I opened my eyes and was met with complete darkness.
What the fuck? What happened?! I panicked, my mind racing.
Think… think… how did I even get here?
Then, the memories hit me like a truck.
Three hours earlier…
I woke up in my freezing cold room, shivering under the thin blanket.
Groaning, I sat up in bed, feeling a gnawing hunger in my stomach.
I reached for my phone and squinted at the bright screen.
3:00 AM.
"I'm so hungry," I muttered in a grumpy voice.
I racked my brain, trying to think of what would even be open at this ungodly hour.
Then I remembered — there was a small convenience store about two blocks away from my apartment.
That would do.
I threw on a white T-shirt, a black Spider sweater, and some brown shorts.
Sliding into my Yeezy slides, I grabbed my wallet and headed out the door.
The streets were quiet, the night air cool against my skin.
I walked… and walked… the silence only broken by the occasional distant car.
Suddenly, a black Dodge Challenger rolled up beside me.
A man leaned out of the window, shouting, "Where you from, gang?!"
I froze. Panic flooded my body.
"I—uhh… I'm from over there," I stammered, pointing awkwardly in the direction of my apartment.
The man narrowed his eyes at me, studying me like a hawk.
"What street gang?" he demanded.
I didn't even think. Dumbly, I blurted out, "90th… why?"
There was a long, tense pause.
The man stared at me for a couple of seconds — then, without warning, he pulled out a gun.
A gun?!
I stood there in shock, my brain refusing to process what was happening.
Before I could move, two shots rang out.
BANG! BANG!
The man sped off into the night, tires screeching as the Challenger disappeared into the darkness.
I collapsed onto the cold concrete, the world spinning around me.
This… this wasn't how I imagined dying.
I thought maybe old age would get me. Or maybe some freak accident, like getting hit by a truck.
Not this — bleeding out alone on a curb.
As the blood pooled around me, I thought about my life — how pitiful it really was.
Selling junk… chasing after 10/10 baddies who barely knew my name…
All the times I had been cringe, desperate for attention.
Just thinking about it made me want to die of embarrassment all over again.
But there were good memories too.
Small wins.
Laughs with friends.
Dreams I once had.
I could've been so much more.
If only I hadn't torn my ACL… maybe I could have been an NBA player.
Maybe I could've done something meaningful.
Instead, I was here. Alone. Bleeding out. Reminiscing about what could've been.
How long had it been?
Three hours?
Maybe longer?
I felt so light now. So loose.
Was this how it felt to die?
Or was it just the blood loss?
When are the ambulances coming?
I waited.
But no sirens ever came.
And just like that, the 19-year-old named Isaac Morales died alone on a dark curb.
…Or at least, that's what I thought.
"Hmm, that's pathetic," a voice echoed from somewhere I couldn't see.
I tried to speak, but the words caught in my throat.
"Indeed so," the voice continued, almost amused. "Your life sure was… pathetic."
"Who—who's there?!" I shouted, spinning around, but there was only darkness.
There was a brief silence before the voice spoke again.
"I'm the one who's going to reincarnate you. Or reborn you. Honestly, I'm not really sure how this works," it said casually, like it was discussing the weather.
"How do you not know that?!" I blurted out.
"Be quiet, human," the voice snapped. "Now… where should I send you?"
I felt a cold dread settle in my chest.
"Ah! I've got it!" the voice exclaimed suddenly.
The air around me shifted — and before I could react, it blurted out:
"You'll be reborn in Jobless Reincarnation! That'll be funny."
I barely had time to process that when the voice added, almost as an afterthought:
"Hmm… I'll give you a few abilities too. Two or three should make it entertaining. Maybe some other things…"
And just like that, with a snap of unseen fingers, everything changed.
The darkness peeled away like paper, replaced by a breathtaking, cosmic expanse — an endless field of stars, swirling colors, and strange galaxies.
And in the center of it all floated… a clown.
A person with green and purple hair, wearing a bright clown costume.
I floated there, staring at him, utterly dumbfounded.