Shadow Slave: Foreign shadow

(???’s PoV)

People say, life is full of unexpected events; but death is no joke either.

But I must say, I would never expected to die like this.

Alone.

On second thought, I probably would. I just didn’t expect this to happen during my part-time shift.

I am... Or rather, I was a working student in my first year of university in a medical school, did you want a brief of my life too?

Avoidable! But since I’m about to die, you might as well do me the courtesy of writing my obituary.

​I was born into a common family, nothing to add here. As a child, I remember watching the world with eyes full of wonder; to me, it was like peering into an enchanted treasure chest or an uncharted land without borders. These thoughts made me feel alive, fueling my dreams and hopes, but I was also quite naive. ​Then came adolescence, and with it, the Autumn of Illusions. I learned that the treasure chest had long since been plundered, and I realized that the land did, in fact, have borders—and very rigid ones at that. Facing this reality, something inside me broke and was lost forever. I stopped looking at the world as I once did, not out of arrogance or depression, but because I was disillusioned.

Disillusioned by reality.

I don’t remember when, but ​I also began to feel embarrassed by the dreams I had so jealously guarded, so I pushed them aside. Some people who meant nothing to me once told me I wasn’t special, and I made the mistake of believing them. But I didn’t become depressed.

No!

Instead, I figured that since I wasn’t some kind of main character, I might as well patch things up and focus on what was ”important”. I started working part-time, focused on my studies, and went about my life, but those dreams were still there, hidden deep within. A voice, like a Jiminy Cricket inside my head, kept telling me: ”You can be so much more than this, aim higher, you could do better!” But I chose to ignore it. Years later, I managed to get into the Medical School I was aiming for, and here I am.

That’s all there is to know about me.

Years of life reduced to a handful of dispassionate words—it’s hilarious when you think about it. Or maybe it’s just this world that has made me too cynical, who knows?

I looked around, especially to the blunt object that just caused the hemorrhage that will soon lead to my death.

My lips curved into a smile.

’How ironic!’ I thought, because I couldn’t move my mouth anymore. ’Just when that girl I really like agreed to go out with me. When they said that if a girl ever agreed to go out with me someone would die, guess what? They were right!’

Of course, it was just a silly joke, the kind you tell between friends when you’re laughing and joking. But in my opinion, a joke is the best way to bring the curtain down.

I sighed.

’It’s taking me longer than expected to die, why hasn’t anyone out there noticed my absence yet?’

My thoughts shifted.

I started asking myself things like: What are my loved ones doing now? Will they be heartbroken to my death? Could this have been avoided or was it fate?

Even worse, did I delete my history?

’God, I hope I did!’

Suddenly, my sight disappeared and soon my hearing followed, as did all my other senses. It was cold, then not anymore.

My time had come.

Regrets?

’As many as you want.’

Last will and testament?

’There’s a file for that on my computer. Download it, then please delete my history. Actually! Set it on fire; better not leave any evidence.’

What do I expect after death?

’I have no idea, surprise me!’

Slowly my heartbeat stopped, my breathing faltered, the light of life in my eyes went out and my cold body lay on the ground undisturbed.

As death embraced me and oblivion cradled me, a thought still hovered in my head. A whisper, the echo of a last will, the same words the Jiminy Cricket had always shouted to me from the depths of my being, like an unfulfilled promise.

You could have done better!

-----

Moments later.

​A tiny, insignificant human soul drifted through the endless expanse of nothingness. Its pace was faint and constant; here, time and space held no dominion. Soon, a golden river of boundless might surged alongside it.

​Upon a closer look, the river revealed itself as a confluence of countless threads, each shimmering with a sublime, terrifying radiance. They entwined in impossible geometries, propelling the current forward and weaving the very fabric of the Tapestry of Fate. Looking back, the river never followed a straight line. It spiraled, zigzagged, and looped back upon itself—a chaotic, beautiful strand that was at once mesmerizing and forbidden.

​However, something was wrong.

​Fate was trembling. At a certain point along its cruel path, the structure faltered. It lacked a backbone—a central pillar to hold the fragments in place. To mend the fracture, the Tapestry lashed out into the void, its threads reaching toward that solitary, unremarkable soul.

​There was nothing special about this soul. It possessed no distinctive traits; it shone no brighter than the rest. Yet, simply because it was there, in the eyes of Fate it shone with a light of its own.

​The Tapestry ensnared the soul, dragging it into the golden current and weaving it into the gap to ensure stability for millennia to come. It wrapped around him tightly, reshaping itselt to fit the design. Only then did the trembling stop, and the river surged forward once more.

***

​In the outskirts of NQSC, within a cramped apartment heated only by the glow of an old-fashioned coal stove, a child opened his eyes.

’​What the~? Where am I? Have I perhaps been reincarnated?’

​This was his first thought as soon as he regained consciousness.

​”Are you awake, my Sunny? Good. Come! It’s time for breakfast.”

​A woman’s cheerful voice drifted in from his right. He realized instinctively that this woman was his mother on this life.

’​Sunny? Sunless? I know that name.’

​Sunless was the main character in a novel he used to read in his previous life, Shadow Slave. He used to read a lot of these back then.

Did you know that old saying: ”Life is a tragedy from up close, but a comedy from afar.”? Well... Sunless’s life was a tragedy even if viewed from another, not say world, dimension. He didn’t know how this story would end, but he knew how tragedies usually end: bad!

​His mother lifted him and carried him toward the dining room.

’​Surely I haven’t been reincarnated as Sunless, right? Right!?’

***

​Years later...