"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."
Ha!
I can't help but laugh at that stupid saying. I mean, how can life give you lemons, and why on earth would you even begin to make lemonade, huh?
That's a question I asked myself long before I even found out that I had died. But instead of remaining dead and becoming part of the realm of the dead, I woke up in another place as another person—doing the complete opposite of what I should have done.
I don't even know how I died. Apparently, something bad must have happened if I found myself in this situation. I didn't know where the hell I was, nor did I know who the hell I was.
All I knew was that there had been a moment of lights out, and now here I was, standing in front of a mirror, looking at someone I believed was the new me.
Last time I checked, I didn't look like this. I mean, I wasn't this young. Sure, I was still in my late twenties, working a dead-ass job and living in a crappy old apartment that had infestations big enough to qualify as a zoo.
But now?
Here I was, in this beautiful apartment, as this charming, good-looking teenage boy who looked like he'd been hitting the gym.
I kept staring at the mirror that was the same size as me. As much as all of this felt like a dream, it wasn't. I was here. I was this guy. And I could feel it.
In normal circumstances, if someone like me found themselves in a situation like this, the first response would be to scream, freak out, and put on a show dramatic enough for the neighbors to call a psychiatrist.
But I didn't.
I chose to stay calm—like a deer frozen in headlights—staring at the mirror like it was flashing lights.
Everything felt unreal. Everything felt messed up. I genuinely didn't know what to do in that moment. I froze.
And the funny thing was, when I finally came back from whatever reality I had been lost in, I realized I was in the body of a teenager who looked like he had just finished taking a bath.
Whoa.
This is really some weird shit.
I thought to myself as I kept touching and feeling my face.
Impressive.
I couldn't stop touching and feeling. I had to admit—this kid was really soft and spotless. It was like he had just been puked straight out of a hot teen model magazine.
And this guy was me.
Or at least, I was the one inside his body—which meant I was him.
A towel was wrapped around my neck, and I guessed this kid had been drying his perfectly silky black hair. The only thing visible was his upper body, which was fit and well-packed.
And thank the heavens for that, because I wasn't in the mood to become someone else and have the first thing I see be junk.
Even if it was now mine.
I won't lie—I was mesmerized by this guy's looks. I mean, I don't play for this team, but damn, this guy was one hell of a hunk.
I hadn't moved away from the mirror, nor had I done anything else since waking up here. I hadn't even continued drying my hair. My hand stayed exactly where it was—on the left side of my head, holding the towel.
Obviously, I was distracted.
After all, I had about a thousand questions to ask myself—and needed just as many answers.
How could I go from being a miserable twenty-eight-year-old guy who played games after a long day at work to this piece of meat?
And don't get me wrong, in my previous life I wasn't bad-looking either—but if I had known a guy like this back then, I probably would have killed him on the spot.
I realized that since I got here, I hadn't done anything but stare at myself.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Klein, honey, please finish quickly! We don't want you to be late for your first day of school and registration!" a woman's voice shouted from the other side of the door.
"Oh, don't worry, Mom! I'm almost done!" I responded involuntarily.
The moment the words left my mouth, confusion hit me so hard that I slapped a hand over my mouth.
Mom?
That was my mom?
That meant my name was Klein.
But Klein who?
I couldn't help but wonder.
Then, after a short moment, it was like all the memories that had disappeared for a second came flooding back. A violent migraine struck me, so intense it felt like I was losing my mind.
I tried hard to grit my teeth to avoid alerting anyone, but the pain was unbearable. I couldn't help myself—I made noise, even if it wasn't loud.
"Ah! Ah! Ah!"
I crumpled to the floor, the towel tied loosely around my waist, clutching my head as endless memories forced their way back into me.
I tried crawling, rolling—anything—but after a few minutes, the migraine finally stopped.
Thank the heavens.
Still, I felt drained.
"What the hell was that?" I muttered as I pushed myself up.
Just as I scratched my head, I looked back at the mirror—and saw something I definitely hadn't seen before.
A holographic profile.
And the more I looked at it, the more I realized—it belonged to me.
I stepped closer. My vision was blurry at first thanks to the migraine, but after blinking a few times, everything cleared.
A blue holographic screen floated in front of me.
Name: Klein Hades
Age: 16 years
Rank: F
Mana Core: E+
Occupation: First-Year Student
Institution: Sky Academy
After reading everything—
Shit.
That's when I realized.
No—remembered.
Today was the last day to retrieve my belongings from the academy before school officially started in a few days.
I hadn't paid attention to my surroundings at all. All I knew was that I stormed out of the room—thankfully, it was just the bathroom—and ran into my bedroom.
I slammed the door shut and started ransacking my drawers for clothes, completely unaware that the body I had taken over belonged to someone… with a different personality.
I searched everywhere but couldn't find a single clean pair of boxers, let alone decent clothes.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
Time wasn't on my side. If I didn't leave in the next ten minutes, I'd miss the bus to the train station that headed to Sky City.
Realizing this was pointless, I gave up and threw myself onto the bed, letting out a deep sigh of defeat.
Then I sat up.
And looked behind the door.
Relief washed over me when I saw a fresh set of clothes hanging there.
I stepped closer and noticed a note.
From Mom:
I wanted you to look stylish on your first day of school.
Love, Mom.
"Thanks, Mom," I smiled.
Five minutes later, I was fully dressed and looking exactly as stylish as she'd promised.
I thought I'd see her on my way out, but instead I found another note on the fridge.
Sorry, couldn't take you to school—loads of work. Enjoy.
I left the house and headed to the bus stop, but something felt strange.
Déjà vu.
About two minutes later, the exact bus I needed pulled up—first one of the day.
Talk about luck.
I got on.
Luckily, this wasn't a bus that required cash, because Mom had forgotten to leave money in her rush. The bus had three options, and I chose the second.
Thumb scan.
After it read my thumb, the driver looked at me and smiled.
"Well, kid, for your sake, we better hurry. After all, we don't want you late on your most important first day," he said as he started the engine.
And just like that—
We took off.