A faint hum filled the void. A sensation neither warm nor cold, neither light nor dark.

Renjiro opened his eyes.

A ceiling. A dull, cream-colored ceiling with small cracks running along its surface. The sound of a distant train rumbling across steel tracks seeped through the walls. The air was thick with the faint scent of morning dew and cheap laundry detergent.

He blinked once, twice. Then sighed.

"Again, huh?"

A sense of familiarity settled into his bones. Reincarnation. A process he had experienced more times than he could count. Hundreds? Maybe thousands? The exact number had long since blurred together, but the feeling of awakening—that initial moment when past and present aligned—was something he would never forget.

He slowly pushed himself upright, his body feeling neither heavy nor light. Instinctively, his hand reached for his face, tracing along his jawline. Younger than my last life. A quick glance downward confirmed it—lean build, toned but not bulky, his hands smooth and unscarred. His fingers curled and uncurled as if testing the grip of a body unfamiliar yet instinctively his own.

He turned his gaze to the nightstand beside him. A student ID rested on the wooden surface, slightly worn but clearly legible.

Renjiro Takatsuki. Age: 18.

So that was the name of this life.

He picked up the card, studying the face on it. Sharp eyes, dark hair slightly unkempt, and an expression that carried an almost indifferent sharpness. Not bad. At the very least, it wasn’t the worst body he had been given.

‘Back in my original world… or something close to it.’

That much was obvious. The language, the cityscape, even the flow of energy in the air—all of it mirrored a world he once knew. But something was off. There was a pulse, a hum of energy running beneath the fabric of this reality.

He closed his eyes and focused.

Koi.

That was its name. He could feel it—every living being carried it within them. Dormant. Pulsing. A force that had once been his creation in a life long forgotten. And yet, as he reached out to grasp it, something resisted.

It's different now.

A knock at the door jolted him from his thoughts.

"Renjiro!" A woman’s voice. Familiar but distant. "You’re going to be late for school!"

He stared at the door. Another sigh escaped him. Right. A normal life. That was how it always started. A family, a routine, a place to blend in. Until the world inevitably demanded he reveal his hand.

“Yeah, I got it,” he called back, rolling his shoulders as he stood up. His body moved fluidly, years—no, centuries—of combat experience guiding his movements despite this being the first day in this form.

Might as well see what this world has become.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

Waking up on life 1,000: Part 2

Stepping outside, the world greeted him with a mix of the familiar and the unknown. Towering buildings stretched towards the sky, electronic billboards flickering with advertisements. Students in identical uniforms moved in clusters, chatting idly, completely unaware of the invisible force that flowed around them.

But Renjiro could see it.

Koi was everywhere.

It drifted through the streets like unseen currents in the wind, pooling in individuals, fluctuating with their emotions. Some people had stronger presences than others, their Koi dense and concentrated—fighters, perhaps? Or just those with stronger wills?

His sharp gaze flickered to a young man leaning against a vending machine. His arms were crossed, his gaze sharp as he scanned the crowd. His Koi was stable, honed. Trained. Not an amateur.

'An enforcer? A martial artist?'

Renjiro kept walking. There was no need to involve himself just yet.

A sudden shift in the air.

A chill, unnatural and suffocating. A ripple of energy erupted, sending a wave of dread through the streets.

Renjiro turned, his eyes narrowing as a man stumbled into the center of the crosswalk, his body convulsing, veins bulging with black energy.

A Shigen.

Shigens were once human—until their Koi exceeded the natural limits of the body, twisting them into grotesque monsters. The transformation consumed their minds, leaving only instinct and hunger behind. The stronger the Koi, the more humanoid they remained, but most devolved into mindless beasts, driven by raw destruction. Renjiro had seen them before, in past lives, and had eradicated them just the same.

The transformation was violent—bones cracked, flesh split, sinew stretched grotesquely as the man’s body twisted into something monstrous. A bestial growl rumbled from its throat, its glowing eyes locking onto the nearest person.

Pedestrians screamed as the Shigen lunged forward, claws tearing through the air.

Renjiro moved before he even registered the action.

A flicker of motion. A blur of speed. One moment, the Shigen’s claws were descending toward a helpless civilian. The next—

Renjiro’s hand had caught them.

The impact sent a shockwave rippling through the street, the pavement beneath his feet cracking from the sheer force. The Shigen snarled, confusion flashing across its grotesque features before it lashed out again. Faster. Stronger. Desperate.

Renjiro’s movements were precise. Efficient. He sidestepped, his body flowing like water, dodging a vicious swipe before driving his elbow into the creature’s ribs. The impact sent it skidding back, but not before Renjiro followed up—a knee strike to the jaw, then a downward palm thrust to its chest.

The monster recoiled, its breath ragged. But it wasn’t done.

Dark energy coiled around its form, a corrupted Koi pulse gathering in its claws. It roared, unleashing a wide arc of energy, tearing through the pavement in a streak of destruction.

Renjiro didn’t move. He didn’t need to.

His hand rose. Palm open.

And with the slightest flex of his fingers, the energy dispersed.

A technique older than time itself. A movement etched into his soul over countless lifetimes.

His gaze hardened. “Pathetic.”

In an instant, he was upon it.

A single strike—his hand spearing through the Shigen’s corrupted core. A flash of energy. The creature convulsed, eyes wide in shock as its very existence collapsed inward.

The city fell silent. The body crumbled, reduced to dust in the morning breeze.

Whispers filled the air. The crowd had seen everything.

But Renjiro’s attention was elsewhere.

A girl had fallen to the ground nearby, her amber eyes wide with shock. The very girl who had been standing closest to the Shigen when it attacked.

She was staring at him. Not with fear, but with something else—awe.

He turned away, but it was too late.

She had seen too much.

And just as he suspected—

“KEB! Don’t move!”

The officers were already here.

Renjiro sighed, slipping his hands into his pockets.

And so, it begins.