Echoes of Two Lives

Somewhere above the sea...

A massive spacecraft slowly descended and hovered above the sea level. After a moment, the door of the spaceship was opened, and a black bag, 1 meter in height, was thrown from inside into the sea.

After that, the door to the spacecraft was closed, and without even making a ripple in the sea, it zoomed away in the blink of an eye.

Only the black bag remained in a half-submerged state above the water due to the trapped air inside the bag.

As the wind blew, it drifted about in the calm sea, sinking bit by bit into the water.

...

"What is this place?"

"Why can't I remember who I am?"

"…I…am…right, my name is Alvin, captain of the Special Task Force 2nd Division…"

"No…if I am Alvin, then who is Draven…am I Draven…"

After Alvin's soul was destroyed by the black-clothed man, he found himself trapped in an empty space.

His memory seemed to be jumbled in a way that it appeared as though it was a broken recorder, which only displayed fragments of his life.

If once he found himself in the body of a middle-aged soldier from Earth, carrying out a very dangerous mission, the next moment he found himself looking at a woman who was smiling brightly at him while calling 'Draven' affectionately.

"Mom…" Involuntarily, this word came to Alvin's mind when he saw the woman's face.

For an unknown period of time, this kept on going, on and on, as Alvin tried hard to recollect his memories.

At last, Alvin recollected his memory from his past life as Alvin fully, but no matter what he tried, it appeared as though his memories as Draven were broken into pieces which could not be patched back.

Despite his constant failures, Alvin kept trying to recall his past due to an uncontrollable urge from deep inside his soul, as though there was something very important to him in those memories.

He was not sure how much time had passed. One day, as he was blankly staring at the darkness in front of him, he saw a small dot of light gradually shaping in front of him.

As time passed, the light dot slowly expanded, and the silhouette of a huge golden turtle appeared in front of Alvin.

Its presence was so divine that Alvin felt as though he was truly standing before a heavenly being, whom mortals are not supposed to see.

The huge turtle opened its eyes and looked at Alvin with its sleepy eyes. "I didn't expect that I would meet a human who has the aura of another universe when I am nearing the end of my life."

As it spoke, a strong but soothing voice rang out in the dark space.

"What…what are you?" Alvin tried to speak, but it seemed as though he didn't have a mouth, and no sound came out.

But it appeared as though the turtle could hear what Alvin was thinking, so it spoke again.

"No need for panic. I am an ancient beast who once lived in this world. Now I am just a remnant soul with no existence to speak of."

"Why did you say I have the aura of another universe?" Alvin asked in his mind after calming down from his initial shock.

The turtle fell silent for a moment. "Each universe has its own rules. No soul from one universe is allowed to travel to another universe. If any soul travels to another universe, unless it is through the cycle of reincarnation, the soul will be destroyed by the laws of the universe."

"I am such a beast who traveled to this universe from another universe when my universe was destroyed in the war between gods in the primordial era."

"Due to the weak rules of this universe during ancient times, I was able to enter here, but since I was not from this planet, once I died, I could not enter the cycle of reincarnation. The only option in front of me is that my soul will slowly wither away, fading away from existence forever."

The golden turtle paused for a moment after it reached this point, then it continued speaking while fixing its eyes on Alvin's direction.

"The memories you have now are from your past life. After dying, you passed through the cycle of reincarnation and were reborn into this world."

"But, unfortunately, your soul seems to have been destroyed, and you are currently in a state that is between life and death. When you die completely, your soul will once again enter the cycle of reincarnation, and your soul will start a new life as a completely new person."

"As soon as your soul entered this state, I caught the scent of a different universe from your soul, and after searching for a bit, I finally found you."

Alvin looked at the turtle blankly. "So, are you saying that you came here just to chat with me since we both are from other universes?"

The golden turtle shook its head. "No, I am here to give you a chance, a chance to return back to life. In return, allow my soul to fuse with you. This way, I can heal your soul, and I will also be able to enter the reincarnation cycle as a part of your soul."

"What do you think?"

Alvin thought about it for a while, but in the end, he refused. "No need. I died a fulfilling death as a soldier on the battlefield, and there is no need to relive that life once again. Let nature take its course."

Alvin felt as though this turtle in front of him was definitely not here to help him but to snatch his soul. Otherwise, why would this guy care to explain all this to him like a grandpa coaxing a child with candy to later kidnap him?

The turtle was also not surprised by Alvin's refusal. "Feel some of your life in this world first, and only reply to me after that."

After the turtle said this, a golden light exploded from its body and covered a shadow that was drifting in the dark space before it.

"Boom."

Suddenly, it felt as though time was rewinding at high speed. Several images passed through Alvin's mind in an instant.

After a while, it stopped on the memory where Alvin and Elena entered the villa from the space portal.

After receiving the memories of his life up until this point, Alvin remained silent for some time.

Even though it was only the memory of a couple of hours, from the events he witnessed and from the interactions he had with his mother in this world, Alvin felt a strange emotion in his heart for the first time.

In his past life, he was an orphan, and as soon as he was 18, he was enlisted into the army as a special agent. He neither had a family nor friends all his life, so when he suddenly felt the emotions he experienced when he was leaning on Elena's shoulder in her bedroom and how that very woman was killed in front of him…

Alvin's emotions were a complete mess at this point.

After reading the turmoil in Alvin's mind, the turtle said once again, "You are an anomaly who arrived in this world through the cycle of reincarnation, yet with the aura of your previous world. According to the rules of this world, you are both part of this world and, at the same time, not part of this world."

" If you don't repair your soul, you will once again enter the cycle of reincarnation and will drift away to some other place or possibly even to some other world. But I don't think you are ready to leave this place just like that, right?"

Alvin remained silent after hearing this. "Come to the point. What do you want?"

The golden turtle blinked its eyes and said, "Absorb my soul and let me fuse with your soul. I will repair your broken soul using my soul energy."

Alvin furrowed his brows. "What is the benefit you get out of it? I don't think you are helping me just because you find me pitiful, right?"

The golden turtle closed its eyes and said in a serious tone, "Of course, I am not a fool who helps others for free. Once you absorb my soul, we will become one, and I will be freed from this state of roaming the world as a remnant soul which is neither dead nor alive."

Alvin fell into deep thought once the turtle stopped speaking. After some time, he asked, "Can't you forcefully take over my soul? Why are you asking my permission?"

The turtle shook its large head. "I am just a remnant soul. I don't have the energy to compete with you for dominance of your soul, nor am I interested in that. The only option left is coexistence, where both of us will exist in the same body as I replace the broken parts of your soul with mine."

Alvin nodded. "Fine then. Although I don't completely trust you, if there is a hope of life once more, I will take this gamble. Even if it's a trap, I am willing to take this chance. After all, I still have a promise left unfulfilled with that black-clothed bastard."

The golden turtle chuckled like a fisherman who had caught a big fish. "Don't resist then…"

After the turtle said this, its body slowly turned illusory, and golden threads extended from it and wrapped around Alvin's soul, which was like small fireflies in the darkness.

When the golden threads coiled around him completely, Alvin felt an uncontrollable urge to break away from it. But he suppressed his impulse and allowed the golden threads to coil around him without any resistance.

As time passed, the illusory image of the turtle slowly faded away, and a golden cocoon formed around Alvin's soul, pulsing with an otherworldly aura.