--And then my consciousness awoke.

　What I saw in my blurry, foggy vision was a stone room.
　On the bookshelves lined up against the wall, a magic circle is drawn with bright red lines.

　The change from a state of absolute zero, where I had seen nothing, felt nothing, had no will, no consciousness, no intelligence, was like waking up from a dream, but even more vivid.

　It was as if I had been scooped up from the depths of hell.
　Or pulled out of repose.

　My thoughts were overwhelmed by the overwhelming amount of information that I could feel with all of my five senses: sight, hearing, and smell.
　In the midst of my confusion, a hoarse voice throws itself at me.

You're awake. ...... You've got what it takes. ...... You're a fresh man.

　I look to the side as the voice soaks into my brain. Only then did I realize that I was lying on a platform.

　The owner of the voice was an old man wearing a black robe that seemed to take the form of darkness itself. His sallow appearance, with its countless wrinkles, was strangely unpredictable in terms of how many years he had survived, and with his glittering dark eyes, he did not look weak.
　He has a bony body, and in the palm of his hand he holds a twisted staff with a very fearsome design.

　I can't understand the situation. I can't grasp it. The old man continues to look at me as if I'm not answering him.
　The old man continues, as if it were natural that I would not respond.

"My name is Holos Kamen. I am the mage and your lord. Fleshman. "Kneel.

　The moment I heard those words, the moment the sound stimulated my eardrums, a strange sensation flashed through my body.
　My body began to move against my will. When I got up on the platform, I stood up with a limp movement as if I were a baby standing up for the first time. My body bends, and my knees shatter independently of my will. The next thing I know, I'm kneeling before the Lord in front of the floor.

　A musty smell. The gray stone floor. Only then do I realize.
　Even though there is little light, my eyes see the world as clearly as if it were daytime.

　A feeling of discomfort. Starting from the sense of discomfort I felt, information is gradually being organized. The resources of my brain, which had been occupied with processing the information coming in from the outside, were now being used to organize the memories inside.

　Suddenly, my head is hit with a bang. There is an impact, but no pain.
　No, on the contrary--no palpitations, as usual. The headache that felt as if my brain was being raked with a fine sword, the pain that felt as if my organs were rotting and melting away, and the consciousness that had been scattered by the never-ending pain were as clear as a freshly sharpened knife.

　Strange to say, but at that moment, for the first time in my life, I was normal.
　For the first time in my life, I understood what it felt like to be human.

　As I was stunned by this unexpected fact, the voice of the mage Horos poured down on me.

"Flesh and blood, my servant. Returning from the underworld, I give you a name, you who have no name.

　--You who have no name.
　No. I already had a name. The name my parents gave me at birth. A name I've rarely been called these days.

　But just before I said it, I stopped myself just short of saying it.

　I had a hunch. A gut feeling that I shouldn't say it now.
　Perhaps it was a vice of having lived a passive life with little to do. In my silence, the ruler gives me a name.

"Your name is End. End of the End. My necromancy has given you your first temporary life.

　A temporal life.
　Necromancy.
　I've never been to school and I don't have a lot of common sense, but I know about it. Horrible dark wizards who control the dead.

　The words just sink in.
　And I understood. I understood everything. It's easy for anyone to understand, given the memories and the words that have just been spoken.

　I'm dead. And now, thanks to the evil magic of the man in front of me, I'm waking up again.