Ken Arai never thought he'd die like this.
The night was thick with fog, swirling around the cracked stones beneath his feet. His breath came out in sharp, uneven gasps as he stumbled through the dense forest, the bitter taste of blood already in his mouth.
Behind him, heavy footsteps thundered. Not human. Something far worse.
Ken didn't dare look back.
Branches tore at his skin and clothes, and every muscle screamed in protest, but he forced himself forward. The creature's snarls grew louder—closer.
Then, a claw ripped through his side.
Pain exploded like fire. Ken fell to his knees, gasping, the cold earth mixing with the warmth of his blood.
Desperation clawed at his mind. He tried to crawl, to escape—but the beast was on him in an instant.
It dragged its filthy, grotesque hand across his throat. Ken's hands clawed at the claws, his fingers slipping on slick, rotten flesh. His vision blurred. Darkness crept in from the edges.
His last thought? That he had failed.
But then, light.
Ken's eyes snapped open. The forest was gone. Instead, cold stone beneath him and a sky painted with unfamiliar stars.
His body screamed in pain, every breath sharp like shards of glass.
But he was alive.
A strange warmth bloomed in his chest, pulsing in time with a voice that whispered in his mind:
"Soul Reset activated."
He remembered the death—felt it, bone-deep. The cold claw at his throat. The fire in his side. The overwhelming, final darkness.
He had died.
And yet, he had come back.
Ken forced himself up, ignoring the tremble in his limbs. Around him, the air shimmered with magic—faint runes glowing on the stones, a soft hum vibrating through the earth.
This was no longer the world he knew.
But one thing was clear: death was no longer the end.
And Ken Arai would never be the same.