Rain poured from the sky like judgment itself. Mesh stood in the middle of the empty street, soaked, trembling, his world already destroyed long before the headlights appeared. His hands were empty now, just like his future.
Just hours earlier, he had been stripped of everything. Fifteen years of loyalty erased in a single accusation. Ten million stolen from the company account, transferred using his credentials, his access, his name.
He had begged them to check again. To investigate properly. But when he looked up and saw his boss standing beside Lilith, smiling calmly, he understood the truth. It had all been planned.
They did not send him to prison. They did something worse. They erased him.
No savings. No reputation. No job. No one who believed him.
The rain hid his tears as hatred slowly burned inside his chest. Hatred for betrayal. Hatred for weakness. Hatred for the man he had been.
"If I ever get another life," he whispered bitterly, "I won't live it like this."
Then he heard a scream.
A young boy stood frozen in the road, blinded by the approaching headlights. Mesh did not think. He moved.
The impact shattered everything.
Pain exploded through his body. The world spun violently. Sounds faded into silence as darkness swallowed him whole.
And then—
DING!
A cold mechanical voice echoed in the void.
[Reincarnation: Confirmed.]
[Body: Generating…]
[Gender: Male.]
Mesh tried to move but felt nothing. No limbs. No breath. Only awareness floating in endless darkness.
[Magic Compatibility: High.]
[Class Assigned: Executioner.]
[Skill Slots: Locked.]
Executioner?
The word settled into his consciousness like a blade finding its sheath. His past life flashed before him—obedience, loyalty, humiliation. A life lived without power.
[New World Entry: Eriya.]
[Language Comprehension: Granted.]
[Identity Established: Ethan Cole.]
Suddenly, air rushed into his lungs.
Ethan jolted upright in a soft bed, sunlight pouring through unfamiliar curtains. His body felt lighter, smaller, different. His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
He stumbled toward a nearby mirror and froze.
The reflection staring back at him was young. No wrinkles. No exhaustion. Clear eyes filled with confusion.
He raised his trembling hands.
Small. Fragile.
A translucent screen shimmered faintly before fading away.
His breathing slowed as fragments of unfamiliar memories began surfacing—names, faces, a powerful family, a world filled with magic and demons.
But one detail echoed louder than the rest.
Age: 7.
Ethan clenched his small fists tightly.
"A second chance…" he murmured quietly.
This time, he would not live as prey.
And this time, no one would steal his life.