Reincarnated as the Baby: The foolish heir of Ravencrest

1. Awakened in the void

The last thing I saw was my body erupting into flames, the heat tearing through my flesh and bone as the explosion engulfed the entire building. In an instant, everything seemed to erase its existence and was swallowed by a blinding flash. I remember it very clearly—the agonized screams of that proud man as the fire consumed him. And then there was Selery, whose body was caught in the fire's merciless grip and the flames curling around her like twisted fingers.

But how was I seeing this? How could I be recalling my own death with such clarity? It was impossible, yet the memories were very vivid.

And after that... nothing.

I was surrounded in darkness. An endless and suffocating void. There was no ground beneath me, no sky above me, only a crushing emptiness that wrapped itself around me like a shroud. I couldn't move. I couldn't see. My all senses were cut off, leaving me with nothing but only thoughts, and I was suspended in an eternal abyss like a prisoner in a place that had no shape, no sound, no escape.

Idle host detected.

That voice again. That cold, emotionless voice, echoing in this darkness and repeating the same commands over and over that I never understood.

Initiating synchronization process...

A sudden jolt surged through me again, like a pulse of electricity racing along my nerves. My consciousness seemed to quiver, but then the sensation faded, slipping away like water through my fingers.

Synchronization failed.

The darkness thickened around me again by wrapping me tightly and suffocating me in with its nothingness.

Searching for a new host...

I had heard this voice so many times that I had lost count. It brought the same result every time—failure. At first, I tried calling it out, begging it to answer my questions. What was happening to me? What was this... host? And what exactly was Aster? But the voice never responded to my desperate pleas. It just continued its cold and calculated loop.

Trapped into this endless cycle, I began to wonder if this was my punishment. Was it some kind of purgatory for my sins? Or had I become a ghost who was bound to this darkness? Memories of Selery were the only thing keeping me from unraveling completely. Her smile, her voice, the way she'd laugh... They were the threads holding me together. Though I could no longer feel tears even when I wept for her.

"What had I become? What was left of me in this place?"

All I ever wanted was to live a peaceful life with Selery, sharing simple moments and savoring her cooking. But everything was gone. It could have been years—centuries, in this dark abyss, where time had lost all meaning. The only thing that remained was this darkness, which is suffocating and relentless.

Idle host detected.

"Here it comes again."

Synchronizing with a new host...

Initiating synchronization process...

"Another failure, no doubt."

Synchronization successful.

"What? Successful? I mishear it, right?"

Suddenly I feel a surge of energy shot through the endless void. Something stirred. Something inside me. I felt... a presence, a connection, like I was being pulled out of the endless dark. I tried to move after my senses, which are long dulled by the endless void, began to return. I felt limbs, weight, and the pull of gravity.