---
"Mr. Yato, are you sure you want to accept this mission?"
asked a young girl with short hair for the fifth time.
"I will accept, yes. You don't need to worry, Rin."
"You know this isn't just a simple goblin extermination mission. There could be a goblin tribe involved or other dangerous beasts in that area. How can you have the courage to tell me not to be worried?"
"Hahaha, I didn't know you cared so much about me. Has my charm seduced you?"
"Stop joking, Mr. Yato. If you die, there will be no one brave enough to replace you in your mission of living in the dragon's forest."
"Thinking about it, that would be a drag, huh? But what does that have to do with me? If you don't want me to take risks, why don't you just raise my salary for living in that hell?"
"Since it's so hard to convince you, there's nothing I can do. Press your finger here, Mr. Yato," said the girl with a professional expression, as if all her concern for Yato's life had vanished.
"Just mentioning a raise and you completely change? You're really stingy, Rin! Where's all that concern?"
"Mr. Yato, if you don't shut up and press your finger, I will have to revoke this mission."
"You're hard to deal with, you little rascal," said Yato, dipping his finger in ink and pressing it on the paper.
"The mission has been accepted. I hope you succeed," said the short-haired girl with a professional expression on her face.
---
In a forest, one can see a man of simple appearance, black hair sprawled on the ground, breathing heavily, with a completely black snake cut in two at his feet.
'It has been 24 years, from a small beggar with nothing to an adult with little,' thought the man as he looked at the trees with a calm expression.
"Do I deserve more?"
"Until today, I've lived my life with the sole purpose of surviving."
"The gods are so cruel to punish me with such a miserable life for simply wanting to survive."
"How can there be a black snake in these areas?"
"I shouldn't have chosen that damn mission."
"I'm so unlucky."
"I left no descendants."
"Gods, save me!"
"I IMPLORE YOU, GODS OR DEMONS, ANYONE, PLEASE LET ME LIVE! I PROMISE TO COMPLY REGARDLESS OF THE PUNISHMENT!"
As the man hallucinated and shouted, he did not notice a crack appearing in the sky for a few seconds, which soon closed, from which emerged a pair of small blue birds and a ball of energy. The pair of birds began to fall towards the man, and the ball of energy began to float rapidly towards something it felt was familiar.
Meanwhile, a man sprawled on the ground, tired of calling on the gods, simply accepted that this was his death.
"If there is a second life, may I be a noble!"
At a surprising speed, a sphere of energy launched itself towards the body of the fallen man.
Externally, everything seemed normal, but internally, a battle between souls was taking place: the unknown soul fought against the soul of a man who had accepted his fate. The man's soul tried to resist, but the foreign soul fought with fierce determination to win at any cost.
The battle was already decided: on one side, a soul that had given up on living; on the other, a soul that fought with a primal instinct for survival.
The soul of the foreign being devoured the soul that had no will to live, leaving no fragment behind. After absorbing the last piece, it began to undergo a mutation. Instinctively, the man's body reacted to the actions of the soul and began to primitively devour the snake beside him. Thus, both internally and externally, changes began to occur.
The body contorted into a fetal position as the soul entered a peculiar state of adaptation.
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