The truck's horn blared.
Jayden didn't even have time to think before impact. No pain. White light, then nothing.
*So this is it.*
He expected hell. Maybe endless black. Not a throne room made of clouds.
"Welcome, Jayden Cross."
A woman materialized white hair, golden eyes, robes shifting like liquid light. She looked bored.
"You're dead. I'm Goddess Seraphine. You're getting reincarnated into another world. Questions?"
Jayden blinked. "Like… like those anime?"
"Yes. Exactly like those anime." She sighed. "You'd be surprised how many people ask that."
His heart raced. *No way.* All those nights watching isekai shows, reading web novels when he should've been studying
"Before you go, you get one special request. Within reason. Choose carefully."
One wish. Anything he wanted.
Images flooded back. Laughter in hallways. Shoves. The lunch table where no one sat near him. Dylan's voice: *You're such a fucking loser, Jayden. No wonder nobody likes you.*
"I want people to like me."
Seraphine raised an eyebrow. "Elaborate."
"In my old life, I had no friends. Nobody wanted me around." He looked at his hands. "I want people to actually care about me this time. I want… aura. Charisma. To make allies easier."
The goddess stared. Something shifted in her expression. Pity?
"That's your wish? Not power? Not immortality?"
"Yeah. I just don't want to be alone again."
"Very well." Golden light wrapped around him. "Natural charisma and the ability to form bonds easily. Done."
Relief washed over him. "Thank you "
"Are there cool abilities in this world? Like magic?"
"Yes. Affinities, Manifestations, and Talents. Most people get one. Some get two if they're lucky. Three is legendary."
His eyes lit up. "Then my final requests I want to be destined for good abilities. Really good ones. And I want my growth limiter broken so I can get stronger faster than anyone else."
Seraphine smirked. "Greedy. But fine. Exceptional talent and accelerated growth." She snapped her fingers. "Anything else?"
"A really manipulative main villain. And some smaller antagonists too. Make it interesting."
"Oh, you'll have those." Her smile turned cold. "Trust me."
The world dissolved.
Warmth. Then pressure. Then cold air hit his skin and he gasped.
*Wait.*
His limbs were too small. Too weak.
*I'm a baby.*
"It's a boy!" A man's voice, thick with emotion.
"Let me see him " A woman, exhausted but happy.
Jayden forced his eyes open. A room with wooden beams. A dark haired woman in bed reaching for him. A broad shouldered man with a beard grinning.
His new parents.
*This is real.*
The man brought him closer. She cradled him gently, tears streaming.
"He's beautiful, Marcus," she whispered.
"Course he is. Look at those eyes "
Marcus froze.
Her smile faltered. "What?"
"His eye. Honey, look at his right eye."
She tilted Jayden toward the window light. Her breath caught.
Jayden couldn't see his face, but he felt it something in his right eye. Watching. Seeing *everything*.
"It's red," she breathed. "Red and black."
"I've never seen anything like it." Marcus touched Jayden's face carefully. "Is he okay?"
"I don't know " She held him tighter. "We should call a healer "
"It's a sign." Marcus's voice turned firm. "Look at him. He's healthy. Strong. That eye isn't a curse. It's a blessing."
"How do you know?"
"I can feel it." Marcus smiled, uncertainty lingering. "Our son is going to be special."
Jayden wanted to laugh. To scream. To tell them they were right.
But only a baby's cry came out.
*A red and black eye. What the hell did she give me?*
Deep inside, beneath confusion and overwhelming newness
He felt it.
His right eye pulsed. The world sharpened. Dust motes in the air. Micro expressions on his parents' faces. His mother's heartbeat making her chest rise and fall.
He could see *more*.
*This isn't just charisma.*
His mother rocked him gently, humming. His father's massive hand rested on his tiny head.
"Welcome to the world, little one. We'll name you Jayden. After your grandfather."
*Jayden.*
Same name. Different world. Different life.
Different eyes.
*Alright. Let's see what you've got for me, goddess.*
The red and black eye pulsed again. For just a moment, he saw something impossible
His mother's next movement before she made it. His father's words before he spoke them.
Then darkness took him, and Jayden Cross slept for the first time in his new life.
**End of Chapter 1 reincarnation complete**