'…Where am I?'
The ceiling above me was unfamiliar. Smooth, pale, and far too clean. It wasn't the old, water-stained ceiling I woke up to every morning.
'So... this isn't my room.'
Fragments of memory came back slowly.
I was drinking. I had finally finished the game, the hardcore version everyone said was absolutely impossible. Players died in ridiculous ways from sudden traps, impossible terrain, and deaths that felt more like a developer's punishment than an actual challenge. No one had ever cleared it.
Except me.
I remembered a message popping up from the developer. A short congratulations. After that, everything went completely blank.
Something felt terribly wrong with my body. It was so heavy… so incredibly weak that I couldn't even shift my weight. I tried to move my arm.
What appeared in front of my eyes made me stop.
Small, chubby fingers. Smooth, unblemished skin.
'These weren't my hands...'
I stared at them longer than necessary, hoping my exhausted mind was just playing tricks on me. It wasn't.
…So this is actually happening.
I've reincarnated.
There was no point in panicking. I'd already lost that option.
Footsteps approached. A heavy door opened.
"#%@^&%%!!"
"#%%^ %# ^%&!"
Voices filled the room, loud and sharp. The syllables were completely foreign, I couldn't understand a single word.
Several figures gathered around my crib. Their clothes looked like something straight out of a high-fantasy setting, layered fabrics, decorative patterns, entirely expensive and impractical.
A woman stepped closer. She had long, lustrous green hair and wore a dark gown that suited her aristocratic features. Her face, however, was tense, caught in a bitter struggle between anger and profound grief.
She turned toward an older man with faded green hair who looked similar to her.
"##@%…!"
"&^%#&^%%^!!!"
They were arguing fiercely. That much was obvious.
Then, a much darker presence made itself known.
"!!"
"!!?"
A man with brilliant silver hair stood slightly apart from them. His eyes were cold, fixing on me without a single ounce of warmth or hesitation.
'I didn't like the way he looked at me...'
He then opened his mouth then spoke.
"@#% %$$%^-"
The room went completely still.
"!!.. %^%#^&^!!"
"^%%#^%&^>?!"
The two who had been arguing earlier turned toward him, clearly shaken. Whatever he had just said, it wasn't something they could ignore.
Based on the crushing tension in the room, and the way his large hand hovered over my crib, I could easily guess the meaning.
'He wanted me dead.'
I focused on my body again. The overwhelming weakness. The absolute lack of motor control.
'…A newborn body... Where was the mother? Dead? Missing?'
Before I could analyze the situation further, something entirely unnatural happened. A translucent blue window suddenly materialized in the air directly in front of my eyes.
[ Syncing… 10% ]
I stiffened.
A system?
[ Syncing… 15% ]
Before the glowing window could change again, the silver-haired man suddenly reached in and grabbed me from the crib.
'!?'
His grip was rough, completely careless of my fragile bones. A sharp spike of pain shot through my small body.
I opened my mouth, trying to cry out.
Nothing came. My throat simply locked tight.
"%#%^%&^#…!"
"%$@##^%!"
The green-haired woman shouted, panic clear in her voice. She stepped forward desperately, raising her hands as if trying to physically stop him.
The silver-haired man responded. One sentence.
"#$*#@..."
It was calm.
Too calm.
"..."
The woman froze instantly, her hands dropping in defeat.
'…So that's how it is...'
My very first day in this world, and I was already entirely at someone else's mercy. Reincarnated and helpless. Surrounded by hostile strangers.
'This life wasn't going to be easy...'