It was a cloudy evening in New York City, and signs of downpour were imminent. City lights, advertisement boards, and the little bright light coming from the phones of those wandering through the city. But a man was the focal point of what was going to happen.
Mid-20s, shaved beard, curly hair, and hollow-blue eyes. He looked like a mess, tired with constant work and the grind of a 9-5 job, working 4 minimum wage jobs just to barely afford both rent and food.
He was walking down the street, and that was when the rain-bearing clouds poured water onto the earth below.
"Damn, I forgot my umbrella at home. . . " He muttered to himself, clutching his jacket as the only source of warmth.
Then a ping rang from his phone, it was Michelle, her money-hungry "girlfriend". The message read, I'm at the restaurant since 5 pm, where are you?!?! If it wasn't obvious to her, he was working his ass off, knowing he had called in sick for the night shift so he could spend some time with his girlfriend.
Then the next ping rang, I had already left, don't bother coming *disappointed emoji*. This caught him off guard; he had already saved up some money to spend on her expensive dinner.
Feeling helpless, he chose to go back home. On his way, he was just scrolling through Instagram stories, as usual, seeing how everyone's life is going. As he scrolled to the next story, he was shocked to the very core.
It was her... Michelle posted a pic, holding hands with another man. She didn't disappoint in crushing his little, fragile heart into pieces. The next story she posted, only her loud moans could be heard in a dark bedroom, he assumed.
The phone in his hands slipped, his head was spinning, asking. Asking why it had to be him. He had a bad, if not tragic, childhood, no stable source of income, and a cheating girlfriend now. He had enough...
But before he could think about what he should do, a voice called out to him.
"Hey! Get off the road!"
Ah, yes, he was in the middle of a crosswalk, lights green for the vehicles. Before he could react, a green garbage truck was heading for him. Time slowed down for him, his thoughts a blur.
"Why do things in life just have to be miserable? Why me?" His eyes looked up to the sky, "God, why me?" he cried out in his head. But it was already done, he's done.
Crash!!
The truck only stopped after hitting him at high speed. The nearby pedestrians watched in horror, one even puked at the sight of a run-over human body.
"Someone call the ambulance!" A lady shouted, hoping that the boy could be saved, but he was long gone.
His vision blurred, his mind went blank, then became lifeless, as if he wasn't from his birth.
. . .
Where am I.....
His eyes wandered; it looked like he was in a room, a rather dark room with a source of light at one end.
Before his thoughts could come up with what was happening, a door opened and closed behind him. Spooked, he turned to see it was a person, a man to be specific.
His head told him to ask the same thing...
"Where am I?"His tone was more demanding than curious.
The man walks closer to him before lowering his body before him and extending his hand to greet him.
"Hey there, Luke, you are in my reincarnation chamber, what do you think about it?" He had this smirk on his face, but also a smile.
Luke was confused; he tilted his head in confusion.
"My name is Doc, nice to meet you, Luke Hensmann," He continued, his hand still extended.
He shook Doc's hand, but still had many questions in mind. His body felt strange, rather lighter than his chubby body back on Earth. He took some time to admire his new body. Then it clicked, he reincarnated.
"Did I reincarnate?" Luke asked.
"Duh... how else will you be here?"
Things were going well in his mind, or rather, according to some OP reincarnation webnovels he used to read back on Earth. A new body, a new world. What's next? He had that question in mind.
Unconsciously, he stood up, he looked taller than his previous body, and he felt that he was more muscular, even taller than Doc, approximately. 6ft 2".
*Switching to 1st POV*
"Testing out the new body, I see..." Doc remarked with happiness.
"Yeah," I muttered.
This was more than enough for me, tall and handsome, I assume, muscular. Maybe a cute lady to complete the whole package. I smirked internally. But one question rang in my mind.
"Doc, where am I? Like the name of this world,"
"So I didn't tell you? My memory is getting worse, isn't it? We are at Planet Onyx. And I am recruiting you to Onyx Corp, Luke." He said. Of course, he didn't mention which world there were earlier; his memory is truly getting worse for his age.
He looked like a person in their mid-fifties, still plenty of life, but it was concerning for him to start having memory loss... After the brief and awkward introduction, Doc showed me around the headquarters. We were at the North Wing of the headquarters, where most of the technical stuff was located.
Upon walking outside the wing, yes, every wing is separated, I was greeted with the cold night air and ambient lighting from the other wings. Apart from that, the scenery was just breathtaking, as if we were in a tech-filled world. Flying ships in the background, greenery surrounding tech, and hold up... Two moons? Yeah, this world is truly crazy.
Then Doc broke my line of thought, " Hey Luke, there's a lot we should talk about before you get acquainted with the main team. First of all, how old do you think I am?"
"Hmm, like mid-fifties?" I guessed.
"No, you are wrong. I'm more than 700 years old, or more, I think I lost count," he said while scratching his short beard.
Yeah, he's totally having a memory loss.
Before I could react, he was behind him, his arm around my neck, putting me in a headlock before releasing me.
"*Cough cough* Hey, what was that for?" I massaged my neck after that sudden attack.
"Oh, I just don't like it when I'm insulted," He narrowed his eyes. " And yes, I read your mind. But we have a lot to catch up on if you are gonna join Onyx Corp." He patted my back as he led the way to what looked like a huge rectangular hall.
"Welcome to Onyx Corp."