Chapter 1: The End, and the Beginning
Death is rarely dignified. Mine? Downright humiliating.
On a rainy Tuesday evening, after another twelve-hour shift at the office, I was trudging home with an umbrella that looked like it had been rescued from a dumpster. I thought the worst part of my day was already over.
Then the universe decided otherwise.
A giant advertisement board—ironically promoting "A Bright Future Awaits"—snapped loose in the storm and flattened me like a pancake.Crushed instantly. No last words. No tearful lover. Not even a cute nurse whispering "stay with me, senpai." Just splat.
That was the end of Sora Kurogane, age thirty, professional background character in life.
…Or so I thought.
When awareness returned, I floated in a void of pure black. No sound. No ground. No breath. Just existing.
Then, a voice reverberated inside me:
"Initialization complete. Shadow Core in stabilized.""New entity registered: Formless Origin."
"…Wait, what?"
I tried to look at myself, and instead of arms and legs, I found… a swirling mass of pitch-black mist. My body rippled when I moved.
"…Don't tell me."
Yep. Reincarnated. As a blob.
Not just any blob. My substance swallowed light itself. A shadow made flesh.
"…Wonderful. Some guys wake up as dragon-blooded sword saints. Me? I'm halfway to being the final boss in a questionable doujinshi. All I need is tentacles and a heroine screaming my name."
Oddly enough, it didn't feel wrong. I didn't need to breathe. Hunger gnawed faintly at me, but it wasn't unbearable. And most of all… there was power humming in this form.
Excitement flickered in my chest—if I even had one.
I wasn't human anymore. I wasn't weak. I was something else. Something new.
And for the first time in my thirty years of existence, a wicked little thought whispered in my mind:
Maybe being a monster… wouldn't be so bad.