When I opened my eyes, I expected heaven. Or a morgue. Or maybe a dark void with dramatic echoing whispers. Instead… I was in a lecture room. Fluorescent lights. Boring PowerPoint slides. The smell of cheap perfume, sweat, and instant noodles. Students hunched over notebooks, half-asleep. A monotone lecturer’s voice in the distance: “…and that’s why GDP is not a perfect measure of economic development…†My first thought: “Wow. The afterlife is incredibly mid.†But no. This wasn’t the afterlife. This was real. I was sitting in a university classroom, at an actual desk, surrounded by actual humans who somehow weren’t ghosts or monsters. The guy next to me even had the audacity to yawn directly into my personal space. I survived. Sort of. I looked down at my hands. Definitely not mine. Lighter complexion. Slightly longer fingers. No scar from that one time I cut myself opening a Fanta bottle. I leaned forward, caught a reflection in my phone screen. That’s not Kazuki Mwansa. That’s… someone else. I touched my face. New nose. Sharper cheekbones. Good eyebrows, though. Not bad, mysterious stranger. You’re oddly handsome. Still, my heart was hammering in my chest. My stomach churned with questions: Where am I? Who am I? What’s my Wi-Fi password now?? Before I could panic properly, three students gathered around me. One of them clapped me on the back like we were long-lost twins. “Eh, Lushomo! You actually stayed awake the whole lecture? What happened, bro—did you swallow a Red Bull?†Lushomo. Right. That’s who I am now. I smiled weakly. “Yeah… something like that.†They all looked at me. Expectant. Friendly. Normal. I had no idea what to say. No idea who they were. Were they friends? Classmates? Cult members? “Guys,†said the girl on the left—tiny braids, sharp eyes—“are you okay? You’re acting… weird.†“What? No,†I said quickly. “I’m fine. I just—uh—got reincarnated.†Pause. Three confused stares. “Rein-what?†one of them asked. “You know,†I shrugged, “died, got hit by a car, now I’m here in someone else’s body. Classic stuff.†They blinked. Then the short guy with the bucket hat laughed. “Yoh! This guy’s at it again,†he said. “He’s been watching too much anime. Remember when he said lecturers are actually AI test programs from China?†The girl rolled her eyes. “So dramatic. You’re not sick, you’re just being Lushomo. As always.†“Yeah, classic Lushomo,†the other guy added. “Conspiracy theories, spaced out eyes, weird dreams. You’re basically one bad day away from becoming a TikTok guru.†I blinked. Okay. So apparently, this guy was already strange before I got here. Lucky me. “I’m serious though,†I muttered, trying to sound normal while internally spiraling. “I really did die.†“Mmhmm,†the girl said, patting my shoulder. “And I’m Beyoncé.†They laughed and walked off, still chatting. I sat back in the chair, dazed. This is real. I’m in university. In someone else’s body. And no one thinks I’m weird… because he was already weird.
When I opened my eyes, I expected heaven. Or a morgue. Or maybe a dark void with dramatic echoing whispers. Instead… I was in a lecture room. Fluorescent lights. Boring PowerPoint slides. The smell of cheap perfume, sweat, and instant noodles. Students hunched over notebooks, half-asleep. A monotone lecturer’s voice in the distance: “…and that’s why GDP is not a perfect measure of economic development…†My first thought: “Wow. The afterlife is incredibly mid.†But no. This wasn’t the afterlife. This was real. I was sitting in a university classroom, at an actual desk, surrounded by actual humans who somehow weren’t ghosts or monsters. The guy next to me even had the audacity to yawn directly into my personal space. I survived. Sort of. I looked down at my hands. Definitely not mine. Lighter complexion. Slightly longer fingers. No scar from that one time I cut myself opening a Fanta bottle. I leaned forward, caught a reflection in my phone screen. That’s not Kazuki Mwansa. That’s… someone else. I touched my face. New nose. Sharper cheekbones. Good eyebrows, though. Not bad, mysterious stranger. You’re oddly handsome. Still, my heart was hammering in my chest. My stomach churned with questions: Where am I? Who am I? What’s my Wi-Fi password now?? Before I could panic properly, three students gathered around me. One of them clapped me on the back like we were long-lost twins. “Eh, Lushomo! You actually stayed awake the whole lecture? What happened, bro—did you swallow a Red Bull?†Lushomo. Right. That’s who I am now. I smiled weakly. “Yeah… something like that.†They all looked at me. Expectant. Friendly. Normal. I had no idea what to say. No idea who they were. Were they friends? Classmates? Cult members? “Guys,†said the girl on the left—tiny braids, sharp eyes—“are you okay? You’re acting… weird.†“What? No,†I said quickly. “I’m fine. I just—uh—got reincarnated.†Pause. Three confused stares. “Rein-what?†one of them asked. “You know,†I shrugged, “died, got hit by a car, now I’m here in someone else’s body. Classic stuff.†They blinked. Then the short guy with the bucket hat laughed. “Yoh! This guy’s at it again,†he said. “He’s been watching too much anime. Remember when he said lecturers are actually AI test programs from China?†The girl rolled her eyes. “So dramatic. You’re not sick, you’re just being Lushomo. As always.†“Yeah, classic Lushomo,†the other guy added. “Conspiracy theories, spaced out eyes, weird dreams. You’re basically one bad day away from becoming a TikTok guru.†I blinked. Okay. So apparently, this guy was already strange before I got here. Lucky me. “I’m serious though,†I muttered, trying to sound normal while internally spiraling. “I really did die.†“Mmhmm,†the girl said, patting my shoulder. “And I’m Beyoncé.†They laughed and walked off, still chatting. I sat back in the chair, dazed. This is real. I’m in university. In someone else’s body. And no one thinks I’m weird… because he was already weird.