Ren's brow furrowed as he stared at the status window, his confusion growing with every passing second. His name—**Ren**—looked odd in the status window. It didn't feel like his, and a deep unease settled in his chest. Something was definitely off.
Ignoring it could be dangerous, but Ren was no fool. He had seen how these things played out in stories, where ignoring red flags led to future regrets. He wasn't about to repeat someone else's mistakes.
This situation felt all too familiar, yet unnervingly strange. It was like the moment a character from a novel stepped into reality. He didn't want to raise any flags, but the oddity of his name and the presence of the question mark gnawed at him. Shouldn't he have a new name in this world?
He turned to the system, trying to make sense of things. "System, can you confirm where I am? I seem to be in some sort of fantasy world," Ren asked, though a nagging sense of foreboding lingered in the back of his mind.
►[Host is right.]
Ren blinked, his mind racing. *Why does my name look like this?* He looked at the question mark lingering near it. *Why do I feel like I should have a different name here?*
The system didn't answer immediately, which only increased his unease. But Ren pushed the thought aside. If the system wasn't going to provide answers, he could always search for them elsewhere.
He needed to understand his situation, and the best way to do that was to access the memories of the previous owner of this body.
"So, system," Ren said, his voice calm but firm, "can you provide me with the memories of the prior owner?"
►[Yes. Host.]
Ren exhaled in relief. There was a slight hum as the system processed the request, and soon, Ren felt an odd pull in his mind—a connection that began to synchronize. As the memories of the previous life filled his mind, he could hardly contain his excitement.
►[Initiating... Synchronizing...]
►[5%█]
►[34%█████]
►[55%█████████]
►[78%█████████████]
►[99%█████████████████]
A sharp pain pierced his skull, and Ren grimaced, clutching his head. The pain was sudden and unbearable, unlike anything he had ever felt before. He sank down onto the bed, trying to breathe through it, but the headache only intensified.
*What is this headache?* Ren wondered, wondering if the system had warned him. But it was too late to worry about that now. He closed his eyes and tried to relax, focusing on the strange, emerging memories.
'Maybe it's the memories of the former owner coming through,' he thought, trying to comfort himself.
►[Synchronizing was successful. It is best for the host to bear with the discomfort.]
Ren let out a quiet groan, sinking into the bed. *Sweet dreams, then,* he thought to himself before falling into a deep, restless sleep.
***
When Ren awoke, the world around him felt... different. He blinked several times, trying to adjust to the strange emptiness surrounding him. There were no trees, no people, no buildings. Just an endless void stretching in all directions. The air was thick with a peculiar stillness, and the silence was deafening.
*Where am I?* Ren's thoughts raced. He took a few tentative steps, his legs feeling heavier than usual. It was as if he were walking through an endless dream. His surroundings were devoid of any color, everything was black—nothing stood out, no point of reference, just a vast, infinite nothingness.
A figure appeared in the distance, and Ren's heart skipped a beat. *Someone?* Relief flooded him for a brief moment.
But then he saw the man's face, and his stomach dropped.
The man in front of him—his face—looked exactly like Ren's.
He couldn't believe his eyes. *This can't be real,* he thought. *It's like looking at myself from a different angle.*
"You?" Ren asked, confused.
The man looked at him with an expression that was somehow both familiar and distant. He grinned knowingly. "You're somewhat correct," the man said. "But you see, I'm Ren too. Ren Holmes."
Ren's eyes widened as he tried to process what he was hearing. "Wait... you're... *me*?"
"Yeah," the man nodded. "We're the same."
Ren stood there, trying to make sense of the words that kept swirling around his head. But there was no denying it. This was Ren Holmes, the character from his favorite novel. The very villain that he had admired, the one who had been painted as the antagonist simply because he was against the protagonist. Ren Holmes had been misunderstood, his motives twisted by the story, and in Ren's eyes, he had always been the true hero of the tale.
"But why are you here?" Ren asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "How do we both exist?"
The man, Ren Holmes, smirked, as if amused by Ren's confusion. "Let me put it simply. We are one and the same," he said. "I'm you from your past life, and now... you're me."
Ren blinked in disbelief. "So you're telling me that I'm the villain from the novel? That Ren Holmes was me?"
"Yes," Ren Holmes chuckled. "But don't get upset. You don't have to follow the same fate as I did. We can change things."
Ren shook his head in disbelief. "But... *you're* the villain, I liked you! You were my favorite character. I never thought you were actually bad. The way the story portrayed you was all wrong! I just wanted to see you win."
Ren Holmes chuckled softly. "Well, it's a good thing you've got my memories now. And yes, you are me now, and we share everything, the good and the bad. You've got the knowledge, the skills, and even the power to rewrite the story."
Ren's mind raced. *So, I'm Ren Holmes, the villain?* He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. But one thing was certain: he wasn't going to play the same role as the villain in the novel. He had the chance to rewrite everything, to change the fate he had always admired from the shadows.
"Alright," Ren said, his voice steady with resolve. "I'll change everything. I won't be the villain. I'll make my own story."
Ren Holmes nodded approvingly. "That's the spirit. Together, we can change the future."
The two Ren's stood there for a moment, a shared understanding passing between them. It wasn't just a partnership—it was the fusion of two souls, one person reborn with the other's memories. Together, they would forge a new path, one where they weren't bound by the rules of fate or the plot of the game.
***
Ren awoke in his room, the void around him dissipating. He was back in his body, but it felt different now. There was a new clarity in his mind. The merging of the two lives—his and Ren Holmes'—had left him with an unsettling sense of peace.
As he examined his new status, Ren couldn't help but feel both optimistic and wary. His rank had been reset, his stats were low, but his knowledge of the future gave him an edge. He would take action now. No more waiting.
The question mark in his name was gone—he was Ren Holmes now, fully.
Ren grinned to himself. He had been reincarnated into the body of his favorite character, and now he had a chance to live out a life that wasn't dictated by the story of the game. It was time to take control.
And with that, Ren's journey truly began.