"Argh…" Kiernan struggled to open his eyes. The room was spinning around him, and a bright light assaulted his eyes.
He heard loud noises, as if there were people cheering all around him. It was very loud.
As he placed his hands under him, he noticed that he was currently lying on some kind of hard surface. There was also some warm liquid dripping onto his face.
'W-what's happening? Am I reincarnated?'
"The winner is Jonathan Ackers!" A loud-sounding man's voice boomed through his ears.
As Kiernan opened his eyes with great struggle, he noticed a white-clothed referee raising the arm of a young man who was smiling and waving to the crowd.
Kiernan opened his eyes wider and looked around. He noticed thousands of spectators cheering and clapping. They were inside some kind of small stadium with an open ceiling that showed a clear blue sky.
"Are you alright?" At that moment, someone wearing a doctor's getup crouched in front of him and checked his eyes to see if he was concussed.
The doctor snapped his fingers in front of Kiernan's eyes, and after seeing him react, he nodded.
"You seem to be alright. Can you walk?" The doctor asked.
"Where am I?" Kiernan asked with a struggle and touched the back of his head. He touched something warm and sticky.
Once he moved his hand in front of him, he noticed that it was blood. He was bleeding quite heavily.
"Hmm, you don't remember?" The doctor frowned. "A short-term amnesia? Let's check that out, but for now, let's leave the stage. The next match is about to start, and we're on the way."
"A match?" Kiernan looked at the referee and the other young man. 'I was in a match and I lost?'
At that moment, the doctor helped him stand and walked out of the stage with him.
As Kiernan slowly walked towards the exit, he heard a voice.
"Kiernan, you should give up on martial arts before you get yourself killed!"
'Kiernan?' Kiernan turned to the crowd and saw some young men throwing taunts in his direction.
They looked to be around 16 or 17 and wore similar martial arts uniforms as Kiernan. They seemed to be from the same school.
'I have the same name here?' Kiernan thought to himself, confused by the situation. 'Also, I was reincarnated into the body of this young man... Who is he? I thought I would be reincarnated as a baby.'
The doctor grabbed him by the arm and helped him sit down on the nearby chair. He then took his pen, which had a flashlight at the end, and started examining his eyes.
While looking at the bright light, Kiernan also examined the arena, the loud spectators, and the stage, where he was standing just moments prior.
'This atmosphere is insane; I haven't seen anything like this back on Earth.' Kiernan thought with a racing heartbeat. 'This cannot be on Earth. I must've reincarnated in one of those other realms.'
"You have a severe injury at the back of your head." The doctor said it with a frown. "I'll get you some healing bandages; those should work wonders."
'Healing bandages?' Kiernan wondered and watched as the doctor left.
After he left, he touched the back of his head and winced at the pain.
'This young man must've died, and I took control of his body.' Kiernan thought to himself. 'This is not small damage. Is it common for martial artists, even for someone as young as this person, to die in matches?'
A short while later, the doctor returned and bandaged his head. It wasn't the same bandage as on Earth.
Kiernan felt the pain vanish, and the ringing in his ear disappeared suddenly. He also felt like his injury was slowly healing.
'Amazing…' Kiernan touched his bandaged head with an amazed expression. 'This world is truly incredible.'
"That should be enough." The doctor packed up his things and said, "I'll have to check up on other fighters. Take care and get some rest."
"Thanks…" Kiernan nodded, and after the doctor left, he turned his attention to the current fight on the stage.
There, two young men brawled with their fists.
The blood splattered onto the ground as the crowd roared with excitement.
The atmosphere made everyone's blood pump with excitement.
'This is crazy,' Kiernan thought.
It was clear that the fight at the stage could end in deaths, but the crowd was still excited, and the referee didn't move an inch.
At the fight, both fighters used every method to gain an advantage over their opponents. They tried to go for eyepokes and low blows.
However, both still used only their legs and fists. They didn't use any weapons.
After a while, one of the fighters emerged victorious. One side of the stadium erupted in cheers. The cheering squad jumped up and down in celebration.
'What an insane fight.' Kiernan stood up and slowly walked out of the stadium. He had to clear his head.
As soon as he stepped out of the stadium, his eyes were greeted with a view of the bustling city. The sky was clear, cloudless, and sunny.
The birds chirped and insects buzzed around him as he took a deep breath of fresh air.
There were young men and women, wearing the martial arts uniform of one of the schools, entering and exiting the stadium.
Some left with sad expressions after losing their fights, and some celebrated with their friends. Some looked nervous as they awaited their turn to step into the ring and showcase their skills.
'What am I wearing?' Kiernan looked down and saw that he was wearing a white uniform with a white belt tied around his waist and black flower patterns scattered across the fabric.
'Now, what am I about to do?' Kiernan wondered as he looked around the bustling stadium. He felt lost.
He had just reincarnated into the body of some unknown young man—he didn't even know what he looked like yet.
'This kid must've had family, friends, etc. I only know his name—Kiernan.'
At that moment, a sharp pain assaulted his head as if he were having a skull-crushing migraine. He grabbed his bandaged head in agony, but he didn't let out a single grunt of pain.
Memories flooded inside his mind like a relentless wave crashing against the shore, each one more vivid and painful than the last.
After a minute of suffering, the pain subsided, and now he had fifteen years worth of memories that seemed familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
"I remember everything." Kiernan whispered to himself in shock. "This kid's name is Kiernan Hunter, as well."
His expression softened. This young man indeed died in the fight. It was his first fight in the big stadium. He had dreams of reaching the top of the martial arts world, carrying the hopes of his single father.
However, he drew a bad match-up. He was against Jonathan Ackers, a powerful young man from Irio High. It was a rival school of Kiernan's High School.
Kiernan had no chance in victory. The fight went on and eventually, everything turned dark. It seemed like he died, but he couldn't remember how.
'He was talentless. He must've trained a hundred times more than his peers, yet he still couldn't compare to others natural skills and abilities.'
Kiernan touched his knuckles with his hand and formed a fist. He then turned around and stared at the stadium, where loud cheers echoed.
'This is now me.' Kiernan thought to himself. 'I can also feel it. My mind has also turned to that of a fifteen year-old. I feel youthful; there are no more back pains or the pains of being old. I feel alive again.'
He took a deep breath and let out a long, thoughtful sigh.
The whole world around him suddenly felt larger than life itself. This world should've been the place where he should've originally been born.
Perhaps with a sick twist of faith, he ended in Earth, but eventually, he felt like he had reached his home.