***
On a dimly lit street, a middle-aged man named John walked alone. He worked as an assistant manager in a private company, possessing the skills to be promoted, yet his disadvantaged background held him back.
John's parents had died when he was just three. Sent to an orphanage, he emerged years later and, thanks to his intelligence, earned admission to the city's top university, supporting himself with part-time jobs. Poverty marked him as a target for bullies—despite his strength, he never retaliated. He understood how power worked: those with influential families could bend the law, while the weak suffered in silence.
So John gritted his teeth and endured. Deep inside, he made a silent vow: if ever given another chance at life, he wouldn't be bullied again. But reality was harsh, and injustice remained his companion.
By graduation, John had honed keen powers of observation. Of average height and appearance, he found work at a private company. Now, at 32, single and responsible, his low paychecks barely covered his needs, leaving no room for dreams.
That night, as he walked, lost in thought, John wrestled with loneliness. Resolving to live for himself, he tried to let go of life's burdens.
Suddenly—bang, bang. He fell to the ground, blood pouring from his stomach. Gritting his teeth, he realized that just as he'd decided to truly live, life was slipping away. His eyelids grew heavy. Life had always been cruel to him. As darkness closed in, he sighed—a poor soul undone by fate.
***
John opened his eyes in a dark room, sprawled on a filthy mattress. Dust coated every surface. Wallpaper peeled in curling strips, stained by time. Weak sunlight filtered through a cracked window, illuminating motes swirling above threadbare curtains.
The warped floorboards creaked. Spiderwebs hung in corners, with old clothes and scraps littering the ground. Broken furniture—a chair with a torn cushion, a table missing a leg—crowded the space. The air was thick with the mustiness of age and neglect.
A crushing headache seized him. He clenched his jaw, teeth gritted, pain wracking his body for what felt like ages—actually fifty seconds passed as he panted, sweat pouring down his face. Stabilizing his breath, he sifted through strange, foreign memories. Reviewing them, John chuckled to himself:
"I got reincarnated in another word"