It rained that day. Of course it did.
Yuuji Ren stood in the middle of an alley behind a shuttered convenience store, clutching a half-empty bag of rice like it was gold. His stomach growled. Again. The coins in his pocket jingled with pitiful lightness.
The debt collectors didn't say a word when they surrounded him. Just a cold glance. A grunt. One reached into his coat and—
Bang.
The rice spilled. So did Yuuji's blood.
He felt nothing. Not pain. Not fear. Just... a strange relief. Like letting go of a rope he'd been holding far too long.
Then, darkness.
He woke up in a bed so soft it felt like a cloud had been plucked from heaven and laid beneath him.
White sheets. Gold-lined curtains. A chandelier. What the hell?
Yuuji sat up too fast and clutched his head. The mirror across the room reflected a face both familiar and strange. Red hair, like always. But his features were sharper, healthier. There were no bruises, no shadows under his eyes. His body looked stronger. Older.
A knock. Then a man in a crisp suit entered.
"Master Yuuji," he said with a bow. "Welcome back."
It took weeks—months, really—for Yuuji to piece things together.
He'd been reincarnated, somehow. Not into some fantasy realm, but back on Earth, as the son of the chairman of the Ren Conglomerate—one of the most powerful families in Japan. His new "father" barely looked at him, always away on business, always leaving him to maids and bodyguards and luxuries that made him feel like a gilded prisoner.
And then, one night, it all changed.
He wasn't supposed to be near the west wing of the estate. Naturally, he went.
He heard voices through the crack of an ornate door.
"—You'll have your souls. As promised. Just ensure he never learns of the deal."
"And what of the boy?"
Yuuji's breath caught.
"He is nothing. A vessel. The system will awaken soon, and when it does—"
The door creaked.
Silence.
Yuuji didn't wait. He ran. Fast.
That night, it began.
A blue screen flickered in the air above his bed, pulsing softly like a heartbeat.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZED]
[Welcome, User: Yuuji Ren]
[Initializing skill tree…]
[Skill Unlocked: Spawn (Lv.1)]
[Skill Unlocked: Swordsman (Lv.1)]
[Skill Unlocked: Spy Mastery (Lv.1)]
He stared, wide-eyed, the same way he once stared at video game menus as a kid.
"What the hell…"
[Warning: Skill Evolution Cap Reached]
[Would you like to evolve skill: Spawn?]
[Y/N]
[Spawn > Summoner's Vein]
His finger hovered in the air. He hit Y.
The world rippled.
Years passed. Yuuji trained in secret, tested his powers under the radar. He learned to call shadows from the ground, to blend into the silence, to command summoned creatures with a flick of his fingers. He sparred with hidden tutors paid off by his father, always under the pretense of "discipline."
When the letter arrived from Kuoh Academy, Yuuji already knew what it was. Not just a school. A front.
Demons. Angels. Fallen.
The world had layers.
And he was done being kept in the dark.
As he stepped through the gates of Kuoh for the first time, uniform crisp, red hair catching the sunlight, his system flickered once again.
[Skill Evolution Available]
[Swordsman > Magical Swordsman - Y/N]
[Spy Mastery > Spy Eye - Y/N]
Yuuji smirked.
"Let's make things interesting."