Everything had ended in shadows, with a cold whisper. The last thing I saw as I bid farewell to life were the cracks in the hospital room ceiling. There was no pain, just a strange emptiness…
My regrets, my dreams, my failures—they truly flashed before my eyes like a film reel, just as they say. The moment I thought everything was over, a sudden pressure enveloped my entire body. It was like feeling every muscle in your body being crushed as you pass through a narrow tunnel. I tried to open my eyes and understand where I was, but I couldn't. I tried to breathe, but I couldn't. I began to panic. Crying and voices filled my ears. Then, suddenly, something pulled me from where I was and out of that narrow tunnel. The environment instantly grew cold, but that coldness was nothing compared to the crushing sensation. My relief didn't last long, because a sudden, immense pain enveloped my body and made me cry.
When the pain slowly subsided and I could finally open my eyes, I was captivated by the woman probably in her 30s before me. She was truly a beautiful woman. She had curly blonde hair reaching her shoulders, sky-blue eyes, a tiny nose, and cherry lips. Being covered in sweat didn't diminish her beauty at all. Then, from my right, I heard a doctor saying something, but I couldn't understand what he was saying. I started to grasp what was happening. It seemed what I'd seen in novels was happening to me. I had reincarnated. When I realized this truth, it didn't take long for me to understand that the woman in front of me was my mother. She was looking at me with a childish smile on her face. I gave her a smile back, but I was so tired that I fell asleep without fully understanding what was going on.
When I woke up, I found myself looking at a different ceiling. Hearing sounds from my left, I tried to move myself but couldn't. As the sounds grew closer, I saw two silhouettes looking down at me. One was my mother. The other was a handsome man in his 30s with a stern build and demeanor, silver hair, and a straight nose. He was probably my father. Oh, by the way, I'm really curious about how I look now. In my past life, I didn't have a striking face, and the disadvantages of that were always thrown in my face. Anyway, since my mother and father are such people, I must be handsome, right? Please let it be so. My thoughts were interrupted when my mother picked me up. As you can guess, my mother breastfed me, and no, I didn't have any lustful thoughts towards my mother. Now I understand more clearly why I don't remember my baby memories; my mother's breastfeeding didn't even last 10 minutes before I fell asleep again.
Days passed like this. By the way, I now know my name. Although I still couldn't fully understand their conversations, I could make out that they were calling me Elres Wrewsev. Yes, truly an unusual name choice. I also realized that this world is almost identical to our world. I was four months old and could now crawl. This was a truly proud development for me, because I no longer had to spend my entire day staring at the ceiling, and I must admit, I'm really curious about the world around me.
I threw my blanket and pillow down from the rocking "cell" they had me confined in, to cushion my fall. Oh, by the way, allow me to introduce a friend I forgot to tell you about. His name is Mr. Duck, and yes, he's a plush duck. He always listens to me. I can't speak, but I'm sure he listens to me by reading my mind. I'm going to take him with me when I escape from this cell. With Mr. Duck in one hand, I held onto the bars of the cell and stood up. I'm lucky the bars are short enough for me to get over. First, I swung one leg over the bars, and then the other. Then I dropped onto the soft ground I had left below. I was finally free. I had to move before the guards noticed, because if they did, they would use some kind of spell on me to put me to sleep, and when I woke up, I'd find myself back inside the cell. I focused on the sounds outside the room. My father must have gone to work. When I heard my mother's humming and the sound of water, I knew she was in the bathroom.
I quickly crawled out of my room. The bathroom was right next to my room, so I had confirmed that my mother was indeed in the bathroom. My room opened directly into the hall. With Mr. Duck, I headed towards the door at the end of the hall. A few meters from the door, it suddenly opened, and my father entered. Damn it, I'd timed it perfectly for when he came home from work. My father looked at me with a surprised expression, but that surprised expression quickly turned into a smile. He suddenly picked me up joyfully and said something I couldn't understand. Then my mother came out of the bathroom. She was also extremely happy. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but I could guess. They were probably saying, "My son is a genius," and they wouldn't be too wrong. In my past life, though I wasn't handsome, I wasn't bad at intelligence. After all, I always had high grades until university, but unfortunately, with my mother's passing, I lost my only close relative and fell into a deep depression. By the time I came out of depression, it was too late; I was already 24. I made a living working part-time at a grocery store. Later, I learned I had cancer. Life was truly cruel to me. I could only smile at this news. I couldn't cry anymore. After a two-year battle, I lost, and I opened my eyes here. Well, now I have a family, and I'm ready to give everything to protect them. I don't want to lose this warmth again.