The Reincarnated Novelist: Renz Garcia’s Future

Chapter 3: The Ghost Database

the blue light of the hologram. The memories rushed back with the force of a tidal wave—the freezing nights in their small room, the agonizing physical pain of his heart condition, and the constant, bitter insults from family members who told him he would die a nobody. He remembered his brother, Karlester Garcia, standing guard at his side, sharing whatever small amount of food they had, refusing to let the world crush Renz's dream of becoming a writer.But the file didn't end there. Below his aunt's letter was a locked data stream, encrypted with a biological key that required an exact genetic match.Renz pressed his thumb against the terminal's biometric scanner. The system pulsed green, verifying his resurrected DNA sequence.[BIOMETRIC MATCH CONFIRMED. ACCESSING PRIVATE MESSENGER CACHE.]A secondary window popped open, revealing an active, modern network signal originating from the mid-tier sectors of Neo-Manila. It wasn't just a dead archive. It was a living, breathing digital footprint. The system log showed that an encrypted account had been actively reading and reviewing every single chapter of his newly published novels on the global broadcast network.The account’s encrypted username flashed on his screen: K.G._Sector4.Renz’s breath hitched in his throat. The realization hit him like a physical blow. He wasn't the only soul who had been brought across the chasm of four hundred years. His brother, Karlester, or a descendant carrying the exact genetic memory of his brother, was out there in the sprawling vertical labyrinth of the city, watching his rise to fame."He's alive," Renz whispered, a fierce, genuine warmth blooming inside his chest—a feeling his mechanical body had never experienced until now. "He’s been reading my story all along."Suddenly, the cyber-lounge’s security lights flashed red. The quantum terminal chimed aggressively as a high-priority tracking alert overrode his G-Helper interface. Someone in the high sectors had detected his unauthorized deep-dive into the ancient archives.[WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED SECTOR SCAN DETECTED BY PREFECTURE SECURITY. TERMINATE CONNECTION IMMEDIATELY.]Renz didn't panic. The palaban spirit of the 19-year-old boy who had fought his way out of poverty took full control. He quickly downloaded the encrypted location coordinates of the K.G._Sector4 account into his terminal's core storage, completely wiping his digital footprint from the lounge's mainframe just as the heavy security doors began to cycle open.He stood up, pulling his structured asymmetrical dark coat tight around his shoulders. The grand awards ceremony upstairs no longer mattered. The prestigious titles of Grand Literary Master Legend meant nothing compared to what he had just discovered.Armed with the coordinates of his past-life bloodline, Renz stepped out into the shadows of Neo-Manila’s underbelly. The true story wasn't just about rewriting his past—it was about finding the family that had fought for him when he had nothing, and protecting them in this brave new world.