Strongest Mystic
Chapter 1 Why Do You Have To Go Back?

Ethan Chase had always been a man driven by his own desires, willing to do whatever it took to get what he wanted. But as he lay on top of the building, staring up at the starry sky, the weight of his own regrets felt crushing. He had hurt so many people, all in the pursuit of his own pleasure. And in the end, it had brought him nothing but pain and emptiness.

The sky above was a canvas of twinkling lights, each one a reminder of the endless possibilities that lay beyond. But as Ethan gazed up at the beauty above, he couldn't help but feel that the darkness within was just as vast. The stars seemed to be hiding a truth that he couldn't escape, a truth that he was afraid to face.

As he looked back on his life, he couldn't help but wonder if this was the universe's way of balancing the scales. Had he reaped what he had sown?

But despite his regrets, Ethan couldn't shake the desire for revenge. He wanted those who had wronged him to pay for their actions, to feel the same pain and suffering he had endured.

Ethan's story began when he was reincarnated into his current body, a moment that felt like it happened a lifetime ago.

⸻🕐⸻

As his eyes fluttered open, he was met with a bright white light. For a moment, everything was hazy and unclear. But as his vision cleared, he found himself staring at a translucent screen that seemed to be hovering in the air in front of him.

At first, Ethan couldn't understand what he was looking at. The words and on the screen seemed to have no meaning, and his mind felt heavy and sluggish.

Slowly, memories began to surface. He remembered being in a car crash while trying to escape the Kussian attack on his country. And then, he remembered dying.

As he stared at the words on the screen in front of him, he couldn't believe what he was reading.

[Every time we are reborn, we have the chance to decide who we want to be and what path we want to follow.]

'New life? Rebirth?' he thought to himself. It was impossible. He remembered the pain and everything, but maybe he had been taken to the hospital and was eventually saved. That made more sense than the idea of rebirth. He closed his eyes and shook his head, sure that when he opened them again, the screen in front of him would have disappeared. But when he opened his eyes, the screen was still there.

"What the fuck?" he muttered. As if in response, the text on the screen changed.

[Ethan Hunt, it is true that you have reincarnated in the body of Ethan Chase. Do you want to recover your memories or continue to rest for a while longer? You can use your thoughts to control the system.]

This must be a dream, just like the one he had before. He looked around and saw that the hospital room was also the same as in the dream. But the softness of the bed, the air going through his nose... everything felt too real to be a dream.

'Ugh, let's just go with the flow,' Ethan decided. 'If this is really a dream, I'll wake up soon. If it's not... well, I don't know.'

His body felt weak and his mind was foggy. He took a deep breath and thought, 'Well, I won't be able to sleep now, so it's better to replace out what's going on.'

The so-called system asked for confirmation and when Ethan nodded, he felt a sharp sting in his head that only lasted a second. He blinked and asked, his voice sounding weak, "I don't feel anything new?"

[Your body is too weak right now. You will only be able to see the memories when you trigger them. Triggering means an event which results in you seeing the related memory. For example-]

"I understand," Ethan said. "Like if I see a familiar person, I'll automatically get the information related to them."

[Affirmative. For now, what do you want to know?]

Ethan had already started to feel that this was the reality. He wasn't particularly excited about his rebirth because he was still in the dark about what was going on. He asked the two most important questions that came to mind. "How did I get to this hospital? Just tell me, don't show me the scene. And what are you really?"

[In high school-]

"Ah, and just summarize it. No need to go into the details." Ethan figured that the past didn't matter as much as the present.

[Affirmative... Ethan Chase used to be bullied in high school. In his second year, one incident of bullying was too much and he suffered a head injury that resulted in a coma that lasted for three years until his soul dispersed and you took over the body.]

Ethan was glad that the system seemed smart and user-friendly. He had deliberately cut it off twice to check this. He narrowed his eyes and asked more questions.

"If I ask you more questions now," Ethan inquired, "what will be your priority in answering them?"

[It depends on the question and your intention. If it is related to the current topic, the system will answer it. If not, the old question will be answered first. This can be overridden by your will. If you give more priority to the new question, it will be answered first.]

"That's pretty cool," Ethan murmured, glancing at his thin arm. He didn't have the energy to get up, a side effect of being in a coma for three years.

"Did you kill Ethan's soul for me to take over?" Ethan asked, a frown forming on his face.

[Negative. It was Ethan Chase's wish. You were originally meant to be reincarnated based on your merit value, but because of your compatibility with Ethan's wish, you are here.]

"Just what do you want from-" Ethan began to ask, but was interrupted when the door to his room opened. Instinctively, he ordered the system to hide itself and froze when he saw the person entering the room.

⸻🕐⸻

A slender redhead woman with curves in all the right places, a nurse's uniform hugging her form, approached him with a soft smile on her face, something hidden behind her back.

Ethan stared at her with sweat dripping down his face. Before he could even cry out or move his body, the woman lunged at him with incredible speed.

She covered his mouth tightly with one hand and, in the other, a knife glinted in the light.

Ethan looked at her in terror as she whispered, "Why did you come back from the dead, you bastard?"

...and plunged the knife deep into Ethan's heart.