I grow stronger by making my wife happy.

Chapter 1: 1:New word.

The room was small and bare. A small bed sat by the wall, a blue plastic chair and a small side table were the only things in the small rental.

Just a place put together for rest, not a comfortable living space.

A duffel bag rested on the bed, half-packed like it always is, ready to go at a moment’s notice.

Silver sat at the edge of the bed, rolling his shoulder once, feeling the fatigue deep in his bones.

A small sigh left him.

This was his only leave in six months and now it had come to an end. It never really felt like rest, more like a small pause in his routine.

It wasn’t that he hated his job; it came with its perks. However, the fact that he only had a month to spend all the benefits didn’t make it better.

Time always flies without him knowing.

His gaze drifted to the photo on the table. Three people smiled back at him. His parents were with him in the middle, wearing his first military uniform.

A pang passed through his chest at the memory. It was bittersweet for him.

An accident had claimed them on their way back after his graduation.

He reached over and straightened it slightly. A small smile curved on his lips.

”I’m heading back,” he muttered under his breath.

No one answered of course, but it still felt wrong not to say it.

A habit he couldn’t seem to get rid of.

This was his life.

Go. Return. Repeat.

Grabbing his jacket, he slipped it on and reached for the keys. At the door, he paused, out of old habits he had developed in his line of work.

Bag. Phone. Wallet. Keys. Good.

He exhaled softly and stepped out, locking the door behind him.

The old hallway was empty; the air was filled with the smell of decaying mold.

He adjusted his grip on the straps of his bag and started down the stairs boots landing softly with each step.

A loud rumble came from his stomach the moment he stepped outside, he paused, the bus stop was only a few meters away.

’The barracks could wait a little’

There was a convenience store a few houses down. He hadn’t eaten anything decent all day.

”Just something quick, ” he muttered.

His feet carried him in the opposite direction from the bus stop.

The convenience store wasn’t a long walk, he crossed the streets and came to a stop in front of the only functional store in the area.

The bell above the door chimed softly as he stepped inside. Silver noticed it immediately, it was too quiet, the usual hustle and bustle seemed to have come to a complete stop.

The cashier stood stiff behind the counter, eyes widened and hands trembling.

Beside her stood a tall man in a dark hoodie, gun raised.

”Don’t do anything stupid,” the man muttered voice tight but the nervousness couldn’t be hidden.

Just his luck, he had walked in on a robbery.

His posture shifted almost imperceptibly, his body immediately tensing. His gaze moved once, assessing everything. The door, distance, escape routes, best way to disarm him.

Then, the worst that could happen, happened. Movement.

A child stepped out from behind one of the aisles, clutching a pack of gummy bears, blinking in confusion.

He moved forward towards the cashier without a sense of danger.

The cashier sucked in a breath.

”Hey... don’t...”

The robber flinched. The gun jerked, his finger tightening.

Silver moved without hesitation before his brain could even process.

Insticts.

His body surged forward, closing the distance in an instant. His hand caught the child’s shoulders and shoved him sideways, hard, out of the line of fire.

BANG!

A gunshot cracked through the air.

Pain exploded through his chest. His body jostled, momentum breaking as his steps faltered. He staggered back, accidentally knocking on the shelf.

Behind him, the child hit the ground unharmed, his loud cries following right after. A small sigh left him.

’Thank goodness, he’s okay ’

The robber cursed under his breath, panic taking over as he bolted for the exit. The door slammed open, the bell ringing loudly like the temple bells before the sound faded.

Someone screamed immediately.

The cashier was the first to react. He scrambled around the counter towards him.

Silver barely heard any of it, his legs giving out under him. He dropped to his knees, then forward, the cold floor meeting him halfway.

’This is not how I thought the day would end’

His vision blurred, the corner of his eyes barely able to see through the darkness but he forced his eyes to shift.

A small chuckle left him, more of a breathless huff than a chuckle.

He saw the child being pulled into someone’s embrace.

A quiet breath slipped through his lips.

”Good.”

There was no regret or pain in his words, just pure confirmation that he had survived. He had done what he was supposed to do, save.

The noise around him faded, voices growing distant almost muffled.

He could barely keep his eyelids open so he let them droop heavily.

”Hey.. don’t fall.. asleep, ” he heard a voice calling from afar.

Everything on him felt heavy.

His gaze drifted slightly, unfocused, landing somewhere past the ceiling.

A familiar memory crossed his mind, faint and pleading.

His mother’s familiar sweet and warm voice came.

”After you become stable, you should get married and give us grandchildren, sil.”

He had chuckled dismissing them.

’So this is how I die huh... At least I saved someone’

”Please.. don’t close...”

.

.

.

It took three hours for Silver to adapt to his new role and finally accept everything.

Panic had visited him on the first hour, confusion became his constant companion on the second hour, and by the third hour... There was nothing left to argue with.

The world had not reverted, his old body had not returned, and every mirror stubbornly reflected the same unfamiliar face.

So he adapted.

”Reincarnation huh,” he muttered to himself, his voice low as he stood before the bathroom mirror, fingers resting lightly against the porcelain sink that had somehow become an anchor of sorts in a constant situation where everything had shifted beyond recognition.

”That’s all it took to go from dying in a convenience store... to standing here,” he continued to himself.

The memory of it still made his chest tighten but not in the way it had the first time.

He could still recall the sharp crack of the gunshot, the instinctive movement of his body, and the abrupt suffocating end that followed.

It felt distant now, like something that belonged to another version of him, rather than the one currently breathing.

His gaze lifted, meeting his reflection.

That still hadn’t become normal, it probably never would.

The face staring back at him was composed, refined, and carried unearned arrogance.

Dark eyes, framed with slightly messy dark hair, and a face that screamed I’m an arrogant young master now worship me.

Even when he relaxed his expression, there was natural coldness, something detached and faintly disdainful that he had yet to fully erase.

”Still don’t like it,” he admitted under his breath, tilting his head slightly as if viewing a stranger rather than himself.

But disliking it didn’t change anything because this was him now.

Silver Ruddington.

Same name.

A different body.

A different life.

A different world.

A world he knew far too well.