What screw us up the most is the picture in our head of how it's supposed to be.
...
Lynn's face cracked with the weight of the question, a sudden realization dawning on me.
Maybe that wasn't the right question.
"Chief complaint?"
he muttered under his breath.
I shouldn't have asked that.
Oh, lord, damn me...
The words felt like a slip of habit, an automatic response routine, like a doctor trapped in the very questions they try to avoid.
Bad doctor vibes.
"Sorry, You seem to be a conversative type but in our current situation instead of showing everything about yourself in one go.
Can't you first explain what's going on right now?"
I tried to clarify myself to Lynn.
He had promised to show me everything, but honestly, I wasn't interested in that.
I needed to hear the facts straight from his mouth.
Then, maybe, I could at least make sense of the godforsaken mess I was in.
Even though Lynn was a total stranger, even in a place that felt just as foreign,
I'd take his words over another magic trick or whatever nonsense was coming my way.
At least then, I could finally understand what the hell was happening.
"You see,I am not very good at that."
Lynn's reply came as expected.
It was hard for anyone to articulate their problems and inner feelings with the same intensity they'd experienced them, especially to someone else.
But unlike him, I was patient enough to hear him out because, right now, that was my priority.
Could I go back to my old life?
That was a question mark in itself.
The idea of reincarnation, like some fancy novel plot, seemed almost possible now
but it could still easily be dismissed as total BS.
"Okay, it's fine, Lynn. Then tell me something."
Instead of diving straight into his story,
I decided it was better to clear my doubts first and make him feel comfortable with me.
I had no idea what kind of person Lynn really was, especially since I'd met him under these bizarre circumstances.
And then there was the fact that he'd admitted to being the one who asked that horror woman to kill me.
Oh, man. I couldn't get frustrated no matter how hard I tried.
It felt like my emotions and thoughts were being restricted like something was holding me back.
" Is this what everyone feels after death?"
I couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't just some random situation
it felt like being trapped inside a cage
I didn't understand.
Lynn seemed to be speculating, unsure whether or not he should tell me something.
After a pause, I couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Hey, since I'm here because you kind of killed me, what led to that?
Don't you think that's the first thing you should tell me?"
I could feel the weight of my own words, but the silence between us only made the question more pressing.
I needed answers, and I wanted to hear it straight from him.
Lynn Blake.
His name was the only thing that anchored me to this disorienting reality, the only truth I could cling to amidst the confusion.
And the knowledge that he was the prime cause of my death lingered like a shadow, a truth I couldn't escape.
He walked past me as if nothing had changed, his gaze distant, lost in some private thought.
His steps were deliberate, almost detached, as if I wasn't even there. Then, as if it were an afterthought, he spoke without stopping.
"Have you heard about curses?"
His words hung in the air between us, cryptic and chilling, like a riddle that could unlock everything or destroy it all.
Lynn's voice was barely a whisper, but it struck me like a sharp breeze on a cold day.
I blinked, caught off guard by the unexpected question.
"Curse?"
I echoed, trying to gather my bearings.
My mind was still tangled in confusion. It had been moments, or maybe hours, since my death.
I wasn't sure of anything anymore only that I was supposed to be dead, and yet... here I was.
He nodded, his pace unchanging as he continued walking.
"A curse"
he repeated, his tone cold.
"One that can bind you to a certain fate. A force you can't escape, no matter how hard you try."
I frowned, uncertain if he was speaking metaphorically or literally.
"And what does this have to do with me?"
Lynn didn't answer at first.
He just continued walking, the distance between us slowly growing.
His silence was heavier than the words I couldn't understand. Then, without turning back, he spoke again.
"You ending up here was one of the results of my actions I took to outsmart my curse.
You were never meant to die."
Lynn's voice trembled, barely above a whisper, as he spoke, his eyes fixed on the distant horizon, as if searching for something he couldn't reach.
"I only tried to do one thing... to save my life from the curse, but I wasn't meant to do it"
he continued, his words tinged with sorrow.
"I got killed by fate.
My life was like an unsolved riddle, something I couldn't make sense of no matter how hard I tried.
I tried to solve it not just once, but twice. And yet, I wasn't bright enough to pull it off."
He paused, his face tightening with frustration, before adding,
"So,I wanted someone to see through it.
To decipher it, to understand what I couldn't.
That's why I brought you here."
The weight of his words hung in the air, and it was clear that Lynn wasn't just asking for help
He was hoping for redemption from something he had never fully understood himself.
"So you wanted someone to save your life?"
I asked, still trying to make sense of what he was saying.
"But not once, but twice? Didn't get that."
Lynn smiled back at me, his eyes distant, like he was seeing something I couldn't.
"It means I went back in time to my past after getting killed in the first round."
I blinked. "You mean... reincarnation?"
"Yes." He nodded.
I frowned, the idea still feeling off.
"That's weird."
Trying to push forward, I decided to pick up the pace in his story.
"What about that horror woman?
Didn't you ask for help from her?
She could have changed your fate in a blink of an eye, like she ended mine."
Lynn's smile faded, and for a brief moment, a shadow crossed his face, as if the mere mention of the "horror woman" brought back painful memories.
His fingers twitched, almost as though he were trying to push the thought away.
"I did ask her for help"
he said quietly, the words coming with a heavy hesitation.
"But... she wasn't what I expected. She wasn't just some fairy godmother who could wave a hand and change my fate.
No, her power was... different.
It came at a cost. And that cost... was something I couldn't afford entirely."
I raised an eyebrow, not sure what he meant.
"A cost? What kind of cost?"
Lynn's eyes flickered with something dark regret, maybe, or fear.
"A price that I couldn't even begin to understand at the time.
You see, when you deal with beings like her, you don't just change your fate.
You change everything around you, and sometimes, you can't control what gets sacrificed in the process."
I felt a chill run down my spine.
"So, you went to her for help and... what?
She couldn't save you after all?"
Lynn's gaze shifted, and I could tell there was something he wasn't telling me.
"Not in the way you think. She can end lives, yes, but she can't rewrite them entirely.
I thought she could erase my curse, fix my mistakes, but she told me something else... that even she is bound by the rules of fate."
I frowned.
"So she was powerless in the end?"
Lynn shook his head slowly.
"No, she was never powerless. She just doesn't play by the same rules as everyone else.
And that's what makes her dangerous.
Sometimes, the help she offers only digs you deeper into your own hole."
I let that sink in for a moment before pressing on.
"So what did that woman even do to help you, anyway?" I asked,
genuinely trying to grasp the situation.
Lynn sighed, his frustration barely concealed as he began to explain further, like he was trying to bury it deep inside.
I could sense how difficult it must be to articulate his misfortunes, especially in such awkward circumstances.
"She provided me support, assistance"
he started, his tone calmer now.
"It helped me become stronger in my first life.
It was thanks to that that I was even able to stand against the chosen ones."
I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. This is turning into quite a cliché novel-type story… and confusing too.
Support assistance? I echoed, trying to keep my focus.
"Chosen ones?"
Lynn's expression shifted as if he had given up trying to explain it all.
His face showed signs of defeat, his shoulders slumping as he spoke, like the weight of his words was crushing him.
"To put it simply, I… the fate hated me, so I am cursed"
he said, his voice low and resigned.
"While they are the fate-loved ones, so they are blessed, loved, and worshiped by everyone.
People fall for their charms but fail to judge their actions rationally.
They take away your things, your happiness, your life... but you're not allowed to question them back."
I paused, trying to digest the idea of cursed and blessed beings, fate-warped and unchallengeable.
It felt like a story pulled straight out of some fantasy novel, but Lynn's solemn tone made it hard to dismiss.
"And that support assistance thing?"
I asked, wanting clarification.
"Is it a person, or like a superpower?"
Lynn's eyes briefly glazed over as he responded, almost sounding like he was recounting something he had accepted as a part of his fate.
"No, it's just a voice.
It tells me instructions, ways to change things… possible outcomes."
"Instructions, huh?" I said, trying to wrap my head around it.
"Quite a handful of support, I guess. She did help you."
I felt a strange twist in my gut as I wondered, What does all of this have to do with me?
His story sounded like pure fantasy material, something that belonged to another world.
And here I was, just a normal man from a normal reality, caught in the middle of it all.
"But what caused the problems?"
I asked, still trying to make sense of it.
"Nobody in their right mind picks a fight with you for no reason," I said, trying to piece things together.
"Since they're the fate-loved ones and all... Can't you just totally ignore them?"
Lynn's expression darkened again, but there was a flicker of something almost... regretful, in his eyes.
He seemed to struggle with the question, his words coming slowly as he reflected on it.
"I wish it were that simple" he said, his tone heavy with something unspoken.
"But the chosen ones... they don't let you ignore them.
It's not just about avoiding them,
it's about what they represent.
They're not just people
they're part of a larger force, something much bigger than any individual."
He paused, his gaze flicking to the floor for a moment, as if searching for the right way to explain.
"You can't just ignore them when they control the way the world moves, when they're the ones everyone turns to.
They're the ones the world believes in. And when the world believes in them, that belief turns into power.
Power that can strip everything away from you. No one wants to be that person... the one who stands against fate, the one who defies the chosen ones."
I felt the weight of his words.
It wasn't just about avoiding conflict, it was about surviving in a world where some people's very existence seemed to hold the keys to everything.
"But can't you just avoid the fights, let them do their job, and you do yours?
Lynn's expression darkened, his gaze hardening as if the very idea stung him.
"I couldn't do that" he replied, his voice steady but with an underlying edge.
"Because they were taking away my freedom and parasitizing my life."
I didn't fully understand what he meant, but I decided not to press him on it.
Instead, I decided to let him finish, hoping the rest of the story would make things clearer.
"One more thing, Lynn," I said, my curiosity piqued.
"Just in case I'm asking too much
did you really trust the voice? And that horror woman, of course?"
Lynn leaned back, a long silence stretching between us before he answered, almost as if he was reliving it all again in his mind.
"Actually, I did" he admitted, his voice softening.
"Because I was on the losing end. It's hard to fight alone."
The weight of his words hung heavy in the air, and I could see how much he had relied on them, even though the consequences of that trust were clearly complicated.
It was a strange kind of desperation, the kind that makes people cling to anything that offers even the smallest hope.
"So most of these things happened in your first life, right?" I asked, trying to piece things together.
"But what about the second one? Didn't you get the chance to bypass all the curse and everything?"
Lynn couldn't help but smirk, like he'd expected that question from me all along.
"Yeah. But I did something completely different. I wanted to make a name for myself, surpass the fame of those chosen bastards through my own efforts. So, I did something a little violent but it was necessary for my wellbeing."
"Violent? That sounds bad," I said, raising an eyebrow.
Lynn sighed, shaking his head with a hint of regret.
"Not just bad... it really went wrong by time and place.
I couldn't find the right timing and messed up the whole plan."
He paused for a moment, looking almost distant, like he was reliving that failure.
"Then I got myself back here again, like you're here right now."
"So you died again?" I asked, my voice almost a whisper.
Lynn's gaze grew cold for a second.
"Yeah. But the fact that I got screwed... doesn't hurt.
It's how they did it, that hurts a little."
His tone was sharp, the pain beneath it palpable.
It wasn't just the death itself,it was the manner of it. And whatever they had done to him, it had scarred him in ways that went beyond the physical.
We kept walking for some time in silence.
Lynn didn't speak and I couldn't shake the thoughts racing in my head.
His story felt like something out of a twisted plot, as if everything had been orchestrated against him from the very start.
But the more I thought about it, the more doubts crept in.
Was all of this just a fantasy in his mind?
Or was there more to it than I was hearing?
Finally, Lynn broke the silence. His voice was calm, almost expectant.
"So, what do you think about my story?"
I hesitated for a moment, trying to find the right words.
He was looking at me like he was waiting for an answer, something that would validate what he had been through.
"I don't know," I said honestly, still processing everything.
"It sounds... hard to believe, but I can't help but wonder if there's truth to it. It's just... a lot to take in, Lynn."
But to put it simply.
"You just got screwed in a weird way"
He gave a small nod, almost like he expected that response, as if he'd heard it before.
But I could tell he was waiting for more,waiting for me to make a judgment, one way or the other.
"Do you really think it's all true?" I asked, trying to meet his eyes.
Lynn didn't answer right away. He just looked forward, his face unreadable.
"It's not about what you believe"
he said quietly.
"It's about what I've had to live through."
"Yeah, sorry," I said, my voice a little uncertain.
"But I have one last question."
Lynn glanced at me, clearly waiting for it.
"What's my role in this?" I asked, the confusion heavy in my voice.
"You and me are complete strangers—more like different beings from different... worlds."
It still felt surreal, hard to wrap my mind around the fact that I was somehow tied to all of this.
The whole situation seemed ripped straight out of some comic book,foreign concepts and impossible scenarios that didn't belong in my reality.
And now, to top it all off, the dead me had unknowingly become part of it.
How did that even happen?
"I want to know," I added, my voice firm now.
How did I become involved in all of this?"
I needed answers.
The pieces weren't fitting, and I was starting to question everything even my own place in this bizarre story.
"That's because he wanted someone to replace him"
the voice echoed, as if it had been waiting for the right moment to speak.
"Didn't you get it yet?"
I glanced at the voice, my heart skipping a beat.
That voice.
I glanced at the source of the voice, and for the first time, something deep inside me shifted.
My expression crumpled, and a wave of instinctual fear washed over me
fear I hadn't felt this entire time since stepping into this strange place.
There was something about this woman that unsettled me, something that gnawed at my very core.
Her presence was irking me, as though she was a looming shadow that didn't belong.
It was cold, smooth, and sent a chill down my spine.
Something about it... about her... was unnerving.
I could feel the fear creep in, something I hadn't felt until this very moment.
The tension in the air shifted, and my expressions crumpled as a sense of dread settled over me.
"Vahel, please just let me finish"
Lynn snapped, his voice a mix of frustration and something deeper,almost desperation.
He was clearly annoyed by her interruption, but there was also something else.
"You boys talk so much," the voice replied, as if dismissing him entirely.
The words were calm, almost casual, but they carried a weight.
"Like it or not, your time is ticking past the clock, Lynn."
Her words were sharp, final, and I could feel the tension building between them.
It was as if she was reminding Lynn of something he couldn't escape, something that was beyond his control.
And now, it seemed, I was part of it too. I stood there, caught between them, feeling the unease deepen.
This woman, whoever she was, wasn't just a stranger.
She was a part of the story,part of the reason I was here.
whether I liked it or not.