* * *
I clung desperately to my cheerful grin.
How much time had passed? Finally, Raizen’s tightly closed lips parted.
“You really understood this?”
His words were slow, deliberate, and enunciated perfectly.
Was this just part of his budding villain settings, or was it intentional?
Even though he hadn’t hit puberty yet, his voice was already pretty deep—not quite a full-grown man’s baritone, but definitely lower than most kids his age.
“Yup!”
I answered immediately.
Raizen smiled silently at that, and his expression sent shivers down my spine.
“All I did was solve it. But you understood it?”
‘Ah, crap.’
Was he doubting me?
Why the hell would he doubt me?
Where else would he find a kid as angelic-looking as Sean?
‘What do I do?’
Raizen’s gaze was unsettling.
Sure, I’d transmigrated into some extra nobody in this world, so I didn’t have a status window or any affection-meter system to gauge his real feelings.
But you didn’t need a system to see it—he was suspicious.
‘But why?’
Was he wondering if this twelve-year-old kid might be a fake Sean?
Maybe he thought I was a spy planted from outside?
That kind of plot twist wasn’t unheard of in fantasy novels, but I’m not a spy!
Besides, I still don’t understand how the Duke was so sure I was Sean in the first place.
But…
That’s just my perspective.
Who knows what this body’s circumstances are?
In the original novel, the kid barely got a few lines of mention.
‘This is driving me insane.’
Still, Sean’s mysterious backstory could wait.
Right now, I needed to get out of this situation.
‘If I make up something random, he’ll only get more suspicious.’
At times like this… there’s only one option.
I lowered my gaze and tilted my head, trying to look apologetic.
“The truth is… I just wanted to talk to you, hyung…”
“You pretended not to know something… just to talk to me?”
“Yeah…”
Of course, buddy.
Do you really think I couldn’t handle basic addition and subtraction?
I swallowed the words threatening to spill out and did my best to look even more pitiful.
“I’m sorry, hyung. For lying… You don’t like liars, right?”
Even as I spoke, I felt my dignity crumbling.
God, I’m a grown man who’s been through military service stuck in the body of a twelve-year-old kid!
‘Next time, I’m wishing for a bamboo forest to scream into.’
Just as I was trying to swallow my shame, Raizen stared at me silently.
Then, frowning slightly, he asked:
“Why?”
Why what?
“Hmm?”
I tilted my head in confusion, and instead of glaring, Raizen asked again.
“Why did you do that?”
“Well…”
Why?
I almost laughed at the absurdity of it.
Finally, the opportunity had arrived.
The chance to brainwash—no, instill some new truths into Raizen’s mind!
“Because… we’re the only two in the world who have each other!”
‘Uh.’
Now that I’ve said it, it sounds a bit… weird.
I mean, I’m an only child, so I’ve never heard it myself, but isn’t that a common sentiment about siblings in Korea?
Something like, “When your parents are gone, all you have left is your sibling.”
I just wanted to plant the idea in Raizen’s head that you shouldn’t kill your family.
The tricky part was crafting a line a twelve-year-old with amnesia might actually say.
I’d spent days mulling over this, and this was the best I could come up with…
“Only… us?”
‘Huh?’
To my surprise, Raizen reacted.
“Yeah! That’s what family is all about!”
“…Hah.”
Why are you sighing right in front of me?
Weren’t you just reacting a moment ago?
Was I imagining that?
“Look, I don’t know if you’re doing this on purpose, but stop acting like an idiot around me. If you keep it up… I’ll start thinking you’ve lost more than just your memory.”
With his precise pronunciation, Raizen spoke slowly before leaving the room.
The door closed softly behind him.
I stared at it for a moment before clutching my hair.
‘Argh, that smug little punk!’
Does he think as long as he’s calm and well-spoken, he’s not being rude?
‘What’s his problem anyway?’
Does he really think I’m a spy?
There’s no basis for that! If he’s suspicious, it’s probably just an excuse because he doesn’t like me.
‘Or…’
Maybe I’m acting too immature for a twelve-year-old?
But how would a full-grown adult like me know what a twelve-year-old is supposed to act like?
‘At least the servants and the Duke and Duchess didn’t seem suspicious.’
Is he just jealous? Because unlike him, I act cute and get doted on?
“Sigh…”
I don’t get it.
Just as I was burying my face in the table, I heard a knock.
When I asked who it was, Mila’s voice answered.
Since Raizen had left anyway, there was no reason for me to stay here.
I gathered up my supplies and…
‘I’d love to tear this paper into pieces.’
But if I left it behind and Raizen saw it later, he’d just get more suspicious.
I sighed, grabbed the sheet he’d worked on, and trudged out.
‘Seriously…’
I really need an affection meter system.
“Noah.”
The moment I invoked the Great Ancient God’s revered name, silence filled the air.
Soon after, the message window popped up, filled with nothing but question marks.
[???]
Wow, seriously? Do they really not know anything?
“You must’ve prepared something for me. Noah. I think I’ve done enough of the tutorial.”
[Didn’t I warn you not to summon me for trivial matters?]
Oh, so this is how the God want to play.
Fine, I’ve got my own moves too.
“Then kill me.”
[…….]
After a long silence, the message window reappeared, now dotted with ellipses.
Not a loading sign, obviously.
They’re thinking.
Sure, they wouldn’t have anything to say.
They can’t kill me either since they brought me here for a purpose.
How long have I been staring at the dotted message window in a silent standoff?
‘Now, it should be about time….’
Just as I thought that, thunder boomed inside my head.
[You insolent wretch, how dare you!!]
No, not thunder—more like a voice that carried the weight of a thousand storms.
“Ugh…!”
The moment I heard it, it felt as if all my organs were twisting inside out.
Something churned within me, and a mass of dark crimson blood burst from my mouth.
“Keugh… ugh…”
[Yes, we have no intention of killing you. You are useful to us.]
The Ancient God’s voice echoed directly in my mind, indifferent to my writhing agony.
[But we are still uncertain. That you are… … So don’t try anything cute.]
As soon as those words were spoken, the pain vanished as if it had been a lie.
But my strength was completely drained, leaving me collapsed on the floor.
‘Is this God for real…?’
I struggled to breathe shallowly, and a new message window appeared before my eyes.
[If you successfully complete the quests I gave you, I’ll give you what you desire.]
‘What a joke….’
[But remember this: once the contract is made, there’s no turning back.]
And with that, the Ancient God’s messages ended.
I lay sprawled on the floor for a while before barely managing to push myself up.
‘This insane Ancient God….’
I admit I was being reckless.
But did I do it because I wanted to?
You’re the ones who transmigrated me and abandoned me here!
At least let it be in a novel I haven’t read or don’t know well!
‘Or better yet, don’t transmigrat someone who’s read web novels!’
Still, thanks to this, I remembered.
In ‘From transmigration to Hero’, Kim Minsoo made a contract with the Ancient Gods.
The terms were to defeat the Demon King and save the world.
The Ancient Gods would support him unconditionally for that purpose, but if he failed….
[Your soul will belong to us for eternity.]
The soul would be taken.
A soul owned by the Ancient Gods would be used however, whenever, and for whatever purpose they pleased.
They’d toss you into another world, exploit you, break you, and then dispose of you when you were no longer useful.
‘Why… am I only remembering this now?’
I distinctly remember being horrified at how ruthless and thorough it was when I read it.
Is it just my imagination, or are my memories of the novel starting to blur?
No, that’s not it.
To be precise… I was just under the illusion that I remembered everything clearly.
In reality, I recalled ‘From transmigration to Hero’ in remarkable detail.
I’d re-read it so many times because I wanted to be like Kim Minsoo.
“Ha…”
‘And yet, I completely forgot the most important parts and was busy whining about the status window.’
But I had my reasons too.
In the novel, Kim Minsoo had a tutorial period where the Ancient Gods, in the form of a system, helped him adapt before proposing the contract.
Just as I mentioned earlier.
‘But for me, they threw me in blindfolded….’
Enough useless thoughts.
That’s not the issue right now.
The part where the Ancient God trailed off—it’s bothering me.
What exactly did they mean?
[But we are still uncertain. That you are… … So don’t try anything cute.]
I thought I simply didn’t hear it clearly, but no matter how much I replay it, I can’t recall even a faint sound.
They must have done something to block it.
‘What on earth is it?’
There must be a reason they brought me here.
They didn’t deny it.
Instead, they seemed uncertain—questioning whether it was the right move or not.
‘If it’s something too grand in scale, it’s going to be a hassle.’
The only reason I want to survive is for the inheritance Sean stands to gain.
‘Surely… this Sean isn’t a fake, right?’
Like a spy planted by an enemy family, or maybe the real Sean is starving somewhere….
“Ugh, this is a mess….”
It feels like my to-do list just got longer.
Not only do I have to win over Raizen, but I also need to figure out what’s actually going on.
Why are the Duke and Duchess so certain I’m Sean?
‘But first…’
What am I supposed to do about the blood I threw up?
* * *
