1.1 An Abrupt End, and an Unforeseen Beginning

EPISODE 1.1

An Abrupt End, and an Unforeseen Beginning

For a long time, he had wanted to die. However, when Death came for him, she did so in the most unexpected way possible.

One evening after a long day of work at a dead-end job, he found himself staggering into the city street, unmindful of his surroundings. He remembered his intention to go to the nearest convenience store to buy some supplies for another night of insomnia and wasting it on anything that could distract his mind from the utter tiredness he felt.

However, perhaps his exhaustion and self-neglect finally caught up to him because as he was going back to his apartment, he encountered a grisly accident.

It happened all of a sudden. The flash of light. The honking of cars. The horrified screams of the people around him.

It was so fast that he never knew what hit him. Was it a car? A motorcycle? A giant ass helicopter? He had no idea.

When he opened his eyes again, people are surrounding him. Blurry faces looked down on him as he gasped for air, all the while starting to choke on his own blood.

When he saw those faces, he realized that like everyone else, he was afraid of his own death. Funny how he only realized he wanted to live when he was already at death's door.

He reached out a hand as reels of confusing memories flooded his mind. He understood nothing of it all, yet at the same time he also did.

Then, as he gasped for one final breath, darkness welcomed him. And then, nothing.

***

THAT WAS the last thing he remembered. Because the next thing he knew, he woke up in an unfamiliar place.

He struggled to stand up, dazed and bewildered. But strangely, the pain that swallowed his whole being a while back was gone. He felt light, albeit a little hungry.

When he finally sat up, he realized he was on a beach. The endless sea extended in front of him. Mesmerized by the view, he slowly stood up and wondered.

"Where… Am I?"

Didn't he just die? But why is he on a different place it seemed? Or was he dreaming?

He then looked down and raised his hands. But they looked unfamiliar to him. They—they feel pretty solid to him, though.

"Hey! You're finally awake!"

He turned around to see a little girl with an absurdly long, blonde hair and frayed bangs. She is wearing a dress that actually looked like a sack, which she partly used to carry an assortment of fruits.

She beamed at him.

"'Finally'? Do I know you?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Nope. But Aleph found you lying on the beach weeks ago, and since then, Aleph has taken care of you!"

His brows furrowed.

"Aleph? Who's Aleph?" he asked, looking around.

The kid pointed to herself. "That's Aleph's name. And Aleph is glad to finally talk to you!"

***

Well, although the girl introduced herself, that didn't answer his questions. And he had a lot.

He looked at his hands again.

She tilted her head. "Are you really awake? Or are you just having another weird dream?"

"Am I dead?" he said absent-mindedly instead.

"Hmmm, Aleph doesn't think so," the girl spoke. "Wait, are you asking Aleph?"

"Could be," he responded, nodding. "It's just—I am sure I was dead. Are you—"

He turned to her with wide eyes.

"Aleph is what?" she asked, confused.

"Are you perhaps the god of death?" he asked.

The kid obviously looked incensed. "Which part of Aleph made you think that she is the god of death?! Aleph doesn't even resemble her at all! Plus, this isn't the afterlife. This is just an island off the coast of the—of the—"

"Of the what?" he asked.

She looked away. "Well, some country! Aleph is just as lost as you are!"

He was a bit taken aback by that. When he saw her earlier, he just immediately surmised she lived nearby.

He scanned their surroundings and realized something. The island was small, in the sense that he could see the other just hundreds of meters away from him. And apart from trees and rock formations inland, it was utterly deserted.

Around the island though, there looked like a ring of sand, separated from the main land by shallow water.

His mouth fell open in amazement.

He really was in another place. In another time.

And it looked like, he said to himself, looking down at his hands again.

And in another life.

***

"How long have you been here?"

They were now sitting under a tree, a few good meters away from the water. After being unable to speak for some time due to his shock at what had just happened, the little girl who called herself "Aleph" and spoke in a third-person called to him to eat first. He distinctly heard her saying, "too much thinking without eating can make anyone go crazy", before laying down the apples and berries underneath the tree.

Together, they sat down and started eating on the fruits she brought with her. The fruits, unfortunately, were all bland and watery. Hungry as he was, he didn't complain and munched on everything.

The little girl seemed to be the same. He heard her exclaim "blergh", but continued eating anyway.

"Aleph doesn't know for sure. It may have been many days, already," she said. "What about you? When did you arrive here? Aleph didn't notice you arriving, so Aleph wasn't sure how you came here."

He looked at her, confused. "I was already here when you arrived?"

That's strange, he said to himself. Why would his current body be here, when he just died, like moments ago? Or maybe—time works differently here?

"Well, Aleph thinks so," she said, shrugging. Then her eyes squinted. "When Aleph came here by a log, you're already here, lying at the same place you woke up in. Well, not really, because Aleph tried her best to pull you inland whenever the tide goes up."

The young man looked at the kid thoughtfully, amazed at how she made an effort to bring him ashore considering how small she was.

"T-thanks," he muttered in a very low voice that he doubted if the kid even heard it. She was preoccupied with her berries, anyway.

"Aleph even thought you were dead. So Aleph had to check your breathing every day, and thank goodness, you weren't. What Aleph would do if she was all alone in the island until now, and the berries were all gone? Aleph can't climb or fish, and wouldn't last long all by herself in this island for more than a month. So Aleph was glad you were alive. But took you a long time, too!"

The girl continued talking to herself while he only listened, as he continued to ponder about his current situation. But then, something about what she said earlier caught his attention and his brows furrowed.

"Wait a minute. You came here by a log? What the hell happened to you and why you ended up here?" he asked in disbelief.

"Uh, the house Aleph was in was destroyed, and then Aleph was in a ship, then that ship was also destroyed, and Aleph soon found herself on a floating log. This was the island Aleph got washed into," she said, finishing her berries. "Did you also get shipwrecked and get carried away here?"

"Not really. I wasn't shipwrecked or anything. But I was sure I was killed," he said, remembering the accident. However, he soon realized something. "I had no idea what happened after that, though. I probably got reincarnated or something."

He shrugged. That was the best theory he could come up. He was surely dead and was probably reborn into another world. He read about this in novels and manga before. Because how else would he be transported so suddenly in an unknown place just like that?

"R-rain-car—what?" she asked.

"Reincarnated," he repeated. However, the confusion on her face wasn't cleared, so he said it differently. "Reborn."

"Like, born again?" she said. He nodded. "Well, that's strange. If what you really said is true, you don't look like a newborn. Not to Aleph, at least."

His mouth fell, and was unable to speak. This child is too blunt. Well, she got a point. Don't all reincarnation stories begin as a child? he wondered.

He racked his brains for answers. He also read something about transmigration before. Is that what happened to him?

However, the more he thought about it, the more his head hurt. It was as if there was something else he needed to remember, but he couldn't. Worse, he felt a throbbing pain in his temple. He shook his head to drive it away.

"Are you okay?" the little girl asked, and even approached him as if to check on him.

"Y-yeah," he said. When the pain ceased, he gently shook his head and sighed. "That doesn't matter now. I will probably remember everything as time passes."

The girl nodded. "Yeah, you're right. No need to worry about those for now, when we don't even have a roof over our heads. Or even enough food."

He snickered, which made her grin. Strangely, that was like the first time he smiled in years.

"By the way, what should Aleph call you?" she asked. "Aleph doesn't know your name until now."

He stopped and frowned a bit. That's right, he said, he doesn't have a recollection of his own name either.

But then, he smiled again and shrugged.

"That, I don't know yet, but I will probably just think about it in the future," he said. He stood up. "You're still hungry, right? Let's find you something to eat. At least, one that has taste this time."