1 The Reincarnation

[General POV]

Brazil, São Paulo. Capão Redondo. Inside one of the favelas in the outskirts of São Paulo, a young man can be seen typing ferociously on his PC keyboard, looking like a troll or a red pill having an argument online. Fortunately, the young man doesn't seem to be 14 years old, so it's unlikely, in fact, he appears to be 20 years old.

His room was simple, typical of the rougher areas of the city, with only an old PC and a tube TV. This TV was apparently playing an episode of The Walking Dead. It seems the young man was typing a monologue to himself, which said the following words:

[Main POV]

My name is John and I'm a 24-year-old young man passionate about writing. Since I was a child, I've always been fascinated by the stories my parents read to me before bedtime. And it was thinking about that that I decided to write this little text about one of the best TV series in the world, The Walking Dead. I can't believe The Walking Dead is over. It seems like yesterday I watched the first episode, eager to see how a TV series could bring zombies, which have always been an interesting theme in movies and books, to life.

I grew up with this series, and seeing the end is like losing a long-time friend. I remember so many nights staying up late watching the episodes, rooting for the characters I loved and hating those I hated.

I know the series had its ups and downs, but still, it was something special to me. I connected with the characters in a way I never thought possible with fictional characters. I laughed with them, cried with them, and celebrated their victories.

Now, after years of following the story, I don't know what to do. It seems like there's a void in my life now that the series is over. But I'm still grateful for all the moments I had with this amazing series. I'll still watch all the episodes again, and maybe one day, they'll come back with another series, to make me feel that sense of survival, hope, and friendship that The Walking Dead brought me.

After finishing this little text, I look out the window of my room and realize it's already starting to dawn. I smile at the beauty of the first rays of sunlight...

(BOOM)

[General Pov]

In the outskirts, there are only three ways to make it into the news, and John knew them all too well: becoming a famous soccer player, turning into a singer, or dying in a strange way. John's case was the last option.

On that morning, he managed to make the headlines, and the news anchor delivered the story with a characteristic mournful expression that didn't mean much, in the end. The beautiful anchor continues with a sad look on her face as she speaks:

"It is with great sadness that we report the news of the death of a 24-year-old man in his home after a gas explosion. The incident occurred early this Friday morning in the city of São Paulo.

According to preliminary reports, the explosion happened in the kitchen of the apartment where the young man lived alone. Neighbors reported hearing a loud blast and quickly called the firefighters. Unfortunately, by the time the emergency teams arrived at the scene, the young man had already passed away.

It is still unknown exactly what caused the explosion, but authorities suspect a gas leak. A team from the São Paulo Gas Company (Comgás) was called to inspect the site and determine the cause of the accident.

The young man's family is deeply shaken by the sudden and tragic loss. Friends and relatives have been leaving messages of comfort on social media, mourning the premature death of the young man."

[Main Pov]

With wide eyes, I observe the sea of people around me, feeling fear infiltrate my body. The crowd of people walk towards an unknown place, their faces empty as if they were zombies in a horror movie. I don't know how I got here. The last thing I remember is writing a text about The Walking Dead. But it seems there was an explosion. I think it was an explosion, actually. I only remember hearing a loud noise and a strong light. Now I'm here, in this scary place, trying to understand what's going on.

As I think about this, I start analyzing these people and begin to follow them. I walk along with these people, trying to talk to one or the other, but none of them respond to me. Throughout the way, I remain with a scared look, while I look around, searching for some explanation.

I follow them for 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 1 hour and so on.

At first, I walked for a few hours in search of someone who could talk to me and explain what was going on. I had my suspicions, but I was too afraid to think about it.

Unfortunately, my walk proved useless. The good thing is that here I don't seem to feel hunger or tiredness, which reinforces the idea that I'm really dead. I looked at a pile of rocks in the midst of darkness and stopped for a moment to relax before continuing my walk. I did this for an indefinite period of time.

I walked for days, rested a little and then walked again. I stayed in this scheme for so long that I gave up on finding someone. The only reason to keep walking was to avoid going insane.

Until one day, I finally saw something different ahead of me. A few kilometers away, I saw a large portal. However, there were some train turnstiles in front of it, through which people were passing.

I decided that maybe I could finally get out of this hell, so I headed towards the turnstiles. Since the men in front of me were not conscious, I was able to pass them smoothly.

When I arrived in front of one of them, I saw a small computer with some information written about me, such as age, name, and where I lived until my death. But there was one particular part that impressed me: there was a tab saying "reincarnation destination."

I look at the turnstile screen and click on the part that said that. I can see that the touch screen works and redirects me to another tab. After reading the name, I was momentarily excited, but when I remembered the real situation, fear set in my mind. The name I had seen was The Walking Dead, the same world that I had dedicated hundreds of hours to seeing and analyzing, I loved it more than anything, but one thing is to read about something, watch it, or even study about the theme through the fandom, another thing is to experience that reality, a bite could end everything.

Thinking about it, I start messing with the panel to see if there's anything else that could help me get out of this situation, and eventually, I discovered something that made me happy, but soon after, that same happiness vanished because, in fact, I could change some functions, but I couldn't change the location for reincarnation.

Seeing that I couldn't change it, I kept clicking until I found a section written "status" and so I clicked to see more about it. When I pressed it, I was redirected to a section that looked like a game's status that contained your personal data again, but this time much more complete.

Name: John Howlett Ferreira

Age: 24 years old

Bloodline: Normal human with a small connection to Wolverine and John Wick

Status: Deceased

Cause of death: Died in a house explosion due to a gas leak.

Reincarnation: The world of The Walking Dead

Power level: Beginner

Attributes:

Strength: Normal

Agility: Normal

Intelligence: Above average

Combat ability: Basic

Survival ability: Basic

Items:

None

Abilities:

None

One part intrigued him, "small connection to Wolverine and John Wick" seeing this he thought about clicking on this part to see if he could discover more about it, and indeed the screen responded to his touch. Then a more detailed explanation about bloodline appeared.

So it appeared, other relevant data: John Howlett Ferreira is a common young man, with no special abilities. However, his name carries a small connection to two famous characters: Wolverine and John Wick. The surname "Howlett" is the same as the birth name of the character Wolverine, James Howlett. The surname "Wick" is shared with the protagonist of the action movie series, John Wick. Despite this, John Howlett Ferreira has no direct relation to these fictional characters and lived his life normally in Capão Redondo, São Paulo.

Just below that, there were words that got me very excited, words that I had to read out loud to make sure I hadn't misunderstood, "There is a small chance of gaining some ability from both or one of them during reincarnation."

Stay tuned for the next chapter.