Death And Rebirth.

My name is Mathew Hemmings.

An entrepreneur.

Above average, if I had to describe it.

And I was about to close another deal.

⸻

“All your troubles will be solved once you sign,” I said calmly. “I’ll uphold my end.”

Across from me, the man hesitated.

“Are you sure? I… I hate to admit it, but we don’t have any other choice.”

“You don’t.”

A pause.

The sound of a pen dragging across paper echoed faintly in the quiet room.

“It’s done…” he muttered.

“You won’t regret it.”

He already had.

⸻

They never noticed how simple it was.

A small push in the right place. A shift in perception. Their shareholders panicked exactly as expected. Once the structure weakened, all that remained was to offer support and let them grab onto it themselves.

They always did.

⸻

I gathered my things and stood. No satisfaction. No excitement. Everything had gone as expected.

At most, there was confirmation.

“There’s more work to be done.”

⸻

The elevator ride down was quiet. The click of selecting the floor echoed faintly.

Floor 1.

A soft chime.

The doors opened.

⸻

I stepped into the lobby, offering a brief nod to the receptionist as I passed.

She flinched slightly before returning it.

I knew she would.

⸻

Outside, the air was crisp. Bright. Busy.

Cars passed. People talked. The usual noise of a functioning system.

⸻

“HE HAS A GUN!”

The shout cut through everything.

People panicked immediately—things falling, footsteps scattering, voices overlapping.

I glanced toward the source.

“A gun… here?”

A man stood several meters away, arm raised—gun in hand.

Not unusual.

⸻

Then I saw his face.

Juan Garcia.

Recognition came immediately.

A failed investment. A collapse. Personal losses that extended beyond financial damage.

His eyes were bloodshot, filled with hate.

Unstable.

⸻

“There you are,” he said, voice shaking. “I finally found you… You took everything from me. My wife left. My son—he’s gone because of you!”

His grip tightened, though his hand trembled.

Sirens echoed faintly in the distance.

⸻

I watched him.

Calm.

⸻

“I didn’t take anything,” I replied. “You came to me. You signed.”

“SHUT UP!” he shouted. “I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!”

His finger hovered over the trigger.

Unsteady.

⸻

He won’t shoot.

The conclusion came easily.

People like him rarely did.

⸻

“Put the gun down,” I said. “I can still—”

A car horn blared nearby.

Sharp. Sudden.

⸻

The gun fired.

⸻

Silence followed.

The weapon slipped from his hand, clattering to the pavement.

“I—I didn’t mean to—I—” His voice broke. “The car—I—”

He turned and ran.

⸻

I looked down.

Blood spread across my chest.

Warm.

Wrong.

⸻

I dropped to one knee.

Breathing became difficult.

Too fast. Too shallow.

⸻

What?

I didn’t expect this.

If I hold on… just a little longer…

Sirens were getting closer.

That should be enough.

⸻

My vision blurred.

Strength left my body in slow increments.

⸻

So this is how it ends.

There were still things left unfinished.

Plans.

Expansion.

Control that had yet to be secured.

My ambitions, yet to be realized.

⸻

My body hit the ground.

⸻

Everything disappeared.

⸻

There was no direction.

No up. No down.

Just the absence of everything that had defined reality before.

And yet—

I was still aware.

⸻

A white space stretched endlessly.

Not light.

Not darkness.

Just… blank.

⸻

Then—

A white desk.

A figure seated behind it, dressed in a white suit.

Its face could not be held in memory. Not hidden—just impossible to define.

⸻

“Where am I?” I asked.

My voice felt distant.

⸻

The answer came.

Not as sound.

But as something that pressed directly into thought.

⸻

Rebirth.

End this world.

One wish.

⸻

There was no negotiation to be made.

Only outcomes.

⸻

“I accept.”

After all… what else could I do?

I still had ambitions.

⸻

The space twisted.

Collapsed.

⸻

Darkness.

⸻

Pressure.

Noise.

⸻

It hurt.

⸻

My eyes opened.

Blurred shapes. Movement. Sound I couldn’t understand.

I was being held.

⸻

A woman.

Light blonde hair. Soft features. Blue eyes—clear, almost unnaturally so.

She spoke, but the words were unintelligible.

I knew many languages.

This wasn’t one of them.

⸻

Could she be my….mother?

⸻

So it worked.

That being wasn’t lying.

Whatever it was, it truly reincarnated me.

⸻

This wasn’t Earth.

The surroundings were wrong—too refined, too structured. Something closer to the aristocratic estates from old historical dramas.

A different world.

Strange. Foreign.

⸻

It seems…

I have another ambition to achieve.

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