The sky hung low, its color gray like cigarette ash ready to fall from above. There was no sun, no rain. Only dark clouds loomed there. People walked without turning their heads; the sounds were chaotic yet silent. Among the many people there was one young man, standing at the end of the street amidst the hustle and bustle.
Rent Kaenda sat on the edge of a bus stop, wearing a dark blue hoodie that was slightly dirty from street dust.
The city seemed to reject him. Heavy traffic, horns that pierced the ears, the smell of pollution mixed with last night's rain, and the gazes of pedestrians that looked right through him. But all of that was just like a shadow passing through him, as if he were merely a lost ghost. And he preferred it that way.
The cold iron touched his body, and for a few seconds, he didn't move.
Torn envelopes lay beside his feet—rejection letters from job applications. He stopped counting the pile of envelopes two months ago. He didn't read the paper containing birthday wishes; he was even reluctant to touch it.
His right hand reflexively reached for the cracked phone in his hoodie pocket. The screen lit up, several notifications displayed there.
So noisy.
His thumb swiped away several piling notifications. While busy clearing them, he saw several calls in the spam folder. 5 missed calls from one message, 'Where are you? Big Sis is worried, please come home.'
Geez... why is Big Sis still so noisy, just disturbing my peace.
Rent swiped the call message away, ignoring it. Then he switched to the phone's main menu.
He opened the gallery—old photos. Smiles from a time he didn't even remember himself, small celebrations, big dreams. Now they were just a canvas without color in his eyes.
What is wrong with me?
I don't know, but I don't want to think about this anymore.
I'm tired of all this...
His thoughts dragged him into that dark hole again—the hole where all his dreams were buried. Just like dust drifting away, leaving an empty shell in this meaningless world.
Employee? Useless.
Best friend? Gone since he stopped laughing.
All that remained was himself... and the voices in his head that kept blaming him. Countless voices repeating the same thing over and over.
"Failure." "Pathetic." "You're a burden." "You are nobody."
"You shouldn't exist."
"Shut up. Damn it," he grumbled to his own head.
Suddenly, a cat curled up on Rent's arm, right beside him.
A small warmth that contrasted with Rent's gloomy atmosphere.
As if the cat didn't care about the world, only feeling comfortable near him.
"Hey, move." Rent nudged the cat slightly, but it didn't react.
The cat was already purring softly the moment Rent focused on his phone earlier.
"Haaah..." he sighed. "Where did this cat come from? Never mind, why should I bother."
Although his mouth complained, his hands moved slowly to lift the cat's head, then moved it gently onto the bus stop seat. Rent stood up, walking away from the bus stop and the cat that curled back to sleep.
Not knowing where to go. His legs just moved so his mind would stay quiet.
But it never worked.
His steps led him to a narrow alley connecting two old apartment blocks—a place where even streetlights were lazy to illuminate. It was a place where scavengers stopped by and...
A place where the dregs of society were discarded, and a place where bad luck usually waited for prey.
A girl stood frozen in the shadows. Maybe six, or seven years old.
Her clothes were dirty, her feet bare, and in her hand—a purple gem necklace gleaming faintly.
Behind her, a man in a black hood gripped the child's arm.
His face was almost hidden, but his eyes glowed red. Not a reflection—but truly glowing.
Rent stiffened. The danger felt real. For a moment, he wanted to retreat.
But his legs moved the opposite way. Not knowing what made his steps keep moving forward.
His body moved on its own, ignoring the voice in his head that kept screaming "not your business."
"Let her go," he said. His voice was quiet, but it pierced the silence.
The man turned. His eyes stared sharply—and that was when the little girl started crying, loud and trembling.
Rent clenched his fists. His heart beat wildly. His feet one step closer.
"I said... LET HER GO!"
Rent charged. His mind screamed in refusal, but his body had already shot forward. He rammed into the hooded man with a rough shove.
The child was released, fell, and crawled away.
Rent was about to turn to the girl to check on her. But...
STAB.
Something pierced his stomach.
Cold. Metal piercing, followed by a stinging heat as his blood forced its way out. A strange contrast for a body that had long been numb.
His body swayed. Warm blood flowed quickly, soaking his shabby clothes. His breath hitched. The world began to slow down.
He saw him stabbing his stomach. Coldness began to cover him.
"Ugh... my vision... that girl..."
THUD.
His body fell, hitting the wet asphalt. The smell of rusted blood wafted up, overpowering the smell of garbage around him.
The pain slowly faded, replaced by an incredibly heavy drowsiness.
Vision blurred slowly. The sound of a child crying echoed.
His cracked phone screen flickered beside his body,
Ringing softly, displaying a 'call—incoming' image. A name was displayed there: 'Big Sis'.
"Sorry..." he thought softly, though his lips could no longer move. "Sorry, I can't come home..."
The sound grew fainter... and fainter. Until finally, silence. Darkness swallowed everything.
Rent opened his eyes. But there was nothing.
Not the sky. Not the ground.
Just... white. Infinite. Like a blank wall surrounding him from all directions.
What... is this? A dream?
Am... I dead?
But why am I still thinking?
Is this the end of my life's road?
His body was still there. But it felt light, like a shadow.
Then... light appeared. From a distance, slowly forming a silhouette. Tall, majestic, undefinable.
The voice was unheard, but felt. Entering the chest, like an echo from his own soul.
"Welcome, Foreign Soul Rent Kaenda."
"This may sound painful, but you have passed away."
"However, your soul still has roots that have not been uprooted. Wounds that have not been healed."
"An empty shell that still holds a small trace of soul from yourself."
Rent fell silent.
He wasn't afraid. Strange. But also... relieving.
No guilt. No emptiness. Only questions.
"Who are you? Why am I here?" Rent's hand clenched tightly.
"Shouldn't you take me to where I belong, the place of torment for meaningless souls like me."
"Because you helped. Because even though you hated yourself, you still chose to sacrifice."
"I know everything about you while you lived in the world, and even in your final moments, I knew."
"It was a choice rarely made by a soul wanting to die."
"There are no right or wrong choices. There is only conviction, that is what moved you to this meeting point of ours."
Rent looked down. For the first time... he felt seen. Acknowledged.
"So I give you a choice:
Be reborn.
In a different world. Far different from your old world.
A beautiful world... and wounded. A place where joy and sorrow exist and a dwelling for wounded souls.
A world that needs someone like you. As someone who will heal the wounds of souls harboring pain.
But on one condition..."
"Forgive yourself.
And... Find your other self."
Rent raised his face.
"My... other self?" his eyebrow raised slightly.
"What do you mean? I don't understand at all."
The light grew brighter.
"A human soul never stands alone. It has a shadow. A reflection.
In another universe, you live... in a different form.
Another identity and name that you will meet. You... but not you.
Wounds buried deep enough to damage the soul itself.
Far from a soul with a living shell dragging wounds within itself even to the end.
Love, pain, hope, you will share it all with her."
"Start this journey. Find the meaning of your existence.
And... find the love that can only grow from a soul that was once broken."