Prologue

Shadows stretched longer with each passing second, as the sun dipped below the horizon. Another day was ending – just like all the others. The kind of day that seemed to pass by without meaning, swallowed by the routine of adulthood.

I adjusted the strap of my bag and sighed quietly. My sneakers scraped softly against the cracked sidewalk, still glistening from an earlier drizzle. Streetlights flickered overhead like dying fireflies. This path was familiar…. too familiar.

Today.. again… I didn’t speak a word to anyone.

Not a “good morning.”
Not a “see you tomorrow.”
Not even a single eye-contact.

And no one really seemed to notice. But I noticed. I always do.

I passed by my coworkers at the office like a ghost in a salaryman costume. They’d chat in small clusters during lunch breaks, laugh at memes, argue about what to order. And I? I ate alone. Pretended to scroll through my phone, watching the battery drop like sand in an hourglass just to avoid making eye contact. Every day. Every single day.

I wish I could say it didn’t bother me. That I preferred the silence, the distance, the isolation. But that would be a lie. The truth was, I wanted to talk to people. I wanted to make friends. I wanted to laugh at jokes I didn’t even find funny, just because I was part of something – part of someone’s world.

But I couldn't. I was afraid.
Afraid of what they'd think.
Afraid of that awkward pause when I said something weird.
Afraid of the look in their eyes when I just didn’t quite measure up.

I haven’t always been like this. It all started to get real bad in high school.
I’ve been carrying this constant fear inside me ever since. A fear of being judged. A fear of being seen.

In high school, I was always “that guy.”

The quiet one. The weirdo. The target.

A reason to laugh at me? – my existence was enough. I walked differently? Laughed at the wrong time? Sat alone? That was all they needed. Every word I said, every awkward movement, every glance I dared to give was scrutinized like I was some failed science experiment. The nicknames were cruel, but the worst part was always the snickering after I left the room. The glances. The whispers I wasn’t meant to hear.

…It all stuck.

Psychiatrists told me I had something called social evaluative anxiety. It’s a fancy way of saying that every interaction felt like standing naked on stage while the whole world pointed and laughed. “Trauma” some say. “Cowardice” my father said.

I guess that’s what happens when you spend your teenage years wishing you were invisible.

And now? Years later?

I’ve become really good at being invisible.

Avoiding eye contact. Speaking only when absolutely necessary. Smiling just enough to be forgettable. Keeping my voice low.
Never giving anyone a reason to remember me.

I looked up for a moment and saw my reflection in a shop window – slouched shoulders, dull eyes.. I looked like a stock character. A faceless NPC from someone else’s story. Of course it’s out of the question for someone like me to be loved by a women..

And yet, somewhere inside this NPC was a voice that still whispered:
Please.. let someone notice me.

Sometimes I wonder, if I ever got reincarnated – like in those fantasy novels or anime – maybe I’d be someone else. Someone with the courage to talk, to connect. 

Someone who could smile without faking it. 

Maybe I’ll finally break out of this shell. 
Maybe I’ll make friends.

..If I ever get a second chance...

“Outta the way!!”

A sudden shout shattered my thoughts like glass. My eyes snapped up just in time to see a man in a gray suit charging toward me. His face exhausted.
He was in a hurry.
At this hour?

The sidewalk was narrow, and there was no time – no space – to react.

WHAM!

His shoulder collided with mine, hard. I stumbled backward, trying to regain my balance, but the wet ground made it slippery. It was too late.

My heel caught the edge of the curb.

Time froze.

My body tipped backward into the street.

“Ah – Sorry!”

The man’s voice barely registered as I turned my head – and saw it.

A massive truck was barreling down the road. It's headlights bathed me in white, the horn screamed through the air, deafening, shaking me to my core. My breath caught in my throat.

Seriously?
Now?

Of all times to die… it had to be now?
Right after that whole internal monologue about death and reincarnation? About second chances?

This has to be a joke, I thought.

A bitter smile was forming on my lips as I realized something..
Truck-kun?
Am I seriously about to get “Truck-kun’d”?
Was this it? My final moment?
Flattened by an internet meme?

I was starting to get up when I realized I wasn't going to make it in time. I braced for the impact, heart crashing in my chest.

My whole life flashed before my eyes – my childhood dog, my lonely apartment…. that time I accidentally replied “you too” to the waiter who said “enjoy your meal”... the “New Year, new me” plan I gave up on January 3rd…

And of course... oh shoot, my browser history.
This is how legacies are ruined.
May the gods have mercy on whoever dares to check it.
Are these my final thoughts?
I’m so stupid…

Suddenly, the truck’s tires screeched as the driver swerved. Rubber burning against the asphalt. The truck swung violently. I could see the eyes of the driver, wide with terror.

And somehow – the truck missed me.
By inches.

The gust of wind from its passing almost knocked me down again.

I looked at my hands.

I was alive.

Holy crap.
I was –

– CRACK.

Pain.

Blinding, searing pain exploded through my skull as something slammed into me, sending me crashing headfirst onto the pavement.

My eyes fluttered open.

There, spinning away from me in slow motion, was a skateboard. Abandoned.

Red wheels though? Seriously? That looks so trash.

For whatever reason, that was the first thing I thought after my skull was probably split open.

I couldn't move my head. But I could move my eyes. That's when I saw him – a teenager – collapsed on the sidewalk, clutching his side and groaning. He must’ve come down the slope behind the truck, unable to see me. Unable to stop.

According to light novel logic, I’m probably getting reincarnated as the Tony Hawk of some fantasy world.

But for now... I was on the ground.

I heard footsteps, someone shouting for help. Distant. Muffled. Like my ears were underwater.

I blinked up at the sky. The clouds were pink now, painted by the last light of the setting sun. A flock of birds flew across the sky, their wings slicing through the twilight.

Funny.
I never noticed how beautiful the sky was before.

“...Damn it...” I whispered, my voice barely a breath.

My thoughts slowed.

I remembered the feeling of not belonging. Of watching life pass me by like a train I could never catch. I haven't really lived my life anyway. It felt more like I was reacting to it, only intervening if something important was happening.

I remembered the path home.
The empty greetings.
The unread messages.
The awkward silences.
The coworker who once asked me if I wanted to join them for ramen… and how I’d pretended not to hear.

I remembered all the chances I didn’t take.
The versions of myself I was too scared to become.

But maybe – just maybe – this is it.
Maybe this is the end of that life.
And the beginning of something else.
Something more.

Maybe.. next time… I won’t be alone.

Then, everything stopped.
No pain.
No breath.
No sound.
Just silence.

For a moment, it felt like falling asleep –
– except I never opened my eyes again.

…Or so I thought.

Instead, there was something else.
A faint glow.
A breeze that didn’t touch my skin, but felt like it passed through me.

I was floating.
Or maybe just.. existing.

When I tried to open my eyes again, I expected fire.
Or white clouds.
Or that cliché “go toward the light” moment.

But instead…

“Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap—he DIED?! I didn’t even process the transfer paperwork yet!!”

….what I saw was a messy office.
Papers flying. Floating books.
The floor beneath me shimmered like stardust, and beyond it… only endless black.

It was like someone built a bureaucratic nightmare in the middle of space.

A girl was hovering in mid-air, flapping around in panic. She had white wings.. actual, feathery wings on her back. Her cherry red hair was a mess, strands sticking out in all directions. Still, she was beautiful.

“Wait, WAIT – why is he here already??! Souls aren’t supposed to arrive before the cosmic ink dries!”

She turned around and stared directly at me. Her eyes widened like she'd just walked in on someone in the shower.

“Oh no. Ohhh no. This isn’t good.”

“…Huh?”

That was all I could manage to say. Not exactly the grand post-death speech I’d imagined.

“Oh stars, you're conscious already? You weren't supposed to arrive! You weren't even supposed to die yet!!”

The girl frantically dug through a floating pile of glowing folders, throwing unnecessary ones over her shoulder. A paper with my name on it – written in sparkly gold ink, strangely enough – drifted down beside me.

I looked down at myself – no body, just…. light.
Fuzzy, flickering like a candle in a windy room.

“I-Is this… the afterlife?”

The girl paused. “…Define afterlife.”

That’s not reassuring.

“Okay, look,” she said, landing on her feet with a soft bounce. “You weren’t supposed to die yet. You weren’t scheduled until 2076! There was supposed to be a spiritual awakening arc, a dog adoption subplot, and eventual slow-burn romance with your coworker.”

“…Wait…. what?”

“But you just had to go and get skateboarded to death before I could log you into the system. And now the reincarnation machine already triggered by accident and – ugh, they are going to fire me. I swear I triple-checked the karma score, how did I miss this…”

I didn’t really understand anything she said.
But the word reincarnation stuck.

“...Wait. You mean… I’m being reborn? ….Like… isekai-style?”

“You read too much light novels, don’t you?”

“Actually I don’t…”

The girl huffed, frantically tapping through glowing screens only she could see.
“Okayokayokay – don’t panic, I just need to finalize your soul routing and – ugh, why is this interface so slow today?!”

She looked like she was one caffeine crash away from total collapse.

Is she talking about me or herself though? Because I'm pretty damn chill for dying just seconds ago.

“Relax” I muttered. “You’re gonna make a mistake at this rate.”

She glanced at me with wide eyes. “I really hope I didn’t already! Everything happened so fast and – ugh, I’m just an intern, okay?! I wasn’t trained for this. But if I fail now, they will fire me.”

She gave me a tight smile.
A smile that says "It's going to be alright.. probably.."

“Anyway... I found a vessel. Next time, book your reincarnation at least 72 hours in advance!” she said jokingly.

At least she can make jokes even in this stress…

“And now…. just relax.”

And then, everything went white….
The next time I opened my eyes, I was dead. Doesn't make sense, huh? Well, it does. I swear.