The first experience Rino faced in his death was absolute darkness—an endless consuming void that was neither cold nor warm.
It simply... was. His ability to breathe was lost, yet he didn't feel like he would suffocate. To move was a problem, yet he wasn't restrained.
Where am I?
It didn't hit him yet. What he could tell was that he floated in a forgotten space that was between existence and nothingness.
Am I dead?
Now, this question... was... That's rhetorical.
Truck-kun had performed a TLS handshake with him, and yet, he's... Well, he should be dead by now.
He remembered the sound of that truck, the horn, and the driver's yelling. Oh, the driver yelled?
His mind still reeled further to the crushing impact, and that was when he fell into nothing.
So, he thought. Death offered its victims a moment of life before they finally became extinct from the living?
That was what it seemed like, or maybe his case was different because the darkness he fell into didn't last.
Suddenly, it looked like there was a flip of pages, before—
CRKKK—
Silence shattered.
«↓ Welcome to Esme, another world with a different timeline. ↑»
But the doubt that Rino had a glimpse of this message was highly probable, since he struggled between his flickering vision of darkness.
Plus, the message that appeared like scribbles in the air didn't last long before it disappeared.
Then—
Rays of light pierced through the darkness, blinding and all-consuming. He was out of the darkness. Was he?
He was back. The world has returned.
So, I didn't die? I survived.
He strengthened up from where his body rested, trying to be calm to understand what was happening.
"Master Rino," an old voice called him, sounding like it wasn't its first time calling. "Everyone is waiting in the dining room for the reading of your father's will."
Time paused. Rino rubbed his eyes severally, before sitting up straight.
His father? Which of 'em?
He couldn't help but have these thoughts. The father he had, or he knew he had, wasn't deemed to have a Will, really.
Still in shock, he looked beneath him and realized—he was in bed, how?
He widened his eyes and took in his environment.
There were walls painted with golden color, velvet curtains hung loosely covering some of its parts. Above him, a chandelier that looked like it cost more than everything he had ever owned hung as well.
He beat his hands on the bed he lay on. A bed? No, a throne of silk and cushion, covered in immaculately white sheets, and over his body, a thick blanket.
The air around him smelled faintly of vanilla and wood polish.
He returned his gaze to the old servant who still stood with his head slightly bowed. He shot his mouth open to say something but closed it at the same time.
His thoughts did the job for him instead. What...? where...?
He looked at his hands, which were suddenly void of blood. Untouched. No bruises.
And if he was in the hospital—no, he was not—there were no bandages, no stereotypes, or even an ultrasound machine.
"Where am I?" he suddenly found his voice to ask the old servant, who now raised his head.
"I truly understand, Master," the servant began to say. "You lost consciousness a few weeks ago after you became a victim of an accident. But the doctor said you've regained your full health, that's why—"
"Shhh," Rino hissed for the servant to shut his mouth. He was not getting anything he said. A few weeks? What kind of accident was he talking about? He clearly remembers everything and how it happened.
"Who am I?" Rino turned his head and asked the servant. "And your name as well."
"You're my one, and only Young Master Rino Carter," the old servant said. "And I'm your humble personal servant, Ribby Mark."
Rino Carter!
Rino's eyes widened. Did he regress? Or, what's happening? How is he in the body of Chairman Josh's Late younger brother?
He, however, straightened up and scrambled to the edge of the bed, stumbling to the linoleum floor.
"Ribby? That's a weird name," he said, putting his legs into the slippers by the side of the bed. "Go and tell them I will be out soon."
"Yes, young master," Ribby said and left.
Weird. Why will they be summoning a recovering Rino just for the sake of announcing a Will? Can't it wait?
Mtcheww.
He went to stand in front of the nearest reflective surface he found in this bedroom—a tall mirror hanging on the wall across the room.
There he saw himself, but not himself.
The image he saw in the mirror was a more orderly Rino Ikenna, his former self.
The boy in the reflection was taller and appeared neater and fairer. His face was the same as his, yet looked younger by a few years. Fresher.
His black hair curled craftily and was trimmed to perfection. His brown eyes appeared clearer, and his body was sucked into a luxury nightwear.
This was the Rino, Madling talked about. The Rino was the younger brother of Chairman Josh Carter. Rino Carter, one of the heirs of the Carter Group.
Does it mean that he regressed? And that Josh Carter is yet to be a prospective candidate for the Chairmanship position?
He looked at his side and found a phone on the cushioned stool positioned there. He moved to the spot, and as soon as he touched the phone, he felt a sharp bolt of pain shoot through his mind—and then, a flood.
A flood of memories that were not his, but his. Strangely, he now failed to remember memories of the past Rino Ikenna but had the fresh memories of Rino Carter.
Different images traversed his mind, thoughts, and feelings, crashing in on themselves. Private tutors, the memory of when he studied trading charts to understand the stock market.
His elder brother is always cold and indifferent to him. His conniving stepmother, the luxurious life he loved to live.
Then, there were the odd ones. The death of his father in a car accident a few months ago, and since then, the mantle of ownership has failed to enter the hands of Josh. But he failed to understand or remember why.
Then, some weeks before this current month, he remembered traveling in his car, given to him by his father when he got involved in a deadly accident. An accident that didn't look like an accident.
Oh.
He now understood what Ribby said about his accident. The car that he traveled in had collided forcibly with an incoming vehicle of the same brand, and he had collected another hit from behind.
He scratched his head, still clutching the phone in his hand, when a strange flashback cut across his thoughts.
A useless child! Who would blame you? You are the son of no mother. A bastard.
The statements echoed dominantly in his mind.
So, Rino Carter was a bastard child of Moses Carter, his father. And, he was always referred to as a Useless Child, but why?
The memories weren't able to settle before another one flashed with urgency. A hollow one at that.
The stock.
Rino, before going to school the day he had the accident, had placed a trade on Halford Tech's stock price. It had been dipping, and fellow stock traders thought it was going to be a failure, but according to his analysis, it would rebound in a month.
Consequently, he had bought a reasonable amount of the company's shares.
So, he's dealing with a one-month time frame. And, this Rino Carter seems to be a digital business freak too.
At that instant, he awakened to reality once more and looked at the phone he held in his hand. A Samsung S25 plus brand, the latest Samsung brand smartphone at the time.
Not letting that bother him, he quickly swiped the phone and input the password according to the memories of Rino Carter in him.
He hovered his fingers over the screen until they locked with a familiar trading app—WeBull—and he clicked on it.
Charts danced on the screen at several intervals. He selected Halford's economic trend, and there it was. His prediction was correct.
It showed a Uptrend of green candles, a very high Uptrend.
He let a smile spread on his lips. If he sold all the shares he had bought, he was going to make a huge profit.
He was about to click sell when he heard Ribby's voice. He didn't notice when Ribby knocked on the door and entered his room.
"Sir?" Ribby spoke softly. "Big Master Josh is fuming now, impatiently."
Rino instinctively pushed his phone into the side pocket of the pyjamas, which he wore, as that was exactly what Rino Carter would have done.
Just like Rino Ikenna, Rino Carter was a digital business freak whom nobody supported, and because he was obsessed with this kind of business, people termed him a Useless Child who would contribute nothing to his late father's business.
The only difference between these two personalities was that Rino Ikenna was black and broke, while Rino Carter had bleaching cream and, so, is established financially.
"Lead the way then," Rino said, following behind Ribby.