Chapter 1: Deadly Misunderstanding

"Ren. What happened? So you won't steal other people's girls anymore!"

A Hard fist struck his right cheek. The blow was so powerful that he lost balance and slammed into the wall behind him.

"A Hard! Did you see that? It's a miracle he's still alive!"

"Ahahah! Wait, I'll try!"

Another punch to the gut. The boy doubled over, gagging. He struggled to sit up, stunned, his legs shaking.

"B-but I-I-"

"SHUT UP!"

Another kick hit him in the knees, and he collapsed onto the ground with a stifled thud. The ground was cold. Hard. Wet. The smell of blood already mixing with the smell of light rain falling on the city.

"Don't act like a victim now. It's all because of you that she left me!"

"I bet you had fun too, huh?"

They tore him by his clothes, tearing them off one by one.

"Wait, undress him naked! I want everyone to see what this shit is hiding!"

"Ahaahah! See the look on his face! It's awesome! Click, click!"

Click. Flash. The cell phone lights illuminated that dark alley like a stage set. A stage of humiliation.

"Tomorrow these pictures will be everywhere. Maybe you'll kill yourself before you're arrested for harassment, you dirty son of a bitch."

And then the coup de grâce. One of the three took a few paces back. Naked, trembling, Ren was still trying to speak, maybe to cry, maybe to understand why.

The boy dashed up, cried out, and.

SMASH.

A kick to the face. The world was black.

The rain kept falling. But he could feel it no longer. His body collapsed, like a cut doll. His pupils dilated. His heart beat slower. Every beat sounded farther and farther away.

"Is this how. it ends .?"
"Not with anyone running in to save me?"
The breathing shallowed. The pulse slowed. The eyes fogged over.

The three of them ran, not even looking over their shoulders. And in the quiet that followed, the world receded.

His eyes did not move. His life was no longer there. In the stillness he left behind, memories began to chase each other in his dying mind.

The moments he continued to push things away, always setting "later" until later never came.

The fear that had him locked up in rooms, watching the world go by outside a window while his friends laughed and lived.
The shame that had him hiding from his own family, convinced that he was nothing but a burden.
But most of all. The dreams he never had the guts to chase after. The things he wanted to say but never did. The life he always kept within his grasp but out of sight. He had always reserved himself from living. And the one time he let down his guard and allowed himself to be close to someone. The one time he actually really connected with someone.

He was killed.

Just when he thought he would finally be reunited with God, Ren's eyes slowly opened.

The smell of grass filled his lungs. Moist earth touched his skin. The cover of leaves cast a shadow over his naked body. Birds sang far away and a gentle breeze kissed his flesh.

It was not the bleak and congested city he was used to. It was quiet. Clean. Quiet.

Why?" he stammered. "Why? I don't deserve a second chance. Why are you giving me this chance? I'm dead. This is a dream, isn't it?"

But the smell was real. The wind was real. The grass pushing behind him was real. No, it was not a dream.

He had been given a second chance. His hair remained black, but his eyes, which had previously been dark brown, were now a slightly lighter shade: barely noticeable, yet changed. His bare back absorbed every sensation from the earth beneath him.

He scanned the area. Just the horizon. A large tree overhead. Somewhat eerie and somehow reassuring at the same time.

For the first time in years, he was almost at peace. Ren got up from the ground. The sun in his face initially made him squint. He stood in the shade of the giant tree, letting his eyes relax. It was then that he noticed it.

An inscription. Etched lightly into the bark of an arrow, which was directed toward the horizon.
“Ah, someone has already been here,” he grumbled. “And I thought I was the only one inhabiting this house.”

He looked with his eyes in the direction of the arrowhead, but up to the edge of his view there was nothing but grass, gently swaying in the breeze. No roads, no paths, no buildings.

Just nature. He thought briefly about going nowhere. But he was still a human being. And although he had just been reborn, he still needed to eat. Shelter. Fire.

And this place? One tree. No animals. No fruit.

“I guess I don't have much choice,” he grumbled with a weak sigh.

He brushed the grass from his frame, turned once toward the tree and began to move in the direction the arrow was headed. He had no idea where that arrow would lead him. But here. Something warned him that his real life was ready to begin.