In the small hours of a bitter winter night, a solitary figure stood lonely against the faint glow of the moon. His name was Noah, a young man of twenty-two, though the weight of the world seemed to have aged him beyond his years. His eyes, haunted by the ghosts of a past he could never escape, betrayed a soul weary from years of solitude and hardship.

As a child, Noah knew little of the warmth of family or the comfort of home. His parents, taken from him in a tragic accident, left him orphaned and alone in a world that showed little mercy to those without a guiding hand to lead them. From one foster home to another, he was passed like a pawn in a game he didn't understand, never finding the illusory love in the arms of those who promised to care for him.

Each new home brought with it a fresh set of challenges, a new set of rules to follow, and new faces to disappoint. Try as he might, Noah never seemed to fit in, always feeling like an outsider looking in on a world that refused to let him belong. And so, he retreated into himself, building walls around his heart to shield it from the pain of rejection.

As the years passed, Noah grew accustomed to the sting of loneliness, finding solace only in the quiet corners of his own mind and the colorful world of fictions. Those were the worlds he wanted to see with his own eyes. The glamorous tales of loyal friendship, everlasting love and otherworldly powers left him enchanted every time. But when he came to reality again and faced the same ruthlessness again and again, he became introspective, spending countless hours lost in thought, trying to make sense of a world that seemed determined to break him. And when the weight of his own existence became too heavy to bear, he turned to the only thing that made sense – survival.

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Becoming a mercenary was not a choice Noah made lightly, but in a world where strength was the only currency available for the unprivileged, it seemed the only path available to him. He honed his skills in the art of combat, mastering weapons of all kinds and learning to navigate the treacherous landscape of a world torn apart by conflict.

Each mission brought with it the promise of wealth and security, but it also brought with it the risk of death and despair. For Noah, the thrill of the fight was tempered by the knowledge that every battle could be his last, every victory a fleeting moment of respite in an endless sea of suffering. But he still would display the same happiness and pure mindset whenever he read manga or novels. They were the solace of his existence.

So he lived his life in the shadows, a lone wolf prowling the edges of society, always on the hunt for his next payday. But no amount of money could fill the void in his heart, no amount of bloodshed could wash away the guilt that gnawed at his soul.

It was on one such mission that Noah's luck finally ran out. Caught in the crossfire of a conflict he barely understood, he found himself outnumbered and outgunned, his back against the wall with nowhere left to run. In a desperate bid for survival, he fought with a ferocity born of desperation, but it was not enough.

In his final moments, he realized the true cost of his lonely life. As the darkness closed in around him, he wished for nothing more than the chance to go back and change the choices that led him down this path. But it was too late. And so, a young man with a troubled past and a lonely heart slipped quietly into oblivion, his story ending as tragically as it began.

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Or was it a beginning of a new glorious tale.