Chapter 17: Life
Not everything in life revolved around raids.
the next day after the new evaluation.
At the moment, Takuya was sitting at the breakfast table with his uncle before heading to school.
Yes...
He was still attending school.
Mostly because his uncle had firmly declared,
"I absolutely refuse to accept that my nephew will grow up without an education, even if he’s a Hunter now."
There really wasn’t much Takuya could argue against after hearing that.
At first, he had complained.
After all, if someone suddenly gained supernatural powers, most people would probably think, Forget school.
But...
As time passed, he realized he actually enjoyed going.
It wasn’t even about studying.
School had become one of the few peaceful places left in his life.
There were no monsters.
No life-or-death battles.
No trials where failure meant death.
Just classes, noisy classmates, homework, and people his own age.
It was... normal.
His attendance had become somewhat inconsistent because of raids, but whenever he could go, he did.
It gave him a chance to rest.
To laugh.
To socialize.
To simply be sixteen years old.
...
Or...
Was he?
As that thought crossed his mind, Takuya glanced toward his uncle.
He had been living in this world for almost seven months now, if he counted both the time spent in the Human World and inside the Digital World.
Seven months.
Somehow...
This life no longer felt borrowed.
It simply felt like...
His.
He had wondered about it countless times during the first few weeks.
How could someone possess two complete sets of memories and still feel like a single person?
At first, nothing had made sense.
Then, little by little, the memories of this world’s Takuya had returned.
Not like scenes from a movie.
Not like watching someone else’s life through a screen.
They were memories.
His memories.
He remembered birthdays.
Embarrassing moments.
School festivals.
Arguments with his uncle.
Happy days.
Lonely ones.
Every emotion attached to them felt genuine.
How could he possibly convince himself they weren’t his?
That he had merely stolen another person’s body?
The idea had crossed his mind before.
But the longer he lived, the less believable it became.
If that were true...
This wouldn’t be reincarnation.
It would be usurpation.
And deep down...
He simply didn’t believe that was what had happened.
No.
He hadn’t replaced Takuya Kanbara.
He was Takuya Kanbara.
A person who somehow remembered another life.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
His thoughts came to an end as his uncle walked over, carrying a mug of freshly brewed coffee before sitting across from him.
Watching that familiar scene, Takuya couldn’t help but smile.
Whatever strange miracle had brought him here...or awakened the memories of a old life
He was grateful for it.
"Hey, Uncle."
Takuya looked up from his breakfast.
"What are we doing this weekend? I want to take a day off. We could watch a movie, go out to eat... honestly, anything."
Ikki smiled apologetically.
"This weekend will be difficult."
"I have a shift at the hospital, and there’s also a surgery I’m scheduled to perform."
He took a sip of his coffee before continuing.
"Maybe next weekend?"
"Sure."
Takuya smiled.
"I won’t accept any raid requests that day."
It wasn’t a problem.
His uncle’s schedule had always been unpredictable, so whenever plans fell through, they simply postponed them until both of them were free.
It had always been that way.
Ikki glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.
"Not that I’m trying to rush you..."
"But if you don’t leave now, you’ll be late for school."
Takuya looked at the time and immediately stood up.
"...Right."
He grabbed his bag and hurried toward the front door.
"I’m leaving! Have a nice day!"
"You too."
Takuya rushed toward the nearest bus stop.
Halfway there...
He stopped.
"...Wait."
"I’m an A-Rank Hunter."
He blinked.
"...Why am I trying to catch the bus?"
He was far faster than any bus.
"...I could probably get there by running across the rooftops."
The idea sounded surprisingly reasonable.
A moment later, Takuya leaped onto the roof of the nearest building.
He shot across the city like a gust of wind, jumping effortlessly from rooftop to rooftop.
As he ran, another thought crossed his mind.
"...Is this even legal?"
He couldn’t remember ever seeing Hunters casually using their physical abilities to travel through the city.
Maybe there was some regulation against it.
...Or maybe everyone simply preferred driving.
Either way...
He was already halfway there.
Soon, the subway station came into view.
Instead of continuing across the rooftops, he dropped back to street level and sprinted the rest of the way.
The school eventually appeared in the distance.
Without slowing down, Takuya jumped over the perimeter wall, landed inside the school grounds, and casually continued walking as though nothing unusual had happened.
He checked the time.
7:58 a.m.
Classes started at 8:30.
"...Three minutes."
He had crossed nearly the entire city in three minutes.
"...Okay."
"That’s definitely faster than the bus."
The campus was still relatively quiet.
Only a handful of students had arrived this early, most of them chatting with friends or reviewing homework before class.
Takuya simply walked through the courtyard.
He didn’t really have many friends.
It sounded a little sad when he thought about it.
But considering how often he disappeared for raids, it wasn’t exactly surprising that he hadn’t formed many close relationships.
There was...
One exception.
As soon as he entered the classroom, he spotted her.
Jinah.
She was sitting beside the window, quietly staring toward the school entrance.
"You look melancholic."
Takuya smiled as he walked inside.
Jinah turned toward him and greeted him with a smile.
It looked convincing...
But only for a second.
Takuya immediately noticed it wasn’t genuine.
Not because she disliked him.
Quite the opposite.
It was the kind of smile someone forced when they were trying to hide how worried they really were.
"What happened?"
He pulled out the chair beside her.
"Something to do with Jinwoo?"
Jinah quietly nodded.
"Yeah..."
"He came back from another raid yesterday."
"He was covered in injuries again."
She lowered her eyes.
"I really don’t know what to do anymore."
"No matter what I say, he just won’t listen."
"He keeps going back."
"...I see."
After accompanying Jinwoo on several raids himself, Takuya had realized something.
At first, he had assumed Jinwoo was a D-Rank Hunter.
That was how he remembered him from the story, he just didn’t remember him right.
But after seeing him fight...
He was certain Jinwoo was actually an E-Rank.
Takuya had practically forgotten that rank even existed.
Most Hunters were at least D-Rank.
E-Ranks were incredibly rare, And he was the weakest E rank, his fault for not asking.
Takuya scratched the back of his head.
"Even I end up covered in injuries sometimes."
He laughed awkwardly.
"The last time, I came flying out of a portal and crashed into a news van."
"So... compared to that, your brother is doing pretty well, also for what I had seen there a B rank healer that always is with him, aaaand is a girl."
Jinah couldn’t help letting out a small laugh.
"...You really know how to cheer people up."
"I try."
Takuya smiled before taking his seat.
"Come on."
"Let’s sit down."
"I’m sure he’ll be okay."
Even as he said those words...
Takuya couldn’t help wondering how much longer that would remain true.
Because unlike everyone else...
He knew exactly where Jinwoo’s story was headed, however, even if his humanity said he could help Jinwoo, he wasn’t going to, after all, whatever it was comming it was the best too have a strong ally than not.
The two of them continued chatting until Takuya suddenly remembered something.
"Hey, Jinah."
"Can I come over to your place after school? I’d like to see how bad your brother’s injuries actually are."
The request caught her by surprise.
"...Sure."
She nodded after a brief pause.
"If it’ll convince him to be more careful, I’ll take all the help I can get."
The rest of the school day passed uneventfully.
Just another ordinary day.
When classes finally ended, Takuya and Jinah headed toward her apartment complex together.
She lived in one of the larger residential buildings in the city, surrounded by several identical apartment blocks.
Once they stepped inside her apartment, the first thing Takuya noticed was the scent.
Lavender.
The entire place smelled clean and fresh.
It was obvious Jinah took good care of the apartment.
As they walked into the living room, they found Jinwoo sitting at the table, quietly eating a cup of instant ramen.
"..."
He looked terrible.
One of his eyes was swollen shut, covered with a patch.
There were bruises on his face and arms.
Honestly...
He looked less like a Hunter and more like someone who had lost a street fight.
Jinwoo’s gaze shifted between Takuya...
...and Jinah.
...Then back to Takuya.
Finally, he looked directly at his sister with an expression that practically screamed,
Traitor.
You brought reinforcements.
He already knew why Takuya was here.
Ever since he had become a Hunter, Jinah had never stopped trying to convince him to quit.
Watching the silent exchange between the siblings, Takuya couldn’t help chuckling.
"Goblins?"
He didn’t even bother greeting Jinwoo first.
Jinwoo let out an awkward laugh.
"Yeah..."
"They caught me off guard."
"I can see that."
Takuya leaned against the table.
"If you’re in this condition, I assume Joohee wasn’t part of the raid."
Jinwoo blinked.
"...How did you know?"
"If she had been there, she wouldn’t have let you walk home looking like this."
"...That’s true."
Jinwoo scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"There wasn’t a healer this time."
"Well..."
Takuya sighed.
"That sucks."
He pulled out a chair and sat beside him.
Seeing the two of them chatting so naturally, Jinah smiled to herself.
She had been the one to introduce them in the first place.
Back then, she had simply hoped they would get along.
She hadn’t expected them to become actual friends.
After a few moments, Jinwoo suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right."
"I saw a video yesterday."
He pointed his chopsticks toward Takuya.
"What was that about?"
"The one where a portal literally spat you out."
"It was all over the internet."
"There weren’t many reports on TV yet, but online everyone was talking about it."
Takuya laughed.
"Yeah..."
"So, funny story."
"I got caught inside a double dungeon."
"It was insane."
"I spent almost a week inside..."
"...while only about four hours passed outside."
Jinwoo’s eyes widened.
"...Seriously?"
"Yep."
Takuya grinned.
"And guess what?"
"I ranked up."
"I went through a second awakening."
Jinwoo nearly dropped his chopsticks.
"...A second awakening?"
"You’re kidding."
"That’s unbelievably rare."
"What are you now?"
"B-Rank?"
Takuya couldn’t help smiling proudly.
"Actually..."
"A-Rank."
Silence.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Jinwoo simply stared at him.
Even Jinah looked speechless.
Takuya had never intended to hide it.
Especially not from these two.
They were the closest friends he had made in this world.
Besides...
Everything about meeting them had been suspiciously convenient from the very beginning.
He had awakened in Jinah’s classroom.
A year before.
Not a year later.
Exactly when the story was about to begin.
Just enough time to grow stronger before everything truly started.
Coincidence?
Maybe.
probably not.
Either way...
He knew Jinwoo and Jinah were genuinely good people.
There was no point pretending otherwise.
The idea of becoming one of those mysterious reincarnators who manipulated everyone from the shadows honestly sounded ridiculous.
"I am Takuya..."
"The supreme mastermind."
"Everything is according to my calculations."
"Nothing can possibly surprise me in this completely different world with completely different rules."
the average people isn’t Aizen
...
He nearly laughed out loud just imagining it.
What a stupid way to live.
Life was much simpler than that.
Just adapt.
Improvise.
Make friends.
And keep moving forward.