The soul enters the lifeless body, and then...
A mysterious energy surged through the lifeless body, knitting torn flesh and revitalizing dormant cells. The wounds on his chest, once deep and fatal, slowly vanished as his pale complexion regained color. As the energy continued to work, the body grew stronger, infused with a force beyond mortal comprehension.
Minutes passed, before the body breathed air again.
His appearance could only be described as striking—an effortless allure, as if sculpted by precision rather than born of nature. The transformation had not only restored his body, it had refined it. If he had looked like an ordinary university student before, he now resembled like a warrior in myth—elegant, powerful, and impossibly alive.
A pair of eyes fluttered open in the dimly lit alley. Confusion flickered within them… as he stood.
The man who awoke is "Vector", the same university student who had been standing on a railway platform moments ago, awaiting his train. Or at least, that's what he last remembered.
Now, he stood in a dark, unfamiliar alley. The air reeked of rotting waste and open sewers.
Vector's eyes darted around but he found nothing unusual except the pool of blood beneath his feet. But when he checked his body…
His body felt… different.
He could feel great strength surging through him, every fiber of muscle responding with ease.
His mind, unusually sharp, processed the situation with inhuman speed. But why does my head feel so clear? It's as if my brain has never worked this sharply before.
"Why am I here?" he muttered, his voice hoarse.
He is recalling his memories of the train accident flashing through his mind. I was hit by the Train, "wasn't I?"
"I should be in a hospital… but here I am standing in a slum."
Then, another thought struck him—one that sent a chill down his spine.
A vision of himself being pulled into a swirling vortex, his soul engulfed in a vast, mysterious energy.
Could that have been real? Or am I still dreaming?
Before he could think further, suddenly, a sharp pain jolted his brain. His vision blurred, his mind flooded with memories that did not belong to him, but yet they felt familiar.
---
He was now on the planet Ethereum, in a nation once proud and vast—the Novastra Empire. But that empire was crumbling, its territories devoured piece by piece by the ever-advancing Lionheart Empire.
The city he currently stood in—Carnatic City—had already fallen. Once a vibrant hub in Elaris State, it was now occupied territory, patrolled by enemy soldiers, and echoing with the whispers of resistance… and betrayal.
The Novastra Liberation Front—a resistance movement fighting against the invading Lionheart Empire, a military superpower in the distant continent.
Then came the memory that made his breath catch in his throat.
A knife sliding between his ribs. A trusted comrade whispering apologies. Blood soaking the ground.
---
Vector, remembering this scene, suddenly gasped for air, stumbling backward as his hands instinctively reached for his chest. His fingers didn't find the injury but traced smooth, clear skin with no sign of the fatal wound.
His heart pounded as realization set in.
"I... died. But not just me. The original owner of this body died too. And now, I'm him."
"So, Train-kun really did send me here?"
The man whose body he now inhabited was Vector Astrum, a spy for the resistance.
He had infiltrated the household of a high-ranking Lionheart Army colonel, tasked with stealing classified war documents and providing any information to help the resistance fighting against the Lionheart Empire.
But before he could complete his mission, he was betrayed, stabbed in the back by one of his own subordinates.
Vector clenched his fists, his body trembling with residual rage and cold eyes. Betrayed by his own trusted subordinate...
His mind raced, analyzing the situation. If I'm truly in a different world, then that means... I've transmigrated?
"The soul of this body's original owner has merged with mine, not as a blending of personalities, but as a silent imprint. Its presence acts as a cosmic signature, anchoring my soul to this world and ensuring the universe does not reject me as an outsider."
"Yet with this merging came with a price, the original owner's burning emotions now dwelled within me.. His desperate yearning to liberate Novastra, even his tangled feelings for those he'd left behind…"
"But these emotions didn't feel foreign—they had become mine, as if they'd always been a part of me."
The fire to liberate Novastra, the resolve to defy the Lionheart Empire, even the fierce devotion to protect those he—no, we—loved… all of it burned within me now. And this time, fate had granted what his past life had denied: a family.
"I would not waste this second chance. No matter the cost, I would keep them safe."
That mysterious energy has healed his body. Probably that mysterious force has sent me to this world. I don't know how powerful that being is to force my soul to transmigrate to another universe.
"But why?"
And above all;
If this were a novel, then by all logic, he should have received a golden finger—a cheat-like ability that granted overwhelming power. That was how protagonists in these situations always gained superpower in the world and walked through the world unhindered.
Yet reality proved far less generous.
"Well, fate has given me a second chance…and this time, I'm playing to win."
As if responding to his thoughts, a mechanical yet oddly sentient voice echoed in his mind. At the same time, a translucent blue interface shimmered into existence before his eyes, hovering silently in the air—its presence both alien and strangely familiar.
---
[Void Library System, Awakening Initiated.]
[1%... 10%...]
---
Here…it's here….then suddenly…
Vector's body stiffened as a gentle power surged through his mind.
Information poured in, revealing the origin of the mysterious energy that had brought him here.
The force that had pulled his soul from the brink of death was called the "Will of the Void".
[To be continued...]