1 Prologue

Earth.

April 3rd, 2010, in the heart of Chengyang Village, within a small cottage house. The soft breeze hit the tender white face of a child around eleven years of age.

The sun was just rising, but it seemed as if the child's bedroom window was open throughout the night. Mumbling a bit, the child's petite body rolled over, his large eyes slowly opening.

Sitting upward, Tylem cracked his neck out of instinct, trying to ease the stiff pains.

"Hm?"

"Wait..."

"This isn't right." Tylem wrinkled his brows in confusion. To his shock, when he paid close attention, he noticed that moving his neck no longer felt like a million needles were stabbing into him?

Trying to recall his latest memories, Tylem remembered sleeping under the dim light of a hospital bed, awaiting his death without the presence of any loved ones. The sole people at his side were those middle-aged doctors dressed in white, silently watching him with unconcealed pity.

Indeed, it was pitiful. Tylem Dusk, as an eighteen-year-old youth, he should have been in the prime of his life, making friends and finding love, but instead, he suffered through a vicious childhood full of heartache and pain only to end up with his heart developing a unique, untreatable cancer.

When he searched even deeper into his brain, he suddenly remembered seeing his still-beating heart climb out of his chest in the final seconds of his life, as if it was alive with a mind of its own?

How was that possible?

Shaking his head, Tylem sighed, calmly examining his surroundings. It was of no use to think more about his cursed heart. Rather, the matter of utmost importance was to figure out where he was.

He should be dead, after all.

However...

Wasn't this the place he grew up in, his childhood 'home'?

Having faced death, living through constant pain day and night, Tylem's mind was tempered to an abnormal point for a youth his age. Coupled with having to mature early because of his selfish mother, who was a single parent, he started to view the world as a place full of evil, wanting no part in it.

Over time, Tylem had become disinterested in everything to do with life, the pain, the world, nothing was important. The world was so vast and unending, but he did not have a place in it, so what was the point.

Examining his soft, fleshy hands that did not have a single mark on them, Tylem's expression was one of surprise and disbelief. This… just what was going on?

Jumping off his bed, Tylem felt so light and free, as if the cancer that tormented his body had never existed, disappearing like a dream. Unlike his body that was no longer restricted, his field of vision had become much lower.

There were countless possibilities popping up in Tylem's mind, such as a dream, hallucinating to the pain-relief drugs, rebirth, and much more. Rushing to the bathroom, which he still clearly remembered the location of, his dark pupils enlarged upon seeing himself in the mirror.

Believing was different from actual confirmation of the matter. There was still lots of suspicion, the most prominent of it all was being a hallucination, but if he had truly returned to the past…

That meant the damned woman was still alive. Many thoughts were emerging in Tylem's thunderous mind, but the most vivid and pressing of them all was a single thought, which had the effect of sprouting countless more.

"When will she die again?"

"Or… should I kill her myself?"

Disappearing back into his room, Tylem stared at the digital clock. It was the third of April, 2010. The sight caused his thin lips to part a bit before closing again right away.

It was a morning he could never forget, one that had changed his life forever. Clutching his heart, Tylem could feel his heartbeat rapidly rising, which surprised him. Did… he still care about that woman?

It did have some sense in it, after all. Despite all the abuse the middle-aged woman put him through, she was still his birth mother, which meant he had kinship with her.

Licking his dry lips, Tylem shook his head, erasing that thought. No, the feeling was different. Instead of sadness and fear, he felt an indescribable sense of excitement crawling upward; it was an intoxicating moment.

Ripping off his marred white jumper, Tylem examined the countless purple bruises covering his entire body from head to toe, anything that could be hidden with clothing had some sort of a scar. Whenever his so-called mother was troubled, she would end up venting her anger on him, blaming an innocent child for her husband's death.

"Ha.. hah."

Laughing like a maniac, Tylem smiled for the first time in years, because of his good looks, it made for a heart-capturing sight. Indeed, the feeling was different.

Leaving his room with a carefree expression, Tylem walked down the dirty hall, opening the door to the living room, the unveiled morning sun blinding his eyes.

Unsurprisingly, he was greeted with the sight of a grey-haired middle-aged woman standing atop a tattered square table, which was their dinner table. The stained brown curtains behind her were drawn open.

The thick brown rope was wrapped around the middle-aged woman's thin neck, tied to the ceiling. Looking down, the middle-aged woman watched the child with a pair of sinister eyes.

Seeing how his mother's bored eyes had suddenly sprung up with life at the mere sight of him, Tylem remained impassive. Like he had thought, this damn bitch was waiting for him the entire time.

Since she had designed such a fine play, he should at least do his part, right? However, to act like an innocent, frightened child felt rather annoying.

But he had to. It was better if she did the deed herself. That way, it would save him from some future trouble. Gazing at the middle-aged woman with a pair of large watery eyes, Tylem's tender voice trembled.

"Mo-mother, what are you doing? Please get down from there!"

For a moment, the white-dressed mother thought that she had seen a cold, mature light flash through her son's large eyes, but such a thing was impossible, so she disregarded it.

It was a scene that would traumatize a child forever. There was no way the middle-aged woman did not know of this, so Tylem's hidden bloodthirsty eyes desired to swallow the woman whole.

Sighing, the middle-aged woman spoke in an accusing tone that made it seem as if what was about to happen was all Tylem's fault, a mere eleven-year-old child.

"Mother tried so hard to forgive you for ruining her life, but it was not enough. You would never learn despite Mother sacrificing everything for you. Food and shelter, everything a child could want, I gave it all to you, my beloved son."

"So Tylem, why must you continue to make Mother's life so hard?"

The middle-aged woman had the sorrowful face of wanting to speak more, but she acted as if she thought better of it, not wanting to burden her 'dear' son even more.

"You shouldn't blame yourself for all of this, however. In the end, it was Mother's fault for giving birth to you, the evil spawn. Tylem, Mother is leaving now to Father's side in heaven. Regardless of all the pain you've caused for our family, you should try to live on."

Throughout her entire speech, the middle-aged woman had listened to Tylem tearing up, begging non-stop for her to untie the rope, and to get off the table. The sound was like music to her ears.

What a shame she couldn't listen to more. Without hesitation, she jumped off the table.