he evening streets were crowded.
Cars moved like restless beasts, horns screaming, people rushing somewhere as if time itself was chasing them.
Among them walked Ye Chen.
Twenty-five years old.
No car.No house.No savings.
Just a tired body and a mind filled with quiet frustration.
His eyes looked normal from the outside, but inside them lived years of silent pressure.
I tried… he thought.
I really tried.
He had studied hard. Worked hard. Obeyed everything life demanded from him.
Yet success always seemed to belong to someone else.
To those born higher.
To those who already had money, connections, and power.
"The world…" Ye Chen muttered to himself while walking.
"…is controlled by the top one percent."
No matter how hard ordinary people struggled, they could barely climb even a single step.
His father had died years ago in a car accident.
Since then, his mother had worked endlessly just to raise him and his younger sister.
She believed in him.
Expected great things from him.
Too much.
And that expectation had slowly become a heavy chain around his heart.
Maybe… I'm just not good enough.
For the first time in years, Ye Chen felt something close to surrender.
Just as that thought crossed his mind—
A loud scream tore through the street.
"WATCH OUT!!"
Ye Chen snapped back to reality.
He turned his head.
A young girl had stepped onto the road without noticing the speeding car rushing toward her.
The distance was too short.
The car was too fast.
People froze.
No one moved.
But Ye Chen did.
Without thinking.
Because he was the closest.
His body moved before his mind could react.
He sprinted forward.
The girl turned just in time to see a stranger rushing toward her.
Ye Chen grabbed her arm and pushed her away from the road.
The girl fell safely onto the pavement.
But Ye Chen—
Couldn't stop in time.
The world exploded into sound.
BANG.
Pain shot through his body like lightning.
For a moment, everything spun.
The sky above him blurred.
His body collapsed onto the cold road.
Warm liquid spread beneath him.
Blood.
People were shouting.
Someone screamed.
Someone called an ambulance.
But the sounds felt distant… like they were happening in another world.
Ye Chen looked at the sky.
Strangely…
He felt calm.
So this is how it ends…
He didn't think about money.
He didn't think about success.
He didn't think about the girl he saved.
Only one thought remained.
Mom…
He imagined her tired face.
Her hands, rough from years of hard work.
I'm sorry…
Darkness slowly swallowed his vision.
The sounds faded.
The pain disappeared.
Then—
There was only silence.
Endless.
Cold.
Empty.
But suddenly…
A faint light appeared in the darkness.
Small.
Gentle.
Like a star in the void.
Ye Chen couldn't see his body anymore.
Yet somehow, he could still move.
Subconsciously, he drifted toward the light.
Closer.
Closer.
The light grew brighter.
Warmer.
And when he finally reached it—
A voice echoed through the endless void.
"Interesting… a mortal who sacrificed himself without hesitation."
The light expanded, revealing a vast space filled with ancient symbols and floating runes.
Before Ye Chen stood a mysterious figure made entirely of radiant energy.
"Young soul," the being spoke.
"Your life has ended… but your story has not."
A strange symbol suddenly appeared in front of Ye Chen.
A system interface.
Golden characters slowly formed.
[KARMA BALANCE DETECTED]
[HEROIC ACTION CONFIRMED]
[REINCARNATION SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
The voice spoke again.
"Tell me, Ye Chen…"
"Do you wish to live again?"
Do you wish to live again?"
The voice echoed in the endless void.
For a moment, Ye Chen thought he was hallucinating.
He slowly regained awareness.
Darkness surrounded him. No sky. No ground. No body. Just an endless silent space.
Yet the voice felt real.
His thoughts began moving again, slowly at first… then faster.
Live again?
His mind immediately started analyzing every possibility.
Was this heaven?
Hell?
A dream?
Or something far stranger?
He tried to recall stories he had once read—about reincarnation, systems, and mysterious powers beyond human understanding.
But one question remained.
Why me?
Ye Chen stayed silent for a long moment before finally speaking.
"Why me?"
His voice sounded calm, but inside his mind countless thoughts were colliding.
"I don't think I'm that special."
For the first time, the mysterious System paused.
It seemed slightly taken aback by the question.
Most souls begged for life the moment they were offered another chance.
But this one questioned it.
Still, the voice quickly returned to its emotionless tone.
"You will know later."
Silence returned again.
Ye Chen began thinking deeply.
There must be a reason.
Nothing in existence happens without cause.
If something this absurd was happening, then there had to be a mystery behind it.
A hidden truth.
But after thinking for a long time, Ye Chen realized something important.
Right now…
He had no way to know the answer.
And refusing this chance would only mean one thing.
Eternal nothingness.
He thought about his past life.
The struggle.
The pressure.
The endless chase for success.
And the quiet feeling of defeat he had carried for years.
Then another thought appeared.
This time, it was different.
What if… this time…
I live for myself?
Not for expectations.
Not for society.
Not for survival.
But simply to live.
Ye Chen slowly lifted his head toward the unseen voice.
His tone became heavier.
Firm.
"Yes."
"I want to live."
The moment the words left his mouth—
The darkness trembled.
A strange energy spread across the void.
Countless golden symbols suddenly appeared around him like stars being born.
The emotionless voice spoke again.
"Request accepted."
A bright light began forming in front of Ye Chen.
"Beginning new life initialization."
The light grew brighter.
Warmer.
Stronger.
"Prepare yourself, Ye Chen."
"Your story…"
"…is about to begin."
The light swallowed him completely.
And then—
Everything went silent.