Sora's vision blurred as the light ed him. For a brief moment, the overwhelming brightness made it impossible to focus on anything else. Then, as quickly as it began, the light receded, and he was no longer floating in the void.

  But before he could take in his new surroundings, a name appeared in his mind—Rachel.

  The memory of her betrayal surged forward, vivid and raw. Her eyes, cold and calg, as she struck him down without hesitation. The memory stung in ways that cut deeper than any bde. Beirayed by anyone else would not have hurt as much. Rachel wasn't just anyone; she was Nathan's widow, his brother’s wife. The woman Sora had sworn to protect after his brother's death.

  A surge of flig emotions gripped him. Anger washed over him first. 'How could she? How could the woman who had mourned beside me, who had shared the weight of Nathan's loss, turn on me so ruthlessly?'

  'Every shared gnce, every versation—had it all been a lie? Since when had she been pnning this betrayal from ?' His fists ched at the thought of her smile, 'the way she had seemed so vulnerable at his brother's funeral.Had it all been a facade, a mask hiding the true Rachel ?'.

  'Why? Why would she do it?' He had only ever wao protect her, to honor Nathan's memory. He had fought for her, bled for her, thinking that they were bound by their shared grief. They were both broken by the same loss, weren’t they? They had both loved Nathan. A, she had betrayed him so easily..

  The fusion twisted into grief. He had trusted her—more than anyone. 'She was family. We were friends for since kindergarten. And I was the oo introduce her to Nathan... They got married and I was so happy for them... Why did I bring that so the family ? Did I get my brother killed?'

  The grief was suffog. He thought about Nathan, how proud he had been of Rachel, how much he had loved her. Sora had sworn to protect her after his brother's death, to keep her safe as Nathan would have wanted.

  But uhe grief, something darker stirred—resolve. Slowly, the sorrow and fusion began to harden into something sharper. He wouldn’t let this betrayal break him. No, it would make him stronger. 'You might have thought that this is the end for me, but you have uimated me. You are quite unlucky, even I wasn't aware of this innate skill. And I'll make yret this. This is my promise to you."

  Sora's jaw ched as his thoughts cleared. He wouldn't just survive—he would thrive. He was stabbed in the back, yes, but this was not the end. It was only the beginning of his life, one where he would leave behind the person he had been. Rachel wouldn’t reize him when they crossed paths again. She wouldn’t know who he was until it was too te.

  As the mist around him began to shift, a voice echoed through the emptiness, soft and melodic. "Wele, Sora."

  He took a cautious step backward, worried about entering danger. However, nothing ued happened, aarted looking for the voice around him.

  Sora spun around, his hand instinctively reag for a sword that was no lo his side. The voice had pulled him from his thoughts, but the anger and hurt still simmered beh the surface.

  There was no one in sight—only mist swirling faster now, as if responding to some unseen force.

  "Who's there?" he demanded, his voice trembling but ced with a fighting spirit.

  From the mist, a figure emerged. It was a young woman, her form hazy and indistinct at first, but being clearer with each passing sed. Her hair floated around her as if suspended in water, and her eyes glowed with ahereal light. She didn't look real.

  "I am the Overseer," she said, her voice carrying a weight of authority. "Here to expin your steps."

  Sora narrowed his eyes, his pulse still rag. " steps? Where am I?"

  "You are iransition Space," the woman expined, her hands csped in front of her, her voice calm, almost soothing. "A pce betweeh ah. This is where you decide your course. Your [Prestige]skill has brought you here."

  Sora’s jaw tightehe [Prestige] skill—the very thing that had allowed him this sed ce, this escape from Rachel’s betrayal. But it came with its ow of sequences. He had known that before activating it.

  "Everything you were, everything you built," the woman tinued, her gaze unwavering. "It’s gone. You will return to the world, but you will start anew. You may choose your new form—your new identity. But be warned, Sora Hashino, this is a true rebirth. No one except for the system will be aware of your identity unless you reveal it. You choose to be anyone you want."

  Sora looked down at his hands, the weight of the decision pressing down on him. His body, though familiar, felt distant. Everything he had once been—his skills, his strength, —all of it had been stripped away, leaving him raw and vulnerable. But this was also an opportunity.

  "I've read about the options," he said slowly, recalling the lines of text he had seen before activating Prestige. "I ge my appearance. My identity."

  The guide nodded. "Yes. You leave behind everything that ties you to your past. No one will reize you—not your enemies, nor your friends."

  Sora’s mind fshed to Rachel again, to the ess in her eyes as she betrayed him. No, he couldn’t risk her finding him again. He couldn’t trust anyone, not even those he once called allies. ging his identity meant severing every tie to the person he had been, but it was the only way to ensure his survival—and his revenge.

  "I have alyed it safe, satisfied by my progress, ign the news of pyers being God oh. But to fulfill the promise i made to myself, I o be stronger," Sora muttered to himself, more determihan ever. "Strohan anyone who will dare to protect her."

  The guide watched him closely, her expression unreadable. "You have chosen to ge your identity Sora, So I'll give you a moment to choose who you'll be."

  Sora current appearance was that of a 1.73 m tall man. He was born in Japan in 202 the pandemic. He had bck hair, had dark brown eyes, and weighed 62 kgs.

  The guide raised a hand, and a translut s materialized in front of him, dispying a variety of features—face shapes, hair colors, eye colors, body types. It was like designing a character from scrat a game. He could choose to bee anyone.

  For a moment, Sora hesitated. The possibilities stretched out before him, endless aing. He could bee a pletely different person—so different that even he would have trouble looking at himself in the mirror. But in the end, no matter what face he chose, no matter what body he inhabited, deep down, he would always be Sora.

  With quick, decisive movements, he made his seles. His new face was sharper, with a strong jawline and pierg blue eyes. His hair was blond, pletely different from the bck hair he had before. His body was still lean but had more muscles, seemingly streamlined fility and precision, even a few timeters taller than in the past.

  When he was dohe guide nodded, her gaze approving. "It is done. You will awaken in one month’s time, as if no time had passed for you. Your journey will begin anew."

  Sora felt a strange sense of relief as the mist began to swirl around him once more, faster and faster. But this time, he wasn’t afraid. He had made his choice, and he would live with the sequences.

  Before the mist ed him pletely, the guide’s voice echoed through the air o time. "Be careful, Sora. The path ahead is fraught with danger, and being overfident will not serve you but your enemies. You have a great innate ability, but you are not alohere are others who have power, but you merely have potential."

  And with that, everything vanished.

  Sora's sciousness faded, and for the first time in what felt like ages, he slept.

  When he awoke, his body felt… different. As he pushed himself up from the cold stone floor, his movements were smoother, quicker, more trolled. His hair, now blond, fell in front of his eyes, a stark reminder of the ges he had chosen. He gnced down at his hands, his fingers leaner and mile than before.

  He turned, catg his refle in a dusty mirror. Sharp blue eyes stared back at him, and he felt an unfamiliar sense of detat. The man in the mirror was a stranger—a, he was also Sora.

  His lips curved into a grin. 'I am really back'.

  You have been reborn"Status," Sora muttered, and the familiar panel blio life in front of his eyes.

  Profile: Ralph Eden (Sora Hashino)Status: Alive (Prestige 1)Css: None (Level 1)Title: IPower Level: 1y Level: FBody Level: FTalent Level: 2 Growth Level: 2

  Skills:? Sword Mastery (Level 1)? Shield Block (Level 1)? Critical Strike (Level 1)? Dodge (Level 1)? Mana Regeion (Locked)

  Innate Skill:? PrestigeSora studied the numbers, his grin widening. Despite bei to level 1, his stats were already double that of an average beginner. Strength, agility, endurance—each stat transted into raw power.

  His talent level was now 2. And that meant he would be twice strohan someone who had the same abilities but a talent level 1.

  His growth level was equally doubled. 'This means leveling up will be a piece of cake pared to before. This is doubling every time ?? This innate skill is incredible'

  This time, there would be ation. He would bee the hunter, not the hunted.

  Death wasn’t the end. It was a new beginning, and Sora had every iion of taking full advantage of it.