I didn't even see it coming.
One moment, I was driving. Rain hammering the windshield. Wipers fighting for their life. My head a mess from another long shift, eyes barely holding on to the road.
Then—light.
A blinding flash.
A sound like the world being torn in two.
Metal screaming. My chest slamming into something hard. Then nothing.
Just... black.
And for a while, I think I floated. Not like a dream. No — colder. Empty. Like I wasn't even a person anymore. Just a thought.
A whisper cut through the dark.
> "Elias Black. Soul verified. Initiating Rebirth Protocol."
At first, I thought I imagined it. Some neuron firing in the last few seconds before death. But it was too... real.
> "You have perished in your world. Would you like a second chance?"
A second chance?
I should've been asking questions. Should've demanded answers. But all I could do was nod, or will myself to nod — whatever passed for motion in that blackness.
"Yes."
> "Acknowledged. Welcome to Astraeum."
"Base class assigned: Commoner. All other class options locked."
"Manual progression required. Good luck, Reincarnate."
The words didn't mean anything to me at first.
Until I hit the ground.
Hard.
My face slammed into something rough and cold. Stone. Rain dripped into my eyes, muddy and rank. I coughed — a deep, chest-rattling sound. The air burned going in.
I was alive.
I blinked against the blur, tried to push myself up. My limbs didn't listen. My fingers were thinner than I remembered. My skin felt... wrong. Not mine. Not like before.
What the hell was this?
My breath came fast now. The world spun.
I wasn't in my car. I wasn't in a hospital.
I was in some grimy alley between two lopsided stone buildings. The sky overhead was gray and bleeding rain. Somewhere in the distance, I heard a voice shout, a bell ring, and something that sounded eerily like... an explosion.
What fresh hell was this?
I sat up, groaning. Every part of me ached. My clothes were little more than torn linen — dirty, soaked through. I hugged myself, trying to stay warm, but the chill cut right through me.
And then I said it. I don't know why. Just... instinct.
"Status."
I swear to God, a blue rectangle blinked into existence right in front of me.
---
[Name: Elias Black]
[Class: Commoner]
[Level: 1]
[HP: 45/45 | MP: 200/200]
[Strength: 6 | Agility: 7 | Intelligence: 11 | Vitality: 5 | Charisma: 4 | Luck: 8]
---
I stared.
I don't know if it was panic or awe or some weird combination of both. I reached out — the screen shimmered and vanished at my touch.
Okay. I was in a game.
Or a world like one.
Was this real? A hallucination? Limbo? Or worse — was I actually dead?
I pulled myself to my feet. Legs like noodles. My stomach growled so hard it hurt.
I stumbled out of the alley and into something that looked like a city, only... not. Not like anything I knew.
The streets were cobblestone, slick with water and mud. People bustled past, dressed in everything from cloaks to armor. One man floated overhead in a glowing chair. Another conjured a flame umbrella with a flick of her wrist.
Magic.
I saw glowing signs. Floating carriages. Creatures I didn't even have names for.
My head spun.
A man selling skewers shouted in a language I somehow understood. A guard in silver armor pushed a beggar into the gutter with the butt of his spear. No one batted an eye.
I didn't belong here.
People gave me wide berth as I stumbled forward. One woman even pulled her child away from me like I was diseased. And honestly, looking at myself, I might've been.
I looked like I'd crawled out of a corpse pile.
I ducked into a side street and collapsed against a wall, breathing hard. My heart thudded in my chest.
This wasn't a dream.
I could smell the rot in the gutter. I could feel the freezing rain on my skin.
I was here. Wherever here was.
"Welcome to Astraeum," I muttered, trying not to fall apart.
And then, just when I thought it couldn't get worse, I heard footsteps.
"New meat, huh?"
The voice was raspy, male, and not friendly. I turned my head and saw three figures stepping out of the mist. Slum rats — older teens, rough faces, knives in their belts. Scavengers.
One of them grinned. "Clothes might be trash, but that belt looks new."
I didn't have a belt.
They weren't here to talk.
"Look," I said, raising my hands, "I don't have anything."
"We'll check ourselves," the tallest one said, pulling his dagger.
I should've run. I knew it. But my legs wouldn't listen.
Then a voice cut through the air like steel.
"Back off."
All four of us froze.
The speaker was an old woman, bent but fierce-looking, standing beside a burning barrel further down the alley.
"Go find someone else to rob," she snapped, tossing something into the flames. "This one's under my fire."
The gang hesitated, spat in my direction, and slunk off. One of them muttered something about "crazy witch," but they left.
I just sat there, trying to breathe.
The woman stepped closer. Her eyes, oddly bright in the firelight, studied me.
"You look like a reborn."
"A what?" I asked, voice hoarse.
She handed me a chipped bowl of soup. I didn't question it. I drank it like it was life itself.
"You've got that dazed look," she said. "Same as the others."
I stared at her. "There've been others?"
"Six, in the last fifteen years," she said. "Four dead. One vanished. One made it to the Guild."
I licked my lips. "What… is this place?"
She chuckled. "This? This is Arinvale. Capital of mud, magic, and misery."
I looked into the fire. The flames danced, casting shadows that felt far too long for their shape.
"My name's Elias," I muttered.
"Mira," she said. "Welcome to the slums, Elias. Don't worry. If you've survived the jump, you might just make it."
I didn't sleep that night.
But for the first time since waking in this mad world, I wasn't alone.