"Shit!" Kirin hissed to himself as he hid in the shadows of an abandoned building within the outskirts of Geiss, tending to the bullet that was stuck in muscle of his upper left arm. "You've been in this line of work over 300 years now. You'd think you would at least grow the brains to have not fallen into that trap so easily," he sharply reprimanded himself as he pulled out a switch blade that was strapped to his ankle in order to dig out the bullet.

After digging the bullet out, he ripped the bottom half of his shirt to stop the bleeding. Seeing to it that he has lost his pursuers, Kirin crept out of the shadows and checked his wristband. He clicked the icon that had an image of a motorbike, calling his ride to him. Finally assessing his surrounding, he was within an area filled with several abandoned factories, looking like a ghost town underneath the night sky. Even though he was far, the skyscrapers and night lights of downtown Geiss was bright enough to mimic the daytime; a pillar of light in the night.

As he explored the old buildings, taking twists and turns, he actually found peace within an abandoned, lonely place... perhaps because he too, felt that way, lonely. As he wandered around aimlessly, waiting for his ride to arrive from Veia, he noticed a tiny shack that was hidden in between the shadows of two towering buildings... with lights on.

Who the hell would be here at a time like this?

Wrapping his fingers firmly around his switch blade, he approached the shack that had a piece of cloth for a door. Taking steps that were even quieter than the night breeze, Kirin used his blade and moved the cloth aside to get a peek. What he saw inside made his eyebrows raise in wonderment. Books and scrolls?

Glancing behind him and back into the tiny shack, assessing that no one was in sight, Kirin slipped in. Though it looked like a tiny shack from the outside, the inside was quite hollow, filled with file cabinets, shelves and scrolls. In the center of the room was a square desk, a wooden chair, a calligraphy pen, and ink with an unfinished scroll that was opened halfway. The tungsten lighting gave the interior a hazy glow, making it feel as if he had walked into an antique book store. Though he did not sense any threats around, he was still alert.

Curiously looking at the elegant and furnished shelves filled with scrolls and books, Kirin proceeded to pick the first scroll that caught his eye – containing what looked like a golden tasseled tie. Just as he was about to undo the tie -

"Oh? A guest?" a low voice said from behind him.

Kirin whipped around in a fighting stance, ready to kill if the person made any funny advances towards him. Narrowing his eyes, Kirin examined this mysterious man. The man wore a what looked like lounge wear; a white t-shirt with a large image of a panda and black sweats that ran down to his ankles with panda bear themed slippers. With large circle-shaped spectacles that were colored black, the man's hair was tousled and unkempt, looking as if his bangs would be covering his eyes without the help of the glasses. In his hands, a cup of coffee perhaps. And the thing that stuck out the most to Ki Rin was the man's red painted fingernails; it made his skin appear very pale as though he was a sickly person.

"Who are you?" Kirin cautiously asked.

"Me? I live here," said the man as he slowly shifted into the room, closing in on his desk.

"You live here? How can you live here? There's nothing here but scrolls and books. There's no bed, no kitchen, not even a bathroom."

"Oh, that's because my actual home is like 5 minutes from here. I am a writer and book collector. I come here to do my work," the man smiled childishly. "I just have so many siblings that I can't concentrate at home! But when I stumbled upon this place, it became my personal working and thinking base."

"Why here?"

"No one owns this land or place anymore. After all, it's abandoned. So, I took it upon myself to make this place my study. And, you can drop the knife, you're making my balls tingle with anxiety," the man exclaimed with a playful tone as he scrunched one fist and opened it, mimicking as if he was squeezing something.

Seeing that the man did not possess anything that could kill him, Kirin put his blade away.

"Are you alright?"

"What?"

The man motioned to Kirin's wound before taking a sip of his coffee.

"This? Yeah, I'm fine. I just ran into some thugs. What about you? Are you not afraid of being mugged or assaulted in a place like this?" Kirin asked.

The man smacked his lips after removing the cup away, savoring the flavor. "Nope! No worries. I've been here for many years and I've been perfectly fine."

"... You said you're a writer. What's your name?"

"I don't publish my stories. They're just stories I write during my free time as a hobby for myself. Gets my mind off of things," the man smiled.

Kirin then extended his hand out that held the scroll he had grabbed from the shelf earlier. "This is yours. I apologize for going through them. I was impolite."

"Ah, thanks!" the man smiled, taking the scroll from Ki Rin.

"What kind of stories do you write?"

"All kinds of stories! Stories filled with love, hate, betrayal, loyalty, angst, happiness! Bad endings, sad endings, happy endings! Who does not want those kinds of stories?" the man raised his arms in the air as if he was proclaiming his love to the ceiling. "But most importantly, I... also write fan-fiction," his voice softened as he scrunched his body himself, as if he was virgin maiden.

Kirin just rolled his eyes at that last comment and said nothing. His life wasn't filled with anything that could be considered joyful; that ended 300 years ago. His life now was filled with loneliness and bad endings; nothing more to it though he has lived a long life so far, being chained. Suppressing a sigh, Ki Rin headed towards the exit.

"Leaving so soon?"

"Yeah, my ride's here."

"Oh, well then," the man extended a hand out. "Though our time of knowing one another was short, I'm certain we'll meet again someday."

"I doubt it."

"Oh~, well, I doubt that doubt. It's a small world after all."

After a moment of silence, Kirin firmly gripped the man's hand and shook it.

"Until then," said Kirin.

"Until then, when the time is right. We will meet again."

Kirin looked up to the man as the man slightly tilted his head down, leaning in. At that very moment, Kirin was certain he saw a red glow coming from behind the black shades. Kirin pulled his hand away and exited the shack.

Getting onto his motorbike that has come to pick him up, Kirin looked back once more to the shack and whispered, "Weirdo," before taking off, never returning to that location.  

===

A century later...

Though it was his mission to take out the given target, turned out the other was wary of his skills, thus hired many to take down this one hitman, after all, this one man was in a league of his own.

Kirin lived in a futuristic world where only 8% of the world's population possessed a birth defect known as the Longevity Defect - as the label states, this defect forms in the genes of newborns; a mutation in their genes that allows them to stop aging at a certain age, causing them to live longer lives than normal humans by 4x. These people were called Elites. That is because not only does this defect affect their lifespan but their physical strengths and abilities. Many of these Elites stood at the top of the food chain in society; some were benevolent, some were greedy, some were kind and passionate, while others were evil - in the end, they were still only human.

Before Kirin had discovered he had such a defect, his family were marked as targets. He was only 12 at the time when he successfully murdered all the hitmen who were ordered to wipe their family out. The only reason he never knew till then was because his parents hid it from him, fearing for their eldest son to becoming involved in such a dangerous world. When the big boss of these hitmen came face to face Kirin, he took him under his wing, to train him to be the best of all his men. 

The agency Kirin was taken under was a well-known one where only those who had the equivalent exchange for these contracted killers could hire, and all these contract killers were Elites. The agency worked for both the good and the evil, their motto: Neque enim Deus vel diaboli - 'Neither God or the Devil.' When on the job, if they were to come across a target who also hired someone from their same agency to protect them, it was survival of the fittest. If the other was their lover, the job still had to be accomplished, even if it meant killing their significant other. Only after when the mission was completed would they mourn for their loss.

For Kirin, being in this agency for the past 400 years, he has gained and learned all sorts of skills, ranging from handling ammunitions, to hacking into the internet, to cooking, to acting, etc. And because of this occupation, he never kept intimate relationships that involved emotions, just physical relationships to release pent up stress. He was sure to build his walls up high. But even after all those years of being chained to his big boss, he was never able to successfully kill his master and sever the chains that binded him. Though Kirin had such an occupation, what got him through those tortuous past 400 years were always his memories of his loving family: his mother, father, his younger twin brothers and little sister... though by now he has forgotten what they looked like... 

Feeling that it was time to join them, Kirin finally made up his mind.

During his final mission, Kirin deliberately let down his guard as he jumped in front of a bystander, taking a specially modified bullet to the heart. The opposing shooter was a man he was familiar with, a coworker he considered a friend throughout his painful years. With a smile and gentle eyes, Kirin leapt into the line of fire. When the bullet struck, Kirin felt his whole body getting blown away from impact. He coughed out blood as blood flowed from his wound, quickly draining his life. When Kirin finally passed on, there was a serene smile on his face, as if he had finally been set free from this dreadful life.

===

Although he took a shot to the heart, Kirin was quite certain his consciousness kept fading in and out... strange.

Shit! Don't tell me I failed?!?!?

Opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was the night sky filled with stars and the milky way. His eyes gleamed. It was truly a beautiful sight for him, taking his breath away as adrenaline filled his chest and lungs. Finally feeling his surroundings, he noticed he was laying down on top of a water surface. Sitting up, he looked down at the pristine surface that reflected the night sky to an endless horizon.

"... Did I die? Where am I?" Kirin whispered to himself. However, he never expected for a voice to answer him.

[Your soul has passed on from your physical body in your world. However, you are now stuck in the middle plane between limbo and the afterlife] a smooth and soothing female voice answered him through his mind.

Kirin's body straightened as he surveyed his surrounding, seeing no such threats around. Carefully, he asked, "Who are you?"

[I am System 01, or S-01. You are my chosen Host to venture through countless worlds by transmigration, answering to unfulfilled regrets or tasks in order to enter the afterlife.]

Kirin raised a brow in question, "Chosen? Chosen by who? And for what tasks?"

[Chosen by high authorities. These tasks will be issued upon entering a new world that you are assigned to complete. Failure to do so will result in punishment.]

Kirin thought for a while before busting out into laughter, holding his stomach. "AHAHAHAHA!!! I allowed someone to take my life in order to be freed from the chains Cain had on me. But I never thought that even after I died, I would, once again be chained! Even in death, I am not free! HAHAHA, what a damned fate I have!!"

S-01 did not say anything, letting Kirin laugh to his heart's content until there were tears in his eyes. When Kirin finally calmed down, his amethyst colored eyes were steady as they reflected the beautiful milky way. Languidly, he ran his hand through his tousled black hair, exposing the alluring beauty mark that was located underneath his right brow, closer to the tail of his brow. 

With a somber expression, Kirin thought back to the life he lived. It was living hell for him. Though he had acquaintances, he could never truly open up to them; he didn't get to live the life he wanted to. He allowed himself so easily to be held down by someone else, and he submitted, not once fighting seriously. Though he tried to kill Cain, some part of him always held back.

But now, he's getting the chance to go through countless worlds to live out someone else's life. But would that be right? He would be taking someone else's life. He has had enough of that. Reading his mind, S-01 responded to his worries.

[No need to feel guilty, Host. These worlds that you are traveling to and the bodies in which your soul will be transmigrating into are all assigned based on your compatibility sorted by the higher authorities. These people that you are transmigrating into have already lived their lives once, so you won't really be taking someone else's life.]

Feeling somewhat relieved, Kirin sighed with the weight in his heart lightening. Though he was still somewhat reluctant to do so, he was also quite curious about those who lived life differently from his; were their lives better or worse than his? Only one way to find out - take on the tasks. "Alright. I'll take on these tasks. However, knowing that I'm tied to this so called system, I don't feel free at all."

[Host, don't worry. In these worlds, you will not be confined to me; I will only be assisting you on your missions. However,...] S-01's voice drifted.

Kirin, "However?"

S-01: [If you fail to reach the minimum acceptable satisfaction points placed by higher authorities when completing these missions, you will be stuck in limbo, entering countless worlds, for as long as it takes, not being able to pass on.] 

Kirin, "..."

S-01: [...]

Kirin sighed heavily, "...Fine. I'll do it."

[Thank you for understanding, Host. Now, if you are ready, we will be entering the first world that has been issued] S-01 remarked.

"Alright. Let's get started. The sooner the better," a faint smile crawled onto Kirin's face before a light flashed and quickly blacked out. Kirin has now entered the first world.