'It's odd...'

Everything felt numb. His head was throbbing insanely yet the pain was not that much substantial.

His vision was blurry— and only the fading colors of light were in his vision. The light of a lamp post and the light from a broken car not far away were the only ones appearing in his last few moments.

'Right...' Although lots of blood were pouring out from his head and dislocated leg, the person somehow managed to ignore the pain. 'I'm dying...'

He slightly moved his eye and caught a glimpse of people trying to talk to him in hopes of keeping him conscious until help arrives. However, all he heard is their inaudible shouts of worry.

He was not able to understand anything they were saying. Instead, he was focused onto something else.

'Why would someone even speed in the middle of a city...' Even in the face of death, the only thing on his mind was slapping the person that hit him to death.

In less than a minute, he went from buying some cigarettes from a convenience store to being hit by a speeding car.

He was now laying down on the sidewalk and the plastic bag containing his cigarettes and beer was scattered everywhere and the white plastic bag was painted with his crimson blood.

He moved his eye once more and looked at the car that dived straight into a building, burying it into a pile of rubble.

'That bastard...' This was his problem. His pettiness always gets the better of him. Even at death, he was fuming with rage.

'...urgh...' Even so, he can't keep it for long. With little bits of energy left in him, he inhaled and exhaled. 'Guess this is it...'

Twenty-one years' worth of life thrown into the garbage bin.

His disoriented eyes slowly lowered as his eyelids felt heavy as if he hadn't slept for days.

Soon, his life began to flash before his eyes.

When he was young, he was praised by everyone for his ability to solve mathematical problems two grades above him.

However, all of it began to change as he grew up when he stagnated from his peers. The people's expectations of him plummeted and they became disappointed.

An inevitable fate for children who were called geniuses when they were young.

When he reached high school, he became introverted and focused only on his interests which were studying and playing video games. More importantly, playing video games.

His passion for playing games made him spend more time playing than socializing. Sure, he had some friends here and there, but they only lasted quite short.

His favorite game was the hit RPG "Cross swords" which is an open-world game where you can pick between a total of twenty-four characters. Each has their own story and ending.

However, the variety in playable routes was not the only thing that caught the people's attention, but also the attention-to-detail of the world. With each NPC's seemingly having their own consciousness, making the world feel alive.

It was truly a game far beyond his time.

After graduating high school, he later attended college and picked a nursing course, but soon dropped out after being offered a career in the gaming industry because of his frequent live streams of games and a small bit of popularity in the gaming community.

His first few months started out great with fellow gamers as he earned money through live streaming and tournaments. But all of it would soon change.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The agency that recruited him turned out to be committing tax evasion and the company quickly got taken down.

And now... a month after he lost his job, he had encountered an accident.

'Seriously...' With the faint glow of life fading out from his eyes and pale face, only sorrow and regret remained. 'I haven't even said goodbye to mum and dad...'

'—What a shitty fate...' As he thought of this, the first drop of rain of the night dropped down on his face as it gradually developed into a downpour.

The rain soon soaked his body and washed his blood away.

The distant sound of an ambulance soon arrived at the scene as responders quickly rushed to the affected individuals.

However, when they reached the person wearing a jacket laying down on his own blood and soaked in rain, all they managed to see was the lifeless body of someone who had experienced a terrible fate.

* * *

The soul has been a belief that existed in various human beliefs. It is believed to be the fundamental part of ourselves and serves as our true identity.

At this moment, in an ethereal plain where all realities are created and clash, converge, and destroy each other, a lone soul unconsciously traversed the realms.

The soul didn't know where it was heading nor was it conscious enough to know what was even happening. However, one thing's certain. It was being led and dragged somewhere.

After traveling for an unknown amount of time, the soul finally arrived at its destination.

Opposite the soul's direction soon appeared what seemed to be a fetus inside a womb.

With a powerful force, the soul soon sped up and merged with the said fetus and became one with it.

In this empty plain outside the boundary of reality, a soul had just "reincarnated".

* * *

It was a moonless night, the darkness is broken only by flickering candles in the small, thatched-roof hut.

The air was thick with the smell of herbs and sweat, and the only sounds were the gentle breathing of the woman lying on a bed, and the occasional murmur of the midwife attending her.

The woman's husband stood by her side, holding her hand and murmuring words of comfort.

He had been with his wife through every moment of her pregnancy, and he knew that this moment was the most critical of all.

Suddenly, the woman's body tensed, and a cry of pain escaped her lips. The midwife sprang into action, shouting orders to the husband to hold his wife's other arm and help her push. The husband nodded, his face a mask of grim determination, and he leaned down to whisper in his wife's ear.

"Stay with me, Veronica," He said with words containing a sense of comfort. "You can do this. Our child needs you."

"Agh...!" The woman screamed as another contraction hit, and the midwife urged her to push harder.

After what felt like an eternity, the baby's head emerged, followed by its tiny body.

"It's a boy!" The midwife carefully lifted the baby and cut the umbilical cord, then placed the tiny bundle in the father's arms.

"A boy...!" The father's face was a mixture of joy as he gazed down at his newborn son. The baby was small and fragile-looking, with a shock of blond hair and delicate features. The father could see his wife's features on the child's face. "Veronica! Its a—"

Just as the husband was about to bring joyous news to his wife, his eyes soon became fixated on her. "Veronica...?"

As if on cue, the woman's body slowly went limp, and the midwife hurried to check her pulse. "This..."

The midwife checked a few times before giving up and looking at the husband.

She shook her head sadly, and the husband knew what it meant. Soon, tears began to form in his eye sockets as disbelief appeared in his face.

He held his wife's hand tightly, tears streaming down his face as he whispered words of love and regret. "No... please... Don't... We promised."

"We promised a happy life with our child..." The husband begged, only to hear naught in return.

The woman's husband was a tall man with broad shoulders and a strong jaw. He had striking golden-blond hair that fell in waves around his face, and piercing blue eyes that shone with a fierce intelligence.

His features were sharp and angular, and he had a regal bearing that spoke of a lifetime of privilege and power.

No one in this town in the countryside would have ever guessed that this grieving husband was the second imperial Prince that ran away eight years ago, never to be found again.

But all of these striking features bore nothing to the stream of tears that are falling down his face right now.

As he held his newborn son, the husband saw his own features reflected in the child's delicate face. The baby had the same golden-blond hair as his father, and his features were similarly sharp and angular.

But where the husband's eyes were blue, the child's were a startling deep emerald green, like the leaves of a newly-sprouted plant.

It was a reminder that this child was not just his, but also his wife's. A reminder that, despite his royal heritage and his own complex history, he was now a husband and a father, with a family to protect and cherish.

Soon, a memory surfaced in his mind. It was a memory where he and his wife talked about which name their child would be.

"Sebastian." The father held his son close as another stream of tear fell down his face. "You shall be Sebastian Evergreen."

"You shall not use my family's last name..." He whispered to his child with a shaking voice. "For I want you to be free... just like what your mother always wanted."

And so, as the candles flickered and the night grew darker, the husband held his son close and vowed to be the best father he could be, to protect his family with every breath in his body, and to never forget the love that had brought him to this moment.

* * *

Author's note:

How's this for the first chapter?