I reached out to my phone to my right on the bedside table to check the time. The time is 2:38 AM. Yeah, pretty late. It's been like 12 minutes since I heard God of Absolute's voice and woke up, and then my memories returned. I have a severe headache now after retaining my memories. It feels as though my body is heavier than ever, and the uneasiness is insane. I feel like I had a goal, but I can't seem to remember what it was. Also, it would take me a while until I become the type of person I was as God of Death.
In my previous life, I used to watch what humans do on Earth. That was my only form of entertainment. I watched all human eras to understand what humans are like. I was just a God of Death in name—I never used my powers after God of Absolute took over as the new ruler of reality.
Right now, I'm still the same type of person with the same way of thinking like any other human. I'm still Kuroto Kurogane, not the one who had the same way of thinking and mind as God of Death.
The headache was so severe that I decided to go back to sleep. Maybe I'd feel fine after sleeping. The next thing I knew, I was awake. It was pretty late—8:00 AM. My headache was gone, and I didn't feel that extreme unease. Today was supposed to be my first day of college. I joined college really late, but I think the plans have been completely changed due to... you know what.
Unlike the other humans on this planet, I don't understand how this magical world works—my memories are from a version of Earth where magic didn't exist. God of Absolute gave magic a history after me and my four other friends were reincarnated. Thus, we don't know anything about this world's magic other than the announcement God of Absolute made.
Kuroto Kurogane—or I should say, just me. My parents died in a car accident when I was about 7 years old, and then my uncle took me in with what my parents left to him. Apparently, my parents were extremely wealthy. They left quite a fortune for me to live on.
But my uncle, who technically inherited the money, has the right to do anything with it as long as he takes care of me. That was in the contract. I don't make the rules.
Apparently, I lived quite a harsh life. The despair of my parents' death and the uncle who literally just kept me alive through these years. Although I had friends, I didn't have any family members at all—not a single one that truly loved me.
But my new self doesn't want to care about the past. Since I must survive in this world, I have decided that I'll leave this house permanently. Except there's a problem—it's not quite a problem, but it wouldn't fit in. Actually, my uncle and aunt are also extremely bad parents. They have a daughter, my cousin, and they literally almost hate her. It's as if she were just someone they were forced to adopt, even though she's their biological child.
They treated her worse than they treated me, probably because the requirement for the contract was to actually take care of me—although loving me wasn't included. After attaining the money, it was as if they didn't care about their daughter. She's actually a really good friend of mine, and she's gone through rough times worse than I did.
The reason being, she didn't have any friends when she grew up—not even a single friend. She was bad at literally everything, be it sports or academics.
But here's the twist: In reality she's my sister, I recently told her that. She was too young to remember it, and I was too young to say anything to my uncle or aunt regarding this.
My uncle and aunt are so bad that they arranged... fake documents of my sister's birth. Literally, how bad can you get? They did it just so that she wouldn't be included to the contract.
She's around 18 and a half, and I'm 20 years old. Her name is Misora Kurogane. You might ask: What's the problem?
Well, the problem is, I can't just leave her behind because I've retained my memories. I must take her with me wherever I go. And I might as well somehow reveal to her that I'm the God of Death—the very voice that spoke to the Earth was talking about me.
It'll be hard, but I need to talk this through with her. And I need to obtain abilities as well, or I'm just done for. Many people have abilities, and I'm just a powerless fool with a bounty on his head.
I can feel the insane amount of mana in myself.
I decided I'd search the entire internet to figure out how this world with magic actually works. I just hoped it wasn't some corrupted mess or something.
After about an hour and a half, I'd at least gotten a decent grasp on how things operate in Japan—the country I've reincarnated into.
Apparently, gates randomly appear across the world. The larger the gate, the harder it is to conquer. Inside, there are monsters, and to close the gate, you need to defeat the dungeon boss. Once everyone who doesn't belong to the gate leaves, it shuts down automatically. It's usually connected to an alternate dimension.
As for loot? There's usually nothing tangible. The only thing people really get out of it is experience. It's rumored that the more dungeons you conquer, the closer you are to awakening an ability. But that's just a rumor… and I'm not the type to believe in things like that without proof.
In Tokyo, there's what you could call an elite organization that handles these gates across the whole of Japan. It's called the Crimson Order. They only accept people who are insanely strong. There's no formal test—you can apply at any time, but you'll have to meet the top members in person. They'll decide if you're worthy. This world is harder than I had expected, damn.
The Crimson Order operates under full government authority. They mainly operate within Tokyo, which just so happens to be where I live.
Since the success rate of joining is ridiculously low, there are other, bigger organizations out there. But compared to Crimson Order, their influence and authority are minimal.
There are rumors that Crimson Order is involved in more than just handling gates—that they handle things tied to the country's security itself. But nothing's confirmed.
There are only about thirty members. Twenty-four of them are just managers. The real members—those who actually go out there and fight—are just six. That's including the leader.
The leader's name is Toshiro Fukumoto. He's known to be stupidly powerful, but no one knows anything about his abilities. In fact, the powers of any of the six real members are never revealed. It's actually illegal to leak any information about them. Other than Toshiro, I couldn't even find the names or faces of the other five.
So yeah, the conclusion is simple—I need to get into that organization. Somehow.
That was all the info I could gather.
After that, I got up from my bed, freshened up in the bathroom, and walked out of my room. Misora's room was right next to mine, to the left. I knocked on her door… then opened it.
Inside Misora's room, she was at her desk, studying as usual. I stepped toward her.
Misora had shoulder-length black hair and dark, penetrating black almond eyes that seemed to quietly observe the world. Her skin had a white, almost glowing quality, and she was slim with strong composure and perfect posture. She stood at about 5'5", shorter than me.
She noticed me, and I met her gaze. "Misora, I need to talk," I said, my tone serious.
"Is it about our parents or something?" she asked, her voice tinged with confusion.
"No, it's much more important," I replied, sitting down on her bed as it gave a creaking sound. She looked a little worried. The atmosphere got a little dense, but it was still somewhat normal.
Afterwards I started to speak, but just as I was about to I hesitated a little, should I really tell her? Would I put her in danger if I do? Or probably people might even try to harm her one day since I'm her brother. I definitely wasn't ready for it, but after a few seconds of hesitation, I gave in and decided to tell her.
"As you might remember, what happened last night around 2:40 AM—the voice everyone in the world heard? News reporters were talking about it, too," I said.
"Yeah, so what does that have to do with you needing to talk to me?" she asked.
"Well, it might be hard to believe, but you remember the God of Death he mentioned? Yeah, that God of Death reincarnate is me," I explained. As soon as I said it, she began laughing.
"Kuroto, you really need to get better at lying. Who'd actually—"
She stopped abruptly, sensing my mana. She leaned back a little, it was almost scary to her in a way. While I didn't yet have an ability, I still had control over my mana, and I could release it. Somehow, I'd already developed decent control. After sensing its intensity, she realized I wasn't bluffing.
"You see, it's true," I said calmly.
She looked stunned, but she didn't seem entirely shocked. I continued to explain everything.
"Are you for real?" she asked, genuinely curious now.
"I'm not lying. I swear on the voice that announced it to the world last night—the God of Absolute," I said. She began to believe me, just a little.
"So, what are you going to do? So many people will probably want to go after you. Once someone reaches 100% mana, it doesn't increase anymore," she questioned. "And how much of Kuroto are you? Can I even say you're the same brother?" she added.
"I'm planning to awaken a real ability. After that, I want to try joining the Crimson Order, and I'll help you join, too. I'm not leaving you behind. Besides, your mana is incredibly strong," I said, my tone sincere. It was true—I could feel her mana's strength. "I also need to find the other god reincarnates. That's crucial, too."
She listened carefully, thinking it over. Though she was still confused, she now believed me to some extent. She asked again.
"Are you really the same Kuroto?" she questioned once more.
"I'm both Kuroto and the God of Death reincarnate. I have his intelligence—I'm both him and the God of Death, and I share his feelings," I reassured her. It was a fact.
"Oh…" she muttered. She began to process everything I had told her. Since it was so much to absorb, she took a moment to gather her thoughts. After about a minute, she finally seemed to have processed it all. I sat on her bed with my arms behind my back, my posture reflecting Kuroto's composure rather than my own—much more natural than my former, straight-laced stance as the God of Death.
She looked at me and asked, "What should I do then?"
"You just do what you always do, at least for now," I said. "I'll let you in on my plans soon enough."
"Alright, I get it. But it's a lot to take in, and I still don't fully trust you, okay?" she said.
"That's fine with me," I replied.
With the conversation wrapped up, I left her room and headed back to mine.
As I stepped back into my room, I saw myself in a large mirror on the right of the door. I have thick, raven-black hair that falls in soft, uneven layers around my face. Wispy bangs sweep just above my brows, and the strands taper toward my jawline—silky straight, with a subtle tousle that adds natural volume. My eyes are hunter-like, somewhat stormy blue, and giving off a sharp gaze that seems to pierce through anything. My skin is smooth white. I have a straight nose and thin pink lips. My height is 5'8", with perfectly straight posture and a quiet strength in my composure.
Afterwards I went towards my bed and took my phone, and I decided I'll go outside to see what things are and plan things while walking.