Kyle drifted in endless darkness.
Alone.
And afraid.
There was no sound, no warmth — only the crushing stillness that pressed in on him from all sides. He didn't know how long he'd been here. Time had melted away, leaving behind nothing but void and silence.
Sometimes it felt like mere seconds had passed.
Other times... like centuries.
He didn't even know if he was still sane. Maybe he'd already lost that too. The isolation clawed at his thoughts, stripped away his sense of self. It was like floating in a sea with no shore, no direction — no meaning.
And worst of all… he feared this was it.
Not the reincarnation. Not another fantasy world.
But death. True death.
The kind you don't wake up from.
Kyle had always believed that deep down, everyone fears death. Sages. Tyrants. Even those who preached of transcendence. History was filled with emperors who built eternal tombs, only to die clutching at immortality that never came. Death was the great equalizer.
And now, it had come for him.
The goddess was gone. The system voice — whatever that was — had gone silent long ago. And now he floated here in this eternal nothingness, like a forgotten thought.
He tried to think. Tried to remember who he was.
He recalled something about being in soul form. But that didn't help. Not when he had no body. No anchor.
Only the dark.
Until, at last, he saw it.
A flicker.
Small. Distant. Faint.
But light.
After an eternity in black, it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
Without knowing how, Kyle focused on it — his very will clinging to the light like a drowning man to driftwood. And slowly, ever so slowly, he moved toward it.
And just as he reached out—
[Ding! Reincarnation vessel detected.]
[Compatibility: 100%]
[Congratulations, host. You are now being reborn!]
A roar of sensation flooded his soul. He screamed — or tried to — but something felt... different.
Small. Helpless.
Soft light stung his eyes as they fluttered open. Shapes moved around him, blurry and indistinct. Elderly figures loomed, clad in flowing robes, eyes glowing with strange power.
'What… are they?' he wondered, barely forming the thought.
Then, without warning, a warm pair of hands picked him up — and a sharp slap hit his butt.
"Ahhhhhhhh—!!"
The pain made him jolt.
Except it wasn't his voice.
It was a high-pitched, bratty wail that erupted from his own lungs.
WAAAHHHHHHHHH—!!
His first cry in this new world.
One of the elders — an old woman with terrifying presence despite her kindly face — muttered something in a language he didn't understand. He thought he caught a system glitch sound in the background as she handed him off to someone on the bed.
And when he looked up…
Time stopped.
She was beautiful. No — beyond beautiful. Even with his Earth-based biases and... questionable search history, he'd never seen anyone like her. She glowed with motherly warmth, despite looking tired and pale.
He didn't know why, but just looking at her made something stir inside his soul.
A connection.
Instinctively, he reached out and grabbed her finger — tiny hand clenched tight, as if afraid to let go.
He stared into her shimmering eyes.
Then closed his own.
Because his new ones hurt like hell.
Voices echoed in the room — low and comforting, but muffled. He didn't care what they said. None of it made sense to him right now.
All he wanted to do was sleep.
And sleep took him swiftly.
But before the darkness claimed him again, he heard faint whispers in his mind.
[Synchronizing body and soul…]
[Warning: Soul strength exceeds vessel tolerance.]
[Partial synchronization successful.]
***
Kyle stirred awake, blinking slowly.
His eyes, though small and newborn, shimmered like twin black holes — impossibly dark yet strangely entrancing. Anyone who looked into them might feel as though they were being pulled in, mesmerized by the depth hidden within.
A wave of joy spread through him.
He was alive.
Reborn.
But the joy quickly gave way to confusion as he tried moving his hands.
Tiny. Weak. Soft.
'I… I got reincarnated as a baby,' he thought, looking upward in disbelief.
The ceiling above him was painted — no, engraved — with glowing immortal patterns that pulsed faintly, scattering light like stardust. From his current angle, it was all he could see.
He turned his head slowly to the side, taking in more of his surroundings.
He appeared to be lying in a cradle — an elegant thing, crafted from some high-tier spiritual wood or artifact metal. It gleamed with an unnatural shine, like someone had over-polished it with celestial oil.
Even the silk cloth wrapped around him felt absurdly soft, almost offensively luxurious.
'Okay… comfy. Fancy crib. Still a baby though,' he muttered mentally.
Not wanting to waste more energy flailing around, Kyle settled in and let his mind drift. Eventually, a familiar thought rose unbidden.
'System?'
[Ding! System Online.]
A sleek black interface with glowing golden outlines appeared before his eyes, hovering like a mental HUD(Heads-Up Display). The characters looked like they belonged to some ancient, forgotten script — yet he instinctively understood their meaning.
[Do you want to view your profile?]
Kyle almost laughed.
'I've been waiting my whole afterlife for this,' he thought smugly.
'Status Window.'
The interface shimmered, then reorganized itself into panels.
=== Status Window ===
[Name]: Yu Xuan(Kyle Harrington)
[Age]: 0
[Species]: Human
[Title]: Reincarnator, Young Master
[Traits]: Soul Vision, Mental Resistance, Adaptive Mind
[Cultivation Realm]: N/A
- Physical Strength: 4/100
- Spiritual Strength: 50/100
- Soul Strength: 100/100
==================
[Spiritual Root]: Origin (EX)
[Cultivation Technique]: N/A
[Martial Technique]: N/A
[Physique]: ??? (Locked)
[Bloodline]: ??? (Locked)
==================
[Dao Comprehension]: N/A
[Arts]: N/A
[Skills]: N/A
==================
[Talent Evaluation]
[Quests]
[System Shop]
==================
Kyle stared at the glowing window, mouth mentally agape.
'Holy shit… This is OP.'
His thoughts raced. A smug grin tugged at the corners of his lips — which, just made his chubby baby face look irresistibly cute.
'Origin Root… EX Grade?' he blinked.
'That's some tower-climber modern-fantasy-type nonsense. How broken is this?!'
Then, something else caught his eye.
His bloodline and physique were still sealed.
And one new, unfamiliar tab.
[Talent Evaluation]
Curious, he mentally selected the tab.
A soft chime echoed in his mind as the interface shimmered again.
[Do you want to examine your talent?]
Kyle squinted at the prompt like it had just asked him whether he wanted pineapple on pizza.
'Weird phrasing… but sure,' he thought, and mentally willed a yes.
The display changed.
==================
[Talent Evaluation]
Cultivation Talent: SSS
Martial Talent: SS+
Dao Comprehension: S+
Affinity: Darkness (SSS+), Light (SSS+), Soul (Ex)
==================
Kyle stared at the screen in stunned silence.
He had only one thought:
'Oh f*ck.'