"Oi! Look—he's eating dirt again!"
A group of boys pointed and laughed.
Lucian couldn't stop himself.
His body moved on its own, bending down, hands trembling as they scooped up filthy earth mixed with… something animal.
He felt everything.
The texture.
The stench.
The taste.
But he had no control.
His soul screamed, but the body ignored him.
He wanted to vomit.
He wanted to bite his tongue off.
But he could only watch himself chew like a broken puppet.
"STOP!"
A girl rushed forward—short silver hair, soft cat ears trembling, golden eyes burning with worry.
Her hands grabbed his wrists.
Warm.
Kind.
"M-Miyu! You're touching that thing?"
A skinny boy sneered.
"Eat together! You two make a great couple!"
"A mad dog and a clean cat!"
The tallest boy laughed, and the rest exploded into giggles.
Miyu's eyes narrowed sharply at their words.
Her claws twitched—real, sharp, beastkin claws.
She wanted to scratch their faces.
Bite them.
Tear them apart.
Instead, she grit her teeth.
Then the boys started throwing stones.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Miyu shielded the boy's fragile body with her own.
But a few rocks hit Lucian's new head and shoulders.
He didn't dodge.
Didn't defend.
He simply collapsed, wailing on the ground like a toddler—loud, broken sobs echoing through the village.
More laughter.
More mocking.
More cruelty.
Lucian, who had just died seconds ago, watched the scene from inside this new body in disbelief.
The moment he died… he arrived here.
Inside a body that wasn't his.
Inside a life that was already shattered.
"Dammit—!! I swear I want to beat the SHIT out of these f*cking brats!"
His soul roared from within, a silent scream no one could hear.
"Where… am I? And what are these memories?"
Lucian's thoughts trembled in the void of his mind.
His entire body felt everything—the cold ground, the bruises, the taste of filth—
but he had no control.
His fingers twitched without his will.
His legs moved on impulses that weren't his.
His mouth cried and wailed like an infant while his soul screamed inside.
He was trapped.
Trapped in a body that wasn't listening to him.
Trapped in a mind that wasn't his.
Then the memories hit again—
scattered like shards of glass.
A boy the villagers called "slow," "cursed," "simple," "useless."
A boy who looked a little like Lucian…
but ruined.
He wasn't tall—
he was short and underfed.
His skin didn't glow—
it was smeared with dirt, bruises, and old scars.
His clothes weren't neat—
they were torn rags, barely hanging onto his thin frame.
And his eyes…
Those eyes weren't human eyes.
They were wide, unfocused, trembling—
like a frightened rabbit living only on instinct,
moving because surviving was the only thing it ever learned.
No intelligence.
No will.
No sense of self.
Just fear.
Just hunger.
Just pain.
This… was the body Lucian had fallen into.
A life crushed before it ever had the chance to begin.
"You disgusting beastman! You should be honored to even breathe the same air as us.
If it weren't for your father, you would've been caged and played with by lofty nobles,"
the tall boy mocked, his tone dripping with cruelty.
Miyu glared at him with her beast-like eyes, her gaze sharp and murderous.
Her arms wrapped tightly around Lucian, who was still crying helplessly in her embrace.
The kids who had been throwing rocks froze in place, their feet trembling under her sudden killing intent.
"I'm human! See? I don't even have that disgusting beastmen tail!"
Her voice shook, the words barely holding any weight.
Her father was human, her mother a beastwoman from a northern tribe.
She had her mother's silver hair, uncommon among humans, and golden eyes — a rare trait as well.
Her cat ears twitched in anger.
"You deluded kitten!"
The tall boy threw dirt into her eyes, then ran.
The others followed, knowing exactly how dangerous a cornered beast could be.
Miyu's arms tightened around Lucian.
Tears spilled from her golden eyes as she hugged him closer.
"You stink, Lucii! Why do you have to be so disgusting?
You know how worried Big Sis Miyu was…"
"Shut up, idiot. You're trembling and crying yourself…"
Lucian's soul sighed from within.
Even though he was only a soul now, the agony didn't stop.
It had been almost a week or two since he found himself in this body.
A body that wasn't tall, wasn't beautiful — just short, weak, fragile.
His mind kept spiraling under the weight of this boy's memories.
He couldn't help but see the life this "Lucian" had lived.
This boy was an orphan…
and he was a special child.
Lucian had died in his own world —
killed randomly by an unstable chubby teenager —
and now he was trapped in an alternate version of himself…
one who was slow.
It was hard for him to understand this boy.
Or even understand himself inside this body.
This Lucian…
didn't know what was happening around him.
What was right?
What was wrong?
He was as innocent as a lamb,
and as clueless as a pigeon.
The slow boy never felt the pain the way Lucian felt it.
He never understood how bad his life really was.
Not even close.
Some drunk old men would kick him for no reason — just for fun.
He'd cry for a moment…
and forget as soon as the pain faded.
But Lucian…
Lucian saw everything.
Lucian felt everything.
The difference.
The cruelty.
The injustice.
How could he —
how could this boy —
be treated as something less than human?
Thornridge Village was a small, forgotten settlement in the Holy Kingdom of Luminor—a place where the sun never truly set.
Above the kingdom floated the Celestial Archipelago, a cluster of sacred islands ruled by winged priests who claimed direct lineage to the Sun God himself.
And Thornridge…
was nothing more than a tiny dot, far lost on the edges of the kingdom's map.
A village so insignificant that even the priests' light barely reached it.
"This village is pathetic… and so is my existence. I truly am a ghost in a nut,"
Lucian frowned from within — if souls could even do that.
His body felt like he was trapped inside some virtual-reality movie: he could feel, taste, experience everything… but control nothing.
And honestly, his "experiences" weren't exactly good in this Lucian's body.
This special case of a boy would randomly run into the forest, and for some reason the animals were kinder to him than humans.
Lucian felt a strange sense of assurance from the giant bear that let this idiot play with its cubs.
According to the memories, the slow boy had known that bear since childhood.
Sometimes this Lucian would run into random houses in the village and act like he owned the place.
Just yesterday morning, he broke into a couple's room and literally set their house on fire.
Nobody knew about it only because Miyu was the one who dragged him away.
Lucian wondered…
if he had been caught, would they have executed him in this medieval shithole?
"Sigh… I can't even breathe when I want to."
Miyu held Lucian's shoulders, and even through her thick tears the boy was smiling sheepishly.
"IDIOT! IDIOT! IDIOT!"
Miyu cried as she shook him, as if trying to shake some sense into him.
But Lucian only laughed, thinking she was playing with him.
"So here you are, you troubled child,"
a tall man wearing a light cloak said, his voice gentle.
"Father Ralnr?"
Miyu looked at him with a solemn expression.
Even the foolish boy's expression changed.
His smile faded instantly, and in those beast-like eyes, fear appeared.
"What mischief are you two doing now?
You think I didn't see you, Lucian?
You burned Harom's house yesterday… poor couple."
Father Ralnr spoke with a polite smile.
"It was me! I burned their house, not Lucian!
He is… he is innocent!"
Miyu defended him, her voice hesitant.
"Yes, I did nothing! It was this foolish bastard wearing my skin!
Wait… who is wearing who??"
Lucian's soul panicked from inside the boy's body.
If they find out… what will they do to me?
In the slow boy's memories, he had seen a man burned at the stake—
and they called it cleansing.
Lucian trembled—
if souls could tremble.