The man groaned as he tossed and turned, a sharp throbbing pain dragging him unwillingly from sleep. The pain immediately registered to him, eyelids finally forcing themselves open.
"…Master!"
An unfamiliar voice rang out as the man was met by a blinding room that he had never seen before in his entire life, but here he was, lying down on the large bed and feeling like a king.
"Master…?" he repeated in a slurry tone like a drunken man as he finally came to his senses, his hand instinctively reaching up to touch his bandaged forehead before he let out a painful hiss. That was the throbbing pain he had felt in his slumber.
"Young master! You're awake."
"Huh?"
The man flinched as he took a look at the butler in front of him, looking like he had been weeping for hours with those red and puffy eyes.
"Who are you?" The man instantly backed away from the stranger, but his voice was controlled and not panicked.
The butler seemed taken aback by his question as he cleared his throat, an attempt to dodge his confusion, "Forgive me, young master. I was overjoyed that you're finally awake! You had hit your head pretty hard,"
Those words suddenly made him freeze on the spot. Wait what? He asked himself. That wasn't right, he didn't hit his head at all! In fact, it's much worse than that! When he tried to remember what had actually happened, his head even throbbed, causing him to groan in pain.
"Young master, are you well?!" the butler wept.
"I'm… fine."
Of course he wasn't fine. He was in a stranger's bed, in a stranger's house, with a stranger beside him who dressed like a servant and spoke like he'd walked out of a history book.
"I'll fetch the physician, please rest for now, Mr. Lucius."
Did he just say… Lucius? The man froze as the butler left the room, leaving the confused man inside the extravagant European-style bedroom. Why wasn't he at his run-down apartment back in Seoul?
Right. He had died. Panic attack, of all things — right in the middle of reviewing for his entrance exam like some cosmic joke. Sung Yoonwoo, twenty years old, unlucky until the very end.
He had definitely died. And now, somehow, he was in the afterlife. The man tried convincing himself as he looked back at what the stranger had said.
Lucius. Why did that man call him Lucius?
"Lucius… Von Hastings?" he rasped.
A character from the novel he had read last night before reviewing the things he needed for the entrance exam, but Lucius… is just a minor antagonist, someone who stood in the protagonist's way and died for being so dumb.
Hold on, is he that "Lucius" right now?
With the creeping suspicion that he already knew what he'd find, he picked up the mirror from the nightstand.
He stared at himself as it looked back at him with those same accusatory stare — lustrous ebony cut, prominent narrow ruby eyes that seemed to speak his hidden intentions, and fair skinned.
"Son!" A blaring voice boomed through the entire mansion as the familiar characters appeared.
A tall man with a prominent mustache and red hair came into the room, along with a woman beside him who had deep dark flowy hair and worried brown eyes. The couple stepped in before the physician could even fully enter the room.
"You're awake!"
"Gertrude and Lawrence Lionel Von Hastings…"
"Oh my! Our son remembers our names!" Gertrude smiled as she teared up like she's in a soap opera while Lawrence beside her just laughed, a deafening one at that.
"He really must've hit his head pretty hard!"
As much as Sung Yoonwoo wanted to deny it, he really became Lucius Von Hastings from [Ousting the Demon King]. Who knew transmigrating would be possible nowadays? He'd always thought that the only path for transmigrating is to get hit by a particular truck.
Besides, starting a new life in a novel he'd loved so much isn't so bad… But out of all characters he could transmigrate into, it's a minor antagonist who serves almost no purpose into the story. Not even the protagonist or the side characters like the other stories he had read?
"...I guess I really did hit my head that hard," he chuckled softly with a hint of awkwardness to it.
"Huh?"
Lucius' parents eyed Sung Yoonwoo warily, raising their brows in confusion. Were they expecting something?
"Son, are you sick? You're not complaining or throwing things at us like usual," Lawrence placed his hand onto Sung Yoonwoo's forehead, checking if he had a cold.
"Oh dear, I didn't know hitting your head could turn you into a well-mannered boy,"
"Wait, is Lucius drunk?"
"Astor! Bring Lucius some water!" Gertrude commanded the same butler from before as she shifted back her gaze to their son.
The physician at the doorway cleared his throat, "Should I start checking the young master?"
"Yes, of course!" Gertrude dragged Lawrence away from their son at the bed as the physician approached Sung Yoonwoo.
***
Once the physician had finished consulting Sung Yoonwoo and found no problems, he left with a polite bow, leaving the parents with their son in the room.
Sung Yoonwoo really is going to spend the rest of his life in this novel world… It was almost unbelievable.
"Mother, father– I'd like to be alone for now." he said his first request as Gertrude dragged Lawrence along with her who didn't seem to want to leave the room just yet but obeyed his wife.
"Of course! We'll give you all the time you need to collect yourself, dear." With that, they left the room and closed the door behind them.
Sung Yoonwoo finally took a deep breath and forced himself to relax— Now, he needed to think, look back on everything he had read so far from the novel. He had almost forgotten that he never reached the ending of the story because he still had thirty more chapters to read but didn't get to…
Since he's Lucius now, he should be in the continent, Saënsburgh of Astravore. Maybe, the protagonist hasn't arrived yet in the southern continent since there doesn't seem to be any problem going on.
If there is, his family should be bankrupted right now.
Lucius thought deeply as he remembered the specific details of his character dying, the protagonist killed him when he attempted to escape the continent with the money since he had become a war profiteer.
Is he a war profiteer right now?
Lucius stood up from the bed and walked towards the shelves and cabinets in the room, he traced the beautiful engraved patterns of the furniture.
He was looking for any clues that could lead him to his conclusion that this family might be bankrupt… That's why he didn't want to be Lucius in the first place, he didn't die just to be poor again in his next life.
Lucius opened a drawer and found paper works he didn't quite understand, but it didn't indicate that they're suffering in bankruptcy for now.
"Not bankrupt then, huh?" he muttered under his breath, putting back the things he'd plucked out.
Before he could conclude his search, a knock came at his door before it opened. It was Astor, the loyal butler of Von Hastings, carrying a tray of freshly-brewed tea in a ceramic teapot along with the tiny beautiful cups.
"Young master, I've brought you tea." Astor spoke in a polite voice while Lucius stood there at the shelf almost awkwardly, like he had been caught.
"Just put them aside, thanks."
Astor almost flinched from his words, not familiar with the casual gratitude though he said nothing and complied.
Lucius just stared at Astor, as if observing his prey before striking. Since Astor is awfully loyal towards the Von Hastings family, that doesn't mean he doesn't know the secrets his family hides, at least a thing or two. Something that Lucius doesn't know yet.
"Astor,"
A secret perhaps? If Lucius' hypothesis is correct then he might've just hit the trip mine. He sure hoped he was wrong.
"Yes, young master?"
"I want to ask you something very important."
"Of course, young master. Bid your question,"
Lucius looked at Astor, a bit reluctant at first to ask before doing so. What's the harm of asking anyway? It's not that it's true they're broke right now… Right?
"Are we bankrupt?"
Those words halted Astor on the spot, finally flinching like Lucius just hit the nerve.
"Pardon?"
"I asked, are we bankrupt?" Lucius asked, this time his voice was firm and that forces Astor to stay in the conversation. He knew Astor could be dodging the question by asking to repeat it.
"Of course not, young master! Where did you hear such absurdity?" Astor let out a humorless and awkward short chuckle but it couldn't help grating Lucius' nerves.
"Be honest with me, Astor."
Lucius looked him in the eyes, definitely not letting Astor leave from their conversation. Astor's eyes kept going back at the door then to Lucius before sighing in defeat. Just what Lucius wanted.
"Yes, Mr. Lucius. We… are on the verge of bankruptcy."
Lucius' eyes widened as he stared at Astor, as if waiting for the butler to say it's just a joke. But no, Astor said the truth that Lucius didn't want to hear.
"Hah…" he ran his hand through his familiar dark locks and took another deep breath.
Astor just looked at him, in fact, in fact, he was confused by Lucius' reaction. He expected Lucius to throw a fit like what he usually expected, but no— this man… is far different from the old Lucius.
"I thought… you wouldn't take the news well, young master."
Right. He wasn't taking this well at all. He was simply choosing not to show it — a habit that had kept him alive through worse in his previous life.
Lucius appeared composed on the outside and forced a smile. He needed to think of a way to get money.
Come to think of it… there's a lot of ways to do so. He came from the modern world anyway and besides, he didn't study accountancy just to die.
"Hey, Astor."
He paused for a moment, a greedy grin appearing on his face.
"I need money."
It was then that something peculiar happened.
A translucent panel materialized before his eyes, uninvited and unannounced, like a notification he never asked for.
[OBJECTIVE: Prevent the destruction of Astravore.]
[TIME REMAINING: 12 MONTHS]
[STATUS: Good luck.]
Lucius stared at it, pure disbelief giving way to deep frustration.
[WARNING: Spoilers have been restricted! (≧▽≦)]
"...What."
Things escalated more quickly than what he had anticipated.