"Aaah!" Ren screamed as her eyes shot open violently, the shock of being crushed alive under the cabinet still fresh in her mind.
Wait… I should be dead. I should be in the afterlife, getting judged by God for my sins, Ren thought, her hand instinctively rising to her chin as her wide eyes scanned her surroundings.
But instead of clouds or fire—or anything divine—she saw a filthy, rundown house. Trash was scattered everywhere. The walls were cracked, the air heavy with dust and mold. This place wasn't fit for human life—it looked more like a rat's nest than anything else.
And then the weirdness kicked in.
Her body felt…off. Lighter. Shorter. Her hands looked unfamiliar, marked with strange, faint symbols. Everything about her felt foreign.
Her gaze finally landed on a cracked, dirty mirror in the corner of the room. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years. Hesitantly, she moved closer.
And what she saw made her freeze.
The reflection staring back at her wasn't her own.
It was someone else—a girl with short black hair, pale brownish-white skin, and medium height. Her face was nothing like Ren's original one, and her eyes were black instead of green. And yet… it moved when she did. Blinked when she blinked . The most thing was that there was blood on her clothes—splattered around her.
Her breath caught in her throat.
So… I've been reincarnated. Taken over this girl's body?
She took a shaky breath, eyes locked on the cracked mirror in front of her. This is what I look like now?
Then why does it feel so wrong? Honestly, she'd take being dead over reincarnation any day.
She slowly moved around the room, searching for something to change into. The place was a mess, cluttered and chaotic. Amidst the disorder, she found a small stash of money, a cracked phone, and a student ID card buried beneath an old hoodie.
Name: Rize KimihiroSchool: Midtown High
Midtown High…?
Rize narrowed her eyes. This is getting weirder by the second. She was pretty sure Midtown High didn't exist in real-life New York—it was from the Marvel Universe.
What the hell is going on?I should be dead… but I'm not. I'm in someone else's body. And what happened to my mother i hope she is alright.
As she scrolled through the phone, her stomach dropped. Her or the mother pf the body she had taken over had died in an accident months ago. Her father? Incarcerated for organized crime.
Her eyes widened.
Flashes of memory struck her—blood splattered walls, crimson-stained hands, and something… wet, raw, and bloodied being she shoving into her mouth. She could feel it, taste it, but it was all a blur. A hazy, like a fog clouded the edges of her mine.
Her hands trembled slightly as she clutched the phone to her chest.I have a ton of questions… and barely any answers.
Ren—now Rize—closed her eyes, her mind spinning in a spiral of confusion, grief, and the surreal horror of whatever this new life was.
Suddenly, a loud growl came from her stomach.
Her face flushed red from embarrassment, even though there was no one around to see it.
"Ugh… of course I'm hungry too," she muttered, quickly making her way toward what looked like a kitchen, hoping to find something—anything—to eat in this dump of a house.
She moved around the kitchen only to find there was barely anything left—just a few packets of instant cup noodles, and nothing else. Letting out a sigh, she picked one of the noodle cups up and turned it around, checking the expiration date.
Her black eyes sparkled with joy when she saw it hadn't expired.
Thank God," she muttered under her breath. "As my mom always says—no one can work on an empty stomach."
"I hope you're safe, Mom," she added silently, a flicker of concern tightening her chest.
She quickly boiled some water, poured it into the cup, and waited impatiently for the noodles to be ready. There were so many things she had to do after eating—like figuring out where she was, why she was here, and what the hell had happened to her.
Finally, she took a bite and slurped the noodles into her mouth… but the joy was short-lived.
Her eyes widened in shock as a violent reaction surged through her body.
Without warning, she gagged and vomited the noodles back out almost instantly.
"WHAT the—?!" she gasped, coughing and clutching her chest as her stomach twisted painfully.
Ren—no, Rize—stumbled back, one hand gripping the edge of the sink as she coughed again, her mouth still tasting like salt and sickness.
"What the hell...?"
Her stomach churned, but it wasn't from being sick. It was something else—like her body was rejecting the food itself. Her hands trembled as she turned on the faucet and splashed cold water onto her face, trying to settle her nerves.
"This doesn't make sense…"
She glanced at the half-eaten cup noodle lying in the sink, bits of broth splattered beside it. Her eyes narrowed.
"Why can't I eat this?"
A chill ran down her spine. She knew what instant noodles was fine. But now? Her body acted like it was poison.
She moved frantically, tearing through every dusty shelf and cabinet, trying every other cup of noodles she could find. One by one, she boiled the water, poured it in, waited, and tasted.
And every single time—her body rejected it.
She'd vomit, gag, or feel like her insides were twisting.
"No. No, no, no... this can't be happening!" she screamed, voice cracking with panic.
She grabbed her head, clutching at her scalp as her thoughts spiraled.
Desperation clawed at her chest. She staggered toward the kitchen counter, breathing heavily, trembling as her eyes darted across the rusted utensils—until they landed on a dull, half-rusted kitchen knife.
Without thinking, she grabbed it.
"This... this is just a dream, right?" she muttered, voice hoarse. "If I bleed and it heals... then it's real."
She gritted her teeth and pressed the blade against her palm. Her breath hitched. Then she dragged it across.
"AHH!" she cried out, pain shooting through her arm as the metal split her skin.
Bright red blood trickled down her wrist. It was real. Too real.
She stumbled back, gasping, the knife clattering to the floor. She gripped the edge of the sink again, hand trembling as she looked at the wound—
Only to watch it close before her eyes.
The skin knitted back together in seconds.
Her blood stopped flowing.
There wasn't even a scar.
She stared, heart pounding.
"...No," she whispered. "It's true. It's all true. I'm a ghoul..."
She collapsed to the floor, the truth pressing down on her chest like a weight she couldn't lift. No food. No safety. No normal life.
Only hunger.
And one terrifying question lingering in the back of her mind:
What... do I eat now?
She asked, but she already knew the answer.
After all, the only thing she could eat now was human.
_____
i know here figuring out that she was ghoul makes little sense but i didn't want to spend time figure out that part of story