After discussing the matter, Liam decided to return to his room. However, he stopped at the doorway when Isabelle called his name softly.
That was unusual, but Liam suspected his little sister had a hidden motive.
"Alisa, why did you call me?" As he turned to look at his little sister's face, Liam didn't realize how careless he had been.
"Alisa?" Isabelle repeated the name with a frown.
He turned to look at her and asked in a flat tone, "What is it? Is there something you want to talk about?"
Everything that happened was like a dream which would be forgotten as soon as someone woke up from their sleep.
Isabelle chuckled softly.
"You're right. I want to ask you for a favor, tomorrow morning, if that's okay?"
'Could it be that the woman he was referring to was his girlfriend?' Isabelle added, nodding.
"Sure." Liam turned the doorknob, pushed the door open, then closed it again and locked it from the inside.
Isabelle remained standing outside, trying to explain what she meant.
"It's rare for you to agree so easily. But that's not what I meant; I'll tell you what it's for tomorrow. Just make sure you wake up early, okay?"
Liam glanced over his shoulder and took a deep breath before slowly exhaling.
"All right. Now go back to your room."
Isabelle gave him a faint smile.
"You haven't changed much, have you?" she said, then turned around and walked toward the stairs while slowly shaking her head.
Liam pondered those words while doing something he thought was ridiculous: watching his little sister climb the stairs.
The door closed, and he sat on the bed, sinking into a feeling of emptiness as he wondered why all of this was happening to him at once.
...
The blue moon shimmered beautifully in the sky alongside hundreds of twinkling stars, its beautiful, almost magical light captivating Liam as he gazed at it through his bedroom window.
From the window of the ground floor room, Liam Tirarty accepted the reality that he was inside an unfamiliar house, far from his home on Earth.
Accompanied by the strange feeling that had haunted him since he awoke from death, his overlapping memories sent his thoughts into turmoil as he desperately searched for answers to those confusing questions.
Trying to access his memories of Earth, he could only remember two people: a woman he believed was his friend, and a man lying on the ground with a knife embedded in the side of his abdomen.
It was the beginning of the trouble that changed his life, leaving him imprisoned for years, and what hurt more than anything was that he never received a visit from his parents or his two older sisters.
Beyond that, he could not remember anything at all, retaining only memories from before the horrific incident that had sent him to prison.
His chaotic school years, an ordinary family life, and healing together with friends from his neighborhood.
For a moment, his vacant gaze settled on the cobblestone road outside, where not a single person could be seen passing by, making his chest feel tight as he stared at the scene.
'I'm confused because the body I'm inhabiting is already dead, yet it came back to life when my soul was pulled into it.'
Liam tried to remember the details of how he had risen from the dead.
'When the knife was pulled from the left side of my chest, I felt a cold sensation that emptied my mind for a moment before the wound healed on its own, like a nightmare fading when someone wakes from sleep.'
8:30 p.m.
Based on what his mother had told him that afternoon, Liam realized something was wrong with this world when he read the newspaper reporting a series of deaths that had occurred that morning, exactly like what Zavi had experienced.
One thing that troubled him was why they were able to learn about those deaths when Zavi's death seemed to have been concealed by something supernatural.
'There's no way the silhouette I saw and the one Zavi saw before his death could be connected to whatever made this strange phenomenon seem normal, is there?'
That was only Liam's hypothesis, nothing more. Regardless, he believed that his instincts had never been wrong.
The cathedral bells could still be heard faintly in the night, mourning the tragedy that had befallen Moran while also serving as a warning for people to remain cautious in their daily activities.
'If I remember correctly, that figure looked like a vague humanoid with wings. Its body had feminine curves, and it was in the middle room while I was cleaning myself and wiping the bloodstains from the floor.'
He realized that he could not be entirely certain whether this world resembled the city where he had once lived on that cursed Earth.
'Actually, there isn't any difference at all when it comes to the supernatural.'
Throughout various cities, especially in Havanuheta Province, supernatural incidents occurred frequently and often ended in horrific tragedies that claimed lives in cruel and bizarre ways.
The causes of those deaths were never clearly identified. Some said the facts were being hidden from the public, and even now, on Saturday, October 20, the news had reached its peak regarding the large number of deaths across seven districts of Moran, while the authorities had no answers to any of it.
At the same time, prophecies about the coming apocalypse were spreading everywhere. No one knew when it would happen. There was no definite date, month, or year.
Even Moran's main church, Morotuane, which worshiped the god Auneron, the bringer of fortune and virtue, seemed somewhat concerned about all of this and instructed the citizens to remain calm and avoid panic.
Several hours had passed since Liam's soul transferred into the body of a twenty-year-old young man named Zavi Actitus. However, he had only fully regained consciousness that afternoon, as though his soul needed time to adapt to the body and this world before sinking into something strange and unfamiliar.
Inside a simple two-story house with a total of seven rooms, Zavi lived with his mother, Mei Actitus, his older brother, Ren Actitus, and his younger sister, Isabelle Actitus.
He was the second child in the family.
Or rather, the first.
On that exact same date, October 20, 1543, according to the Star Calendar, on a Saturday at 8:15 a.m., Zavi ended his own life by stabbing himself in the heart with a knife.
Why did he do it? Because on Thursday, the 18th, he visited a place known as the sacred land of Eaurealis Castle in Tezny District with a former female classmate, and on Friday night, he began experiencing an unbearable sensation throughout his body.
Two black marks appeared on both his left and right wrists, along with one on his neck, shifting locations every second, accompanied by the sensation that his heart was about to explode.
On Saturday morning, immediately after breakfast, the sensation became so intense that his body reached its limit, and Zavi stabbed himself in the heart with a kitchen knife. His mind had given up at that very moment. That day, none of his family members knew anything about it, as though the incident itself were connected to something supernatural!
Even tonight, Liam still could not speak fluently after experiencing that strange incident, recalling Zavi's memories overlapping with his own, while those moments continued replaying endlessly in his mind, making his chest tremble violently and leaving him short of breath.
'School? Insulting each other? That's all I can remember for now. The rest is Zavi's everyday life, constantly stressed, staying up late writing job applications, and looking for work until his savings were almost gone.'
Stay calm, suppress the effects of excessive anxiety, and play Zavi's role for the time being. Liam had decided to find out how this world worked and uncover the mystery of his existence inside the body of a twenty-year-old young man named Zavi Actitus.
"Damn it."
A few seconds after cursing, something strange flashed through his mind.
His thoughts returned to the previous afternoon, when Liam had seen the strange behavior of his older brother, Ren Actitus, who left the house after returning home with their mother.
One thing was certain: what exactly had Ren been doing all this time?
Liam had only thought of it that night, trying to dig deeper, suspecting that it might be connected to his transmigration into this world and this body.
'Damn it, I can't access my memories from Earth because the two sets of memories keep overlapping while this body's memories dominate my mind right now? And what exactly was I doing before I transferred into this body?'
Liam wanted to remember what he had done before inhabiting this body, but he failed because he instead found himself trapped in Zavi's memories of graduating and attending a graduation ceremony at a prestigious building in Tezny District.
'Damn it, what do I have to do to remember?'
Liam was overwhelmed by emotion as his steps grew heavier while he walked from the window toward his bedroom door.
Click...
His room was located on the right side of the living room, on the ground floor together with his mother's room. Unlike the two of them, Ren and Isabelle's rooms were upstairs.
Originally, this had been his father's room, who had died almost a decade ago. After reaching his teenage years, Zavi had asked his mother for permission to occupy this room, and she had agreed.
Realizing that the window was still open, Liam had no choice but to close it tightly. This time, he chose to turn off the bedroom light and use a candle for illumination while resting.
The electric light really made his eyes ache!
Honestly, he was the type of person who could not sleep if the bedroom light was still on. Since it was not yet time to sleep, a candle was the right choice, as there were several things he wanted to understand and investigate.
"So... what exactly am I supposed to do?" he muttered softly.
"Strange prophecies? Supernatural phenomena? Shamans? And how did I end up in this world?"
Out there, there were countless strange, frightening, and astonishing things waiting for someone like him.
He wanted to free himself from the stress of being trapped inside the house for hours.
'It seems I just need to find my memories and... uncover the secret behind this transmigration of mine. Tch, why do I keep imagining that black figure I saw back then?'
His mind seemed to be urging him to investigate it, but because he lacked sufficient understanding, Liam chose not to follow that thought.
Who knew if it was a trap or some other troublesome matter?
Liam was confused and unsure of what to do as he picked up the pocket watch in front of him and opened its cover.
Click...
'It's almost nine at night, huh?'
Not long afterward, he heard faint footsteps passing outside his room. The footsteps were rhythmic, as though the person carried malicious intentions. For a moment, he thought they belonged to a thief who wanted to rob his house.
Anxiety gripped his mind, his breathing became irregular, and horrifying memories resurfaced of the humanoid shadow walking through the front door before moving toward the road outside the house.
Liam immediately stood up, pushing his chair backward. Then he walked to the right and slowly opened the door to peek outside.
"Is that Ren? I wonder why no one questioned his absence this morning and why he's only coming home tonight."
Because the living room was quite dark with the lights turned off, and he was merely an ordinary human being who could not see clearly in the dark, all he could see was the silhouette of someone standing in front of the window, peering into the house.
Without meaning to, he pushed the door open wider, causing the hinges to let out an unpleasant creak that echoed briefly throughout the room.
'Damn it...'
Liam's lips twitched. His hands trembled violently, and even the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. The situation was just like the moments before a ghost appeared in a movie.
Click.
The door opened, creating a longer knocking sound than it should have.
From the doorway, his gaze briefly fell upon a man with straight black hair and blue eyes filled with exhaustion, who stared back at him with a tired expression.
Ren lowered his hat, briefly glanced at his younger brother, then climbed the stairs.
Rather than being afraid, Liam stared back at him with a sharp, calculating gaze.
'Is he some kind of criminal?'
Liam did not know what to think. He sighed, and when his gaze shifted outside, the door moved and let out a deafening creak. With heavy steps, he immediately walked over and closed it.
Back inside his room, he sat quietly while staring at the neatly arranged books on the table and the steady candlelight. Suddenly, Liam remembered something from a fragment of Zavi's memory.
'That man was hiding something in his left hand. I'm sure of it. He's hiding something from the family... but what is it?'
Questions continued swirling endlessly in his mind without a single answer emerging. Without realizing it, he slammed his fist onto the table; a book fell to the floor, and the disorderly state of the table reflected the chaos inside his head.
A moment later, unexpectedly, he heard rapid footsteps descending the stairs, a series of sharp, continuous thuds.
Liam wondered what kind of person could run down the stairs that quickly. Did he possess some kind of supernatural ability?
Then came a knock on the door to his right.
Liam's pupils widened as his head slowly turned to the right, every breath making his chest feel unbearably heavy as his gaze remained fixed on the polished wooden door.
He rose from his seat, swallowing with difficulty, before deciding to open the door.
Click.
Liam saw his brother standing there, his gloomy expression and unreadable gaze staring flatly at him.
"Why are you here?" Liam asked flatly as he stared at his brother's face; his breathing slowly returned to normal as Liam examined him from head to toe.
Ren swept his gaze around the room, as though making sure there was nothing strange hidden inside. Without warning, he gripped Liam's shoulders with both of his cold hands.
"Nothing. But be careful."
'Something strange yet real is lurking around this place,' Ren added inwardly.
'Be careful?' Liam thought; his heartbeat slowed as he pondered the meaning behind Ren's words.
After saying that, Ren simply left without offering any explanation, leaving his younger brother alone, trapped in a whirlpool of uncertainty.