**LOCATION: ???**
Death was never easy for anyone. Some were fortunate enough to pass peacefully in their sleep, while others suffered through the pain of their final moments.
James Charles was one of the unfortunate ones. He had to watch as his life slipped away, the warmth of his body fading as blood pooled from the knife wound in his stomach.
'I can't believe this is how my life ends...'
A deep sense of regret settled within him. At just twenty-two years old, his life had amounted to nothing worth remembering. No family. No friends. No girlfriend. No one to mourn him. He would likely be buried in an empty funeral, his existence fading into obscurity.
Such was the fate of those who never even tried to form a single meaningful connection.
'At least I saved that little girl...'
James found a small sliver of solace in that thought. He wasn't a hero by any means, but he couldn't just stand by and watch a ten-year-old girl get stabbed. His life was already empty—at least hers had a chance.
Yet, a bitter part of him wondered: Was it even worth it?
In just a month, he would have graduated college, finally breaking free from the endless cycle of studying. But now, none of it mattered. College, the future, his goals—everything felt meaningless in the face of death.
As his consciousness drifted, James found comfort in the one thing that had brought him joy in life—manga. At least he had lived long enough to see the ending of Jujutsu Kaisen.
'Even if the ending was shit, at least they did my favorite character justice...'
Ryomen Sukuna.
The villain James could never get enough of. His room had been filled with Sukuna merch, and he had even cosplayed as him at an anime convention once.
"The life Sukuna lived was the life I always wished for."
Hedonism—the pursuit of pleasure and the rejection of societal restraints. Everyone sought pleasure in some way, chasing happiness like it was the only thing that mattered. But James had always been drawn to the opposite. He had wanted to be free—free from the rules, from expectations, from the monotony of an ordinary life.
"It's funny... I never really thought about what I wanted until now, at the very end."
Had he been too caught up in school? Too afraid to admit that he wanted something more? That his life, in the grand scheme of things, would be utterly meaningless?
Shaking off the depressing thought, he let his mind drift back to fantasy.
'If only I could be like those protagonists in fanfictions—reborn as my favorite character.'
Of course, he wasn't some delusional weeb who actually thought reincarnation was real. But the idea excited him. If given the chance, what path would he take?
Would he embrace his villainous role and use his knowledge of the future to secure victory? Or would he take the protagonist's path, defeat Kenjaku, and maybe even form a harem along the way?
The truth was, he had no idea. James wasn't the type to kill without reason, but he also wasn't the kind of person to save everyone like Itadori. The sheer exhaustion of trying to be a hero made his head hurt just thinking about it.
'Maybe it's better if I don't reincarnate at all...'
Sighing internally, he turned his thoughts to a more pressing question.
Was he going to heaven or hell?
He had never committed any serious crimes, but he wasn't exactly a saint either. He had never really believed in God or the afterlife—so what was this dark, empty space he was trapped in?
'Is this really it? Am I going to spend eternity floating in darkness?'
The very thought sent a shiver of fear through him. Eternal loneliness.
But before that fear could fully take hold, a blinding light surrounded him.
Then, sound. Strange, distant noises—pain, suffering, cries of exhaustion.
Before he could even process what was happening, he felt warmth.
A nurse's voice. Japanese.
His mind struggled to keep up. He had studied Japanese in high school, so he understood what she was saying, but that wasn't what shocked him.
No, what really made his brain short-circuit was his reflection in the glass mirror nearby.
A baby.
A tiny, helpless, crying infant.
'Why the hell am I a baby?!'
Panic swelled within him, but his newborn body betrayed him, leaving him only able to wail in frustration. One second, he had been an adult, a college student on the brink of graduation. Now, he was back at square one, forced to go through childhood again.
Was this hell? Some cruel, cosmic joke?
Before he could spiral further into existential dread, he was gently handed to a man—his father.
The nurses and doctors rushed his mother out of the room, their voices frantic. Something was wrong.
But James—no, Ryoichi Kurayami—could only stare up at the man holding him.
"Don't worry, son," his father whispered, voice thick with emotion. "I promised your mother that I would make sure you grow up and have a good life. I know you'll do great things, Ryoichi."
And just like that, James realized—this was no ordinary second chance.
He had been reborn.
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Hope you enjoyed the story! Any feedback would also be great to hear. Also some power stones would be great too!
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