Chapter 1 — The Accident
SECOND LIFE
Chapter 1 — The Accident
Rain covered the city like a gray curtain as Ren Kurogane walked through the nearly empty streets, holding a small black case tightly against his side. He was twenty-eight years old, but unlike most people his age, Ren had spent the last several years chasing something that most people would have called nothing more than an old legend. He worked as a researcher of strange historical objects, and during those years he had discovered countless stories about mysterious artifacts, forgotten temples, and objects that supposedly possessed supernatural abilities. Most of those stories turned out to be fake, but one story had never stopped bothering him—the story of the Decision Bell, an ancient bell said to have the power to change one decision from a person’s past. Ren had spent years searching for it, and tonight, after following a trail of clues that had taken him across several abandoned research sites, he finally believed he had found it.
Ren stopped in front of an old research facility that had been abandoned for more than fifteen years. The building looked like it had been forgotten by the entire world. Broken windows covered the upper floors, weeds grew through cracks in the concrete, and the rusty entrance sign swung slowly whenever the wind became stronger. Ren looked at the building for a few seconds before taking a small device from his pocket. “If my calculations are correct, the chamber should still be underneath this place,” he muttered. He pushed the device against the electronic lock beside the entrance, and after several seconds, a small green light appeared. The ancient lock clicked open. Ren smiled slightly. “So the old system still works.”
He entered the building and carefully walked through the dark hallway. His footsteps echoed through the empty structure as he made his way toward the underground section. Dust covered almost everything, but Ren had studied the original blueprints, so he knew exactly where he was going. After several minutes, he reached a large metal door with a strange symbol carved into its center. The symbol was the same symbol he had seen in dozens of old documents connected to the Decision Bell. Ren placed his hand against the door and whispered, “After all these years...” He pushed it open.
Behind the door was a huge underground chamber. In the center stood a stone pedestal, and sitting on top of it was a small silver bell. It wasn’t large or impressive. In fact, it looked almost ordinary, but strange patterns covered its surface, and the moment Ren saw it, he felt a strange pressure in the air around him. He slowly opened the black case he had been carrying and pulled out several old documents. One of them contained a drawing of the bell. Underneath the drawing were five words: ONE DECISION MAY BE CHANGED.
Ren stared at the words for a long moment. “So you really exist,” he whispered. He had spent years wondering whether the Bell was real, but now it was sitting only a few steps away from him. Ren slowly reached toward it, but just before his fingers touched the metal, a voice came from the darkness behind him.
“Don’t touch it.”
Ren stopped. He didn’t immediately turn around. Instead, he slowly smiled. “I was wondering when you would show up.”
A figure wearing a long black coat stepped out from the shadows. The person’s face was hidden, but their voice was calm and threatening. “Give me the Bell, Ren.”
Ren finally turned around. “You know my name. That’s interesting.”
“I know much more about you than you think.”
Ren glanced at the Bell and then back at the stranger. “Unfortunately, you’ve come all this way for nothing.”
The stranger suddenly moved. Ren grabbed the Bell and ran toward the exit. He heard footsteps behind him as the stranger chased after him through the corridor. “Seriously?” Ren shouted while running. “You couldn’t wait until I finished studying it?”
The stranger didn’t answer. Instead, something struck the wall beside Ren with enough force to send pieces of concrete flying through the air. Ren ducked and kept running. He reached the staircase leading to the upper level, but before he could take another step, the entire building shook violently.
A loud explosion echoed through the facility.
Ren lost his balance.
The stone beneath his feet cracked.
“What the—?”
The floor collapsed.
Ren fell into darkness while still holding the Bell. He tried to grab the edge of the broken floor, but his fingers slipped. For a brief moment, he could see the stranger standing above him.
“Ren!”
Then everything disappeared.
Ren fell through darkness, clutching the Bell against his chest. His heart raced as he tried to understand what was happening. Then the strange symbol on the Bell began to glow. A bright light spread across the darkness, and before Ren could release it, the Bell rang.
Ding.
The sound was quiet.
But the world around him suddenly became completely white.
Ren opened his eyes.
Rain was falling on his face.
For several seconds, he couldn’t remember where he was. He slowly sat up and looked around. He wasn’t inside the underground facility anymore. He was lying beside a road, and a car had stopped nearby. A worried driver stepped out and rushed toward him.
“Hey! Are you okay?”
Ren touched his head. “I... think so.”
The driver looked at him strangely. “Don’t move. I’ll call an ambulance.”
Ren frowned. “Why are you calling me a kid?”
The driver stared at him.
Ren stared back.
Then he looked down.
His clothes were hanging loosely from his body. His hands looked strange. Small. Far too small.
Ren’s breathing stopped.
He quickly stood up and ran toward the glass window of a nearby shop. His reflection appeared in the dark glass.
A young boy stared back at him.
The boy looked about ten years old.
Ren slowly raised his hand.
The child in the reflection did the same.
“No,” Ren whispered.
He touched his face.
Round cheeks.
Small nose.
Short body.
Everything about him had changed.
“No... this isn’t possible.”
When Ren woke up again, he was lying in a hospital bed. A doctor was standing beside him with a clipboard.
“Do you remember your name?”
Ren answered immediately. “Ren Kurogane.”
The doctor nodded. “Good. And how old are you?”
“Twenty-eight.”
The doctor stopped writing.
Ren narrowed his eyes. “Don’t look at me like that.”
The doctor gave him an uncomfortable smile. “You’re certain?”
“Of course I’m certain! I was twenty-eight yesterday!”
The doctor looked toward the nurse.
Ren became frustrated. “Why is everyone acting like I’m crazy?”
The nurse checked the records. “We couldn’t find any identification on you. No wallet, no phone, and no fingerprints matching the name Ren Kurogane.”
Ren suddenly became silent.
His heart began beating faster.
He looked at his hands again.
“If my body changed...” he thought, “then what happened to my identity?”
He searched his memories.
Everything was still there.
His childhood.
His school.
His university.
His research.
His entire life.
He remembered being twenty-eight.
He remembered the abandoned facility.
He remembered the stranger.
And then he remembered the Bell.
“The Bell...” Ren whispered.
The doctor looked at him. “What bell?”
Ren didn’t answer.
That night, Ren sat beside the hospital window while the rain continued outside. He stared at the reflection of his new face and tried to understand what had happened. His mind was still twenty-eight years old, but his body was that of a child.
Then he noticed something on his palm.
A strange black symbol had appeared there.
Ren stared at it.
“I’ve never seen this before.”
He touched the symbol.
Suddenly, his vision changed.
For less than a second, he saw the Decision Bell.
But this time, something stood behind it.
A dark silhouette.
Ren pulled his hand away.
The vision vanished.
“Who are you?”
The next morning, Ren was told that because nobody could identify him, he would temporarily stay with another family until his identity could be determined. Ren tried to argue, but there was little he could do. No one believed that a twenty-eight-year-old man was trapped inside a ten-year-old body.
When he arrived at the house, a girl around his new age opened the door.
She looked at Ren for a few seconds.
“Hi.”
Ren nodded politely. “Hello.”
The girl tilted her head.
“Why do you talk like an adult?”
Ren froze.
He quickly smiled.
“I watch a lot of educational programs.”
The girl stared at him.
“You’re weird.”
Ren sighed.
“I’m beginning to realize that.”
That night, after everyone went to sleep, Ren sat at a small desk and began writing everything he remembered. He wrote about the Decision Bell, the stranger, the accident, and the mysterious symbol on his hand.
At the bottom of the page, he wrote one final question:
WHY DID I BECOME A CHILD?
Ren looked at the words.
“I’ll find the answer tomorrow.”
The next day, he secretly returned to the abandoned facility.
The building was surrounded by police tape, but Ren managed to get close enough to search the area where he had fallen. He searched through the broken concrete, looking for anything connected to the Bell.
Then he saw something.
A black feather lay on the ground.
Ren picked it up.
The symbol on his palm suddenly began glowing.
His eyes widened.
A voice came from behind him.
“You shouldn’t have come back.”
Ren slowly turned around.
The man in the black coat stood several meters away.
Ren’s expression hardened.
“You.”
The stranger looked at him calmly.
“The accident didn’t kill you.”
He took one step forward.
“It changed you.”
Ren tightened his grip around the feather.
“Where is the Decision Bell?”
The stranger smiled.
“Before you search for the Bell, little Ren...”
He turned away.
“...ask yourself what you wished for.”
Ren stood completely still.
“What I wished for?”
The stranger disappeared into the rain.
Ren looked down at the glowing symbol on his palm.
For the first time, a frightening thought entered his mind.
What if becoming a child wasn’t something that happened to him?
What if it was something he had chosen?
TO BE CONTINUED...
