Chapter 3

Ughhh – why does my head hurt so much? Is it too much to expect that one can stay up for a few days? Yeah, I guess I'm not young anymore, but really? Looking around, I suddenly feel something soft. Touching the soft thing, I realise – it's my skin! Okay, that's too much to say, my skin has always been soft.

Actually, it's the silk that's on my skin, so thin and soft and nice to the touch and did I say it is soft? Woaaah, even my blanket, which I paid way too much for, doesn't come close! But – why would there be anything this soft?

I blanked out because I stayed up too much, can't open my eyes because it's still bright, but it seems like I'm laying down. How is that possible? I'm sure I slept in on my chair… and there is no sterilised smell, so it's not a hospital either, not that they'd even give me such soft blankets.

Taking a small break, I slowly open my eyes and see that I am in a fairly large bed, fitting probably three people. It is designed in a princess-bed-style, which I have to say, I always liked but seemed way too much work for a simple sleeping place.

Still, it confuses me more and more – why would I be in a princess bed? It's not gonna be a kidnapping, I don't have much worth for that. Hmmm, family? Nah, I cut contact with them a long time ago, they didn't like me spending all my free time after work with my books. Even when I was promoted in my job, they'd always act like that's no accomplishment.

Do they even know how hard I work every day to finance my hobby? I worked so hard to get a whole month off, and they dare tell me that I am doing nothing out of my life. BAH! Who cares about them, anyways, where the hell am I?

I stand up and see that the whole room is luxurious, taking a look, I see a large full-body mirror and check it out. Wha- Who is this beauty?! In the mirror, there is undoubtedly the most beautiful evil-looking person I have ever seen!

They look nearly exactly like the fanart of Alaric! Woah, wait, why do they move with me? NO WAY?! Is this- Looking around the room once more I realise something shocking. I take a sit on my bed and meditate, something I learned someday to imitate the book.

While I meditate, trying to calm my emotions, I suddenly feel a smooth flowing something in my body, while I absorb it with each breath too. WOOAAAAH! I am breathing in MANA! This is real! No wayyyy, and I thought that my Void-Rituals would make me reincarnate, who knew it just needed me to die in my sleep? I would've done it so much earlier…

Not only did I transgress into a magic world with mana, but I also transgressed into the body of fucking Alaric! Even later on, when magic forms your body and most people look better than their original self, he still stands out with his face!

AghhhUghhhEgghh, more sounds that make me seem like a comical figure not understanding my situation! Hehe, I'm a bit of a troll, ain't I? ANYWAYS, I am a fuckin duckin transmigration into the world of Ziexuyl, I hope at least. I am not in some weird parallel universe of it that seems like Ziexuyl but is in truth only this small southern continent, right?

Wait – why would I be transmigrated into a book series? And that happens right after I press start for this character. Did I take the same stats, wait, is this a game world? STATUS; STATUS; STATUS? CHARACTER CHART? Hmm, so it's not a game but a real world?

But which creature would be able to traverse worlds, create books that are actually a representation of real stories, if this is a real story, and then make it so that someone transmigrates into the body of the real person?

There was a reason behind why I took a Void-Ritual, as creatures of the void have the highest compatibility with the space affinity, and they'd be able to do that. Hmmm… nah, never mind. No use thinking about it. Since they did it, I'll just be thankful, and if the Eldritch reveals themselves, I'll just do some sacrificial rituals for them as a form of gratitude. Yeah, that'll do, let's just hope they didn't do something with me, that'd suck, but whatever. As long as I can be here and this is not a dream or something like that, then I'm more than happy anyways.

So… hehehe, let me do something interesting. I know, I should probably go around the estate and check out a few things, but before I somehow forget anything, let me do a quick prayer. To the goddess Mian of Nostalgia and Reminiscence. A minor goddess that helps one remember their memories and ensure you wouldn't forget them.

Now, as a minor goddess, she has not many believers, but because of her background, she has some good powers. She was a goddess of love but lost her lover, so to never forget him and ensure all her believers never forget the good times to overcome the bad times, she created a special prayer that will give you a blessing as long as you do it properly.

This prayer is only known to those that visited the holy sanctuary, and comically, you will forget it the moment you say the prayer. It is also a silent one, so each word you utter will come out as muttering or gibberish to anyone that listens, so you would have to visit the sanctuary personally if you wanted to spell it out.

That is one of the easiest free-form magic and basically anyone would know how to do that. You could also send your character to the sanctuary, so you don't have to memorise it. I wonder how it works now that I am the person and not a player.

Let's go, spelling a prayer right after I transmigrated and may very well be dreaming or die for heresy because I say the prayer wrong, no danger or suddenness at all! Of course I will say it in the holy language, it enlarges the connection to the holy realm, the realm of the gods.

"Oh, Mian, Weaver of Gossamer Threads, Weaver of Yesterdays!

I stand adrift in a churning sea of forgetfulness, the once vibrant tapestry of my life reduced to tattered scraps. The path ahead stretches into an endless, inky void, and fear gnaws at my resolve.

But wait! In the periphery, a flicker – a shimmering strand, a memory unearthed. It's a whisper, a faint echo of laughter, a familiar face. With trembling hands, I grasp at it, and with each precious thread I reclaim, a sliver of myself returns.

These are the lifelines you cast, Mian, these luminous threads of the past. They bind me not to a bygone era, but propel me forward. Each memory, a beacon in the dark, reminding me of who I am, of the strength I've carried, the battles I've won.

Empowered by these whispers of the past, I take a step, then another. The future, once shrouded, begins to take shape, not as a desolate unknown, but as a canvas yet to be painted.

Thank you, Mian, for the gift of remembrance. Though the path ahead may be uncertain, I walk with a resolute heart, guided by the luminous threads of my past. You ensure I am not lost, but forever becoming. {Holy Language} " I mutter.

With every word I mutter, some light comes out of my glabella. Word for word, paragraph for paragraph, and the holy languages that sounds soft and bright at the same time disappears from my mind, I can't remember the words I say right after saying them, like they are disappearing from my brain.

But in exchange, all my knowledge regarding my notes, the book and the game become clearer and clearer. At the end of it, I know everything like I had just read it. Not only that, but I can also open my notebooks in my head like I would do it in front of me, surfing and reading them like I just uploaded them to my tablet.

Hmm, it seems that prayers work, and the cost of forgetting the prayer also works, interesting. I guess I got my cheat this way, no system or a super-duper strong ability, but I got my knowledge and rituals to use.

At least I won't forget the things now, let's see… right! The normal stuff, I should check out the estate, the stepmother that is worse than the devil… wait, which time am I around? Already after the drama or before? I really don't wanna do the drama, let me just straight up skip it, yup yup.

Stepping down from my bed, I pull the robe at the side which rings a bell in the side-room, where my main servant resides. He is the son of the butler; they are the only two that care for him even after his father died.

Stepmother can't kick them out, after all, the butler has quite a good overview of all the finances and he regulates everything, his son will be the next one too, so she hasn't been able to force an apprentice upon him.

Keen, the butler's son and the main servant of Alaric, knocks at the door and then enters slowly and keenly, careful not to make loud sounds that would irritate his lord.