"W-what?"

Brandon's voice cracked.

"You heard me." Emmie's tone was sharp, impatient. "I don't want to be with you anymore. I found someone better. A real man. Someone who can actually take care of me and give me everything I want."

Her words hit like a sledgehammer, but she wasn't done.

"Not a puny guy like you, wasting his life in some shitty restaurant."

Brandon's fingers tightened around his phone. His breath came in short, uneven bursts. This wasn't real. It couldn't be.

"Don't call me again," Emmie added, voice dripping with finality. "You know what? Doesn't matter. I'm blocking you."

Tinnt!

The call ended. Just like that.

Brandon stood frozen, staring at the screen. His mind blank. His heart… shattered.

The waves crashed against the shore, the scent of salt thick in the air. It should have been romantic. This was supposed to be one of the happiest nights of his life.

His right hand trembled as he looked down. A small box sat in his palm—red and gold, finely crafted, elegant. Inside, a ring glimmered under the moonlight.

A ring he had spent five years saving for.

For her.

For the woman who had been his anchor when his mother died. The woman who pulled him from his darkest place.

Love? Maybe. Or was it just dependence?

Brandon let out a bitter laugh, his chest tightening. His gaze lifted, taking in the scene around him—the soft candlelight, the petals scattered on the sand, the careful effort he had put into making this night perfect.

All for nothing.

"I can't believe she left me just like that…"

His voice barely came out, a whisper carried away by the wind.

"Was it all just a game to her?"

Something inside him snapped.

Before he could think, his fingers clenched around the ring box—and with a roar of frustration, he hurled it into the ocean.

Fshhh!

A second passed. Then another.

His stomach dropped.

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait—MY MONEY!"

Panic flooded him as reality hit.

"What the fuck is wrong with me?!"

Without hesitation, he sprinted toward the water, kicking off his shoes. He wasn't about to lose five years' worth of savings and his girlfriend on the same damn night.

The waves roared, relentless and wild. But Brandon didn't stop. He charged in, the cold water biting at his skin as he pushed forward. His eyes darted across the surface, searching for the box.

There—bobbing further away.

He swam, arms cutting through the waves, desperation pushing him forward.

"Get back here, you stupid—"

A massive wave crashed into him.

The force was brutal, slamming into his body like a brick wall. Water filled his mouth, his lungs, his throat. His limbs flailed, but the ocean was too strong.

He was sinking.

Deeper.

The pressure crushed him, his vision darkening.

"No. No, no, no."

He struggled, but his body felt like lead. Every movement drained what little oxygen he had left.

His lungs screamed.

"Damn it! If it wasn't for Emmie, I wouldn't be here! If it wasn't for my own stupidity—!"

His thoughts turned sluggish. His fight weakened.

Fine.

I give up. There is no one waiting for me anyway.

His body went limp, consciousness slipping away.

Then—

CRACK.

His head slammed against something solid.

A rock.

It pulsed—no, it glowed.

A brilliant, otherworldly light erupted from it, illuminating the depths. Brandon barely had time to process it before everything—his pain, his thoughts, his existence—vanished.

He died.

⸻

Brandon's awareness returned in a void. A vast, endless nothing.

He felt… weightless. Different. His body—no, there was no body. Only a flickering wisp of energy, floating in the abyss.

"Wait… where am I?"

A mechanical chime echoed around him. An emotionless female voice.

[System Activated.]

[You have received the Sovereign Bond System.]

[You Have Died.]

Brandon froze.

[You Will Be Reborn Into a New World.]

"Reborn? What?!"

The voice continued, unfazed.

[Analyzing Host's Memories…]

[Searching for a Suitable World…]

[Scanning Novels the Host Has Read…]

"Wait, wait, what?! You're going too fast!"

Then, a final notification:

[Ding! The World of Laeh Has Been Chosen.]

Brandon's nonexistent heart stopped.

"Oh. My. Lord."

[Host, Brace Yourself. You Are Being Reborn.]

Brandon barely had time to process before the darkness swallowed him whole.

…What the flying fuck is going on?!

—End of chapter 1—