He didn't like people.
That wasn't a mystery. If anything, Ajay had spent most of his life intentionally keeping his distance—just him, his computer, and whatever anime was airing that season. But lately, even that escape had been crumbling.
His girlfriend had just broken up with him. No reason. Just...
"I don't think you're the one."
One month before that, his dad had left the house. A single note on the fridge:
"Don't wait up."
He never came back. Then, just a week ago, his mom disappeared too.
No letter this time.
Just an empty house with cupboards full of half-eaten food and that weird smell of silence.
Now, here he was. Walking down the street, staring at the sky, thinking about whether he wanted to start that new anime series about an overpowered farmer who could one-shot dragons with carrots.
Not funnily ironic. Just numbing.
His stomach growled as he absently stepped onto the crosswalk. He wasn't even looking.
Who cared?
The worst that could happen was he got hit by a car—
He blinked.
There it was.
A speeding car.
Easily doing 90.
It was so fast he didn't have time to react. No time to scream. No loud screeching tires. No last-second drama.
Just a single thought before silence.
*I wonder if reincarnation is real...*
He shot up.
Eyes wide. Heart pounding. Breathing, steady...ish.
He was lying under the shade of an enormous tree. The leaves shimmered a strange teal against the sky, which pulsed a soft golden hue. It looked like Earth—but it wasn't.
It felt... cleaner. Warmer.
Touching his chest, then his face, then his arms—everything was the same. Same scrawny frame, same sleep-deprived eyes, same torn jeans. No wounds. No blood. No hospital.
"Wait... wait a second..."
he muttered aloud, standing quickly and spinning in place.
There wasn't a single building in sight. Only a dirt path, birds with two wings and tails that forked like tuning forks, and a distant sound of rushing water.
He blinked, then shouted to no one,
"I GOT REINCARNATED?
Yes! Yes! Let's go!"
It was a surreal sensation.
Not the baby trope. Full body transmigration?
He squeezed his hands into fists, testing them for resistance, strength, texture... "Hmm. Yeah. This isn't Earth."
He rubbed his chin.
"But... shouldn't reincarnation be... y'know? I don't know—babies? Reborn? Not... Copy-Paste-Ajay?"
"Well—whatever!" he shouted to the trees.
"Let's make this new life worth it, no matter what!"
He stepped onto the dirt path, bristling with excitement.
Then a *screech*.
Not tires—no.
Something worse.
"RAAAAAAGH!"
A goblin lunged from behind a bush.
Ajay turned just in time to see a rusted blade gleam in the sun—
~ SHNK !
"AAAAAAAAAUGH!!"
His arm—gone.
The left one. Gone.
Just... gone.
Blood sprayed the earth like a fountain.
The arm rolled. His vision blurred.
"AAAAaaaAA—!"
The pain was indescribable. Unimaginable.
It was like thousands of glass shards being shot through his nerves at once.
He couldn't even scream anymore. The world turned to static.
And then—nothing.
No pain.
He blinked.
His arm was back.
Still attached. As if it never had been cut off.
But—his other arm?
Still on the ground.
But now... he had two again?
"...Regeneration..." he whispered.
Then louder: "Regeneration, huh."
As the goblin prepared another strike,
Ajay stepped back, clenching both fists.
A fire lit in his eyes.
"All the games I've ever played... I reached the damn max rank."
The goblin hesitated. A trickle of sweat rolled down its green face.
He charged forward—
"And most of them were RPGs!"
~ WHAM !
His kick connected. The goblin staggered back, not flying but definitely dazed.
Ajay picked up its fallen sword, its weight light yet cold in his hand.
He dashed forward again before the goblin could regain footing and—
with no hesitation—
~ SWIPE !
Clean decapitation.
Blood splattered across the dirt. His own rage-filled breath was the only sound.
"Pathetic."
He planted the sword into the ground, exhaling steadily.
"You lost to a kid without any experience."
He continued down the path until something caught his eye.
Buildings.
Dozens of them. Wooden, thatched rooftops, with signs scribbled in unreadable glyphs.
A full-blown market was bustling with noise.
People moving, bartering, shouting in a language he could hear but not understand.
Ajay walked through, eyes scanning everything.
The signs—strange runes. But the voices?
They spoke clear English.
"So... they speak my language but I can't understand their writing?"
he muttered.
He narrowed his eyes angrily.
"What kinda trash plot is this?"
Then—
~ BUMP!
He walked straight into a girl, knocking both of them down.
"Ow—hey!" He started, but froze.
His hand.
On her...
Breast.
"Uhhh... sorry, I didn't—!"
The girl blinked at him. She didn't scream. Just tilted her head.
"Are you lost?"
she asked kindly.
Oh God, she has the dere-dere perk too.
He scrambled to his feet, bowing in apology. "I REALLY didn't mean to do that—!"
Before he could walk away, a hand grabbed his shoulder.
A man's.
Strong.
His face grim, eyes narrowed. He studied Ajay like scanning a barcode. Then his pupils flared purple.
He blinked twice, tilted his head, and signaled someone behind.
A robed girl approached. She whispered something. The man nodded.
He looked at Ajay directly and said,
"Name?"
Ajay paused for a beat. This felt... important.
He swallowed. "Ajay. Just... Ajay."
The girl began casting. Magical runes bloomed in the air—silver and light.
Ajay braced himself for pain, but...
nothing happened.
Instead, he glanced at the signs again.
He could read them now.
"Basic Provisions," "Recruitment Board," "Sister Mila's Pies."
He chuckled. "Truly trash plot..."
The girl smiled.
"It's a comprehension spell. A Permanent one."
The man tapped his shoulder.
"Join our party."
Ajay raised an eyebrow.
"Uh, kinda sudden."
"I scanned your memory just now, You're lucky to be alive. That regeneration skill isn't normal. And I don't mean rare—I mean chosen."
Ajay hesitated. The first person to acknowledge something about him since he got here.
"All right,"
he said quietly.
"I'm in."
[ONE MONTH LATER]
So much had changed.
It was almost hard to believe.
Ajay, now a core member of the tenth strongest guild in the kingdom—
"Violet Fang."
Turns out that man's name was Hadrian, a renowned defender and the guild's blunt edge.
The girl who cast the spell was Ravina, a cheery support caster.
And the leader—the real leader—was Jennita, swift as a shadow, beautiful as a cresting moon, and deadly with a bow. An elf. And devastatingly intelligent.
Ajay quickly caught up. He learned fast. Partly because he had no distractions.
They took on quests, dungeons, earned gold hand over foot.
And as time passed, he found himself drawn more and more to her.
Jennita.
One evening, the two of them sat on a balcony overlooking the glowing lake of Lumirest.
Crickets stitched soft symphonies in the grass below.
Jennita turned toward him, her silver eyes shimmering.
"You've changed a lot in a month."
Ajay scratched his neck.
"You guys gave me a reason to, y'know?"
A silence lingered.
He leaned in.
A kiss
She didn't pull away.
In fact, she leaned in too.
Their faces inches apart.
Eyes closed.
He felt her breath against his—
~ CLANK
The door opened.
Ravina's voice:
"We're back from the market! Look who found a good deal on dragon peppers—"
Jennita and Ajay both lunged away from each other like they'd been caught stealing.
Hadrian saw their faces and smirked.
He nudged Ravina and whispered,
"I think we came back at the wrong time."
"Oh," she smirked.
"Definitely the wrong time."
They immediately began to poke fun at both Ajay and jennita.
The evening was full of laughter.
[Three Days Later]
They laughed on the road as they returned from yet another successful quest.
"Did you SEE Ravina try to ride that dire goat?"
Hadrian wheezed.
"She flipped three times and landed headfirst into a beast cart!"
Ajay added.
Even Jennita was trying not to giggle.
Then without a warning—
~ SPLURT
Warmth on his face.
Ajay looked down.
Red.
Blood.
His arms trembled. He didn't feel pain—so it wasn't his.
He turned his head slowly.
Shaking.
No sound.
No motion.
Hadrian's body stood, teetering.
But where his head once was...
The head rolled.
Thumped to the dirt.
Time froze.
A voice inside Ajay screamed to say something—to do anything.
But all he could murmur was—
"...what the fuck... just happened."