When I could finally see, I saw an olive-skinned middle-aged man. He reeked of alcohol. His rags hung loose on his frame. The gray at his temples made him look older than he was. He wore a drowsy look on his face that seemed uninterested in anything. He had completely ordinary features with multiple wrinkles on his face. He was of average height compared to Earth, and he had a beer belly. The smell of alcohol filled my nostrils. I knew who that man was—after all, it was this body's father, Ling Zer.
Beside him was a short young boy. The boy's complexion was pale white, and his face ragged but cute, his hair light brown in color, eyes wide on the brink of tears. He was dressed in the same rags as Ling. His eyes relaxed once he saw me awake. He was Lou Zer's only friend, Ping. Ping opened his mouth to say something when Ling's voice cut through the air.
"Oi, now that you're awake, get back to the streets and earn some money for me, you bum."
Ling's voice was cold and heartless. Ping wore a complicated expression, and he opened his mouth and barely stuttered out a few words.
"Mr. Ling, wouldn't he ur—be well—too in—"
Ling's voice cut through his stammering as he coldly snorted and said,
"I don't care. You two leave and don't come back unless you have money, or you'll wish you had."
With no choice, Ping grabbed my hand and bolted out of the house. We walked on dirt pathways and saw multiple bamboo huts with roofs made out of straw and cloths that were used as doors. The pathways were paved with dirt and stone. In my head, I sighed. I wished I had reincarnated in someplace better, but it probably wouldn't be better than this. Ping and I were the same height.
Ping turned his head to face me with a concerned expression and asked,
"Are you alright? You took quite a nasty hit on your head."
I was surprised he could actually speak in full sentences, but I chalked it up to him being friends with Lou. I fake groaned and lied,
"Yeah, I'm alright. But I can barely remember anything; I only remember my name, but little bits of it are coming back."
Ping looked startled and started rapidly yammering something about getting okay, promising I'll be okay, him praying to some god, and something about an awakening ceremony.
The only thing that piqued my interest was the awakening ceremony. In the bombardment of memories I had gotten, I didn't remember anything about it. I curiously asked about it.
"Awakening ceremony? I think my memories are still a bit confused. Could you explain what it is?"
Ping looked at me sympathetically, and he replied,
"It's the most important thing in our lives, where the capital's enforcers come village to village to awaken all the 13-year-olds' mana centre."
He continued with a spark in his eye, "To determine who is fit to train at the capital's academy and who will stay at the village—and they're gonna come around here next week!"
He kept going on and on with this gleeful look on his face as if he was utterly convinced he was gonna get selected. I fell quiet and wondered what he meant by mana centre, but I didn't want him to get suspicious.
So I pretended to go along with it. I asked him where we were going, and he told me to go meet a friend. I noticed the villagers all around us were dressed in rags just like me and Ping, I figured that the financial situation of the village was quite poor and that this was all they could afford in general.
We reached the only tavern in the village when Ping suddenly stopped walking. His face turned inside out as his gaze hardened, and his previous blabbering attitude did a complete 180—similar to earlier. I looked at where he had just looked and saw a group of three ruffians dressed like us.
One of them was nearly the same height as I was in my previous life, with rough features and a fierce gaze, and the other two were the same height as us, one being shorter. These were the kids around our age who extorted and humiliated us daily for fun. The tall one smiled and yelled out boisterously,
"Doggie Ping and kitten Lou, where's my money? After all, this is my brand new territory, and you've got to pass, now pay up."
I stared at Ping as he opened his mouth to say something but promptly closed it as he stood shaking and looking at the ground. Was he thinking that if he stood perfectly still, they wouldn't see him?
Whatever. I sighed and shouted,
"I ain't giving you nothing! If you want it that badly, come beat it out of me, you cur!"
They looked at me like I was stupid. Then the short one laughed and replied,
"Hah, you think you're funny, huh? Well, what do you call a kitten that doesn't know its place? A bad kitten."
The silence was so loud you could hear birds chirping. All the laughter from earlier immediately vanished. The short guy was turning pink and tried to blurt something out before the tall one—probably the leader—ordered,
"Doggie Ping, get over here now."
Ping's face was drained of all color. He slowly stumbled his way over as he kept looking at the ground, almost like he was refusing to admit anything bad was gonna happen. As soon as he reached them, the leader punched him across the face.
Ping let out a cry and fell, and the leader and his gang started stomping him out. I heard Ping's crying and whimpering. Knowing I had no chance, I wanted to retreat, but Ping was this body's only friend, and without him, I'd have nobody. So, reluctantly, I tackled the leader to the ground as he was stomping on Ping's head.
The leader, shocked and furious, yelled out,
"Get this loser off me now!"
The two guys obliged and pushed me off him. Ping stood up with a swollen face and promptly ran away as fast as he could, without hesitation—leaving me with three guys, all alone. I raised my hands and said,
"We could be a team, we could work together and earn more money together."
Although I felt embarrassed negotiating my livelihood against three 13-year-olds, I had no choice.
The ruffians laughed and mocked me. I sighed; bearing no choice, I decided to fight. I would rather be known as a kitten with guts than a coward who ran away and eventually got beaten up the next day. The best thing to do right now was to make them feel that I'm not an easy target.
I raised my fists. The ruffians stopped laughing, and the shortest lunged first as he threw out a wide right hook.
His guard was too loose, so I ducked and punched his chin with all my weight, knocking him clean out.
The other two realized I suddenly knew how to fight compared to usual, so they decided to go at me at the same time. The leader seemed to know what he was doing as he raised and kept his guard firm, jabbing at me—testing or luring me. I weaved and kept my eye on the other guy who was circling around us.
Suddenly, the guy ran at me. Experienced, I took five steps back, making sure the leader or the guy wouldn't be able to attack me.
I took in heavy breaths as I tried to negotiate.
"I already beat one of your friends. Let me take his position if four of you is too much."
They looked at me like I was stupid. I was really getting tired of that look. Both of them ignored what I said and ran straight at me.
I had no time to react, so I instinctively rushed at the other guy since he was weaker and tried overpowering him. However, the leader just pushed me from behind and tackled me to the ground.
I felt my back ache, then I felt my body getting stomped on. I could barely open my eyes before shutting them.
I heard laughter and mocking remarks.
"Did you actually think you could win?""What an idiot.""This retard actually thought beating Zal was impressive. He's built like a dwarf—anybody could beat a dwarf.""Where's all that big talk now? Look where it got you. Next time you listen and do as you're told.""Don't get too confident just 'cause you learned how to fight, bastard."
In West Side, one could see Adrian Wilder with sunlit blonde hair in waves styled in a middle part and sharp blue eyes that would make any girl dream of him. He could always be seen with an entourage of people who were always willing to do what he said. With his girlfriend on his arm and his best friend Max next to him, chatting away.
As he turned a corner, he saw the sight of a teen pinned to a wall and three others surrounding him.
The teen on the wall was beaten terribly, his face swollen and bleeding, while the other three were practically harmless. One of them demanded,
"Give us your fucking money."
Adrian, the good person he was, decided to teach these teens a lesson and beat the hell out of them with his entourage. Through it all, he heard their cries for help and mercy while his entourage gave the opposite—instead, encouragement and supportiveness.
I felt my eyes water as I reminisced about the past—how everybody loved me, how my Bella spoke about me with her friends, how Max always had my back.
All of it.
I missed it already. I thought I was some hero in my previous life, setting unrealistic standards for myself, believing I was some sort of god.
But right now, I'm so far from it. The pain I feel from these stomps didn't compare to the pain in my heart. Even the resounding laughter I heard from their mocking taunts didn't move my heart.
At this moment in time, the only thing precious to me right now is my memories.
I laughed at the irony of me being reincarnated into the same victim I had once saved.
If only somebody would save me…
As I writhed in my agony, I heard a shout from a lazy, tired-sounding voice.
"Leave him alone, now."
It came from a boy around the same height as me and Ping. He had black eyes with black eye bags, dirty black spiky hair, and a pale complexion. His body looked like it would snap in half if somebody punched him. He wore rags like the rest of us, and his posture was so bad it looked like a shrimp.
The two ruffians laughed; the leader of the remaining two questioned,
"What are you possibly gonna d—"
The next second, the leader was knocked out cold by something I couldn't perceive.
The shrimpish boy looked at the remaining ruffian with an uninterested gaze, as if provoking him to try something. The ruffian looked at his two knocked-out friends, then looked back at the shrimp boy and ran away while yelling,
"I'll get my revenge, one day!"
Next, the shrimpish boy looked at my beaten-up face with an almost interested expression. The negative emotions I felt earlier completely vanished as I looked upon my saviour in this new world.