"Haaah... haaah..."
Eyes that had once been closed. Aheart that had stopped beating, a soul that had briefly vanished. Yet the body came back to life several hours after death. A heavy groan escaped his blood-stained lips as Liam Tirarty clutched his chest tightly.
He undid two buttons of his shirt and stared in shock as the gash on the left side of his chest healed itself.
His body trembled violently; Liam tried to stand, but his legs refused to obey him. In the end, he dragged himself out of the kitchen with a deathly pale face as he witnessed this strange phenomenon.
'What... actually happened? Where am I? Wasn't I just in a dark, suffocating room?'
Amid his confusion, Liam's memories returned to the moments before he transferred into this body, into a world far removed from his home on Earth.
'Did I lose my memories? Zavi Actitus? Job applications?'
Liam stared at his right hand, which was still gripping a knife. His pupils widened, and his mind went blank for a moment before he threw the weapon away; the knife fell with a clang onto the floor at the foot of the stairs, then fell silent.
The air felt heavy, every breath as though it were making his lungs want to burst. That did not trouble him. What Liam was thinking about at the moment was simply trying to stand and understand the reason behind his sudden transfer into this body.
'I have read stories about people possessing other people's bodies in another world. Am I experiencing something similar? My head hurts so bad what is this?'
Lost in his thoughts, Liam pulled his shirt aside to the left, staring intently at the left side of his chest before buttoning it up again.
Blood was scattered everywhere; he took the initiative to clean it up so that it would not leave even the slightest trace. Afterward, Liam arrived in the room that he believed belonged to Zavi Actitus, the body he now inhabited.
After storing the knife in the cabinet beside the bed, Liam sat down in a chair and stretched his legs.
The incident felt like a dream, even though the very real pain had robbed him of his original way of speaking and memories.
'Overlapping memories? I never knew something like this could happen. And what the hell was that silhouette? So the owner of this body, Zavi, saw something similar to what I saw?'
Liam rose from his seat with a sigh, then ran toward the window and quickly shut it, leaving behind a loud thud that echoed for several seconds.
Liam's breath hitched. He admitted that he had never been this panicked in his life, at least not in this world.
On Earth, he had encountered something unexpected. He had once had several friends, but when Liam was going through the hardest period of his life and contracted an illness related to them, his friends disappeared, and from that day onward he realized that they had been taking advantage of his existence.
Liam realized that if he wanted to survive in this world, he had to adapt as quickly as possible. Remembering how, on Earth, failing to adapt quickly had left him in a miserable state, Liam felt that being in this world was better than returning to the cursed place where he had lived back then.
For now, his goal is simple: to find his memories, and then to find out what freedom itself means.Even though he didn't really remember it, the desire for freedom burned in his mind, pushing him to get out of there as soon as possible.
He felt nothing about leaving his family behind. There had been problems between them, and he was certain that leaving them behind was somehow driven by an instinct telling him to do all this for his own good.
Liam Tirarty was unaware that he was a prisoner, or rather, the memory of it had been erased when he arrived in this body. Hours passed while he still had not made any decisions, left to lament his fate after the strange phenomenon that had just befallen him.
'Damn, who am I? I... can't really remember who I am, am I really a student or a government slave? So, what is my purpose in life? Well, freedom like a dove.'
....
In the afternoon, precisely at 5:00 p.m.
Zavi's mother, Mei Actitus, and his older brother returned home.
Upon seeing them, Liam greeted them with a forced and curt smile, acting like a son and a younger brother.
His mother smiled when she saw her son's welcome, unaware that something terrible had happened to him that morning.
In the living room, before dinner, the two of them sat facing each other as though there were something very important they wanted to discuss. Liam could not refuse, accepting it gladly while also getting used to them.
"Why do you want to talk to me, Mom?" Liam asked, tilting his head slightly.
His mother nodded and remained silent for two seconds before saying, "I don't want anything to happen to Zavi. You've applied for jobs and been rejected by several companies. I'm very worried about your physical and mental condition."
Liam was surprised before deciding to answer by asking, "Why did mom say that?"
'Could this have something to do with what happened this morning? No, could it be...'
Without realizing it, he saw Ren coming down the stairs with suspicious, silent movements, passing his family in the living room before leaving the house without saying a single word.
Liam's lips twitched after witnessing that act of feigned indifference.
'He's Zavi and Isabelle's half-brother, right? Oh, I just remembered. He became like this because of his father. Yeah, his father died in a workplace accident when he was seventeen, if I remember correctly. At that time, Zavi was twelve and Isabelle, his younger sister, was eight?'
Liam nodded after understanding the situation, forgetting that his mother had mentioned several important points that had slipped his mind.
"Mom, did you bring the newspaper from the town square?"
His mother nodded, finding her son's behavior strange.
"Because this has to do with the restrictions I mentioned earlier."
Liam fell silent as those words echoed in his mind.
'What did mother say earlier? Huh, did I miss it because I was thinking about something else?'
Liam cursed inwardly, he took a deep breath to avoid arousing suspicion and put on a blank, seemingly foolish expression.
"Sorry, I was thinking about that job." Liam scratched the back of his head with his eyes half closed.
Then, a loud voice came from upstairs, "Mom? Where are you?"
The voice belonged to Zavi's younger sister, Isabelle Actitus.
A young girl with long black hair tied back, with several strands falling on either side of her face, and bright blue eyes, wearing a ruffled blouse and a black skirt, carefully descended the stairs.
"I'm here," Mei replied. "I've already told you not to shout inside the house. Have you forgotten that rule?"
"Sorry, I admit I'm guilty." Isabelle stuck out the tip of her tongue playfully while grinning at Liam.
Liam glanced at her, having absolutely no intention of entertaining the girl after everything he had just experienced that day. His energy was completely drained, and he could barely be bothered to move.
'She always acts like this toward Zavi. Whatever the reason, Zavi clearly doesn't mind. Well, his sweet little sister always gives him money, after all. What puzzles me is how a student like her has money, while Zavi, who graduated from school long ago, doesn't have a single penny?'
"Well, I guess she might have some savings..." Liam blurted out without thinking.
The two of them reflexively turned and stared sharply at him before finally bursting into laughter.
"Oh, Zavi, Zavi. Don't worry too much about your job. Besides, your little sister here, no, both of us, will support you until you find a job and..."
Isabelle approached Liam, who was sitting several meters away; she leaned closer before continuing with a faint smile, "...propose to the woman you like."
Liam frowned, then used his cold palm to push Isabelle's face away because the girl was too close to him.
'I just realized that Zavi has pretty good taste in women!'
He nodded, then looked at his mother, who was looking back at him; concern was clearly etched across the tired woman's face.
'I admire Mom; even though she is no longer young, I don't remember her date of birth, she clearly has such a strong spirit when it comes to raising her three children after losing both of her husbands.'
That was right. Liam knew this through Zavi's memories: after his mother gave birth to Isabelle, month after month passed. Once the little baby turned one, their biological father disappeared without a trace, leaving them without ever knowing what it was truly like to have a father.
It was tragic. However, not long afterward, their mother met an upperclassman from her school days, accepted his proposal, and, unexpectedly, the two of them married again. Her new husband brought along a ten-year-old child; the man had become a widower after his wife died from a severe illness not long after giving birth to their only child.
Liam felt pity as those memories passed through his mind. He did not know what expression to wear; reflecting on his own experiences, he realized that so many people out there faced their own trials in life.
God does not burden His servants with trials too heavy for them to bear; everything is measured according to a person's ability to endure it.
"Mom... came home early because there was a problem outside. Seven districts in Moran City are being struck by a series of sudden deaths that have claimed dozens of lives."
They fell silent, forcing Mei to continue, "I don't want that to happen to either of you..."
Liam fell silent, not because of her words, but because of one thing that had been bothering him for a while.
'As for that man, why didn't she mention Ren? Could it be that the two of them... did something that Zavi and Isabelle themselves don't know the truth about? Impossible...'
"So... mother means we can't leave the house for a few days?" Isabelle asked, occasionally glancing at Liam, who had lowered his gaze.
Mei nodded hesitantly and replied, "Because the parliaments of the Tezny and Chapena districts have agreed and ordered us to stay inside tonight, while on Sunday morning, we hope the Goddess will protect our souls from the shackles of the evil outside."