[The Final Moments]

The taste of blood filled Andrew Paul's mouth.

His vision blurred, dark spots creeping into the edges of his sight as he lay on the cold pavement. The neon lights of the city flickered above him, casting erratic shadows over his broken body. His limbs refused to move. His breath came in ragged gasps, each one more painful than the last.

This is it.

His mind raced, grasping for memories, for meaning. How had it all gone so wrong? Just hours ago, he was walking home after another mind-numbing day at the office. A normal guy in a normal world. Now, he was dying alone in a back alley, his life leaking onto the dirty asphalt.

He tried to move his fingers. Nothing. His chest ached as he inhaled, the smell of rain and burning wires filling his nostrils.

I was just going home.

A shadow loomed over him. A figure he barely recognized through his failing vision. A voice followed—calm, almost amused.

"You weren't supposed to be here, Andrew."

The words made no sense. He wanted to ask who they were, what they meant, but his body refused to cooperate.

A boot pressed against his chest, driving out what little air remained in his lungs. The pain flared—sharp, unbearable.

"You were supposed to stay in your lane."

The figure crouched down, their face just out of reach of his dying sight.

"But don't worry," they whispered. "You'll get another chance."

Andrew's vision tunneled. The world tilted sideways.

Then—

Nothing.

[A Void Beyond Time]

There was no pain. No sensation. No sound.

Andrew existed in nothingness.

A terrifying thought struck him: Was this death? Was this all there was?

He tried to speak, but there was no mouth to form words. He tried to move, but he had no body to control. He was thought. Consciousness without form.

Then—something shifted.

A presence. Vast. Endless.

It wasn't human. It wasn't even alive in the way he understood life. It simply was.

Welcome, Andrew Paul.

The voice—or thought—resonated through him. Not spoken, but understood.

"Where… am I?"

His words weren't words. They were will, projected into the void.

You have died.

Andrew had already figured that much out. What he didn't understand was why he was still here.

Your existence has not ended. It has merely… changed.

A pulse of energy surged around him. Suddenly, knowledge poured into him—not as memories, but as truths. He was standing—or rather, existing—before something unfathomable. A force beyond mortal understanding.

You have been chosen.

"Chosen for what?"

To begin again.

Andrew barely had time to process that before the void shattered.

[Rebirth in a Strange World]

His lungs burned as air rushed into them.

His chest heaved as he gasped, cold sweat covering his body. His fingers twitched, feeling grass beneath them. His back ached against solid earth.

He was alive.

His eyes snapped open. Above him, a twilight sky stretched endlessly, hues of deep purple and blue merging into the horizon. Stars he didn't recognize twinkled like tiny eyes watching him.

He bolted upright. His breath was heavy, erratic.

"What the hell…"

His voice was hoarse, dry. He looked down. His body—whole, unbroken. No gunshot wounds, no pain. He was wearing a simple tunic, nothing like the business suit he had on when he died. His hands—rougher, calloused, different.

This wasn't his body.

The air smelled of damp earth and something metallic. In the distance, he could hear the rustling of trees, the faint echo of something moving.

A deep, guttural growl.

Andrew turned, his heart hammering.

Through the trees, glowing red eyes peered at him. Low, snarling breaths. The unmistakable sound of claws scraping against stone.

Predator.

Move.

The instinct was immediate, primal. He scrambled to his feet. His body responded faster than he expected, muscles working with trained efficiency that he never had before.

The beast emerged from the darkness.

It was massive—eight feet tall, covered in obsidian-black fur. Its jaw unhinged unnaturally wide, lined with jagged fangs dripping with thick saliva.

And it was coming for him.

[Survival Begins]

I don't know where I am. I don't know what that thing is. But if I don't do something, I'm dead—again.

Andrew had no weapons. No tools. Just his instincts and his new, unfamiliar body. But something told him—deep in his core—that this body was built for more than survival.

The beast lunged.

Andrew moved.

Faster than he should have. Faster than any normal human. He twisted away, barely avoiding the creature's claws as they tore through the ground where he had just been standing.

What the hell?

The world around him seemed sharper. His mind processed everything at once—wind direction, terrain, the beast's muscle movements. It was like he was made for battle.

The monster roared and charged again. This time, Andrew countered.

Without thinking, his body reacted. He sidestepped, pivoted, and struck. His fist collided with the creature's ribcage.

A sickening crack.

The beast howled in pain.

Andrew's eyes widened. He had felt its bones break under his strike. That was not normal.

His body had power.

This isn't just reincarnation. Something's different.

The monster staggered but didn't fall. It snarled, blood seeping from its maw. Andrew knew it wasn't finished.

He had seconds.

He scanned his surroundings. A sharp rock jutted out from the ground nearby. An idea formed.

Do or die.

The beast lunged.

Andrew sidestepped, grabbed the rock, and with all his strength—drove it into the creature's skull.

A sickening crunch.

The beast collapsed.

Silence.

His breath came in ragged gulps. His hands shook.

He was alive.

He looked down at himself, at his trembling fingers. A slow realization crept in.

I wasn't just given a new life.

I was given something else.

A purpose. A mission.

And if this world was anything like that beast…

He was going to need every advantage he could get.

[The System Awakens]

A sudden chime echoed in his mind.

[SYSTEM INITIALIZING…]

[WELCOME, ANDREW PAUL.]

[YOUR JOURNEY BEGINS NOW.]

His eyes widened.

Then—

Everything changed.