'Transmigration?' He chuckled.
Did he mean that fantasy trope where a person's soul is transferred from one body to another in a different world?
'It c-ca-can't possibly be-'
He wanted to refute it, but how could he?
After so many bizarre things happening in the last few hours, will a different world really be that out of reach?
[Don't trust me? Look outside the window.]
Ryu turned his head towards the curtains next to his bed.
His hands were shaking, but he opened it, gasping in surprise and awe.
His eyes were blasted with the seven colors of the rainbow.
'One, two, three… seven.'
There were seven moons in the sky.
Immediately grabbing his glass of water, he threw it outside with all the strength he could muster.
The glass just travelled a bit and fell down in a random bush.
He wanted to see if it was just a giant screen a few meters away.
It wasn't.
'Ha-Haha-Haha!'
He laughed, nervously, his heart beating out of his chest.
'What the fuck!'
He felt like he was going crazy.
The book in his hand was shaking.
It really was another world.
And his soul was transmigrated into some random person.
It was all very clear to him, but his mind was refusing this reality with all its might.
[Now, let me reintroduce myself, Ryu Tae-Min.
My name is Arthur, and I am the messenger and a faithful servant of the White Moon Goddess, Lunae.
And we need your help.]
Ryu physically pointed towards himself in surprise.
'Me? Help a God?' He thought.
How was it even possible?
Now he was even more curious and decided to read further.
[2,303,167 days ago, Solis-]
'This obnoxious guy, who the fuck starts with the exact number of days?'
[2,303,167 days ago, Solis betrayed our Goddess Lunae and sealed Her soul all over this land.
Lunar Divine Shards, fragments of our Goddess's divine prowess after She fell.
And only you, Her chosen apostle, can find them and rekindle Her light.]
'Me? An apostle? Resurrect a Goddess going against another?' He grimaced as he closed the book and threw it to the side.
'Hell fucking nah.'
'I look quite rich in this life, might as well enjoy the money instead of trying to resurrect a God.'
But then, it hit him.
The words said by Arthur.
His family.
His face twisted as he clicked his tongue and picked the book again.
[And don't even think of not cooperating. You don't have a choice in this.]
'Is this guy watching me right now? Is he reading my mind and writing this?'
[Check your right shoulder.]
Ryu obliged.
He slid down his nightshirt and looked at it.
A spiral tattoo with four-point stars all around.
[Every time you ascend to a new level, this mark will betray you.
The Sun God's zealots and his subsideries would hunt you down.
The eight churches control this world, and to them, you, Lunae's apostle, are the heretic of the highest level.]
'And he expects me to go against the entire world on my own?'
And as he thought, the book had an answer for this, too.
[You only need to resurrect our Goddess. She will handle the rest.]
The chuckle forming died in Ryu's throat, as he realized he was dead serious about this.
'And what if I don't wanna ascend to a new level to be safe?'
He queried in his mind, and as he expected, the next page had the answer for this.
[If you stagnate too long, there will come a point where you can't suppress the mark anymore, and it will betray you again.]
'Fuck this mind reader.'
He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
What kind of prank even is this?
[The churches will find you, chain you, and burn your soul till even your ashes forget you.]
The sheer lack of empathy in the line scared him, a seasoned killer.
'This is something Judge Holden might do if you breathe wrong.'
[You cannot hide in this world, and if you wish to save your family, you need to resurrect our Goddess, Lunae.]
'Here it is.'
This was the part he was waiting for.
So, this was indeed connected to it.
[Solis is our enemy, and your interest also aligns with this. So I don't see how you have any choice here.]
Ryu looked at his hands, his mind going hazy.
His parents' faces flickered before his eyes. The sight of his little sister alive, somberly waiting for him.
He was hallucinating at this point.
"Heh!" He laughed, cracked, until it hurt, "This guy doesn't take no for an answer, does he?"
[Now onto you, or should I say, Raven Marlowe.]
"Huh?"
Just reading that name felt like a hammer to his head.
The book slipped from his grip and fell on the floor.
"Arrghhhh!"
He clutched his head tightly, but that didn't help with the pain at all.
It was like his head was being pierced with a red-hot steel rod.
"AAAHHH!"
And not even a second later, he lost his consciousness again.
***
"Raven Marlowe."
In the very same bedroom, the young man woke up again, disheveled this time.
He was mumbling something under his breath, ignoring his appearance and position on the bed.
'These memories are not mine.' He introspected, clutching his bedsheets tighter.
'Am I… really him? A member of the Marlowe family of all people?'
The memories he had received belonged to the body he possessed.
Raven Marlowe.
The youngest scion of the Marlowe family.
Considered one of the strongest families in the world.
Not only was his family extremely religious, but his father was also one of the biggest Private lenders in the Ivory Kingdom.
And the worst part?
His oldest sister was the newest Cardinal in the Church of Solis.
Out of the eight churches that corresponded to the church of Sun and the seven moons, the Church of Solis was the strongest.
And a Cardinal was the third-highest position in the church, right below the Pope and the Apostles.
A cardinal's younger brother in a family of devouts.
Gulp!
'I literally couldn't have had any worse body than this to be reincarnated in.'