Chapter 1

~Mc's pov~

As I finished reading the latest chapter of the Manga 'The Eminence in Shadow' all I could think about was how can a character be so weird, stupid, and likable at the same time.

Don't get me wrong I really like the character and think he's cool but it's just frustrating watching him. As an assassin myself a being who works in the dark, I really like the part of the whole secret second life thing he has going on.

But not the whole mob thing, you can still live a really high profile life and live a totally second life about being in the shadows without anyone finding out. Trust me I would know as apart from just being a famous assassin I'm also a really high profile Movie Star and no one knows of my assassination jobs.

To everyone else Ryan Martin and Azrael The Angel of Death Incarnate are two whole different beings.

When I was little I was heavily neglected and would just spend my times in the streets just wondering around.

Having nothing better to do I just started to pick pockets and enjoyed the feeling of it until I was eventually caught. I was 14 years old when he got me and during that time I had to mature early in order to take care of myself and not starve. I guess one thing I resent my parents for was not letting me enjoy what being a kid felt like.

The being who caught me just so happened to be the most legendary assassin of his time which by the way is a really big fucking coincidence, it was like one in a billion chance of that happening.

When he saw me almost get away with his wallet, he just raised a brow and said that I had talent for being undetected, I just told him that when you're neglected you tend to blend in to not cause trouble cause just as you're quickly neglected it can quickly turn into abuse.

The old man just looked at me longer than normal and said "you know I was just looking to retire and train my next successor and look at what God put in my way"

Even tho I didn't know it at the time, he came to be a very important figure in my life, he was someone I respected from the bottom of my heart. Although I did always found it funny that a being that deals with death for a living would be so religious as to mention God when we first met.

The old man asked me if I wanted to be his successor and me being the neglected kid that I was, fucking agreed like an idiot.

I was pretty naive back then, luckily he was genuine.... Now that I think about it, I was fucking kidnapped wasn't I.

While thinking about the old man all I remember was the lessons he taught me. Some of the lessons weren't even about being an assassin they were just about life. Like the time I asked him why he was so religious.

His answer was honestly quite shocking, He told me it was so he has something to believe in, that even if it was tiny he wanted to have faith in something and keep him grounded from losing himself in the art of killing and becoming a monster that only knows how to kill.

I came to respect that so I chose to believe in something too...

Myself, I believed that I had the will to not go down such a road.

And thanks to that I was trained into the perfect assassin until the old man unfortunately passed away, as a side effect my acting became perfect thanks to his training.

Although thanks to my neglectful self still wanting validation i went into the movie industry and got the validation from the masses and fans.

That wasn't the only thing that bastard of a old man taught me, I still remember when he threw me into a brothel when I just turned 18 to get immunity towards beauty and sex and not get distracted during missions.

So as I was saying before you don't need to be a background character to be the Eminence in the shadows, you just need power and a whole lot of skills.

Now I know what you might be saying "what's a cool movie star assassin like you doing just reading manga, anime and novels of the sorts, isn't that only for people that want an escape from reality and have a miserable life"

And to that I tell you to fuck off anime is for everyone.

I still remembered when I encountered anime, it was for an infiltration mission and seducing a target the only way to get closer to the target was to get into the hobbies they enjoyed which just so happened to be anime. I had to spent hour upon hours to get closer to this target but along the way the more I watched the more I enjoyed it. Until I became hooked and unto the downward spiral I went...

...

Now as I was saying about Cid, it's fucking weird how everything just lines up for him it's like lady luck gets on her knees just for him with how much things just works out for him with those million dollar coincidences.

Now that I think about it maybe lady luck is a whore.

Cause I had my fair shares of lucky situations like meeting the old man, which I still find it seriously suspicious, and then him just retiring and looking for a disciple at the right time.

Now the reason for why I'm monologuing and talking about the latest chapter of the Manga and about Cid...

While waiting on a roof top with a sniper infront of me waiting for my target, I decided to spent most of my time reading mangas I saw just updated, the last one I finished reading was the current chapter of 'Eminence in Shadow' and as I finished reading I got a notification on my burner phone where I take assassination missions

And the notification just so happened to be an email. And the main title for it was "Reincarnation interview..."

Looking at the title all I could do was snicker slightly.

'How did they even get a hold of my burner phone and really a interview about being isekai to another world like those lame Fanfics how funny'

I thought while reading it, seeing that it would be a while before my target arrives I decided to entertain the idea seeing this as just an obvious joke.

As I clicked on the link it presented, it took me to a website with a question in the middle of it with a next button next to the answer section

The first question was the most stereotypical question "If you were giving the chance to be reincarnated into another world where would you want to be reincarnated at"

Having just finished reading 'Eminence in Shadow'  I obviously chose it, I mean c'mon when you finish reading something the first thing that pops to mind is what would I do in this situation, so just having finished reading the latest chapter my most obvious choice would be it.

The next question was "Which character from "Eminence in Shadow" would you want to be reincarnated as and during what time period and condition "

It wasn't that hard of a question which caused me to monologue about the character and my life

...

Now back on the question my choice would be obvious once again, it would be Cid Kagenou i mean I could hit the random button but there's a chance I would get reincarnated as a girl instead so noooooo thank you.

Now about the time period I chose the time when he was Minoru, his previous incarnation, as it would let me hone all my skills to the upmost limit and learn new ones.

As for the condition it would be to be able to know exactly when I'm supposed to die and be able to reincarnate once again as Cid.

The next question was "If you could have the full skill set of any character who would it be"

While looking at this question the answer was obvious, Sung jin Woo. Who wouldn't want to be the Shadow Monarch.

While looking further down I notice a add on section and it says I could choose something the character has but it has to be something from the same character.

So while thinking about it I decided on the shadows he had when he got killed he had about 1,000 of them, which in my opinion is a perfect starter amount.

"Well that was short" I mumble seeing that I already answered everything and with that I hit sent and tossed my phone to the side as I went back into the scope of my sniper.

And as my target arrives I fire my shot killing him completing another successful mission.

And as I stood up while putting my sniper onto my shoulders I suddenly get dizzy

"Wha-" I muttered as I start to fall face first and as my face touches the floor of the roof, to the side I see my phone with the screen on and in the middle was a check mark with the letters spelling out "Approved" right under it.

'No way' were my last thoughts as I lost consciousness...