The Beginning

There was nothing.

A pitch black void, dreadful silence and emptiness fills it, a contradiction.

But one thing does exist...a soul.

...

I drifted through the void, tired, but relaxed.

It seems that I have died once more, even when I was so powerful in my second life.

In my first life, I was just a normal, average boy who indulges in reading books, playing video games, and watching anime.

Everything else was just a breeze in the river of time.

Then I died still average, only to find out I reincarnated into a fantasy world.

It seemed like a dream come true, and I was happy with a second chance, a chance to do what I want. But happiness doesn't last forever, and that second chance soon became a nightmare.

A nightmare I so wish I would wake up from...

In the end, I could never resolve my regrets, since I'm drifting through the aimless void.

It is actually somewhat comforting...being embraced in solitude and silence. This is actually a lovely place to be in for one such as I-a tired, introverted person.

If this is where I am destined to remain forever...it won't be too bad...

...

An uncountable time has passed, the silence lulled me to sleep as I drifted through the void.

Then suddenly, a bright light started to shine in the distance.

'...am I reincarnating once more?'

...I'd rather stay here, all by my lonesome self. Here I can hide away from everything I want to run away from, the guilt, the feelings...the pain.

Yes. This is my punishment from my last life, so-

I never had the chance to finish my sentence, as I was forcibly thrust into the light.

Then a familiar darkness came over me once more, making me fall into an unconcious state.

...

A faint breeze fell blew over me, the rustling of leaves and tree branches...the warm, bright sunlight shining through the tree-

Wait, sunlight? Tree? Sounds of rustling leaves and tree branches?

I opened my eyes slowly, and saw healthy tree branches and green leaves above me, the radiant sunlight filtering through them.

Just a moment ago, I was drifting through the void peacefully...and a force brought me somewhere...which is here.

I sat up, looking around.

It seemed I was on a small hill, and underneath one of the many few trees in the middle of a rather large prarie that seems to go for miles on end. I managed to see in the distance tall wodden fences surrounding the prarie, but what astounded me was what was before me.

Yards away was a rather large run-down old looking building with many windows. While it appears to be broken, it seems to emit a pleasant feeling. Judging by its size, it seemed capable of housing thousands of children, like an orphanage-

An orphanage?

Why did that term come up in my mind?

As I sat there, confused, a sudden rush of vertigo came over me, making me fall to the ground on my left side. As I writhed in pain, memories of what seems to be another person flooded into me.

After a few minutes did the pain finally start to ebb away, but... I had to make sure if what the memories that appeared in my mind were correct..

I took out a rather new phone from the pockets of my gray white robes. That made me pause a little. Why did the previous body's owner wear these priest like robes? Really strange. I then looked away from my robes, and turned on the phone, typing the password that came to my mind, and went on to the Internet.

I surfed through the browser stiffly-it has been a while since I have used anything like a phone, and this body feels stiff as well. While looking through the front page, I found what I was looking for, and read through the article.

I became stunned...for only a couple seconds, and then shook my head at what I saw online:

[Dungeon outbreak in Seoul! Killed-]

[[S]-Rank Hunter ------ has finally ranked up-]

[Magic cores have been sold for-]

It seems I have reincarnated once more, into a world just like my original one, but instead there are dungeons and hunters.

This is literally straight out of a korean novel.

As I filtered through my memories, I abruptly stopped, my mind blanking out. I turned around to retreive my brown briefcase, which was leaning against the tree, and looked through it, trying to find a paper.

After filtering through several papers, I finally found the one, and looked at the deed strangely.

'[The Silent Everdistant Sanctuary, the orphanage, has been entrusted to "Tacitus Bardsley"]'

'...what has this body been up to?

Looking through his memories, I sighed, shaking my head.

Tacitus-that's me now-was born in a somewhat rich family. In his childhood, his parents died in a dungeon break, leaving him alone with his family fortune. He was a responsible silent child, never spending too much on anything, and saving his money. He always wanted to be a hunter, and adventure in the dungeon.

He tried to awaken, but never succeeding. Awakening is a process in which people are suddenly granted things like stats and skills, enabling them to become hunters. It is quite a common process, but rare does it not occur to humans like the previous body's owner.

As he grew older, he finally turned away from his dream, and spontaneously decided to open an orphanage once he was 20 years old, to care for those who are cold and heartbroken. Just like he once was.

Dungeon breaks happen a lot unfortunately, leaving kids to be orphaned. Dungeon breaks are literally dungeon breaks-meaning monsters can break through the space between this world and the dungeon, enabling them to fully materialize in this world.

Spending the rest of his money on an abandoned orphanage, he signed the deed for the land and its property. After confirming the authenticity, he left right away for the orphanage, which was in the middle of nowhere. As he took a nap, he suddenly died...letting me reincarnate inside him.

...Tiresome.

I sighed, shaking my head. It was a good thing I reincarnated at this moment, otherwise a day later he would've started going around, finding orphans so he can take them into the orphanage, and start rebuilding.

With this chance, I can lay back and rest without interfering with the world. With no ties and connections to anyone fron this body, nothing should happen if he just stays here. No enemies, no friends, no responsibilities...nothing.

It's just perfect.

I take back what I mentioned earlier-its not tiresome anymore. With no one nearby, I have all the time in the world to myself.

Although the dungeons may be a problem, with new ones always spawning out of nowhere...there's at least there's none nearby.

Even if there was any danger, I still seem to have some of my powers from my previous life, so I'm capable of defending myself.

As I layed down once more in the shade of the tree, I closed my eyes, relaxing...only to hear a humming noise.

Opening an eye, I saw what seemed to be a portal of light blue swirling in front of me...

What a coincidence. A dungeon appearing and opening in front of me as I tried to relax....

How troublesome.

Still though... this is a dungeon portal? One that leads to a new dungeon? A new world?

Should I enter it or not? To enter it for adventure? For power? For glory?

Or take a nap and ignore it?

...

I closed my eyes again.

What ones eyes can't see is what ones hands can't touch.