[Initializing... Reincarnation Sequence...]
'Uhm... huh?'
The 'man' heard something—a machine-like voice. He tried opening his eyes, but all he could see was the vast, empty darkness—a void of nothingness.
He tried to see his surrounding, and yet, still complete darkness.
He tried to see himself, but... he saw nothing as well...
As if he had no body to look at to begin with.
[Reincarnation Sequence activated...]
The same machine-like voice echoed, saying something about... reincarnation?
The 'man' had heard about those things. A lot, in fact.
As an avid fan of other-world fantasy stories and novels, he knew the 'Isekai' genre well enough, or getting into another world, so to speak.
There were many ways these stories started, and one of them was by being reincarnated into a new body. It usually happened when the reincarnated character's original body died in their original world...
But...
'How did I die...?'
He vaguely remembered trying to save someone... a girl. But then... there was that speeding truck.
'Ah... now I remember...'
Yes, that truck—the biggest one he had ever seen in his whole life. Maybe even bigger as it'd gotten closer and ram him over like unassuming deer.
It would take a damn miracle to survive something like that, and even if he did? He'd probably be left crippled for life.
'So... reincarnation is real, huh? But was getting hit by a truck really the trigger? Isn't that kind of... cliché?
He thought all over his current predicament, reeling at the thought...
'...Am I really being reincarnated?'
He would have rejoiced with all his heart at the chance of an actual 'isekai' reincarnation, but...
'...Or am I just hallucinating as my body slowly dies in the real world?'
The 'man' had read a few online theories surrounding death and near-death experiences.
He remembered vaguely... that when someone was about to die, their brain made these delusions as a coping mechanism.
If this was just his brain tricking him into dying peacefully, it would have been quite the blow to his sanity...
'... You know what? I really don't care anyway.'
He coped at the thought. He didn't think it would have matter anyway if this was indeed just a hallucination of his brain.
He had died... and that was just the truth of the fact.
But now? Maybe he had the chance of a second life. A life where he could actually just enjoy to the fullest...
So right now, he figured he might as well "enjoy" this bizarre, hallucination-like experience.
[Initiating transfer of soul...]
'So, my soul was being transferred, huh? Well, it made sense, I guess.'
This was what reincarnation was all about—his soul being transferred to another world. But with that in mind...
'What kind of body that I'm going to end up in?' He though once more, a bit of an excitement filled his mind.
The man didn't have long to wonder as his consciousness slowly faded.
[Soul transfer completed]
< | X | >
The 'man' began to feel something—his consciousness slowly returning to him.
He could feel the air in his lungs as they started working again. His heart beat, slow but steady. He could sense the warm air around him.
He opened his eyes... and saw two people looking down at him.
They were adults—one man, the other a woman. Both gazed at him... with warm smiles.
The woman, in particular, looked at him with teary, 'motherly' eyes.
'Wait... motherly?'
Why did he think of her like that?
He tried to reach out to them instinctively, but his hands were small... pudgy... baby hands.
'Wait, wait... am I... a baby?'
Both adults grabbed each one of his tiny baby hands with their larger, adult ones.
"My baby..." the woman cooed, her teary eyes fixed on him as she held his right arm tightly.
She was lying on a bed, wearing a slightly disheveled and bloody white gown. Judging by her appearance and the way she reacted... she must have been the one that had just given birth to him.
She was... his mother.
"What a healthy boy," the man commented, pride evident in his expression. His firm grasp and affectionate gaze confirmed his role—this man... was his father.
Releasing his son's tiny hand, the man stepped back as the woman slowly pulled the baby close in a gentle embrace. The warmth radiating from her felt... comforting to him.
"What should we name him, dear?" his father asked.
'My name, huh?'
He vaguely remembered the one he had before. Though even if he remembered them now... It didn't really matter, though. His new life would begin with a new name given by these lovely parents of his.
"Hmm... let's see..." His mother paused, studying his baby face intently. "How about... Theodore?"
'Theodore? That's a pretty good name,' baby 'Theodore' thought to himself, feeling gracious by the well put name for him.
"Theodore sounds great, dear! Ahaha!" His father laughed heartily, clearly pleased with his wife's choice.
[Your name has been set to: Theodore Astaroth]
The machine-like voice announced his new name in his head.
It was a solid name, though...
'Astaroth?'
Wasn't that one of the Noble Demon families he had read about before he died?
'...! Demon...!'
Now it clicked to his baby mind as he finally noticed the extra features adorning his parents' head.
Both of his parents... had splendid demonic horns atop their heads. They looked human otherwise, but those remarkable horns marked them as demons...!
He stared, wide-eyed, baffled by the sight of actual demons—especially two of them being his actual birth parents...
'So... am I... a demon?'
The thought finally crossed his mind, the realization settling in that he was now... a demon.
He tried opening his mouth in an attempt to communicate, but... only a baby's cry escaped.
"Oh dear! It's okay, it's okay," his mother cooed soothingly, mistaking his cry for distress. "Are you hungry, my little Theo?"
She quickly lowered her gown, revealing her... large 'mammaries' to him. As if his baby instinct taking over him, he also quickly latched on to one of them.
The sensation was overwhelming for baby 'Theo,' and his consciousness began to fade.
'So, this is my new life, huh?' his last thought as sleep finally claimed him.