Brooklyn Northern Slum — Soren's Hut
"Brother Soren… wake up. Something has happened…"
The boy's voice dragged me from sleep. Irritation flickered across my face as I stirred on the wooden floor, eyes half-closed while I stretched my stiff arms.
I turned my head toward him but didn't answer.
Instead, my gaze swept over him in silence, observing him from head to toe.
Ragged clothes hung loosely from his thin frame, torn and riddled with holes. His body was frighteningly skinny, bones pressing against skin—clear signs of long-term malnourishment.
This was the kind of misfortune the slums produced.
"Sigh…"
I couldn't help it.
Back on Earth, children like this were rare. Here, misery wore a child's face.
And here, I could see it everywhere—so many that I didn't even dare to count.
Yes. I was from Earth.
Three days ago, I had transmigrated into this unknown place.
I wasn't even sure whether I had truly died or not.
All I remembered was waking up in a frail body wrapped in ragged clothes.
Such a phenomenon was logically impossible.
Did some mad scientist manage to transfer my soul into another body while keeping my modern memories intact?
The technology on Earth wasn't anywhere near that level.
As someone who believed in science, I couldn't accept such an unrealistic phenomenon without solid evidence.
So on that first day, I treated everything as a dream. I convinced myself I simply hadn't woken up yet, ignored everything around me, and went back to sleep, imagining that things would return to normal the next day.
But when I opened my eyes again, I was still trapped in the same body.
Once could be coincidence. Twice was not.
That was when I realized something was terribly wrong.
Any human would instinctively fear the unknown—and I was no exception.
And the unknown was happening to me.
A sense of crisis gripped my heart.
I tried everything to wake myself up—pinching my cheeks, biting my lip, even hurting myself. None of it worked.
Everything felt real.
The pain.
The air.
The smell.
I struggled to stay calm while trying to understand my situation.
As I strained every cell of my brain, desperately searching for an explanation, a terrifying conclusion formed in my mind.
D-Did I…
Transmigrate?
Transmigration wasn't logically possible—but maybe it was magically possible.
I suddenly remembered a question a college friend used to ask me long ago. He loved novels and transmigration stories and would often tease me, even though I never believed in such things.
"What would you do if you transmigrated?"
Remembering that, I immediately began turning everything around me upside down, testing my theory.
Some people looked at me as if I were a child driven mad by hunger.
As time passed, I discovered one shocking detail after another. The people here looked like foreigners, the surroundings were unmistakably ancient, and even the tools they used belonged to an ancient era.
By then, my theory was confirmed.
I had really transmigrated into another world.
Three days had already passed—more than enough time to accept the truth.
I had transmigrated.
I now inhabited a body named Soren, around thirteen or fourteen years old, perhaps slightly older.
I hadn't inherited any memories from the body's previous owner and could only rely on myself to slowly gather information.
Still, through careful interaction with the people here, I managed to gain some basic knowledge while keeping my transmigration a secret.
Based on what I learned from street kids and beggars, this place was nothing like Earth.
One wrong move could cost me my life.
To protect myself, I had no choice but to adapt as quickly as possible and avoid any situation that might get me killed.
That was the only way to survive.
"Brother Soren?"
"Why are you looking at me like that?" the boy asked. "Is there dirt on my face?"
I snapped back to reality.
"Huh? N-No, there isn't," I said, forcing a laugh as I scratched my head. "I was just zoning out."
"…"
Troy had noticed something about Soren had changed over the past few days, but he didn't know what. His instincts told him it wasn't a bad change, so he let it go.
"R-right, Troy. Why were you looking for me?" I lowered my voice. "Did something happen?"
"Yes! Something happened at our Bloodhook main base!" Troy said anxiously.
"What do you mean something happened?" I asked, startled.
I knew of Bloodhook—a gang made up of thugs. The body's former owner had been part of it, and that identity now fell to me.
"Several members are planning to leave the gang," Troy said.
I frowned but kept calm.
If only a few were leaving, it might be for some personal reasons. But if several were leaving, then something serious might have happened—something forcing them to flee.
I couldn't help imagining all the possible causes.
But first, I needed details.
"Alright, calm down for a moment, Troy. Are you sure they're leaving? Maybe they're just going out for business—like collecting protection fees from market vendors inside the wall?"
Before I could say anything else—
"No. They're not going for business this time." Troy shook his head. "I'm sure they're leaving. I heard something terrible happened when they passed through the Black Skull Gang's territory early this morning during their usual protection-fee run.
"When they came back this afternoon, not even half of the members who went with the leader returned. Only a few made it back. Many were seriously injured. Some even came back missing arms."
"A conflict must have happened," he said quietly.
But he wasn't done.
"That's not even the worst part. The few survivors are packing up the base's food supplies. If they keep doing this, there'll be nothing left for us. We—and the other kids—will starve.
"That's why I came to tell you. Should we start packing too?" Troy asked nervously.
Bloodhook was one of the strongest and most ruthless gangs in the slums. They could even do business inside the wall through bribery.
Not a group normal people could afford to provoke.
So how had Bloodhook fallen to this state?
Did they offend officials inside the wall and get hunted down? Or was it the Black Skull Gang?
But no one answered my thoughts.