"Ugh..."
"Damn it... my head..."
A low groan escaped the young man lying face-down on the cold wooden floor.
A sharp headache tore through his skull, making it hard to think. For several long moments, he could do nothing but endure it. His breath came out unevenly, and his body refused to respond.
He tried to move his hand.
Nothing.
He tried to open his mouth and scream, but only a weak, broken sound came out.
Minutes passed before the pain in his head finally began to fade.
But the moment it did, a new pain struck.
His stomach twisted violently, as if something inside it had been cut apart and knotted together again. The sudden pain stole his breath. His body tensed, and a faint gasp escaped his lips.
"What the hell...?"
He wanted to curl up from the pain, but he still couldn't move.
He forced himself to breathe slowly.
'Calm down... panic won't help.'
With great effort, he opened his eyes and looked around.
The room was small and dim. The wooden walls were old, patched in places with brick and covered in cracked plaster. Moisture hung in the air, and the floor smelled of rot and mold.
A tiny window near the corner let in a weak strip of light through a torn gray curtain. Two oil lamps on the walls gave off a dull yellow glow.
There was a crooked shelf with a few empty bottles on it, and across from it hung a cracked wooden board covered in dust.
'Where... is this?'
This wasn't his city or his home.
It wasn't his room. It wasn't anywhere he had ever seen before.
His thoughts turned chaotic.
'I went down into that place... there was a voice... something about bloodlines... then an explosion... and after that... darkness... so how did I end up here?'
He froze.
That place had collapsed around him.
And now, he had woken up in a room he didn't recognize, inside a body that clearly wasn't his own.
A cold thought rose in his mind.
'Did I... transmigrate?'
A strange feeling rose in his chest.
Back on Earth, he had read plenty of novels about transmigration and reincarnation. He used to enjoy them. But reading about it and living through it were two completely different things.
For a brief moment, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
Then he tried to move again.
Still nothing.
The smile disappeared.
Something was seriously wrong with this body.
'I'm alive. As long as I'm alive, I still have a chance.'
He held on to that thought.
Then suddenly, memories rushed into his mind.
They were not his.
Names. Faces. Emotions.
And among them, one name stood out more than anything else.
"Nerion... Valdegar." The name echoed in his mind again and again until he finally whispered it.
"So... that's my name now."
"Nerion Valdegar."
He let the name settle in silence.
Then his eyes shifted—and stopped.
He had barely processed one shock before another appeared.
There was another body in the room.
A young woman lay on her side not far from him. She looked to be in her early twenties. Her face was pale, and dried foam stained the corners of her mouth.
It looked like poison.
Her long black hair had fallen loosely over her shoulder. She wore a worn white gown stained by dust and dirt. Her body looked thin and weak.
Yet her face was calm.
Too calm.
It was the face of someone who had already accepted the end.
A tear slid down Nerion's cheek before he could even realize it.
'hmm?'
A sharp pain tightened in his chest, and with it came emotions that didn't feel like his.
'These feelings aren't mine... so why does it hurt this much?'
His lips trembled.
"Angelina..."
His sister.
The name left his mouth softly, as if it had been waiting there all along.
He gritted his teeth.
'I don't know her. These feelings aren't mine.'
But the pain remained.
Then a memory surfaced.
He was sitting in a crooked wooden chair with a thick blanket over his legs. Angelina rushed into the room, smiling brightly despite her tired face.
"Nerion! I got the job! We'll be okay now. We won't starve anymore."
She held his hands tightly.
"I'll hire someone to help you while I'm away. You won't be alone anymore, okay? I'll take care of you. Always."
Her voice shook as she knelt beside him.
"If something happened to you... I don't think I could keep going. So please, don't give up. We'll find a way to fix this. I promise."
Then she leaned forward and kissed his forehead.
The memory ended.
But the warmth and grief stayed behind.
'She was kind...'
Fresh tears gathered in his eyes, but he forced himself to calm down.
These feelings belonged to the person who had lived in this body before him.
That person was gone.
Now, only he remained.
Now, he had to survive.
He swallowed and called out,
"Hello...? Anyone...?"
His voice was dry and weak.
It was risky. Whoever answered might not be friendly.
But silence was worse.
If no one came, he might die in this room.
He tried again, louder this time.
"Help! Someone, please! Anybody there?!"
He kept shouting until his throat began to burn.
'Please don't let this place be abandoned...'
He called out again and again, pausing only when the pain in his throat became unbearable, until he heard it.
Footsteps.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
The footsteps drew closer, and Nerion's heart pounded harder with each step.
The footsteps stopped in front of the door.
A rough voice came from the other side.
"Is someone in there?"
Nerion's heart tightened.
For a moment, he hesitated.
Then he shouted back as loudly as he could.
"Yes! I'm here! Please, help me!"
Silence would have killed him anyway.