Kael Voss's POV
What the hell just happened?
My brain wouldn't stop spinning. Too many questions, zero answers.
Who was that golden-blonde girl? Where am I right now? And why does my skull still feel like it's being crushed?
This entire mess was pushing me toward the edge.
I glanced around the tavern. Nearly every customer was staring straight at me. Some were smirking. Others were barely holding back laughter behind their hands.
They look like they've seen this exact scene play out many times before.
Footsteps approached from the side. A guy with messy, spiky light-brown hair wearing a beat-up leather jacket stopped beside my table. He had that typical loud, troublemaker punk energy.
"Haha! Man, that was hilarious," he laughed loudly. "Yo Ren, she slapped the hell out of you again! How many times has this happened now? Five hundred? Six hundred?"
The whole tavern erupted in laughter with him.
I tilted my head, genuinely confused.
"Who the fuck is Ren?"
Silence fell like a hammer.
Every single person in the room went quiet. The punk stared at me, eyes wide, clearly not expecting that question.
He slapped a hand on my shoulder and turned to the crowd.
"Hey everyone! Look at this guy!" he shouted. "He doesn't even remember his own damn name anymore!"
Laughter exploded again across the tavern.
My irritation was growing fast.
I spotted a silver fork on the table in front of me. It looked sharper than ordinary cutlery.
In one smooth motion, I grabbed the fork with my right hand and seized the punk's wrist with my left.
"Wha—?!"
Before he could finish, I twisted his arm viciously and drove the fork into his shoulder multiple times in quick succession.
"Ahhhhhhh!!"
He screamed like a child. I left the fork buried in his shoulder.
Yanking him closer by his hair, I brought my face near his ear and spoke in a low, cold voice:
"Who do you think you're calling an idiot, you worthless piece of shit?"
He froze in shock.
"Apologize."
"W-what…?"
"I said apologize. Right now."
When he didn't respond immediately, I twisted the fork deeper.
"Ahh—! I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! Please forgive me!" he begged, voice breaking.
I stopped him before he could drop to his knees.
"No need to kneel. Just don't disrespect me again."
"R-really…?"
"Yeah."
I yanked the fork out roughly.
He collapsed to the floor, howling in pain and rolling around.
I looked around. Every patron suddenly found their drinks and food extremely interesting, carefully avoiding any eye contact with me.
Pathetic.
My own body still felt slightly alien. This whole place felt wrong on every level.
I stood up and walked out of the tavern without saying another word. Behind me, people finally rushed over to help the injured punk.
They only moved once I was gone.
The moment I stepped outside, cool night air hit my face.
But what greeted my eyes made everything inside me go still.
This was definitely not Earth.
Three moons hung in the star-filled sky — one large and silvery-white, one medium with a soft blue glow, and one smaller with a faint crimson hue. A majestic white horse with a glowing blue crystal embedded in its forehead soared through the air on powerful feathered wings, pulling an elegant floating carriage behind it.
Three moons…?
"Oh no—!"
A woman dressed in long flowing robes was flying unsteadily on a wooden broomstick, grocery bags clutched in both hands. One of the bags slipped and tumbled toward the ground.
Behind me, a drunk old man in ragged dark robes cursed loudly at someone.
"Fuck you!"
He raised his palm, and a fist-sized fireball instantly materialized. He hurled it at another drunkard, instantly scorching the man's hair clean off.
I stood frozen, unable to process what I was seeing.
He just created fire from nothing…
My eyes then landed on a large wooden signboard standing nearby.
[Welcome to Aetherion]
"Aetherion…" I whispered. The name sent an uneasy feeling through me. It felt far too familiar.
Ding!
A transparent blue rectangular window suddenly materialized right in front of my eyes.
[Welcome to the world, Player.]
I stared at the glowing text, my mind racing.
'This can't be real…'
A cold realization settled over me as I looked up at the three moons and the flying horse once again.
"I've been transported to another world."
Now the ending is completely different and more natural for Kael's cold, calculating personality. No copy-paste feel at all.