"AAGGHHHH!!"
A scream tore through the afternoon silence at the side of the road. The screech of brakes followed, then the violent crash of metal slamming against the asphalt. In an instant, the ordinary world turned into chaos.
One body lay sprawled in the middle of the road, surrounded by a crowd that slowly formed a circle. Some covered their mouths, others turned away, and a few—hands trembling—tried to call an ambulance.
"What just happened…?"
He—the man—was still conscious. Or at least, his mind refused to fade completely. His breathing was ragged. A metallic taste filled his mouth. His vision blurred, as if he were seeing the world through tears.
"Ah… so this is what dying feels like…"
His thoughts drifted. His body could no longer move. But his awareness… remained. Watching through half-closed eyelids as the world continued on, even as his soul was slowly pulled from its shattered vessel.
'Funny…' he murmured inwardly. 'I spent my life like a shadow, and only when I die… do people finally see me.'
A bitter laugh caught in his chest. He wanted to laugh, but only a hoarse sound escaped. The world began to darken. Blurred faces melted into silhouettes. Sounds faded away, as if being drawn into a long tunnel.
And then… silence.
No pain.
No sound.
No body.
Only… stillness.
Then, like a warmth that had no place in death, he felt something. Not a blinding light like in the movies. Just a sensation… as if something was calling him—softly, gently, yet irresistibly.
Then, he opened his eyes.
The first thing he felt was not hard asphalt or blaring horns, but the touch of grass. Warm. Soft. Slightly itchy. The scent of soil and wildflowers drifted in the passing breeze.
"What…?"
A deep blue sky stretched above him. Clouds drifted slowly, forming strange patterns like symbols that, for some reason, felt familiar. From afar came the sound of birds—clear yet unfamiliar—as if they were singing in a language he did not know.
He slowly sat up.
His hands… were small.
The palms were smoother, paler. Even his breathing sounded different. Lighter. Faster. He touched his face, then his hair—soft, with slight curls at the ends. His body had not only grown smaller… it had changed.
He stood up—trembling, unsteady—but managed not to fall.
"I'm… still alive?"
There were no wounds. No blood. No pain.
Only… strangeness. And silence.
He pinched his own cheek.
"…It hurts."
Not a dream.
A vast grassland stretched as far as the eye could see, dotted with tall plants whose tips shimmered silver when touched by sunlight. At the edge of the horizon, a thin mist rolled over distant hills—as if guarding something not yet meant to be seen.
No cars. No buildings. No highways.
"This… isn't where I came from."
Questions surfaced in his mind. Yet strangely, there was no panic. Instead… there was a sense of peace. As if he had returned to a place that had been calling him for a long time.
He took a breath. Deep. Long. And for the first time in what felt like forever… he smiled.
"So… I really am alive again."
His voice rang lightly. Childlike. But not unpleasant.
He looked at his palm once more—now clenched. There, he felt something different. Not just new muscles. But also spirit. Hope. A will that had died along with his old body.
This time…
"…I'll do it right."
In his previous life, he was someone the world had nearly forgotten. But in this life, in this new body… he had been given a second chance.
And he swore he would not waste it.