Chapter 1: Chapter 01- The Beginning: I’ll become an immortal!

A boy, 18-19 years of age, sat in the dark and gloomy corner seat of a pure white, centrally air-conditioned office room of the Chinese Embassy/Consulate away from everyone and was scrolling through his phone so intently that it appeared as if his life depended on it or something.

The boy was good-looking and had an ‘attractive guy’ kind of aura around him because of which it didn’t take much time for him to become the center of attraction in the plain boring room where the only things present were the piles of unattended files and the crowds of busy people.

Well anyway, the boy was completely focused on his mobile phone, it was as if he had reached the state of becoming one with it or something, but it's a pity that this state of oneness didn’t last for too long as just after a few moments, this 'State of Oneness' was completely obliterated by a voice from one of the counters at the consulate,

“P-144, please report at the counter”

The voice belonged to a lady, probably in her early thirties. She was sitting at the counter behind a glass panel and was looking at the boy with a sleepy expression on her face, as if she just couldn’t wait to complete the work that was in front of her and then go to sleep.

The boy stopped using his phone, got up from his seat, and walked straight to the counter carrying a file that must be containing all of his important documents in it.

For someone of his age to come to the embassy all by himself must mean that either he was trying to get admission into some Chinese university or maybe he was going on a tour to China with his class, friends, or family, well anyway, the boy ended up attracting a lot of attention from around himself because of his good looks.

Pretending to be oblivious to the various gazes the boy marched forward and stood in front of the counter looking at the lady with eyes full of joy and expectations.

The counter lady looked at the boy with an amused expression on her face and said, “Sorry to inform you but your request for the visa was rejected”

Although she said sorry, her voice didn’t have even an ounce of pity in it rather it sounded as if she was stifling her laughter. But why?

The boy, for a moment, had a ridiculous expression on his face, he had a smile on his face but his eyes looked lost and tears were flowing from them alongside the snot that had just started flowing from his nose. The boy looked as if he had gone mental, completely insane if I were to say so myself.

The pitiful boy, even though I hate to admit it, was none other than me.

And did she just say my application was rejected!? But why? What did I do wrong?

I was going to ask her but before I could she started talking herself,

“You must be thinking why was your application rejected? Well, that’s because your reason… puhahaha! Ahem! I’m sorry. Well, you see your reason to go to China was not acceptable by the embassy here that’s why your visa request was rejected”

Huh?

“What? Did you really think you could go to some other nation using such a ridiculous reason?” the lady said in a mocking tone making a joke out of my dream and ambitions.

I couldn’t take it this time, no matter how low I get, I won’t let anyone make fun of my dream!

“Mind your words, this king won’t…”

I was about to complete my sentence when suddenly, for some reason, everyone in the office room started laughing.

“Hahhahahaha?”

“Ahahaha…. he said ‘this king’… puhahahaha!”

“Haahahaha! Haahh! Huff huff, I am going to die from asthmahahahahaha!!!”

“Ew… a chuuni~”

…

…

“Wow kid, you sure are hilarious. Well whatever, you won’t be able to go to China with such a ridiculous excuse” the lady once again said making fun of my dreams!

I was about to lose control over myself but I somehow endured this humiliation, I needed that visa no matter what,  that's why... that's why I have to make sure that I don't act disrespectful towards this woman! 

But still, I just can't let her go without saying anything!

“Did you just say ‘excuse’!? That’s my dream you are talking about, rice can be eaten with noodles but words cannot be said carelessly! I will go to China and become an immortal!!! Do you get that!!!? And who the hell called me a Chuuni!? I will throw you from the window if I ever find you out!!!” I said with full power behind my lungs but I doubt my words fell into anyone’s ears as people started laughing again and my voice drowned in the echoes of the loud laughter.

Dammit!!!

...

The laughing continued for a while before it ultimately stopped.

I looked at the lady at the counter again and said sounding as polite as I could,

“I am sorry miss, but could you please tell me what’s wrong with my 'reason for travel'? Would I be breaking some kind of an international treaty if I were to become an immortal?”

This time no one laughed, everyone was busy doing their respective tasks and no matter how much of a clown someone was, no one would forever pay attention to him and hamper their own work.

Although, there were still a few of them who laughed at me from time to time but it wasn’t like before when everyone was laughing at me at the same time. So I guess it's fine. 

“I don’t know the stuff about becoming an immortal or whatever but look, you aren’t the first person to have submitted this as your reason to go to China, actually there were countless others in the past who were the same as you. All of them were young and enthusiastic, but in the end, none of them succeeded in achieving their dream. Worst of all, most of them got scammed by the local thugs pretending to be immortals and ended up losing all of their money. Some of them even ended up joining shady gangs or the mafia. This created a lot of problems for the Government there that’s why they started rejecting any and every visa application with the same reason as yours” the lady this time explained much more thoroughly,

Hmm… this means that I can’t go there if I use such a reason, then what if… I apply for the visa again and change my reason? For example something like, ‘I want to go and experience the rich history of China’?

“Don’t even think about doing that either. The ones sitting at the government offices aren’t idiots who would fall for such a simple trick, plus, even though it isn’t written anywhere, but the thing is, once you have had your visa rejected because of this reason then you might never be able to go to China, they will always reject your visa application no matter what you do. I mean just think about it, what if you lose all your money and become some kind of a criminal, hah? Well, you don't look like the type to become someone like that but still, it's better to be safe than sorry, no?” the lady informed me before I could bring my plan to fruition thereby ruining all of my plans for a better and glorious future.

How great would it have been if I were to become an immortal and soar in the sky like a dragon? Ah~ how am I going to live my life without ever bringing my dream to reality!? Am I going to die without enjoying the pleasures of life!?

The lady at the counter, as if she had read my expression, said,

“Look, I have seen your documents just now, and looking at your class scores, it’s completely obvious that you are a bright student. Then why are you wasting your life thinking about such delusional things? Wake up from those fantasy dreams and contribute something to the nation that raised you! Join the mainstream population and support the nation, that’s the best way to become an immortal!!!” She said forming a fist and pumping her non-existent muscles.

I appreciate your effort ma’am,

Yes, yes I truly appreciate it.

But, since I am a piece of trash I will have to say something to you,

“Ma’am, can I ask you a question?”

The lady looked at me and then with a pleasant smile on her face, she nodded as if she was giving me the approval to go ahead,

“Well, how do I contribute to the nation and become an immortal?”

The lady flashed me a big smile and then said, “Well, that’s easy, become a taxpayer and contribute to the economy, just like I do! And then you’ll become an immortal for this country as well!!! Truth be told I was also a lover of fantasy novels, but for me, those days are now nothing but fond memories of my childhood. Only after earning money and helping the country did I truly realize the true meaning of life. Novels with supernatural elements are nothing but a way to get away from reality. So please trust me as your elder and drop this pipe dream of becoming an immortal, stuff like that doesn't exist in real life”

As expected!

Containing my anger, I took deep breaths to calm myself and said,

“Then miss, have you become an immortal?” I asked the lady sounding as polite as I could,

The lady looked confused for a second but when she realized the meaning behind my words she started growling and then said,

“You…!!!”

But I wasn’t going to let her lecture me either,

So I bend forward and hit the glass panel between the two of us with my palm and said,

“What!? Have you become an immortal now? Tell me! Or would you like me to spell it out for you, you nameless hag! The only thing you are good at is making fun of others' dreams when you yourself are nothing but a corpse without any dreams! You understand!? You dumb hag!!! You make it sound as if my dream is childish but I know full well that even now, before you go to sleep you wish about reincarnating in a parallel world or something where you will be taken away by some handsome prince, don’t you, hag? Pfft! Your dream is even more childish than mine, just go away and ask your parents to fix a marriage interview for you, you won’t ever be getting a boyfriend at this rate!”

The woman had tears in her eyes and was looking at me hatefully as if she might eat me alive!

It was then that I suddenly felt a hand strongly gripping my shoulder, irritated as I was, I turned my head and said, “What the hell do you want!?” only to find out that the one who had just put his hand on my shoulder was none other than a man in a uniform with a rifle on his back, yes, it was a policeman…

***

“Huff, huff, huff…”

An 18 years old boy lay hidden behind a heap of trash, panting heavily and looking carefully ahead of him as the noise of footsteps resounded in the surroundings and then finally stopped just a few meters away from where he was hiding,

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“Where did that brat go!?” said one of the men in uniform, by looking at him it was obvious that he was a police officer.

“Tch, so fast! If I catch that brat again then I’ll make him know the consequences of saying those mean things to Lady Sera!!!” Another policeman said in a voice full of conviction, anger, and hate.

And as for ‘Lady Sera’ that he just mentioned, that must be the woman at the counter.

Coming back to the topic, the policemen stood there for some time and then ran ahead looking for the possible whereabouts of the boy.

Looking at the policemen leave, the boy let out a sigh of relief, and then cautiously left the place too.

The boy looked no different than a criminal on run, the boy had the dream of becoming an immortal, I was the boy.

***

After somehow escaping from the policemen’s clutches, I ended up on the familiar street that was in front of my house. I guess I would be safe if I don’t leave my house for a while… I mean, I don’t think the police officers would chase me till here. I didn't really do much after all.

At first, I decided to go back to my house but in the end, I decided to eat some ice cream before heading back home and went to the ice cream truck standing in front of the pavement. 

The ice cream truck belonged to an old man whose wife had died just 2 years ago.

The old man, when he saw me approaching flashed me a genial smile and handed me over my favorite Strawberry chocolate chip ice cream before I even had the chance to say anything. Well, I guess it only makes sense for him to know about my favorite ice cream since I had been buying ice cream from his truck ever since I was just a little brat.

I happily took the ice cream from the old man’s hands and started eating it. The old man knew me for a long time that’s why he was never insistent on asking me for money. And well, I wasn’t the type to run away with someone’s money either, so I guess the two of us had some mutual trust towards each other.

The old man didn’t pay any attention to me anymore and started handing out ice creams to the other customers.

It was the same for me as I started eating my ice cream with an amount of concentration that was enough to melt even the snow at the peak of Mt. Everest.

It was then,

Someone handed over a paper note to the old man but because of the strong winds, the note ended up flying away from the old man’s hand and ended up on the middle of the road. The old man ran swiftly towards it, but at the same time, a bonk of a horn sounded; there was a truck approaching the old man at an unbelievably fast speed!

The old man, looking at the approaching truck, stood there frozen and confused as if he was having the last visions of his life before his inevitable death.

“Kyaaah!!!!” the scream of a woman resounded everywhere, people stood there frightened and shaken, some of them had their eyes closed, and some of them were looking with eyes as wide as the full moon.

“Tchhh~!!!” the sound of tires screeching,

“Gahhh!!!” the loud and pained groan of an old man

And,

“Ughhh…!!!” another pained grunt reverberated throughout the busy street

There was a deep silence in the surroundings, no one spoke even a single word, but just this deathly silence was enough to state one thing; something terrible had happened here!

Only after a few moments later did the people standing nearby came back to their senses, and run towards the old man to check his condition, after determining that he wasn’t dead, the people there breathed a sigh of relief and then finally looked at the ‘thing’ before the truck.

The ‘thing’ was bleeding heavily,

I was the ‘thing’, and no, I didn't push the old man at the cost of my own life.

Well actually, I didn't even have the chance to do anything for the old man, as the truck was so fast that no matter how fast I ran I would have never been able to save the old man in time.

But then how did I end up getting hit by the truck?

Well, that's because just before hitting the old man, the truck driver hit the breaks with so much force that in the end, the truck ended up drifting towards me and then finally stopped after crushing me beneath it.

Yes,

Even though I was standing on the pavement, even though I didn't try to save the old man, I ended up getting hit by a truck!

Dammit!!!! I didn't even have the chance to respond!

O heavens! Do u really fear me that much!?

Gah! I guess I should have returned to my apartment!!!

Ugh... no use thinking about it now tch! 

Vision slowly faded away from my eyes and I stopped hearing anything anymore, my consciousness started to blur, and then I…

***

A pleasant smell of herbs or maybe an incense stick entered my nose and put my mind to ease and I don’t know why but for some reason I felt as if I had woken up from a very long sleep.

A long sleep? But when did I fall asleep?

The last thing I remember was getting my visa application rejected from the Embassy… wait, no, didn’t I get hit by a truck?

A truck?

…

Wait… don’t tell me… was I in a comatose state!?

Was that feeling of drowsiness the result of me being in comatose for a long time!?

What year is it right now!?

Don’t tell me… have I become an old fart!?

Oh god!!!

I hurriedly opened my eyes but for some reason, even after opening them, I wasn’t able to see anything for some time.

I remember reading this in a book that after waking up from a long sleep, our eyes take some time to get back to normal. Was I really in a comatose state? What am I gonna do!?

After a few moments, my vision finally returned to normal and the full picture of my room came into my view,

It was… a bamboo shack…?

A bamboo shack? Where the hell am I?

I looked around only to find a cute girl probably 12-13 years looking at me curiously with her round watery eyes. The girl was wearing traditional clothes similar to the ones which the girls in manhuas or manhwas always wear, well, to be precise, she wearing the traditional women’s clothes of East Asian countries like China, Korea, Thailand, etc.

But seriously though, where am I? At some kind of an ancient medical center in the east? Could it be that I am getting some kind of ancient medication here? Well whatever, I guess I should get up first and then check out the situation.

I tried to get up from the bed on which I had been laying for god knows how long, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get up at all.

Are all my muscles jammed or something? Well, it makes sense, I guess I should probably ask the girl to help me get up.

I looked at the girl and nodded my head, the girl did the same and I raised my hand towards her. But the moment I stretched my hand towards her and looked at it, I ended up receiving the biggest shock of my small 18 years of life.

Yes, instead of the somewhat muscular arm and the big hand that I had grown accustomed to for some time, what I saw was the tiny, skinny, and pale arm of a toddler.

‘What the hell happened!?’ is what I should have asked myself but I didn’t think there was any reason for me to go with the usual 'acting dumb' act since I had already read enough fantasy novels to know perfectly about the situation I was in.

Looks like the Truck-kun has done it again,

Yep, looks like I got reincarnated.