~ It had always been like I was disconnected from the world. Like I was never meant to be, cause I don't fit in anywhere.
Of course, this isn't the first time I've about it. It's probably because people don't see value in me.
I'm a cripple, after all.
I can't walk, have a low voice. Even with the skills and knowledge I've gathered, I can't say I truly enjoyed the life I've lived. But... What's next?
What else can a cripple like me learn?
At the end, I can't help out my mum at home, which should be a son's responsibility.
Maybe it's time to end it all.~
...
"Hmm... Yes, it sounds right, but also wrong."
A young man with short grey hair closed the black notebook in his hands and then relaxed on his chair.
He sat in the shadow of a tall apple tree with green leaves, which seemed to just start bearing fruit under the bright light of the radiant sun.
His tired eyes scanned the surroundings, seeing children and their mothers playing around, some couples alone with pets, some with children.
Others were even enjoying happy picnics. Overall, everyone here was smiling... Except him.
Everyone was with partners... except him.
He was an anomaly here too. He didn't belong here.
Julius quietly adjusted his black shirt and then his glasses. He then quietly rolled forward in his wheelchair. He was already leaving the park since it was getting quite late.
"Hey there, let me help you with that."
A sweet, melodic voice came from his side and when he turned to look he saw a polite looking girl walking over to him with a smile on her beautiful round face.
Her black hair was cut short and she wore a short flay skirt with a crop top, accentuating her beauty.
Julius sighed and only quietly shook his head at her, and continued going on his way.
"Wait, let me help!" The girl rushed over and held the wheelchair from behind before pushing him and helping him.
"You don't have to."
The girl frowned as she heard something from the dull man in the wheelchair and she asked:
"What did you say?"
"You don't have to help me. I don't need it, leave me alone." He said with a higher voice and the girl didn't let go and continued pushing.
She glanced back to look at someone before turning forward and looking down at Julius.
"You know how it is in the park, everyone is so focused on their business so I thought to help you since I didn't have anything to do." She replied with a happy voice and then Julius' next words made her frown.
"I have no money to tip you." Julius said as he looked up at the girl.
He saw the girl visibly flinch when she looked at his face.
He was not a bad looking guy but he was mentally stressed and physically tired.
"Don't worry. Just consider this an act of good will." The girl reassured him with a smile.
They soon left the park and Julius couldn't help but think about what he'll face when he gets back home. It was already passed five so she would be worried about him...
After leaving the park and riding for a while, the girl pushed the cart into a dark alley and Julius frowned as he noticed this.
"You know you're a pain in the ass right? My boyfriend was watching us, or rather, the guy I like, he said I'm a bad person and he doesn't like it. Why did you have to go ahead and piss me off." She suddenly let go of the wheelchair and as it rode forth to hit a dumpster, Julius held it and spun it around.
"It was never my intention—"
"Shut up! I just wanted to do some good. Why is anger so uncontrollable?" She said as she tried to keep her shouting quiet.
Julius kept quiet as the girl knocked over a dumpster and stepped on it till it caved in.
"If you don't mind, I'll start going now." He said, riding forward with his wheelchair.
"Don't you know how to apologize. Or are your senses crippled as well? Come to think of it, you looked crazy to me from the start." The girl put on a mocking grin and then walked towards him.
She spat on his face and as Julius felt the spot slide on his cheek. With a smile, she slapped Julius in the face.
Her expression shifted instantly. Julius caught her hand, and the emptiness in his eyes seemed to pierce straight through her, chilling her to the bone.
"You should know more than picking on the weak. With a personality like yours, you're not getting any luck with that guy." Julius' tone was flat and emotionless, just like his eyes.
It was like his words cut through to her heart and she felt her heart skip a beat.
"Shut up! What the hell do you know?!" She waved her second hand to slap him but it was caught and Julius' spun her around, letting her fall towards him and he hit her neck with his palm, making her go unconscious.
"Even if I'm a cripple, it doesn't make me an easy target for bullying. I learned the way to deal with people like you at a late time in life." A silent sigh let his lips as he moved his wheel chair out of the alley.
"A shame I didn't get to deal with more people like you." He mumbled and rose out of the alley.
"Aly!!"
Hearing the sound of a man shouting he turned around and saw a handsome guy running his way and the guy accelerated as he saw him.
"Excuse me, where's the girl that was helping you before?" The guy asked in a polite tone and Julius quietly pointed in the darkness of the alley and continued on his way.
"Aly huh, what a dumb name, for a dumb bitch."
Of course, there were a lot of humans who hide their true colors from the world just to enjoy social benefits, like the bit– Girl...
...I meant girl.
Like the girl he just met.
That's another observation of his. A person was never truly complete. You can be beautiful, have a nice physique, but it's either you have a bad personality or not be that good looking.
People often wore masks around others to hide their true intentions, Julius could tell from the start cause he saw the bi—
...cause he saw the girl with her boyfriend earlier. She seemed to enjoy his company so much.
So why would she want to suddenly help out a poor cripple. Simple... To gain something.
And I'm this situation, she simply wanted approval from the handsome guy.
Julius was so stuck in his thoughts that he failed to realize he had returned home.
His feet had carried him here on instinct, long before his mind caught up. He blinked, staring at the all-too-familiar sight of the aging building. The brown bricks were cracked in places, the white paint on the windows peeling from years of neglect.
He sighed.
The wooden door creaked as he pushed it open and his nose twiched as he smelled something nauseating—the heavy, stale stench of cigarette smoke mixed with something sour. Alcohol.
He stepped inside.
The room was dimly lit, only a flickering bulb in the ceiling providing any light. On the tattered couch lay a woman—his mother. Her blonde hair was matted, makeup smeared across her cheeks, and her mouth hung slightly open as she snored. A tray on the table before her was stacked with empty bottles, some rolled to the floor, clinking quietly with each shallow breath she took.
Julius just stood there, staring at her with a blank expression.
There was no warmth in his eyes. No anger either. Just that hollow numbness again.
Then—
Her eyes fluttered open.
And the moment she saw him, her sluggish expression twisted.
"You…" she growled, pushing herself up. Her voice was hoarse. "You little sh*t…"
"You said you'd be back in two hours. Two. F**king. Hours!"
She staggered up, and in three stumbling steps, her hand lashed out.
The slap cracked across his cheek so hard his head turned.
"You piece of trash! You're just like your father!" she screamed, breath hot with booze. "Running off and leaving me like this?! Do you even care what I've been through?!"
Julius didn't say a word.
His eyes never met hers.
Then a shadow moved behind her. Heavy boots thudded against the floor. A tall man emerged from the hallway—shirtless, tattooed, unshaven.
Julius frown turned to disgust as he laid eyes on the her boyfriend.
He yawned, scratching his chest. "The brat's back?" he muttered.
"Am I not supposed to come back?" Julius asked back with no hesitation and another slap landed on his face.
She turned to him, face still twisted in rage. "I should have dumped you at the orphanage."
"Relax, he's just a boy," the man said lazily, stepping behind her. Then, without warning, he grabbed her by the neck and shoved her hard against the wall.
She gasped, legs kicking.
Julius flinched.
But he didn't move nor speak. He just sat there, his expression relaxing as he resigned from even worrying right now.
He just lowered his eyes again.
The man leaned in to her ear, his voice low and filthy. "You like this, don't you?"
She moaned, more in arousal than pain.
"I'll show you how a real man treats a loudmouth."
Her breath hitched. "Not... not in front of the boy…"
The man chuckled darkly, whispering things Julius tried not to hear.
He picked up his bag silently. Slung it over his shoulder. And without looking back, walked out the door.
The night air struck his skin like cold water. But he welcomed it. It washed away the stench of the house—the screams, the smoke, the sweat.
He walked aimlessly through dim streets until he found himself in front of the small convenience store on 6th and Halberd, the one he used to visit with her when things were simpler.
He sat beneath its flickering sign, the sidewalk cracked beneath him.
From his bag, he pulled out a worn notebook and a pen.
He wrote.
Words poured out of him as they came to his mind.
A fantasy.
A world where he wasn't weak. Where he had power. Where people like that man bowed, and his mother… wasn't broken.
His hand moved endlessly.
~I wonder if everyone my age is experiencing something like this.
Yeah, probably not.
I wish I wouldn't have to go back though. But I can't survive ony own, because I'm a weak cripple who needs attention.~
A thought came to his mind and a small smirkformed on his lips. Then he wrote;
~What if... After death I really get reincarnated. I'll be a prince, with many maids and be very powerful. Ah, a truly worthy second life...~
As he continued to scribble, a loud sound distracted him and he flinched.
"AHHHHHH!!"
A scream came from the side of the road on the other side and Julius' eyes were wide open as a bus tumbled over to his corner.
And he felt something familiar...
...Fear
Bang!
Soon, the area became quiet and the sound of sirens came a while after. The area then became crowded and people took photos while some simply left.
It seemed like a celebrity was inside the bus that just had an accident and that's all people talked about.
No one even gave a second thought to the cripple boy, who was crushed to death as he was quietly trying to live his own life.
...
Everything was pitch black where Julius found himself.
He didn't feel pain, sound, and even his own weight.
Only silence.
Julius thought death would feel colder—he was sure he'd be afraid. But instead, he felt... lighter.
Then came the light.
It started as a thread—a soft silver shimmer that floated in the dark like a gentle ripple on still water. It expanded, surrounding him, embracing him. He felt like a child wrapped in warm silk. His body, which once felt like a prison, now felt… free.
He couldn't even think about anything, almost like he was free of thoughts. Of life.
Then, a voice reached his ears.
"A soul, battered and broken, yet stubborn to the end… Interesting."
It wasn't loud, wasn't deep. Not male or female. It simply was.
Julius floated in place, the pressure of its presence washing over him like a tide.
"You have known pain. You have known loneliness. But you were not weak."
"You were observing."
The silver light pulsed, and a mirror-like surface formed below him. On it, his life played out in fragments: his mother, his high school, the park, the girl, the alley, the novels he never published… and finally, the bus.
The light shifted color—deep gold now.
"Your tale does not end here, Julius."
The name echoed, felt different… fuller. Almost as if he had always had a second name that was only now being spoken.
"You will be given a second chance… In a world that values strength, ambition, and truth. In a world where fate can be broken. What you become, would be up to you."
Then, everything exploded into a blinding flash.
Fire. Wind. Screaming metal. A battlefield?
Julius gasped as he opened his eyes, finding himself lying on soft grass under twin moons.
He heard screams, the sound of gunshots in the silent night.
He quickly looked around and saw that he was close to a burning carriage and he saw men running around with guns.
"Protect the prince, Kill all the intruders!" A man shouted, shooting at the trees above.
There, he saw a figure flash between the trees like a spirit and his instincts kicked in, telling him to move.
In that instant a tree branch fell beside him brushing his hand which he did as using to support himself. He snapped into reality immediately and moved back.
He whispered to himself, stunned by the strength in his voice:
"What… is this place?"
A sudden memory—not his own—flashed through his mind: swords of light, beasts of shadow, kings who controlled the elements, and a golden throne atop a floating citadel.
Then a whisper, like a breath against his ear:
"Live again, Julius. This time... make the world remember your name."
"My name..." Confusion washed over him.
A bullet whisled passed him and then he quickly stood up, his situation was clear now.
He ran behind the burning carriage and ran in the opposite side of where the battle was taking place.
'There's one explanation for this. Reincarnation, or rather transmigration.' He painted as he ran.
A smile slowly found its way to his lips as he looked at his long legs. He could run...
But that wasn't important right now.
'Prince Julius of the human kingdom. What a load of bullshit...'
That was his identity now. And he was in the middle of being assassinated on his journey to a neighboring town.
'What a piece of crap reincarnation.'