Chương 1: Life From Death

A lone young man stood on the ledge of the Brooklyn Bridge, gazing at the moon's reflection in the East River. His name was Mason Tunt, and he had had enough of this shitty life. He had endured so far, thinking things would get better, but he now understood those were delusions made out of despair. If anything, his life only got worse as it went on, and the pressure had reached the tipping point. Looking up to the bright moon, Mason felt something weigh heavily in his gut. Was that guilt? What for? His family?

He would probably do them a favor by jumping. They may not show it, but Mason knew he was a burden for them, and while they may be sad for a while, his disappearance would only improve their lives. At least, that was what he wanted to believe. Steeling himself to jump, Mason was about to take a step forward, his grip on the ledge loosening, when he heard the sound of a car approaching.

His entire body tensed despite himself, his arms latching on tightly to the ledge, already prepared to explain to whoever was approaching that he intended to jump, and nothing they could say would deter him. Looking over his shoulder, Mason spotted the car, which was not going very fast, and his gaze met the driver's. He felt time stop for a second, thinking the guy would stop and talk to him, but then the car bypassed him.

Seconds passed, and the car did not slow down, quickly disappearing from Mason's sight instead. Mason's body lost its tension as he released a mirthless chuckle, turning back toward the river. He did not want to, but he found himself unable to contain them as tears streamed down his cheeks as he asked loudly, "God, why? Why place me on this Earth, only to waste away!" All Mason heard was the distant sound of the disappearing car and the wind.

Wiping off the snort with a hand, he muttered self-deprecatingly, "Silent, as always. For the last time. Game over." Although he would never admit it, Mason had little courage, and he might not have been able to jump in the first place. Had that car stopped, he certainly would have made a fuss, maybe have the police and firemen come too, but he probably would not have jumped. The shame of facing his family would have been strong, but not strong enough to overpower his inherent will to live.

Besides, what Mason really sought, despite not knowing it, was nothing but human warmth. Paradoxically, that car ended up being the very thing that allowed him to make up his mind. He felt useless, and that car had not even slowed down. The driver did not show a single shred of pity for him, and at this point, whoever was driving did not matter to him, as once more, he had been ignored. They did not care that he was obviously about to jump, and with that, Mason truly hit rock bottom.

Strangely enough, the weight in his stomach seemed to suddenly be lifted as he closed his eyes, exhaled, and prepared to step forward.

"Took you long enough." Mason's heart nearly leapt out of his chest as he once more gripped the railing for dear life, looking over his shoulder in fear, thinking someone had sneaked up on him. But as he looked back, he did not see anyone.

"In front of you, dumbass." Mason once more heard the voice, which did not seem to come from any direction. Instead, it felt like it was speaking right in his head. Still, hearing what it said, he whipped his head to the front, and indeed, where there should have only been the East River, he saw a bright light. It was not the moon. It glowed brighter than the sun, yet somehow did not blind him. He could faintly make out what seemed to be a humanoid figure amidst the light.

"A-Are you… God?" Mason muttered in fright, his eyes shot wide open while his heart pounded in his chest. Mason was no devout Christian, but he knew for a fact God did not look upon suicide kindly. The voice in his head snorted mockingly, "God? You can be such a moron sometimes. Of course I'm not God. I could be a demon for all you know." Mason stuttered in fright, "Y-You're a demon?" The voice sighed heavily, sounding exasperated, "I swear, I want to punch you so bad, you little shit.

Stop asking stupid questions." Mason gulped, a feeling of shame rising within him for some reason. That did not stop him from asking, "Who are you then? What's your purpose?" The voice was apparently more satisfied with this question.

"Finally something that's not completely stupid. You see, I am a man from another world. I was unfortunately trapped in your body 18 years ago, and had to endure living inside you all this time. And let me say, you were a fucking disappointment to spectate. Way to shatter reincarnation fantasies."

"You lived inside me? And saw everything?" For some reason, despite the terrifying statement, Mason's mind immediately went to a more shameful part of his time spent this year. Short sessions spent in his lonesome. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"You're just repeating what I said." The voice sounded neutral this time, saying nothing of whether it understood what Mason meant or not. Not wanting to dwell on the subject, Mason asked doubtfully, "Why didn't you ever show yourself then?" The voice grunted, sounding angry, though Mason could somehow tell that anger was not directed at him this time, but someone else.

"Because I got screwed over myself. I was promised reincarnation, but the guy messed up. Fucking amateur." As the voice said that, the night sky was suddenly illuminated by the largest lightning bolt Mason had ever seen, scaring him so bad he almost let go and fell. The thunder was so loud the railing vibrated under his grasp. Meanwhile, the voice somehow clicked its tongue, despite lacking a body, "The daft cunt can't even accept criticism, not that he can do anything to me…

Anyway, now that I'm here, don't you dare destroy my body. You've already abused it for 18 years." This caused Mason to exclaim louder than he intended, "Your body?!" This time, Mason felt disdain in the voice, "Yes, my body. The only reason you got to be in charge for the past 18 years was that your soul was tethered to this body, and I was an outsider. Forcing you out wouldn't have been optimal for either of us.

But with time, my connection to this body strengthened, and today, by intending to kill yourself, you relinquished your rights to this body, severing the tether between your soul and your body. And just so you know and don't try anything stupid, I could forcefully take over; we're only speaking because I want us to. If you even think about letting go of that rail, I'll snap you out." The words were shocking, and delivered brutally, resulting in Mason shivering in fear as he asked, "You-You're going to possess me?"

Mason felt like the voice was rolling his eyes as he replied, "I'm not an expert on the semantics, and I honestly don't care. Call it however you want; I'm just getting my due after you decided to discard it. Besides, you make it sound like a bad thing, but you were about to kill yourself. You get all the upsides with none of the downsides. The end, without destroying the family." This made Mason pause, not sure himself of why he felt reluctant to the idea of giving his body over to someone else.

The voice was right; this was more than he could have ever hoped for. After a moment of pointless reflection, he asked, "What's going to happen to me then?" Only now did Mason notice that the light was slowly moving forward, in his direction. It spoke with impatience, "You'll move on to the afterlife, I guess. Now, would you kindly pass away? Although I could take over, I would rather not. You know, normal brothers usually take an hour to give away the controller, but you took a whole 18 years, man.

Not to mention I'm the older one here. Be grateful I'm not whooping your ass in passing." Mason, to his own surprise, found himself smiling at the joke. And despite how horrifying the situation should have been, having the light call him a brother felt strangely good. He also found himself a little lighter than usual, and looking down at his body, he felt a strange sensation. A feeling of distance. It took him a second to realize he was leaving his own body.

But the dread he expected to feel in the face of death never appeared. Instead, he only felt light, as if he had turned into a cloud. Feeling peaceful, Mason asked, "Would you care to hear a dying man's last request?"

"Shoot." Looking up into the sky, really for the last time now, he spoke his dying wish, "Take care of my family. I know they aren't your family, but…"

"You selfish piece of shit." The peace and lightness were suddenly replaced by a heavy burden as the light shone even brighter than before, a strong sensation of anger and vexation overwhelming him as the voice added, "First, I've not simply been trapped inside your body for the last 18 years; I've also felt everything you felt, and more." Mason bit his lip, feeling guilty despite not even understanding why. For all intents and purposes, they were strangers, yet he felt bad for disappointing him.

The voice didn't care for his mood swings, however: "Secondly, you were the one about to jump and ruin their lives, spending the rest of it wondering what they did wrong. I know you know perfectly how bad they would have taken your suicide, you little shit. So now, fuck off from my body." The voice sounded really angry, and Mason felt himself quiver as a strange sort of pressure emanated from it. His words made him feel like shit, because he knew them to be true.

He also knew there was no point denying any of it, since the man's soul had been living in him all this time, and knew him better than anyone. Perhaps better than himself. Still, among the guilt and crushing despair, an ember of hope remained, an ember which soon turned into a blazing flame. Feeling a confidence he never had in his life, he asked, "Then allow me to change my last request. I always dreamed of being a hero they would be proud of."

The voice was silenced for a moment before it scoffed, "Unlike you, I don't settle for anything else than the top." Mason still smiled, "I know, I'm pathetic." Mason closed his eyes, and the feeling of lightness intensified by several orders. He never thought he would feel the sensation of his soul leaving his body, yet at that moment, that's exactly what he felt. The next time he opened his eyes, Mason was several meters away from the bridge, floating in mid-air.

Looking down at his form, Mason did not see the blinding light that the other soul had been released. All he saw was an illusory version of himself, what he assumed a ghost would look like. Then, glancing back at the body he had just left, he saw it open its eyes, its mouth opening to speak for the first time.

"After 18 years…" Mason saw a confident grin he never thought his face capable of making, and feeling something between wonder and shame, muttered, "How did I ever allow myself to fall so low? And how come my soul is so different from yours?" Looking at his own body from the outside was quite the sobering experience, and allowed Mason to gain a more detached look at it. And yet, it felt like an entirely different person now.

His body, now controlled by the other soul, leisurely vaulted over the railing, landing back onto the safe side of the ledge, and explained dismissively, "My soul was nothing special, but being trapped in your body for 18 years with nothing else to do, I had some time to delve into its mysteries, train it." Mason started flying up, his presence in this world drawing to an end.

This made him smile, and as he rose higher into the sky, he watched the new Mason ruffle his brown hair, turning the nerdy, neat-looking hair into a wilder style. Old Mason had considered himself to be ugly for about as long as he could remember. Although he lucked out of acne, he had a twig body and never took care of himself, pushing it to another day indefinitely. Then, once he started thinking of himself as a lost case, he stopped making any efforts whatsoever.

It did not help that he had what he considered to be 'average' features, with brown hair and grey eyes. But now, the new Mason looked like a different man. The body was the same, but back when Old Mason looked at himself in the mirror, he would see a slouched-over nerd he wanted nothing to do with. But New Mason gave him a much different feeling. He held himself with confidence, as if the world already belonged to him.

His grey eyes, which the old Mason had found to be so incredibly dull so many times, sparked with life, pulling whoever looked into them. His back, usually slouched, was straight as an arrow, and his hair was unburdened. Mason never would have guessed two people could look so vastly different within the same body. That the difference between a soul dulled by years of neglect and self-loathing, and one that had been cultivated with care, could be seen so clearly.

Meanwhile, down below, the new Mason threw a final look at the ascending Old Mason, giving him an encouraging nod. And as the soul disappeared into the sky, New Mason placed his hands in his pockets, whistling happily as he walked back home.