A Naive Hope

{Vincent Dracyian's POV}

In front of me was a towering mansion, composed of red brick walls, and elegant white windows, three of which were on each side.

Jutting out from both sides were extensions to the main building, both exuding a certain sense of regality and wealth.

The main entrance was in the middle of the main block and had grand black doors complimenting the classy feel of the mansion.

Just in front of the house was a gravel driveway, lined with luscious green hedges, and a typical water fountain in the middle as a roundabout.

In this world, cars had become less of a necessity, and more of a show of wealth, as the integration of mana allowed people to use a high-tech railway system, or use a teleportation skill.

In the game, the character was able to move around the city with this system, however, it was only available to special-class people, and students who attended the Academy.

And currently, the Academy had no students attending yet, so this was why I was made to walk around the city everywhere.

I am pretty sure that in the future, Cynthia achieves something special, and is rewarded with private access to the railway system, as well as it being granted to the Dracyian Family.

Sadly, I don't know enough backstory from the game to know what exactly she would achieve.

Anyway, as I approached the gates of the premise, I was made to stand on a special platform and asked for a retinal scan.

{ Please place your eye near the camera, for an accurate reading. }

Doing what the screen told me, I leaned forward and looked into the lens with crimson eyes.

{ Scanning.... }

{ Scan failed - slightly corrupted data which does not match the target. }

The scan had failed.

'Hmmm, It has been a few days since my parents have been told that I was committing suicide, but I don't think my parents would have logged me out of the database yet, so why isn't it working?'

[It is possible that your awakening and unawakening in quick succession have slightly altered your facial muscles and tissues.]

'I see.'

I stared at the screen, pondering my options.

And eventually, I came to the easiest conclusion.

"System, hack this shit."

[...]

[Host, I should remind you that I am not some program debugg-]

"I said, system, hack this shit."

[...]

With the same monotonous tone, that was now slightly bordering frustration, the system replied to my humble request.

[Very well. Place your palm over the interface.]

Like this had been done a few times before -which it has- the panel let out a small beep, and the automatic gates to the mansion opened.

BRRRRRRR

I stepped inside and admired the area for a bit.

Even though I had witnessed this same view for the majority of my life, I could still feel a swelling emotion of anticipation building up in my body.

I still had bittersweet memories of myself playing with my siblings, before anyone had awakened.

Caleb and Cynthia would sometimes invite me to a game of Monopoly at home, and make sure I was happy at school.

In this world, people matured much faster than in my old one, and thus education no longer became compulsory after you became 15.

Once I had passed 15 with no signs of awakening, they suddenly stopped caring or interacting with me and instead started to indirectly abuse me in my last year at school, by making their connections target me for being a failure.

One was never able to pin this down to the Dracyian Family, which could show just how powerful its influence was.

This fact eventually frustrated my old body, and with the feeling of betrayal from the people he once admired and had affection for, it was only time until the start of his mental downfall.

The Dracyian Family knew this fact but attempted nothing to rehabilitate him.

Anger and depression consumed the old Vincent's mind, and the feeling of alienation caused him to not really feel attached to his home.

And now that I had inherited Vincent's memories, I should be feeling the same amount of anger towards them.

However, right now, I didn't feel a single speck of emotion toward my family,

His memories were just memories to me. Nothing more.

I could only hope that they would accept me now that I was awakened, and they would change back to how I 'remembered' them to be.

That was my naive hope, cultivated from my 10 years of loneliness, and becoming an orphan.

As my cold red eyes drifted towards the entrance, I spotted the figure of a woman standing behind the black doors, furrowing her eyebrows.

Her face had a distinct beauty spot at the top of her left cheekbone, and her body was as slim as a supermodel.

Her eyes were a deep red, albeit, a bit lighter than mine, but her long wavy black hair was what gave her a beautiful image.

"Who are you and how did you get here?"

Her voice was soft and well-spoken, giving an alluring charm.

But what really irked me, was the fact that she couldn't even recognise her own blood.

"I am your son, the one you have neglected for being a failure."

You know what, why don't I just tell her the full story?

I expected that she would have the decency to apologise to me, but her pretty face distorted into an expression of slight mockery.

"So you FAILED to kill yourself in the end? And what the hell is going on with your hair?"

My expectations... no my hopes of having a welcoming family were crushed.

"Do you really want to know?"

Lucy Dracyian's eyes turned cold. It was as if she was looking at a complete stranger.

"Not really."

'Ha.'

What was I even expecting?

I continued to stare into my mother's- no, the woman's eyes, and reality began to settle in.

'Even with another chance at life, I would never be adored or find true happiness again.'

This was the fact that I had now come to terms with.

"Lucyyy... why are you standing at the door...?"

A smitten voice was calling for Lucy behind the walls of the mansion.

"Oh, Victor, it is just some guy who left us a few days ago."

"Is it Vincent?"

"Haa... yeah it is."

Soon enough, another head popped up next to Lucy, and it was none other than the father of this body.

Victor Dracyian.

"Hello, Vincent. Go to your room, and contemplate why exactly you were unable to die."

Unlike a few seconds ago, his voice was now stern and apathetic, almost like he was talking to a nuisance.

'He isn't even gonna question my hair?'

As Victor massaged his temples while deep in thought, he closed his eyes and finally said.

"Haaa... we will talk in a bit."