i became the ultimate hero in another world

Reincarnation

Edward sat in the passenger seat of a small blue beetle-like car that belonged to his co-worker, Vallerie. He let out a soft sigh as he rested his chin on his hand, feeling the wind blowing through his white hair as the car cruised along the highway. His soft blue eyes focused on a group of pigeons flying high in the sky.

"Are you tired from work?" Vallerie asked, her eyes focused on the road ahead and her hands firmly gripping the steering wheel. Every now and then, she glanced over at Eddie, wearing a warm smile on her face.

Edward shook his head. "The library wasn't as busy as usual around summer break, so I managed. It was actually quite boring. It's the chess tournament—I don't know if I'm up for it," he said, looking away to avoid her gaze, aware that his words might have upset her; he did ask her to drive him all the way there, after all.

Vallerie chuckled softly, her hazelnut hair cascading down her face and flowing in the wind from the open car windows. "Eddie, we can always turn around, you know? I agreed to drive you there, but we could do something else too," she suggested, her cheeks slightly flushed.

The two of them continued their journey, with the hum of the car's engine providing a soothing backdrop to their conversation. As they drove, Eddie found himself stealing glances at Vallerie, admiring her easy-going nature and the way she made him feel comfortable despite his reservations about the chess tournament.

"Maybe we can see a movie?" Eddie said, stumbling on his words a little. His heart was racing, and he was still staring out of the window.

"Eddie?" Vallerie said, a bit surprised but happy. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

The conversation went silent for a couple of seconds as they took an exit off the highway. "Yeah," Eddie replied, feeling his heart beating out of his chest, and he turned his head to see Vallerie's expression.

Her smile was beautiful, the way her brown hair was waving in the wind as she looked at him with her sparkling blue eyes. Eddie felt his heart skip a beat and looked at her, admiring her for a second. His eyes widened as he looked past her out of the driver-side window. "LOOK OU—" Eddie yelled as the sound of a loud truck horn flooded their ears.

With the heart-pounding moment of the truck's impact into the driver's side of the blue car, the world seemed to slow down for Eddie and Vallerie. The car spun around and tumbled as the force of the collision sent them careening off the road. Glass shattered, and the world turned into a chaotic blur of noise and motion.

As the dust settled and the initial shock subsided, Eddie found himself suspended in his seatbelt, disoriented yet remarkably conscious. He mustered the strength to glance over at Vallerie, who dangled upside down in her seatbelt beside him, visibly injured and barely holding onto consciousness. Panic surged through Eddie as he frantically attempted to assess their dire situation. The car lay in ruins, far from any immediate help, leaving them stranded and vulnerable.

"Eddie, are you okay?" Vallerie's voice quivered with genuine concern, her pain momentarily forgotten as she worried for him.

The world around them seemed to blur, fading into darkness, as Edward drifted in and out of consciousness.

"Eddie, your stomach..." Her voice trailed off as her pain overwhelmed her, and she succumbed to unconsciousness. Eddie tried to maintain focus, despite the blood trickling down his face from his injured abdomen. "No... wait. This isn't fair; I needed just a little more time." Desperation consumed him as he fought against the encroaching blackness. Soon, everything went dark, and he found himself drifting into an unfathomable void of nothingness for what seemed to be hours.

Suddenly, an omnipresent voice reverberated throughout the void, its ethereal echo resounding like a multitude of people speaking in unison, yet forming a single, commanding presence.

"Skill acquired: 'Time Keeper,'" the enigmatic voice proclaimed.

"Huh?" Eddie's bewildered gaze swept across his surroundings, but all he could perceive was the vast expanse of the black void enveloping him. "What is this? I can't see anything..."

Again, the omnipresent voice intoned, "Skill acquired: 'Appraisal,'" and in that moment, Eddie noticed a faint blue outline materializing around his hands. It resembled an aura of sorts. Suddenly, a small, almost digital-like panel materialized before him, displaying what appeared to be a collection of statistics concerning his own body.

"What is all this?" Eddie's voice quivered with a mixture of awe and confusion. Yet, before he could grasp the enormity of the situation, he felt consciousness slipping away. The darkness encroached, threatening to swallow him whole. "Wait! I don't want to be alone!" he yelled out desperately.

But the omnipresent voice continued undeterred, "Skill acquired: 'assistant.' Soul transference complete."

As Eddie succumbed to the void, an inexplicable sensation washed over him. It was as though he was floating in an endless sea of colors. He gasped for air loudly, awakening to the sound of flames wavering in the wind, screams of townspeople running for their lives followed by a loud, terrifying roar of a creature.

Eddie lay on the dirt road as he opened his eyes, and a young girl with brown hair and blue eyes, just like Vallerie, was holding him in her arms, crying and pleading, "Please! Voice of the world, bring Valen back to us!" She held onto Eddie tighter and placed her hand on his chest. A warm and soothing sensation coursed throughout his body as a green light enveloped him. Before he could ask himself what the light was, he heard the omnipresent voice speak in his mind, "Appraisal: low-tier healing magic."