The alleyway was silent. The blood-soaked pavement that had once been a grim testament to violence was now eerily clean, as if nothing had ever happened. The city carried on, indifferent to the horrors that had unfolded here. Yet, in the dead of night, something impossible occurred.
A body materialized from thin air—its flesh whole, its wounds mended, although faint scars traced the places where fatal injuries had once been. Jinishi gasped sharply as his eyes shot open, his breath ragged and off-balance. His limbs ached as if he had just run a marathon and his muscles were sore and unresponsive for a moment.
His fingers dug into the cold pavement as he pushed himself up, his mind racing as he tried to recollect his thoughts. "What the hell… happened?"
Memories rushed back to him in fragments—the dark cave, the grotesque beast, its claws tearing into his flesh, the excruciating pain, his desperate screams, and then...Nothing. He should be dead. No, He WAS dead. But here he was, alive, breathing, standing in the same alleyway where he had been torn apart.
Jinishi instinctively touched his face, tracing his fingers over his features. He had smooth skin. No signs of the deep slashes that had split his flesh. His hands trembled as he lifted his shirt, revealing faint scars across his torso, the only evidence that his suffering had been real. "How…?" He asked himself silently.
His thoughts spiraled, grasping for any logical explanation, but none came. Panic and confusion clawed at his mind, but he forced himself to breathe. "Focus. Figure things out later." He told himself. The thought of home crossed his mind. He needed answers, and if nothing else, he needed shelter. He had already been missing for hours—no, wait. Something felt… off. The environment around him seemed a bit different than when he was fighting for his life. However, that wasn't a priority to him..not yet.
Pulling the hood of a discarded, tattered hoodie over his head, Jinishi hurried through the city, keeping his head low. The streets were quiet, bathed in the dim glow of streetlights, but paranoia gripped him tighter with every step. He felt like an intruder in his own world, even more than before, like something was wrong…but he couldn't quite grasp what.
Finally, his house came into view. The moment he saw it, his heart dropped. It was abandoned. Windows were boarded up, lights extinguished, the place stripped of any sign of life. A cold weight settled in his stomach as he rushed to the front door, trying the handle. It was Locked. He pounded on the wood, hoping—praying—that someone was inside. No response.
Frustrated, he ran around to the backyard, finding a loose window. Without hesitation, he broke it open and climbed through, ignoring the sting as shards of glass grazed his skin. Inside, the house was empty. Not just abandoned—emptied. No furniture, no personal belongings, nothing. Even his own room was stripped bare, the walls exposing faded outlines where posters had once been. It was as if his existence had been erased.
Jinishi staggered back, pulling out his phone with shaking hands. As soon as the screen lit up, his blood ran cold.
"15-Year-Old Found Brutally Mutilated in Alleyway – Article Published 2 Months Ago."
His hands went numb, the phone slipping from his fingers and hitting the floor with a soft thud. His breath hitched, his chest tightening. "Two months…?" He thought to himself as his mind reeled. He hadn't been gone for hours—He had been dead for months. "No… that's not possible. It doesn't make sense." His pulse pounded in his ears as questions flooded his mind. Had no one even looked for him? Had his family abandoned him the moment he died? Had he truly meant so little?
Jinishi clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms as anger, grief, and confusion swirled inside him. But there was no time to process it. Police sirens echoed in the distance. They must've been alerted by any nearby Neighbors who heard the glass of the window shatter. "They can't find me here." He thought to himself.
Without hesitation, he grabbed his phone and bolted out the broken window, sprinting into the alleyways. He had to think, had to figure out his next move. He was homeless, alone, and had no idea how or why he was alive. But as he ran, he began to notice something else. The people in the alleyways were staring at him.
At first, he thought it was paranoia, but the further he went, the more their eyes locked onto him, their expressions unreadable. His instincts screamed that something wasn't right. Then, they moved. Figures emerged from the shadows—rough-looking men, their faces twisted with cruel grins. Knives glinted in their hands under the dim streetlights.
"Looks like we got ourselves a lost little rat," one of them sneered. "Hand over everything you got, kid. Make it easy on yourself." Jinishi barely registered the words. His mind was still spinning from the last few hours, but instinct took over.
"They're not monsters. They're not that thing. I can take them. I can endure anything they can do to me." He thought to himself as he prepared himself for a fight, despite not having any real combat experience. One of the thugs lunged at him. Jinishi reacted on pure adrenaline, his fist snapping forward and connecting with the man's jaw. A sickening crack echoed through the alley as the thug crumpled to the ground. But there were more. Another one came from the side, driving a knife into Jinishi's stomach. Pain shot through him like wildfire.
"Agh—!" He groaned in pain, staggering backward, only for the others to grab him, their fists raining down on him as he collapsed. More knives stabbed into his flesh, booted feet slammed into his ribs. Blood pooled beneath him, his vision flickering.
"Damn it… not again…Am I really going to die again..? I feel so pathetic…and useless…I just want to live a good life..well..I hope that maybe my next life…could actually mean something.." He thought to himself as his vision blurred once more. He was meeting the reaper for a second time, however, there was something different.
He had acknowledged something..his Weakness. That feeling of weakness, he hated more than anything. That helplessness. That Powerlessness. But something inside him rebelled against it. A burning force deep within his chest, clawing to break free..fueled by his desire to live and his ability to still cling onto Hope to the very end. And then—
A shockwave erupted from his body. The thugs were blasted backward as a surge of energy exploded from Jinishi, sending a pulse through the alleyway as he opened his eyes. His body was enveloped in a glowing green aura, a brilliant outline of raw power radiating from him. Blue electricity crackled along his limbs, snapping through the air like a living force. His wounds healed rapidly…His muscles were renewed, bigger and more noticeable than before.. And his hands—Gauntlets of glowing energy encased them, pulsating with uncontainable power.
Jinishi stared at himself, the reality of the situation crashing down on him. "…What the hell is this?" He asked himself, but then he also realized…His voice was different—stronger, more resolute. The thugs, now trembling, scrambled to their feet. But Jinishi wasn't afraid anymore. He stepped forward, the ground beneath him cracking under his newfound strength. A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "I think it's your turns now…wouldn't you all agree?"