The air tonight felt colder than it had any right to be as I lay on my deathbed. The hospital machines were the only reason I was still hanging on; without them, my weak heart would've claimed me years ago.
Name's John, ninety-five this year. Anyone looking at me now would think I'm nothing more than a bag of brittle bones, but I've lived a life most men only whisper about. I ran through the world as a criminal, robbing banks through the night, stealing crypto, splurging on women who came running the moment they smelled my money.
I built mansions and drug empires like they were nothing, yet… happiness never came with any of it. There was always this hollow place inside me, something my hands could never reach. Maybe it was the lack of magic, the one thrill this world could never give.
It was probably why I clung to video games and fantasy novels the way I did. No matter how perfect my life looked from the outside, my heart chased those imagined worlds, where I'd stand with a sword raised and lead entire nations, where demons fell beneath my feet.
What a life that would've been. Right? I let out a thin breath, lowering the book onto my knees while staring through the hospital window. Snow drifted down in slow, patient curls, wrapping the city in a quiet white glow.
"My time is melting… just like this snow would on a warm spring morning," I murmured. My vision grew heavier by the second, but the calm settling over me was strange and gentle. The snow made everything feel softer, as if it were tucking me in the same way it covered the tired grass below.
Then it all slipped away. Darkness swallowed the room, the silence closed around me, and my body felt weightless, lighter than a feather. For the first time in decades, I felt truly at peace...
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"!#!$!@$!$^^&@!@!$"
A soft voice brushed against my ears. For a moment, I thought it was a nurse checking in on me, but the sounds were too warped, too strange to place. I tried to open my eyes, struggling against the weight holding them shut.
Light bled through little by little, stinging my vision, and the scent that drifted in made my thoughts jolt. This wasn't the sharp disinfectant of a hospital room. It was earthy and wild, like damp leaves and fresh air after rain, a clean pine note sliding into my senses.
"!%!@%!!"
The same voice called again, carrying a strain of worry even though I couldn't understand a single word. I forced my eyelids apart, coaxing my sight to sharpen. The first thing that took shape was a green silhouette leaning over me, framed by sunlight pouring through tall trees.
She looked like a woman, but her skin carried a deep mossy hue, her features rough and strange. Even so, her chest pressed softly against mine, warm and heavy, the curve of her massive breasts making it impossible to ignore her presence.
The moment my eyes managed to focus, her face brightened. Those hazelnut-colored eyes caught the sunlight and gleamed with a warmth that startled me. I wanted to speak, to demand answers, anything that would tell me whether this was some strange dream, yet everything felt too real for my mind to dismiss.
A sudden stab of pain shot through my temples, sharp enough to make my vision blur. I nearly slipped back into unconsciousness. When the haze cleared, and I looked at the woman again, something shifted in the air above her.
A warped black swirl twisted into existence, like the sky itself had cracked open. Within seconds, it pulled itself together into a shape I recognized far too well: a floating window, a black HUD trimmed with golden letters.
My breath caught. My eyes burned. For a long heartbeat, I simply stared, unable to believe what I was reading.
[Welcome to the novel "Light Within Darkness." You have died in your world and been chosen to reincarnate as the Goblin King after his death.]
That was my favorite book. The one where the heroine carved her way through demons and ancient beasts, a hot, fearless woman who fought gods like the world belonged to her. For a heartbeat, I clung to that thought, trying to convince myself this had to be a dream. There was no way I had actually reincarnated after dying. It sounded ridiculous… unreal…
But how was I supposed to deny what I was seeing?
I turned back to the woman leaning over me. Her eyes shimmered softly, almost watery, as if she feared losing me all over again.
[You have gained a special skill: Evolution - User may evolve himself or any target of his choice.]
[Limitations apply - Every individual carries an XP (Experience Points) bar above their head that only you can see. This bar fills through different actions or events. Once it reaches its limit, evolution becomes available, and the choice of what to evolve is yours.]
I blinked once, then twice as I reread the screen. My mind refused to believe it. Who would? Being thrown into a new world, breathing with a body that felt alive again, being told I held magic of all things… My chest tightened. If this was real, if none of this was a dream…
A slow grin pulled at my lips. Fortune was smiling at me again. Just like in my youth, I could rise, and this time I'd be unstoppable.
I looked down at the goblin woman's eyes, and everything finally clicked. This forest, her green skin, the warmth against my chest, and the system. I knew exactly where I was. I had become the useless goblin king who died early in the book. The same one readers barely remembered.
To think I'm him now… haha. I'm back, baby.
The problem was, I still couldn't understand a word she said. Maybe that was why her eyes suddenly overflowed, tears spilling down her cheeks like a broken dam.
I raised my hand and wiped them gently. My fingers were thick, rough, and green. A real goblin's hand. The truth settled deep in my bones. The moment I drew my hand back, the screen above twisted and shifted, and a splitting headache tore through my skull.
[Initiating memory installation…]
Memories that weren't mine slammed into me one after another. I felt a second life unfold inside my head: every moment, every failure, right up to the instant a heroine's blade carved through this body's chest. I saw her clearly, the soft golden eyes looking down at me with disdain, as if I had always been beneath her feet.
Heh… so that's how it is?
I couldn't let this body's old soul linger as some bitter spirit. If I was taking over, I'd settle its last regret. I would return the humiliation the protagonist gave, and as compensation, I'd raise this forgotten village into an empire feared by all.