A New Opportunity in a chaotic world

July 5, 2023

In the streets of an unknown city, at 12:30 a.m., a boy around 19 years old, approximately 1.82 meters tall, was leaving a restaurant.

"Finally! My shift is over, and they gave me my weekly paycheck! I can't wait to go out and party with my friends!"

The boy started walking through the streets of the city. Taking a pair of headphones out of his backpack, he put them on and started listening to music. Looking around, almost everything in the city was closed, with only a few places still open at that hour.

"A friend told me that the second season of Jujutsu Kaisen premieres tomorrow. I can't wait! And the best part is that it's my day off, so I'll be able to watch it without any interruptions," the boy thought.

As he continued on his way home, the boy had a bad feeling. Behind him were two hooded men with their hands in the pockets of their sweatshirts. Following his instinct, the boy looked back and saw the two men. In a split second, his mind clicked—he realized they were robbers. Without thinking twice, the boy started running as fast as he could, and the robbers did the same.

"Shit! I knew this would happen sooner or later. Damn it! What should I do? If I keep running, I'll get tired sooner or later. I could try to lose them at a corner, but I don't know how fast they are. All I know is that I can still hear their footsteps. My heart is pounding like crazy. If I get out of this alive, I'm quitting my job. I knew it was too good to be true without some kind of risk."

One of the robbers, trying to catch up with the boy, grabbed a stone from the ground and threw it at him. Unfortunately, the stone hit the back of the boy's head, causing him to lose his balance and trip.

"What was that?! Did he throw a stone at me? Damn it! I have to get up quickly."

Within seconds, the robbers were right next to the boy.

"I can't keep running. Damn it. The only thing left to do is fight back."

Fueled by adrenaline, the boy grabbed his backpack and threw it directly at one of the robbers. They didn't expect such a move, so they were caught off guard. One of the robbers took a full-force hit to the nose, causing him to stagger. The boy tried to land another punch directly to the liver to knock the air out of him, but he momentarily forgot about the other robber. The second robber took advantage of this and pulled out a knife, stabbing the boy in the back.

"AHHH! Damn it! I forgot about him!"

The boy turned around, trying to punch the robber, but the latter stabbed him again in the stomach. Due to the adrenaline, the boy didn't feel much pain and used this opportunity to grab the robber's hand tightly, preventing him from pulling out the knife. With his free hand, the boy aimed two fingers at the robber's eyes, trying to blind him, which he successfully did.

"Arghhh, you little bastard! You'll pay for this! Ryu, what are you waiting for?! Help me!"

I felt multiple stabs in my back. In retaliation, I grabbed the knife lodged in my stomach and tried to stab the now-called Ryu in the neck, but it was too late. He stabbed me in the neck first and pushed me away.

Feeling my life slipping away, I closed my eyes, expecting death. Suddenly, I opened my eyes and saw the ceiling of a strange place. Frightened, I got up and quickly inspected the room.

"Where am I? Was it a dream?"

Touching my neck, I noticed there was no wound. Feeling relieved, I decided to inspect the room further.

"Weird... This isn't my room, and the decoration doesn't resemble anything from the city houses."

I left the room to see the rest of the place. Suddenly, a headache started, and with it came memories of a life that wasn't mine. Several minutes passed until the headache subsided, and the memories stopped flooding in.

"It seems I've reincarnated into another world. Damn! I knew there was life after death! Although it's strange that I'm a teenager... I thought I would be a baby. Well, it doesn't matter."

"My current name is Hiroshi Yoshida. I'm 17 years old and live in Tokyo. Damn, I live in Japan now! This is going to be an incredible experience!"

Despite the situation, I took it positively—as a second chance given to me by some divine being. I went to the bathroom to check my new appearance, and to my surprise, I hadn't changed much. I still had black hair and honey-colored eyes, and my height was similar to my previous life, although slightly taller. Checking the time, I saw it was 7:48 a.m.

"I guess it's time to get ready for school... How strange, going back to school again. Haha! I never finished my studies, but oh well, let's go."

I got ready for school, put on my uniform, and left the house.

In this life, it seems my parents died suddenly, so I had to work to stay afloat in society. What a joke of a life.

While walking, I noticed a strange creature floating around several people. It seemed odd, as no one paid any attention to it. Deciding to ignore it as well, I continued on my way to the subway station. Once I got off the subway, I headed toward the school.

I entered the classroom and found the best friend of this body. It felt strange to call him that. While talking to him in the hallway, I sensed a certain tension in our classroom. There was an unsettling vibe, and it made me uneasy. Apparently, my friend noticed my discomfort.

"What's wrong, Hiroshi? Did you see a ghost?" he said with a sarcastic laugh. "Come on, class is about to start."

Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself and decided to enter the classroom. The moment I walked in, I saw a figure approximately two meters tall. It had a grotesque appearance and was staring at the other students in a creepy way. Then, it turned its gaze toward us. For a brief moment, I looked at it, and it seemed to realize I could see it—its eyes widened.

"What the hell is that thing?! It's horrible! And why is everyone ignoring it?! It noticed that I saw it... What should I do?" I started sweating nervously. To avoid problems, I decided to ignore it—a big mistake. When I sat down at my desk, that thing stood right in front of me, staring at me with its huge eyes, wanting me to confirm that I could see it.

My heart was pounding in my chest. I decided to ignore it and talk to my classmates. Suddenly, I felt a pain in my stomach, and by mistake, I looked at that thing again. When I did, its eyes widened once more, and then it showed aggression toward me.

Noticing its hostile intent, I got up from my seat in fear. Everyone looked at me strangely as I ran out of the classroom. That thing started chasing me.

"Am I going to die again?! I was given a new life just for it to end in one day. I'm scared. I don't want to die. That thing is horrible, and sooner or later, it'll catch me."

I ran out of the school and headed toward a nearby forest, hoping to lose it. When I looked back, I saw it smiling sinisterly, sending a shiver down my spine.

"NO! I refuse to keep running. If I'm going to die, it will be fighting back!" With that resolve, I got into a defensive stance, ready to fight that thing.

In the blink of an eye, it appeared right in front of me, its fist ready to strike.

"What the hell is that speed?!" I tried to block its punch with my arms. When the impact landed, I felt immense pain in my arms and was thrown several meters away, crashing into a tree. Touching my head, I noticed I was bleeding. Despite the damage, I managed to stand up with some difficulty. I saw that thing mocking me. The fear I felt quickly turned into fury. I started running toward the monster, unaware that my fists were surrounded by a blue aura. The thing noticed my intent and rushed at me as well.

"I won't die without taking your blood, you bastard!" I shouted as I threw a punch. The monster blocked my fist with its forearm and tried to counterattack with its other arm. Seeing its incoming blow at high speed, I moved my head to the opposite side, but due to its speed and strength, it still managed to scratch my right cheek. Avoiding its punch, I countered with a knee strike to its stomach, which surprised it, but it managed to block it just in time.

"Its skin is too hard. When I hit it with my knee, it felt like hitting a tree trunk. Damn, maybe I can't get out of this, but I'll give it my best shot," I thought as I watched the creature approach me again. Still impressed by its speed, I tried to block its punch once more. The creature, noticing my gesture, smiled and feinted before punching me in the stomach, making me cough up blood as I crashed into another tree.

"Damn, this thing hits too hard. I think it messed up my stomach. My legs won't respond well anymore, and my arms are trembling... Am I going to die again?"

Watching the figure approach me, I prepared for the end. Before it reached me, however, I noticed it started moving more slowly. I thought it was because these were my final moments, but with nothing to lose, I tried to move with all my strength and managed to dodge its punch.

Realizing I had survived that devastating blow, I felt something in my eyes. I could see the earth rising slowly from the impact. Without thinking twice, I approached the monster again. It wasn't expecting my attack, so I landed a punch charged with that blue aura on my fist, causing it to scream in pain. With a big smile on my face, enduring the pain in my body, I tried to throw another punch, but the monster blocked it and tried to counter with its other arm. However, it was moving in slow motion. It was strange, but I took advantage of the moment to deliver a powerful punch to its face, followed by a combo of punches. Finally, I launched another strong punch to its face, making it stagger back several meters.

"How does it feel, you bastard?! Agh... My eyes are starting to hurt. I don't know what's happening to me, but I'll finish you off with my next strike!"

I launched myself at the monster again, my fist charged with that blue aura. The creature seemed to realize my intent and tried to counterattack. Seeing this, I ducked under its punch, directly facing its stomach. Without wasting a millisecond, I threw my punch with all the strength I had. Upon impact, I didn't stop and tried to put more force behind it, finally managing to pierce its stomach. I heard the creature vomit blood, and I stepped back, watching as it stared at me in disbelief before turning to ashes.

"I think I won... Hehe... Although I'm really tired, and my eyes hurt a lot... I think I deserve a rest," I thought before collapsing to the ground, unconscious.