Ouch!
What the hell?!
It hurts so much!
The strange dream filled with pain and darkness shattered instantly. Shou Nilski, still fast asleep, felt throbbing pain all over his body like someone had set fire to him, making him burn alive. He felt awake, moving his limbs but he couldn't see.
Is this sleep paralysis…? He turned his head and lost balance. But right then, his vision came back as if a dark veil had been lifted from his eyes. He caught himself from crashing down, grabbing onto the corner of a wooden desk.
My head is killing me! He glanced down, his breath unsteady from the pain. His eyes bulged as the burn marks all over him rapidly healed and disappeared, leaving only patches of blood.
What the… He straightened himself from the shock, but his vision started to blur again, and the pain returned. Suddenly, he would see nothing but endless darkness, then it would be gone. Random flashes of images came and went, one after another. His thoughts shattered the moment they formed, and no matter how hard he tried to focus, he kept failing.
What kind of dream—no, nightmare is this!?
My whole body's in pain, especially my head!
It feels like I'm dying! Am I dying!?
I need to wake up now!
Shou Nilski finally felt the sensation of touch on his left palm that was stabilizing him.
It doesn't hurt so much anymore, just this unbearable headache…
I won't be able to sleep anymore. I haven't slept for two days already…
I should visit the doctor again in the morning…
His vision started to return from the haze, eyes burning from the sudden light. A wooden table with a lamp on it was in front of him. It looked to be made with the finest materials one could get their hands on. The grain of the wood shimmered faintly beneath the lamplight, polished to perfection. Every edge, every curve, screamed wealth and craftsmanship far beyond anything he'd ever touched before.
He brought his gaze up and saw a massive room as big as the apartment he lived in, filled with a large bed with clean white sheets, expensive-looking tables, chairs, sofas and much more.
Shou Nilski was stunned. Everything was unfamiliar, and it looked nothing like his room!
In his confused and shocked state, he felt that he was holding something. On his right hand was a round pendant. It featured a large dark blue stone that shimmered in the light, fractured by a prominent crack in the middle. Surrounding and encasing the stone was a golden framework, intricately designed and inscribed with a language he couldn't understand.
A pendant? He inspected it for a few seconds before his eyes caught something on the floor. There were burn marks that scarred the surface directly beneath where he stood, making him instinctively stagger back.
Burn marks? Was there a fire here? He quickly checked both legs and ankles but couldn't find any burn marks; all of them were on the naked upper parts of the body that somehow weren't causing any pain.
He looked up and saw something orange swaying beyond the tall window on the other side of the room.
What was that? He tried to take a step forward, but the throbbing pain in his head caused the loss of balance once again. But this time it wasn't enough to make him fall.
Slowly, he walked towards the glass-covered window and saw a large tree branch filled with orange leaves swaying in the wind just outside.
Wh— Shou Nilski felt incredibly confused. It wasn't Fall but the leaves on the tree were all orange.
Even in autumn, leaves don't usually turn this vibrant and uniformly orange so early, let alone stay on the branches like this…
His eyes then fell on the garden directly in front of the room where he stood, filled with flowers and all sorts of plants, all a rich shade of green, with people attending to them.
Huh…? He was even more confused at the sight of green plants. What the hell is going on? None of this makes any sense!
Beyond the glass panes, he could now make out the silhouettes of soaring towers rising like dark spires into the fog-veiled sky. Their outlines were hazy—blurred by a drifting mist that clung stubbornly to the air, flowing like ghostly rivers between rooftops and tree canopies. The towers themselves seemed impossibly distant, their presence eerie and surreal, half-consumed by the gray.
He could sense a light breeze moving outside. The tree branches just outside the window swayed gently, its orange leaves stirring with a soft rustle. Even the mist shifted slightly, curling and unraveling in slow, languid movements.
His eyes squinted as they tracked tiny black dots weaving through the skies between the towers. At first, he thought they might be birds. But their movements were too precise and synchronized. They zipped forward in coordinated bursts, looping in tight patterns, some ascending vertically like rising missiles, others drifting lazily but never deviating from their paths.
His gaze dropped toward the estate grounds. Beyond the trimmed garden and flowerbeds—still glistening from the fog's dew—there was a wide, paved road. Smooth and gleaming, untouched by dust or wheels. Across it stood another grand mansion, flanked by smaller auxiliary structures and its own sprawling garden, where orange-leaved trees swayed beside a few green ones. The green trees looked healthier, more lush and vibrant, as if they had been cared for with greater attention than their orange companions.
He then turned, his gaze sweeping over the room's architecture. It exuded the grandeur of rich nobility, with high, ornate ceilings, walls adorned in damask, and heavy, dark wood furniture.
Where am I? What is this place?
Shou Nilski's gaze then snagged on a tall mirror positioned some distance to the right of the bed. He walked over to it, carefully making sure to step around the scorched patch on the floor. As he approached, he caught a glimpse of his own reflection: a half-burnt face slowly healing, black hair, sharp blue eyes, a chiseled jawline, and a rather impressive, sculptured physique.
What in the… He was frozen in place, his mind flooded with confusion, trying to make sense of what was happening. He was staring at himself, but the face in the mirror wasn't his.
The architecture, the decor, the large garden and trees that he had never seen or heard of, his new look, all of these things made Shou Nilski come to a conclusion!
Did—did I get transmigrated to another world? He thought, his mouth agape.
Since before he even turned ten, he had read manhwas, web novels and watched animes and fantasized about such things happening to him. But now that it had really happened, he found it extremely hard to accept.
After a dozen seconds, he thought, Is this how that round-glasses wearing-wizard felt?
No, that doesn't count as transmigration...
Had it not been for the throbbing pain resurfacing every now and then in his head, he would have definitely thought he was still dreaming.
Shou Nilski closed his eyes and exhaled all the air in his lungs and told himself, Calm down, I need to calm down…
He took a big breath of fresh air, and at that moment, his body relaxed, and memories started to flood in.
Vlad Alekein Romanov, a noble from the Xena Empire, currently living on planet Bruno in the Gayuk star system. He also graduated from Maerilnosova Academy…
He also has an older brother, Count Valken Kleice Romanov, who is currently at Atreimes, the ancestral home planet of House Romanov…
As a rather high-ranking graduate of Maerilnosova Academy, Vlad had learnt five of the twenty-one Runes—considered the languages of ancient civilizations and beings—and two other languages used in the present times; Eliangla—the language of the universe—and Ivatewin...
Wait, Eliangla, Ivatewin, Runes? Shou Nilski glanced at the emblem in his hand once again and focused, but he still couldn't understand anything.
Guess it's not any of those… He thought with disappointment.
He shook his head, but then suddenly noticed something lying on the bed. He walked over to the small table with the lamp on it and placed the pendant there, careful not to step on the burnt spot. He went to the bed and saw that the object was a small black handle of some sort.
The handle lay in the middle of the large bed. Shou Nilski climbed onto the bed, placing his right hand on the soft white blanket, and took the handle that fit almost too perfectly in his hand. The finger ridges were molded for him perfectly.
Normally, I'd be too scared to pick something up like this, but since it's just lying in the bed of a noble young master, it should be alright. He stood and inspected the weird handle.
He turned it, and suddenly, a silver blade extended out of it, almost making him want to drop it and run away.
Then the blade turned to a blue hue, making his curiosity rise further. There were symbols etched onto it that he had never seen before. Yet, to his astonishment, he could instinctively understand and read it.
He turned it around and saw that the letters were only carved on one side.
Is this like a sort of futuristic compressed knife? Or I guess it's a dagger…? He turned the blade to read what the letters said. But before he could, a voice suddenly spoke, making him jolt and loosen his grip on the dagger, but he caught it.
That voice… The voice was that of a woman. It was coming from outside the double doors of the room.
The voice felt incredibly familiar to him due to Vlad's memories. Immediately, a young woman in her early twenties wearing the outfit of a maid popped into his head. She had a small round face, long blonde hair, blue eyes and freckles.
It's Charles. She doesn't seem to be looking for Vlad. Shou Nilski returned his gaze to the dagger.
Slightly above where the handle started, there were the characters 'A', 'L' and 'V' etched on the blade.
Vlad was given the dagger by someone as a gift. Shou Nilski fought off the feeling that it was he who received the dagger, caused by Vlad's memories. Though I don't know what this 'ALV' means. Is it like the brand?
Before he could finish his thoughts, his breath caught in his throat. Right there, on the soft white blanket, was a distinct red handprint.His eyes shot from the handprint to his right arm. It was red, as if drenched in blood, then roughly wiped with a towel.
Blood? he thought, confused. But there's no cut, and I'm not feeling any pain. He brought his right palm closer to his face and saw thousands of small patches of new, reddish skin.
He then glanced down at his half-naked body that now had no signs of ever getting burnt, only the small patches of blood, Did all the damage on this body get healed as a perk of being transmigrated?
But the pain in his head still persisted. Although not as painful as before, it was still a dull throb.
"Most damage, I guess." Shou Nilski let out a slow, deliberate exhale, the slight movement sending a jolt of pain through his head and face. It felt as though a thousand needles were relentlessly poking at every nerve ending.
Is my head cracked or something? He thought as he put the dagger on the bed and turned around to walk over to the tall mirror to check.
After a few steps the powerfully lean and intricately sculpted figure appeared in front of him, possessing black hair, sharp blue eyes, and a chiseled jawline. An undeniable aura of nobility emanated from him.
A sigh escaped his nostrils as he saw the burns had healed considerably and were continuing to mend even now.
Is this me from now on? Vlad Alekein Romanov?
Shou Nilski moved closer to the mirror and lifted the hair covering his forehead. He turned his head to the right and saw from his eyes upwards was skinless tissue and muscles.
He staggered back in horror, his heart hammering.
"That's a horrible burn," he murmured under his breath.
Then slowly, he stepped forward and turned his head to the left. There, the burns were even more severe and grotesque. He watched as they healed, but noticeably slower than the areas near his eyes. There, the skin transformed rapidly from a reddish hue back to its normal tone.