"H-huh? Wait a second, where… the fudge am I?"
Looking around, he first saw blue curtains fluttering as wind blew past an open window.
He no longer stood outside the convenience store, but in the middle of a room that looked a hundred times more expensive than his messy room.
"Hunger! That's right. I may be hallucinating from hunger."
There was no other explanation for his sudden change of location in common sense.
From the pristine stone walls and polished wooden floor below a prodigal mat, everything must be a hallucination— including the fluttering blue curtains and a chandelier above.
More than that, feeling like a liquid falling from his nose, he brought a hand to check it and his hand was immediately painted red. His nose was bleeding!
He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself.
Blink!
Opening them again, he was back to reality: the bright light of the convenience store behind him where he still could see the cashier, and his phone humming across the road beside a hydrant.
"Heh! See, I knew it was a hallucination. I got nervous for a second…"
He paused.
Still feeling the faint liquid pouring down his nose, he checked it again. He was definitely experiencing a nosebleed, and that was probably no damn hallucination— his nose, at least.
After a while, it subsided.
"Damn it, my hands are all red now. I feel like shit. Spooch!"
Spatting blood on the sidewalk, he wiped his nose with his collar and crossed the road.
Step, step.
He bumped into something, or perhaps something bumped into him. Seojin couldn't tell who was the one at fault as his vision was twisting around here and there, like a Van Gogh painting.
Still, he decided it was not his fault.
"O-oww! Shithead, watch where you are… g-going—?"
As much as he wanted to complain like a scoundrel who he had or had bumped into him, he stuttered. His words caught on his throat.
The road had once again vanished after all, and he was not back in that expensive looking room, facing a woman around the same age as him.
Seriously, he wanted to blame someone whose beauty bloomed like an everlasting garden, whose eyes mirrored the hues of cymbidium orchids, and whose twin ponytails were as ethereal as the bells of Ireland?
"Ah. My Lord," the woman said, bowing slightly with her hand outstretched to help him up. "There was no response to my knocking, so I thought I'd come in. Please take my…"
Her words trailed off, her gaze immediately darted around until she found a white towel and wiped Seojin's nosebleed with it.
"My lord, may I ask what has occurred? Your nose appears to be bleeding."
Seojin didn't respond; more likely, he couldn't. He was mesmerized by the woman's beauty, that even the cashier earlier could not even dare compete.
He could only stare, her black and white maid outfit seemed inappropriate to match her grace.
After wiping the blood, Iria cupped Seojin's with both her palms and moved her face closer to check his eyes like an ophthalmologist.
"D-don't touch me!"
Seojin removed her hands away and crawled backwards with wide eyes.
This was a weird occurrence to him, and a stranger seemed to seduce him, the son of a model, with her beauty? This had to be a trap in all sorts.
"My lord?"
"...Lord? Am I… your lord?"
"Yes, of course. Is something troubling you?"
Troubling? A lot!
A lot, but… he couldn't tell her, a complete stranger. He had thought about the hallucination again, as it was weird to experience such outbursts with a short amount of time interval.
Then…
"Transmigration? N-no way. That's impossible! I mean, what are the odds of that?"
"Mmm?"
The woman tilted her head after hearing Seojin's mumble. He had not understood any of it.
"Are you certain you're not unwell, my lord? You look pale, and I cannot help but worry as your personal attendant."
"Attendant?"
"Yes. The one who serves only you, Iria Amaranthine."
"Oh."
Seojin stood up, wiping his somehow itchy nose with his collar one more time.
Everything's still messy inside his head, but he's not that dumb not to realize a predicament he had found himself into, though it took him this long.
Just like novels and stories he had read, and even some of the games he played, this was really a 'transmigration' trope.
The only missing piece was the absence of a Goddess whose beauty could make poets cry, the one that is supposed to tell him why he was chosen and what he should do, and give him overpowered skills.
Then again, who would need that kind of Goddess when the one before him as in this moment had a beauty that not only poets would cry, but wail or lament?
"Acho! That was cringe…"
That thought made him shiver, or maybe it was from the falling snowflakes outside the window, he honestly didn't know.
"Pardon?"
"Nothing."
The only thing he was sure of is that he needed to know who he is and where he is, though he had an idea about it already: the character he had commented on the author's note.
Growl!
Seojin's stomach growled, and apparently, it convinced Iria that he was simply hungry and caused him to act a little differently as he had completely skipped dinner last night.
"My lord, please wait for me. I shall prepare and serve your breakfast at once."
"Ah. Sure."
Iria left the room, bringing the towel soaked with blood first then came back with a basin of water to rinse Seojin's nose.
After that, she left again and came back with a tray of breakfast: a freshly baked butter croissant with honey and cream, a silver tray of grapes and figs, along with a herbal tea brewed from chamomile leaves.
Seojin wondered if these fancy foods would be digested by his picky stomach, but he finished them anyway. The only one he didn't quite like was the herbal tea.
"Grah. It tastes nasty."
Thankfully, Iria was not there to hear it, but still, he was a little guilty about complaining about free food. This was the first decent meal he had for about three months, as he simply settled with instant ramens and rice.
Iria came back to collect the utensils.
After leaving, Seojin glanced around but found no mirror to at least check his current appearance, as looking at his body, he was on the frail side.
In the end, he leaned against the window to process everything at least, watching the snowflakes drift in the air.
Ding!
ᆫA character matching your description had been found.ᄀ
He smirked, he had completely forgotten about it, that systems are an essential factor when it comes to such tropes.
ᆫCongrats! You have successfully created a character.ᄀ
ᆫOops! Character's name cannot be modified.ᄀ
ᆫOops! Character's name cannot be modified.ᄀ
ᆫOops! Character's name cannot—ᄀ
"H-huh? What is—?"
ᆫCharacter's original name has been recovered.ᄀ
ᆫCongrats! Character customization is complete!ᄀ