Prologue | The Assassin Reincarnates
I was reclining comfortably in my seat on a passenger plane. Having finished my work overseas, I was on my way back to Japan.
Assassins exist only in fiction. I’m sure that’s what most people believe. Take a moment to really think about it, though.
There’s no quicker or more efficient means of disposing of an enemy than murder, and the more money and influence a person has, the more enemies they’ll need taken out of the picture. Where there is a demand for a service, a supply will rise to meet it…and that’s how assassins like me came to be.
“My last job went off without a hitch.” It was going to be my final day as an assassin. I had a retirement plan and everything.
I came to be known as the world’s greatest assassin, having been responsible for the sudden “death by illness” of numerous major figures, including several presidents. But in the end, even I was unable to defeat Father Time.
My next job was already lined up. I was going back to work as an instructor at the facility where I long ago learned the tricks of my particular trade.
Training assassins required an extreme degree of highly specialized knowledge and skill. Finding qualified personnel wasn’t easy. From that day forward, I was going to be turning promising youths into seasoned assassins like myself.
Or at least, that’s what I’d thought. Unfortunately, it seemed this job was nothing more than a fabrication designed to have me let down my guard.
The passenger plane shook violently with the sound of an explosion, then the aircraft rapidly began to lose altitude.
“I can understand the desire to dispose of a tool that has outlived its usefulness, but to go this far just to kill one person… It seems I’ve built up quite the reputation, haven’t I?”
Now I really felt old. I should’ve guessed this kind of thing would happen.
I stood up and pushed my way through the panicking passengers, hurrying toward the source of the sound. I hacked the security for the door to the cockpit and forced my way in. A few crew members tried to stop me on the way, but I kindly put them all to sleep.
When I entered the cockpit, I was greeted by the headless bodies of the pilot and copilot.
This is fine. Nothing I can’t handle , I told myself.
Assassination demands a great many skills. Piloting a passenger plane was no problem for me.
… Or at least, it wouldn’t have been a problem if the console hadn’t also been blown to smithereens along with the heads of the two pilots.
“I’ve taken the lives of a great many people in my day. I figured my time would come eventually, but I never imagined I’d have such an extravagant grave prepared.”
No matter the situation, I always tried my best to survive, even if the odds were stacked against me. That had always been my policy. I made use of all the knowledge and experience I’d gained over the years and pushed my mind to the limit in order to find a means of escape.
… There’s still something I can do. Saving the plane and its passengers was a tall order, but there was still a chance I could save myself.
“Well, this certainly came sooner than I expected. Their preparation was flawless… Looks like I’m done for.”
Outside the window, I could see a fighter jet armed with missiles quickly approaching.
The plane was currently flying over a metropolitan area. If it were to crash in the city, the damage would be catastrophic. It seemed that the plan was to break my plane into tiny fragments before that could happen.
By my estimation, the plane was supposed to reach its destination in about ten minutes, though that seemed less likely now.
The jet fired a missile.
It was an annoying complication. I would’ve been able to save myself if I only had the impending plane crash to worry about. The missile was an AIM-92 Stinger, an air-to-air model capable of so thoroughly destroying a passenger plane of this caliber that not even a scrap would remain.
… How unfortunate , I thought.
A lifetime of acting as an emotionless tool for my organization, and this was how I was being repaid. I was so loyal that I wouldn’t have hesitated to kill myself if given the order. Such a betrayal instilled doubts in my mind about my employers and my line of work for the first time in my life.
As death approached, I imagined that if I had another shot at life, I wouldn’t spend my days as someone else’s servant. I’d live only for myself. If I utilized my skills, knowledge, and experience purely for my own sake, then surely…
Holding on to that hope, I fought for my life until the very last second, using every means at my disposal.