, waiting for some kind of explanation. Some loophole. There had to be one. But the figure said nothing, and the truth sank in.
I swallowed hard.
The thing that had shaped my entire existence, was worthless. It meant nothing. My breath stopped. I stood frozen, the endless line of people blurred.
My stomach dropped.
The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the faint whispers of the wind that carried the chilling reminder: I was no longer in control.
I let out a short, shaky breath I had been holding and crossed my arms. This can't be real.
I glanced around, half-expecting someone to acknowledge how crazy all this was. Like, could you believe this?
But they paid me no mind. The people just stared straight ahead, and I squirmed, ready to run away from this place. But where? Where the hell would I run to?
My heart beat rapidly. My entire life, people had bent to my will, and now I was supposed to stand in line like the rest of these... these nobodies? It didn't make sense. None of this did.
I shifted, looking around and trying to shake off the ridiculousness of the situation, then my eyes landed on the guy who had laughed at me. He was standing just behind me. How was he so calm, composed with expression so cold, it could freeze you to a spot? He didn't look frozen. No panic. Just... stillness.
I scowled. I stiffened again, the panic threatening to crawl back in, but I forced it down. No. Not now. Not here.
But... he wouldn't stop staring now, so...
"Hey," I snapped, turning to him. "What's your problem?"
No reaction.
"Why do you keep staring?" I demanded, my voice sharper than I intended. "You think this is all a joke?"
He didn't say anything. That cool detachment, that complete lack of reaction, made me want to strangle him to death, but we were already here. So fucking annoying!
The guy just stood there with his arms crossed, like he had all the time in the world to piss me off. And it worked.
"I asked you a question." I stepped closer. "Are you too scared to answer, or are you just—"
Before I could finish, he pushed forward through the crowd—dismissed, just like that.
The audacity. The nerve.
My hands shook with anger, but deep down, there was something else brewing.
Something unfamiliar. I was used to having control—of everything and everyone. But here? I was losing that grip. And I hated it.
A loud metal sound echoed on the ground, cutting through my thoughts. I jumped. Without being told, I took a step back, my heart racing as I held my breath.
"Attention!" the shadowy figure called out again, its voice booming. "The first challenge will commence shortly. Prepare yourselves."
Prepare? First challenge? I got so carried away trying to exert my dominance on this stranger that I hadn't even considered what was coming next after the shadowy figure told me I was an involuntary contestant. My mind raced.
The announcement of the first challenge echoed in my ears, and a chill swept through me. First challenge? I glanced at the line of participants, their faces pale and drawn, eyes wide with a fear just like me.
"What do I do?"
Sounds and images bombarded me. My thoughts scattered. I couldn't catch my breath.
The authority figure continued, "Please remember: you are here because you have been chosen for a purpose. Embrace the challenge ahead, or risk losing everything."
Again with losing everything. My breath stopped. My legs became heavier. The thought of being trapped here, toiling endlessly, was unbearable.
Lose everything and toil forever?
Gone. Erased. Poof.
What did it even mean to lose everything? How could it all be gone? The money, the power, the connections, the mansion, the vacations, the clothes, the parties, the control...was it all just smoke?
Had my whole life been a dream? Was this the real world, this...this line? It felt unreal. What was I supposed to do now? I had no idea what this test even was, let alone how to pass it. It wasn't like any business deal I'd ever made.
Run. Hide. Fight. But which is it?
I felt cold, a deep, soul-chilling cold that had nothing to do with the afterlife's strange weather.
I was trapped.
Footsteps echoed in my head. Slow, heavy, deliberate. Then the pain, sudden. The void. The nothing. Who had taken my life? Why? What did they want from me now?
The shadowy figure, whatever it was, kept talking about "losing everything." But I'd already lost everything! What more could they take?
I needed to get out of this, to find out who killed me and why. I need..I need...what? What did I need?