After the blue light consumed everything, Rudra found himself floating within an endless void filled with countless stars and streams of blue cosmic energy.
His body felt weightless.
Silence surrounded him.
Rudra slowly looked down at himself and froze.
His soul had separated from his body.
"Am I... dead?"
The words escaped his lips in disbelief.
Suddenly, memories began flashing before his eyes.
The faces of his family.
His friends.
The moments he had cherished in his previous life.
Then—
Everything faded.
---
Scene Shift — Five Days Earlier
Rudra was packing his belongings for his journey to Mount Kailash when the door to his apartment suddenly opened.
Arjun walked inside with a worried expression.
"Rudra, are you seriously going to Kailash?"
Rudra continued arranging his equipment without answering.
Arjun stepped closer.
"You know how dangerous that place is. Many people who went there never came back... and some of them disappeared without even leaving behind a body."
He paused before speaking again.
"So why are you still going? Don't tell me you're risking your life just because your viewers suggested it."
Rudra quietly closed his bag.
"I'm not going because my viewers told me to."
Arjun frowned.
"Then why?"
For a brief moment, silence filled the room.
Rudra looked out the window before answering.
"Because I made a promise to someone."
His voice grew softer.
"A promise to fulfill the dream he couldn't achieve himself."
Arjun's expression slowly changed.
"Who was that person?"
Rudra lowered his eyes.
"Someone who's no longer alive."
The atmosphere turned heavy.
Then Rudra suddenly spoke again.
"Do you know why I became an adventurer, Arjun?"
Arjun crossed his arms.
"Because you wanted to explore the world?"
A faint smile appeared on Rudra's face.
"Yeah... that's part of the reason."
His expression slowly darkened.
"But there was another reason too."
He took a deep breath.
"Let me tell you my story."
Rudra looked toward the night sky outside the window.
"After all... I don't even know if I'll return from Kailash alive."
---
Sixteen Years Ago
"When I was seven years old, my parents died in a car accident."
Rudra's voice became heavy.
"I survived because my mother protected me with her own body. She held me tightly so I wouldn't receive the full impact of the crash."
His hands slowly clenched.
"She sacrificed her life to save mine."
A painful silence followed.
"After that incident, I started living with my grandfather."
A small smile appeared on Rudra's face as old memories resurfaced.
"He used to tell me stories about his adventures. He always said the world was far more beautiful than we could ever imagine."
Rudra's eyes softened.
"Every time he spoke about distant lands, mountains, forests, and oceans... it felt like the entire world was calling out to me."
Then his expression slowly turned sorrowful once again.
"But eight years later... my grandfather became seriously ill."
"I was at school when I received the news. I rushed to the hospital without even thinking."
Rudra closed his eyes for a moment.
"I still remember holding his hand while he lay on that hospital bed."
His voice trembled slightly.
"Even then... he was smiling at me."
---
His grandfather slowly placed a weak hand on Rudra's head.
> "Don't cry, my son."
> "Do you remember asking me once if I had any dreams left in this life?"
> "I did have one dream."
> "A dream I could never fulfill myself."
> "I wanted to explore Mount Kailash."
> "That was my greatest wish."
---
Tears welled up in Rudra's eyes as he remembered that moment.
Back then, he had tightly held his grandfather's hand and answered without hesitation.
> "Grandfather... I promise you."
> "I will fulfill your dream."
> "One day, I will reach Mount Kailash for you."
A gentle smile appeared on his grandfather's face.
Then he softly replied:
> "You don't need to force yourself, my son."
> "Just live your life happily."
> "Chase your own happiness."
Rudra slowly lowered his head.
"Those were the last words he ever said to me."
The room fell silent.
"On that day... I made an oath."
"I would explore the entire world my grandfather once spoke about."
"And one day... I would fulfill his final dream."
---
Rudra suddenly returned to his senses.
Tears slowly rolled down his cheeks.
Then—
A brilliant blue light surrounded him once again.
---
Scene Shift
Dark clouds covered the sky.
Thunder roared across the heavens as heavy rain poured down relentlessly.
Violent winds swept through the surroundings.
Inside a grand mansion, servants moved around nervously.
At the center of the room, a beautiful woman was enduring the pain of childbirth.
Moments later—
The cry of a newborn should have echoed throughout the room.
But strangely...
Silence remained.
The mother looked toward the child with worry in her eyes.
"Why isn't he crying?"
One of the head maids carefully picked up the baby.
She gently patted his back.
But the child still remained silent.
Because that child...
Was Rudra.
Rudra looked around at his surroundings with confused eyes.
The unfamiliar room.
The strange clothing.
The people around him.
Nothing felt real.
The mother slowly stretched out her arms.
"Give him to me."
The maid carefully placed the child into her embrace.
The moment Rudra felt her warmth...
His body trembled slightly.
The woman gently caressed his head with trembling hands.
And suddenly—
Rudra began to cry.
Inside his heart, countless emotions surged like waves.
> "Mother..."
> "I can feel your warmth again..."
For the first time in many years, Rudra felt the warmth he had lost in his previous life.
The mother became startled.
"Did I hold him too tightly?"
But Rudra wasn't crying because of pain.
In his previous life, he had lost his mother when he was still a child.
For years, he had forgotten what a mother's warmth felt like.
But now...
He could feel it once again.
The gentle warmth of a mother's embrace.
The softness of her touch.
The love he had once lost.
At that moment, Rudra realized something deep within his heart.
In this new life...
He would once again experience the love of a family.
Outside, the storm slowly began to calm.
The rain weakened.
The thunder faded into silence.
But far beyond countless universes...
An ancient existence silently watched over the newborn child.
And for the first time in countless ages—
The wheels of fate had begun to move.
---
End of Chapter 4