"Guahhh! Cough, cough!"

My gradual awakening was suddenly dragged out by a sense of discomfort. No, I was dragged out by the pain in my body.

What the heck is wrong with this body?!

I can't stop coughing.

And every time I cough, a chill runs down on my spine as if Death is caressing me.

Yes, this is it, a life in the process of being burned out.

For a while, I had a constant, life-threatening cough, and with every cough that I made, I experienced dread.

My organs are creaking to the point of breaking while my body holds it all down using my survival instincts.

I feel like death itself is flickering in and out of my sight.

No matter how many times I experience it, scary things are scary.

No matter how many times I experience it... wait, no matter how many times I experience it?

At last, the coughing finally subsided.

I was so exhausted that even moving a finger right now seems like really hard work; that's why I threw my body around without care... well, it's a good thing apparently I was in bed.

"Have you calmed down?"

When i finally had the time to pay attention to my surroundings, I heard a man's voice talking to me nearby.

"..."

When I turned my gaze to where the voice was coming from, I saw a man that I didn't know. The man is wearing a black robe with a deep hood. Because of the hood that he is wearing, I can't see his face very well.

As for the things that "I don't know," which are concerns. I don't know where I am or whose body this is that I possess, or, more accurately, I don't have any idea about what is happening right now.

In other words, there are a lot of things that I don't know and don't understand about this situation.

Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I have no clue about anything at all.

From the looks of it, it looks like I'm in some kind of indoor place—perhaps I'm inside a room with minimal light.

Right now, I'm lying in bed, probably being held by my friend Death.

This body is probably sick, and death is coming from within me and not from external factors.

I hate to admit it, but I can tell.

This body won't last very long.

"I have a request."

The hooded man said so.

"Just live for one day without doing anything."

I then opened my mouth.

"About the current situation, tell me..."

A hoarse voice that clearly lacks vitality leaks from my very dry mouth. The pitch of my voice is high, just like that of a child.

"Because of money, I used the anti-soul method on you. The soul of this body has already departed; that's why I put a replacement soul in this body, and that's you."

A replacement soul?

Ahh, I see. So this is what it's about.

"The body that you possess right now belongs to a nobleman's daughter. Her parents didn't want her to die, so they paid a lot of money to hire me. I needed the money, so I accepted the job. At this rate, you can probably only live for a few more days, as this body has already exceeded its limits."

Hmmm... I see, I understand.

"I don't know who or what you are. I don't know if you are a cold blooded murderer, or if you are even human. You could even be an evil spirit or a demon. But please, I beg you, just live for one day without doing anything. Just give me enough time until I got my money and left this island."

The hooded man, who says a lot of selfish things, and only says what he wants, started walking away.

"I'm sorry.  I'm really sorry."

After he apologized, he left the room.

I then closed my eyes.

In short, that man forced me to awaken from my eternal slumber, so that he can put me into a body that would die in a few days.

In other words, he called me to the world of the living so that I could die again.

Then that means he's telling me to die twice.

In conclusion, he forced this body, which only has a short lifespan left, on me, whom he didn't even know. Just to live for one day.

"Damn, damn it."

Isn't this funny?

I never thought that I would get the chance to die twice.

I guess you'll never know what life has in store for you.

Even though my last life was already over a long time ago.

"Anyone but me would have died from this."

I raised my heavy hands and put them together as if they were holding a water bottle, then I placed them on top of my heart like a corpse in a coffin. *

I'm not doing this to sleep eternally, I'm doing this to live.

Seriously, if I hadn't trained my Ki in my previous life, I would have died by now.




Note:

1. You can check the illustration of this on the main page of this series.