Creak.
Bang!
Isaac slammed the door shut, unable to take in the absurd sight of the kneeling elves.
'What the hell is happening?'
He dragged a hand through his silver hair, messing it up entirely.
As helpless as he felt, the reality of the situation settled over him like a suffocating veil.
'I've actually been transmigrated…'
Isaac drew in deep breaths to calm his racing heart, ignoring the muffled sounds from the outside world.
He walked carefully along the perimeter of the room, one hand trailing the wall for balance, until he reached the mirror again.
He stared at the unfamiliar face for a long moment.
'What did I do to deserve this?'
Isaac, unlike other transmigrators, had been genuinely happy with his life on earth.
He had had loving parents, a mischievous little sister, and friends who had been with him since kindergarten.
Even though he had not been fond of his slave-like job, it had not been enough to make him want to leave his precious life behind.
He slid down to sit on the floor, rubbing his face with both hands to calm his trembling heart.
Knock! Knock!
Two firm knocks on the door snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Isaac?"
A clear, melodious voice came from the other side of the door.
Isaac felt a chill run down his spine as he stood up hastily, almost losing his balance.
'What should I do?'
He thought frantically, trying to find a way out of the situation.
'Will they kill me if they find out I am not the real Isaac?'
"I am coming in."
The voice came again, and before Isaac could reply, the door clicked open.
A woman walked in who looked mature, perhaps in her mid-thirties. She had a thin, pale face and skin that had the strange, ageless quality common to elves.
The woman offered a small, sad smile. "My child."
A memory flashed through Isaac's mind, reminding him who the woman was.
She was the daughter-in-law of the current city leader — taller than him, with eyes and hair a shade of dark green, and the elongated ears of an elf.
In this world, Isaac had no one. She was the one who had taken care of him like her own child.
"Mother Rhea?"
The name came out before he had made any decision to say it, prompting the woman to smile even more.
"I was worried about you," she said, walking close to touch his face gently. "Why were you asleep for so long?"
'Asleep?'
Isaac felt confusion coil up in his mind, but he was not stupid enough to ask directly.
"What is going on, Mother Rhea?"
"Can you walk?" she asked.
Isaac nodded slightly, feeling marginally better than before.
She took his hand and smiled. "Let's go out."
Like a mother guiding a child, she led him out of the room.
Isaac closed his eyes instinctively as the sunlight fell directly on his face.
His eyes adjusted to the light, and the town came into view.
Rhea helped him down the stairs as elves lined up on either side of the path to watch him pass.
Isaac kept his gaze forward and tried not to look like he was panicking.
Out of the sheer respect the elves had for Rhea, they kept their distance from him.
But the view of the city pulled at his attention the more he walked.
The place looked as though it had been pulled straight from the imagination of an environmental artist, with steel and wood blended beautifully together.
The giant red tree served as the foundation for all the architecture; its roots, which were out in the open, had been put to all sorts of uses — some as walls, some as roofs, some as floors.
The houses and shops were all uneven in shape and size, yet they were pleasing to eyes accustomed to monotonous box buildings.
"It's been ten years since you were in a coma," Rhea said suddenly, making him glance up at her. "Do you remember that fire?"
A memory of the previous Isaac surfaced, the giant tree burning, and silhouettes of beings carrying swords moving through the chaos.
Isaac nodded, though his memories of that time were incomplete.
"Those humans tried their best to kill you and snatch away our hope," she said, with a trace of anger in her voice. "But by the grace of the Sovereign Goddess of the High Realm, you lived."
"....."
He couldn't say anything, as his memories only went back to when the previous Isaac had been six years old.
'Come to think of it, I am speaking a foreign language fluently.'
He was glad he had inherited the ability to speak properly.
Ding!
A sudden bell rang out, making him flinch.
Rhea noticed and squeezed his hand, as if assuring him that everything was all right.
"It's just the church bell," she told him, pointing at a building. "See?"
Another bell rang, and Isaac relaxed a little.
"Would you like to go to the church, or meet your mother?"
Isaac slowly turned to look at her, confusion clear on his face. "Mother?"
Rhea smiled and pointed at the giant tree. "Yes, your mother."
Isaac turned to look at the giant tree as if it were the first time he was seeing it.
'What the hell does she mean by that?'
He could hardly wrap his head around her words, and Rhea noticed his doubtful look as well.
"Don't you remember?" she said. "You were born from the nourishment of the World Tree after a hundred elves prayed to the Sovereign Goddess of the High Realm for ten years."
"....."
Isaac gave her a blank look as he let her words settle.
'What the hell…?'
'Does that mean I am a non-biological being?'
He wanted to laugh at the absurdity but couldn't bring himself to do it.
'No wonder they call me Messiah; my very existence is denying the rules of the world.'
Rhea urged him with a gesture of her hand to make a choice.
Isaac slowly pointed towards the church without a word.
"Alright."
She guided him there while his mind churned with scattered thoughts.
'Come to think of it, why are they even calling me a Messiah?'
From what he knew, a messiah was someone who liberated the oppressed, but everything around him looked peaceful.
'Is it from humans?'
That made sense to him, given that his last memories were of them burning the World Tree.
'Does that mean… Am I going to fight against my own race?'
Isaac's body was that of an elf, but his mind was still very much human. And he knew nothing about fighting.
Drowned in his own thoughts, Isaac didn't even notice when he had come to a stop at the gate of the church.
Rhea gently tapped his back, drawing his attention to the gate, which was covered in beautiful embroidery.
He opened the door and stepped inside.
The statue of the Sovereign Goddess of the High Realm was the first thing that caught his eye, and then the man standing beneath it.
The town head. The strongest elf in the settlement.
The man the previous Isaac had called his grandfather.
Logan Elowen.