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..
..
******
A woman sat on the edge of a small bed, reading softly to a little boy whose eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"Mother, what is magic?" the boy asked, tugging at her sleeve.
The woman smiled gently, brushing his hair aside."Magic," she said, "is something that science can't explain… kid."
The boy frowned, puzzled."Then what is science?"
She chuckled, tapping his nose."Science is something magic can't beat."
"Whoa…" the boy gasped, awestruck.
With a proud grin, she turned him toward her and asked, "Tell me, child. If you had to choose between magic or science… which would you choose?"
Beep.
"I-I…"
Beep.
"I… choose—"
BEEEEEP.
"Ughhh…"
"Hah… what a nostalgic dream…"
I opened my eyes slowly, the morning light sneaking through the curtains. My head ached from another night of late work.
Dragging myself up, I shuffled to the bathroom, grabbed my toothbrush, and stared at the mirror.Same messy hair. Same tired eyes. Same boring life.
Whack!
"Ow!"
A rolled-up newspaper hit my face just as I opened the door.
"Sorry, mister! I didn't expect you to come out!" the paper boy yelled, bowing as he dashed off.
I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "Great. Another perfect morning…"
This is me — Reyan Venga.A self-living loner who spends his life tutoring kids, fixing electronics for neighbors, and freelancing for small tech companies in my garage.
In other words, a shut-in scientist with no social life.
My father disappeared when I was sixteen. My mother had passed long before that, and he never recovered. I grew up taking care of him until the day he said he was going out — and never came back.
I've lived alone ever since, working part-time through college, scraping by, and learning whatever I could.
Dating experience? Zero.Who'd date a guy whose idea of fun is debugging code or repairing a toaster?
Still, the neighborhood kids I tutor make my life a little less empty… even if they drive me crazy sometimes.
I sat at the dining table, slurping instant ramen while flipping open the newspaper.
Politics. War. Fashion.None of it mattered.
"Where's the space section…" I muttered, scanning until my eyes landed on an article about a new satellite launch. "There we go."
I always checked for two things: space news and anime updates. Both were the only things that kept me sane. Especially Zent-Fic — that anime was pure genius.
My phone buzzed.
/***********
{1 New Message}
Aisha:Yo, nerd. You up yet? Get your lazy ass online and help me animate this.
I smirked.
Reyan:Who's a nerd? Aren't you the genius? Correct it yourself.
Aisha:Huh? You yapping again? You in or not?
Reyan:Why should I—
Aisha:I'll send you 50.
I grinned.
Reyan:Now we're talking. I want them by tonight.
Aisha:You sneaky little—
Reyan:Nothing, genius.
{[50,000$ deposited]}
Reyan:Pleasure doing business.
Aisha:You already knew?!
Reyan:What are you talking about?
Aisha:Hmph. Whatever. Be at the studio today. 10 PM. I'm counting on you.
\**********************
Chat ended.
"…Damn," I muttered, tossing my phone aside.
Knock, knock.
"Brother Reyan! Are you home?"
A childish voice called from outside.
"Hey, what are you doing here? There's no tutoring today—"
A little girl stood at the door, clutching a box.
"What's that?" I asked.
"I don't know. A lady told me to give it to you," she said, handing it over before sprinting away.
"Huh?"
I carried the box to my garage, set it near my desk, and went back to work on my current project — an AI health-monitoring system that could read brainwave signals and track bodily conditions in real-time.
The concept was sound… but the execution was a nightmare. No matter what I tried, the system wouldn't complete its initialization.
Frustrated, I shut down the garage for the evening, put on my winter jacket, and headed out to meet Aisha.
Midnight.
"Ugh… you really can't handle your drinks, can you?" I grumbled, holding up a half-asleep Aisha on my back.
She mumbled something incoherent....but it would be something about that boss oh hers.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, lightweight," I sighed. "Unbelievable. Out of all people, you're the one who gets drunk after one bottle."
After a long walk, I dropped her off at her apartment and started heading home.
Then—
Fzzzt.
"What's that light?"
A strange glow pulsed from my garage.
I rushed in.
"You've gotta be kidding me…"
The AI system — the one that had refused to start for weeks — was now active.
Its screen flickered violently, filling the room with a blinding blue hue.
And the box the girl had delivered… was gone.
"Wait— what's happening?"
Symbols scrolled across the display:
{@#$
My heart raced. I checked every connection, but everything looked fine.
Then the display changed again:
{Initializing data transfer... Transverse-Migration commencing. (10%)...(30%)...(70%)...(99%)...}
I froze.
When it hit 100%, the screen went silent — then pulsed once.
Initialization successful. Preparing for Transverse Migration.
The computer wasn't even plugged in anymore, yet the screen was still glowing.
And then…
Everything around me stopped.
The air thickened. Droplets of water hung motionless in the air. My breath echoed like thunder.
I looked up—
—and a bolt of lightning crashed through the ceiling.
When I opened my eyes, I was floating in endless darkness.
Seconds felt like hours. My body… no, my soul… drifted aimlessly.
Then came the light.
It swallowed me whole.
And suddenly—
I could hear muffled voices.
and a womans voice filled with exaustion..See a strange ceiling.And when I looked down…
Tiny hands. Soft skin.
"Wait— are these baby hands?!..and they are mine? What the hell—"
Slap!
A sharp sting hit my backside, and a wail escaped my mouth instead of words.
"There we go," a woman said cheerfully. "Now he's crying."
'Crying?! Oh, hell no—'
But I couldn't speak.
no matter what.
Because at that moment… I realized the vulnerable
I had been reborn.
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END OF CHAPTER 1
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