Reincarnated into Another World as a Heartless Warrior

Kirishima lives alone in a small apartment, and every day feels the same. He works long hours at a call center, spending 12 hours answering calls from angry customers. When he gets home, he looks tired and completely exhausted. His life has been like this since he turned 20. For him, life is a boring cycle: he eats, sleeps, watches anime, and then goes back to work.

As a child, Kirishima thought being an adult would be great because adults had freedom, jobs, and money, and they could do whatever they wanted. It seemed so nice. But now that he was an adult, he realized how hard life actually was. It was far from the dream he had imagined. Even though he didn't want to work, he had no choice—he needed to pay rent and survive.

During his free time, which was rare for him, he would watch anime and enjoy it. He'd spend hours on his old couch, eating the snacks he bought after work. He always stopped by the convenience store first to buy snacks and his meal for his midnight cravings. It was the only thing that made him happy in his tiring life.

One cold evening, after another long day at work, Kirishima walked out of the office. He was the last one left, so he turned off his computer and made sure he hadn't forgotten anything. He double-checked his things to make sure nothing was lost. Once he was done, he turned off all the power in the room. As he walked toward the hallway, it was eerily silent since he was the only one left. He hurried and pressed the elevator button. When he reached the exit, he handed the key to the guard.

"Here's the key to our office," Kirishima said with a pale face, tired from the long day.

The guard took the key and replied, "Thanks, be careful."

The guard thought to himself, "What a pitiful employee," as Kirishima walked toward the main exit. He had no vehicle or bike, as he could barely afford one. All his salary went toward his monthly rent, daily food, and the rest of it, which he spent on his anime collection because he loved it.

Through the air, Kirishima felt empty inside as he thought about his dull life. Is this all there is to life? he wondered. As he walked, he entered the convenience store. He looked for his usual midnight snacks: Piattos, Vcut, and Moby—his favorites. After picking them up, he went to the counter to pay.

"Thank you," the cashier said, but Kirishima ignored it and walked out of the store.

As he walked near the pedestrian crossing, something caught his eye—a little boy chasing a blue balloon that had floated into the road. The boy didn't notice the truck speeding toward him. Without thinking, Kirishima ran toward the boy as fast as he could. The truck honked loudly, but the boy didn't stop. Kirishima reached him just in time and pushed the boy out of the way. The boy landed safely on the sidewalk, but Kirishima was hit by the truck instead.

The truck hit him so hard that pain shot through his body, and everything went dark. As he lay on the chilly ground, barely able to breathe, blood poured out of his body and spread across the road. Yet, he felt strangely calm.

The crowd on the road was shouting for an ambulance. "Someone got hit by a truck!" someone exclaimed. The little boy Kirishima had saved was crying and approached him.

"I'm sorry, mister," the little boy said, but Kirishima couldn't hear anything. The truck that hit him had caused his body to crumble. His final words were, "I'm finally done with this exhausting life," he whispered with a faint smile. "I don't need to work anymore, right?" With those words, he closed his eyes and passed away.

But Kirishima's story wasn't over yet.

He woke up feeling strange. His body felt small and light. Slowly, he opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was a man holding him and talking, though he couldn't understand what the man was saying. The man was smiling warmly. Kirishima tried to speak, but all that came out were baby cries.

What's going on? he thought. I thought I was dead.

Then, something even stranger happened. A glowing blue screen appeared in front of him. It looked like something straight out of the anime he used to watch. The screen displayed the following information:

Strength: 0

HP: 50

Skills: [None]

Level: 0

Kirishima stared at the screen in shock. Is this a status screen? Like in a game? he thought slowly. The idea excited him, and it started to make sense—he had been reincarnated into another world.

This is real?! he thought, feeling hope for the first time in his life. Maybe this new life will be better than my past one.-