Ouch!
Its hurts!
Why does my head suddenly hurt so much?
After sinking into an endless darkness—for who knows how long—my consciousness finally returned. But with it came a pounding so fierce it felt like a nail being slowly hammered into my skull.
I dare say this is the worst headache I have ever felt!
My primal instinct was to rub my head, hoping it would ease the pain or at least let me figure out the "cause."
The problem is, I can't move my hands. I don't even know where my hands are. Hell, I can't even open my eyelids.
Basically, I can't feel any part of my body except my head.
This situation is clearly out of my control. So, the only thing I can do right now is try to remember anything before all this happened.
As far as I remember, I was in my apartment with Park Ji-hoon. We were working on homework. After finishing... we went back to messing around on our phones. I don't know what he was looking at on his phone, nor did I care. On my end, I was just reading my favorite novel.
That's all I was doing before this, nothing more. So why am I experiencing such a pounding headache?
Heh, maybe this is what they call sleep paralysis? Some people say it happens because a demon is pressing down on your body, others say it's because the nerves in your brain get startled. That's what I know about sleep paralysis. But no one ever said you'd experience excruciating pain when you experience it for the first time.
But since sleep paralysis is the closest explanation to this condition, I'm clinging to that. Of course, there's no way I'm gonna tell myself that 'I'm dying from something unknown' and that I'll be dead soon, right? Oh no, I just said it, that's making it worse!
No, no way it's anything like that. I didn't go anywhere besides my apartment.
A moment later, something strange appeared in this darkness. It was a screen... a hologram screen. It started displaying information in succession—
[Congratulations, you have entered 'Chronicle the Cursed Blood'!]
[The original owner's soul has perished]
[Soul synchronization with the body successful!]
[You now occupy this empty vessel]
[The body's memories will be transferred gradually]
[Enjoy your second life]
[Please remain calm, the pain in your head will subside slowly]
'Uh, wait? What does all of this mean?' I scratched my head, or maybe that was just my imagination.
Among all the information that appeared, one phrase stuck in my mind: 'Chronicle the Cursed Blood'. Of course, that's the title of the fantasy novel I always read.
I read the string of information again, partly to distract myself from the pounding in my head.
[Congratulations you have entered 'Chronicle the Cursed Blood'] and [Enjoy your second life] Huh? What does it mean that I died and entered that novel?
Haha, no way, right? Impossible. Seems like I've been reading too many transmigration novels lately. So much so that I have memorized what the main character does when facing this situation. The main character first goes into denial, then a system appears to inform them of their situation, and finally, they believe they're inside the novel. It's so damn cliché.
But what if that really is what's happening to me?
Heh, it would be kinda funny if that were the case. I mean, usually, MCs who transmigrate can at least move their bodies to start planning their next move. But me? Totally paralyzed, plus a killer headache. God, I hope it doesn't get worse with a plot twist where I end up in the body of a paralyzed person.
Suddenly, I could feel silk under my fingers. I can move my fingers now.
That silk is incredibly soft. This is definitely not the hard mattress in my apartment that always leaves my body aching.
Beneath me, I feel something soft.
A few minutes later, with the effort of lifting a mountain, I managed to open my eyelids.
My vision was blurry. My left eye was covered by something like a bandage or something, I don't know.
The first thing I saw in this dim lighting was a dome ceiling with artistic paintings. In the center hung a large chandelier, but it was unlit right now. The light in this room came from my right, probably streaming in from a window. It was a silvery light mixed with a strange shade of purple.
This is one hundred percent not my room. It's too large and too ancient....
'Where am I?'
Enduring the pain that still assaulted me, I tilted my head to the right to see the source of the room's light. There was a large window there, almost filling the entire wall.
Beyond that window, hanging in the sky, were two moons side by side. Seriously, that's what I saw. One was silver, a normal-looking moon. The other was smaller, a dim purple.
'Am I really inside the novel I read?'
In the setting of the novel Chronicle the Cursed Blood, there really are two moons in the sky. They each symbolize something...
Suddenly, I heard the door creak softly. Then, as if slammed, it crashed against the wall with a loud bang—Crash!
Then came the sound of footsteps. The steps weren't steady; they were languid, as if the person was dancing or... trying to balance themselves.
Wait, who's coming in?
In such a short time, I've been hit with a series of horrifying things. None of them have been explained yet. And now someone is entering this room? How can I not panic? On top of that, I can't move my body, my vision is still blurry, and my head still hurts.
I struggled, but it seemed like that was just my imagination. Honestly, my body didn't move at all.
I tried to scream, but all that came out was a faint "Aa..."
The footsteps grew closer, and along with them, I smelled wine.
With effort, I straightened my head again, and in the corner of my eye, I vaguely saw a woman with very pale skin. Her hair wasn't like any human's on Earth; it was silver and looked natural. She was wearing a red dress. She looked to be in her twenties or older. The woman moved unsteadily, like someone heavily drunk...
Is that a ghost?!
Then the woman started climbing onto the bed. I saw her approaching me. What, approaching? No, no, get away from me, hey!!
Once she reached me, the woman suddenly straddled my body. Her weight pressed down on my hips. It made my head hurt even more.
The scent of wine grew thicker.
Miss, I've had enough with the headache. Please don't make this worse...
At this close range, I could see her face clearly, and strangely, I felt like I'd seen her somewhere before... Her face was now wet with sweat, strands of hair clinging to it. Her cheeks were strangely flushed like rubies. I think calling her pretty is an understatement; she was more like a porcelain statue carved directly by the gods.
I'm not exaggerating, I'm serious. Just look at her eyes...?
Looking closer, the woman's red eyes were filled with tears. She was crying... yet her lips were smiling. But that gaze... it was like someone utterly shattered.
"You know, they came to me and told me I'm getting engaged! Hooray!"
After saying it with a nasally tone, she laughed hysterically, then started crying again. It clearly wasn't a happy cry.
Then the woman brought her face closer...
"Hmm... you're awake, huh? How's your head?"
The woman traced my jaw, then touched my eye and pried it open wide...
I didn't answer her. I couldn't.
Then she smiled. A different smile. It was a satisfied smile...
"Good... at least I managed to save you. But I'm sorry, I'm so tired. So, so tired... Sorry—"
The woman brought her face closer, very slowly. I could count her long, delicate eyelashes. Something soft touched my lips. Her lips... wait, is she kissing me? Why?
My eyes widened as she pressed her lips against mine harder, and then something wet slipped between them. It was her tongue. Her tongue explored my mouth with an intensity that made me want to vomit. The woman's tears fell onto my face, soaking it, or maybe those were my own tears...
The pressure of her lips against mine made the already pounding headache in the lower part of my head even worse. This was the peak of the headache since I woke up...
Pain! Pain! Pain!
I wanted to push the woman away, but my hands wouldn't move.
"Mmph!!"
I moved my neck left and right, but the woman didn't budge at all. Her kiss only grew more intense, holding my head with both her hands.
Then, whether it was because I was too tired to think, too tired to bear the pain... or maybe because I was deprived of oxygen... my body suddenly relaxed, and all the pain vanished in an instant. However, my consciousness began to drift, as if being pulled from my body. It felt like flying.
My eyes started to close slowly... I tried to keep them open, but I couldn't.
No, no, I don't want to die!
Please, at least give me an explanation before that...
In the final seconds before I lost consciousness again, I felt something enter my head. It was—
A memory...