was taking his final breath as the stone necklace burst into a red, fla

Am I dead? Is thi

rroundings. After a moment, his vision gradually clea

one of it made sense. His entire body ached, and bruises covered his skin. Yet there was n

ident would have meant spending the rest of his

ched violently. He remained like that for several minutes until the pain finally

ood what h

reinc

memories of this body's previous own

n. They had to be remnants of the previous owner's consciousness. That owner had also been named Alex and, like him, had been an

dissipated and had instead merged with his soul. He could n

" he murmured. "Well, that's still better than ceasing to exist. Eve

tly and accep

on Earth, he had only a handful of friends, most of whom were regular customers. He had spent most of his life

ove like any other youth. Those bastards beat him to death. And his girlfriend could have si

let out a short,

had the same dream I d

had been passionate about it and had even registered for a hu

, his talent had

ly. "And I'll chase the dream we both shared, the dr

stung as

hieve in this one. Even if his talent was only average,

rmined your path based on your deepest wish. Based on

g out in his mind,

e froze as the pieces b

red

about it. How had he arrived in this world in the first place? His soul must have

Wish Stone. What was the true story behind it? Did his adoptive father know about its power

estions would n

another

ger, he could not afford to. The place was dark and deserted, and he could

almost forgetting how badly he had been

hed his apartment. He rented a single

oking. She paused when she n

that? Wait, why are there bruises all ov

o reassure her. "I got into a small fight

ithout he

ed. She nodded and said nothing more, thou

e first time he had seen her with his own eyes ra

r tenants knew she was a good person at heart. He had owed her money many times in the past, and she had

agged himself in

d never been a tidy person. He would have

. Still, before that, he needed to see

n front of t