...Beginning of Another

He remembered it all—the cold that seeped into his bones, sending violent shivers down his spine as his body heat drained away. The numbness in his sore, bruised muscles.

His lungs, struggling to pump air, suffocating on his own blood.

The hopelessness of knowing no one would save him. The overwhelming emptiness as his heart gave its final beat, and his life ended.

He had lost track of how long it had been since that moment. At first, he had tried to count the passing days, reaching a hundred before giving up. By now, it had surely been twice that number, but time no longer held meaning. His existence had become stagnant.

If this was the afterlife, then the living had it all wrong. There was no divine judgment, no reckoning for one's deeds—good or bad. There was only darkness, an endless abyss where souls drifted aimlessly, their consciousness withering away.

Was this how it would all end? His very existence fading into nothingness?

How cruel.

As he sank deeper into his thoughts, a sudden rupture tore through the void. A hole opened above him, spilling radiant light into the abyss. Yet, he remained oblivious to its presence.

Then, like a floodgate bursting open, the abyss released its captive.

He fell.

And in that moment, his soul was reborn—not on Earth, but in a world both foreign and familiar.