OBT 02

Chapter 2

The blue-eyed boy lying in bed suddenly opened his eyes.

Staring blankly for a while at the painted ceiling above, he abruptly sat up and looked around.

The wide bed was luxurious, and the room—clearly a bedroom—was adorned with elegant, dignified furnishings.

For a place meant for the dead, it looked far too good.

“Did I escape the warp safely?”

Hyunseong, who had been relieved to find himself alive, wore a cautious expression.

“But where is this? Some palace in Europe that the otherworlders have taken over?”

The decorations reminded him of a medieval European castle or palace, though he had never actually been to one.

Then it struck him—during the warp, he had lost his eyes and limbs.

“My eyes… my arms are fine. Was that just some kind of hallucination during the warp?”

Hyunseong moved his hands—and froze.

Instead of the rough hands hardened by ten years of fighting as a militiaman, he saw smooth, pale, delicate hands.

Hands that looked as though they belonged to someone who had never done more than read books.

“What the hell…?”

Even his voice had changed—softer, younger, almost gentle compared to before.

He touched his face.

The rough beard he hadn’t had time to shave was gone, and in its place was the small, smooth face of a boy.

Judging by touch alone, no older than mid-teens.

“What the hell is going on? Where’s my body? Why am I in some kid’s body…?”

Flustered by this impossible reality, Hyunseong clutched his head.

“Damn it! What the hell is this?!”

His breath caught in his chest.

As he staggered down from the bed, his frail body wobbled, and he collapsed onto the red carpeted floor.

The boy’s body, clad in silk pajamas, was so weak it struggled to even stand.

“Unbelievable. With this pathetic stamina… a month in the militia would’ve straightened this kid out.”

Grumbling inwardly, Hyunseong forced himself up and pulled a sword down from the wall where it hung as decoration.

He didn’t know why his body had changed, but since the otherworlders could appear at any time, he needed to be ready to fight.

The warp communication hub would be nearby.

“Damn it. Too heavy.”

In his former body, no problem—but with this boy’s frail muscles, even swinging the longsword was impossible.

Giving up, Hyunseong instead grabbed the dagger mounted beneath it and stumbled toward the window.

“First, let’s check outside.”

He pushed aside the pastel-blue curtains and looked out from what seemed to be the fourth floor.

A vast garden stretched below, adorned like a park with a fountain, beyond which stood several stone buildings and a castle wall in medieval European style.

And on the walls—armored soldiers holding spears.

“Armored soldiers? What kind of cosplay nonsense is this? For the otherworlders’ amusement?”

For the past ten years, while many had fought fiercely against the invaders, there had also been plenty who surrendered and served them.

“Their clothes too…”

Some people crossing the garden were dressed not in modern clothing but like characters out of a historical film set in medieval Europe.

“And my own clothes aren’t normal either…”

Leaning on the window frame, Hyunseong glanced down at the silk pajamas he wore.

“Unbelievable. Why did I end up like this?”

The confusion he’d been holding down rose again to torment him.

No matter how he tried, this situation made no sense.

For all he knew, some otherworlder was watching him right now, laughing at his confusion.

With their biotechnology—able to manipulate predators’ genes into living weapons—it wouldn’t be impossible for them to have changed his body like this.

Biological experiment.

The chilling words flashed through his mind.

“Those bastards… is that what this is?”

He pounded the wall with his weak fist, then forced himself to calm down.

“No. If this really is their doing, then I won’t give them the satisfaction of seeing me cower. I’ll face them head-on.”

He cut the curtain and wrapped it around the dagger’s hilt in his hand.

“Big brother’s coming. Welcome me properly, you bastards.”

He spat, then shoved the massive door open.

The moment he stepped out into the marble corridor, a dozen soldiers in silver armor, arrayed in two neat rows, bent low and shouted in unison:

“Glory to our lord!”

The words were completely unfamiliar—yet Hyunseong understood them perfectly, as though a translator had been implanted in his body.

He froze, startled, then glanced behind him.

“There’s no one else here. Did they just call me lord…?”

Confused, he studied their faces.

Not one dared to look directly at him. Their gazes were fixed slightly upward at the wall opposite, disciplined and sincere.

It was clear they truly saw him as their lord.

“Ridiculous. First my body changes, now I’m some kind of lord?”

If this was some elaborate ruse by the otherworlders, then these soldiers deserved an award for acting. Their sincerity was flawless.

“Could they really have gone this far just to trick me?”

It seemed too elaborate to be a deception.

As his initial panic cooled, Hyunseong began to realize this had nothing to do with the otherworlders at all.

“Did the warp go wrong…?”

Maybe an error in the warp had sent him to the wrong place—not Earth, but here.

In the body of a young lord.

“Who… am I?”

He murmured aloud, and none of the soldiers dared answer.

“I asked who I am.”

“You are our lord!”

“Your name.”

“You are Lord Ian Alberne!”

“Ian Alberne…”

Hyunseong silently unwrapped the curtain from his dagger.

There was no need to fight these men. They were his protectors. He was their lord.

“Damn it. Is my real body gone forever? How do I get back to Earth…?”

He glanced at the armored men before him.

Had he been unlucky, he might’ve woken not as the lord but as one of them.

“Better to be a lord than a soldier. Even if the body’s weak…”

Weakness could be overcome with training.

Trying to think positively, Hyunseong suddenly felt his knees buckle.

Relief had sapped his strength.

The soldiers hurried to support him. Their movements suggested this wasn’t unusual—that their lord often collapsed.

“Why were you so surprised when I came out just now?”

Hyunseong asked. One towering, muscular soldier replied cautiously.

“Because you awoke from the coma after many days, my lord.”

“I was asleep that long?”

Though shocked, Hyunseong feigned calm.

The soldier hesitated before continuing.

“We thought… we thought you might never wake again. Forgive me, my lord!”

Seeing the man’s loyal expression, Hyunseong waved a hand dismissively.

“So this boy was often sickly… and this time nearly died. No—he did die. And I’ve taken over his body.”

Hyunseong wondered briefly what would have become of the boy had he not arrived. Then he quietly asked the burly soldier:

“My family—where are they? I was sick, and yet no one was at my side.”

“My lord… you are alone.”

The man lowered his head, troubled.

“Alone here, too.”

Hyunseong thought of his own past—losing his family to the invasion ten years ago. The boy’s fate mirrored his own.

“That thing over there—is it mine?”

He pointed at a chair with long poles attached for carrying, like an uncovered palanquin.

It was surely used often for the frail young lord.

“Shall we take the air outside?”

At his words, the burly soldier signaled the others to prepare it. Clearly, he was the commander.

“What’s your name?”

“Rondo, my lord.”

Captain Rondo worried that his lord’s memory seemed confused after so long unconscious.

Hyunseong closed his eyes as two soldiers lifted the palanquin.

Everything felt like a dream.

After the Bupyeong operation, he had planned to head to Seoul for a greater battle.

“I thought I’d die in Seoul. But instead, I came here.”

He wasn’t the only one defending Earth—but he couldn’t help thinking of his comrades left behind.

Opening his eyes again, he noticed the maids and soldiers he passed all bowing in shock, some even rushing away in haste.

“Traitors inside?”

Not everyone in the castle seemed pleased to see him alive.

“The sunlight feels good.”

How long had it been since he’d faced the sun without tension?

Arriving at the garden, he stepped down and scooped water straight from the fountain into his mouth.

His bold, uncharacteristic act stunned both the soldiers and attendants.

“The water tastes good.”

“I truly feared the lord would die.”

The treasurer, Torman, dressed in finery, spoke with concern as he strolled the garden with Noas, the old minister who managed governance.

“If he dies, won’t the royal family appoint a new lord?” Torman added anxiously.

“No heir, still so young… of course they would.”

“There’s still much wealth to be taken from this land. A disaster if some stranger comes down from the capital.”

“Better to accept things as they are, even if disappointing. Greed invites ruin.”

But the treasurer stroked his beard and shook his head.

“Before the domain collapses, I must secure at least two carriage-loads of gold.”

Collecting taxes and controlling wealth, his eyes gleamed with avarice.

“Let’s rest a while,” said the weary old minister.

They moved beneath the shade of a tree, their guards following.

“What if we hide his death for a year?” Torman whispered.

The minister narrowed his eyes. “Do you want to be executed by the captain of the guard?”

“The captain acts so noble, but he’s corrupt like the rest of us,” Torman sneered.

The minister clicked his tongue. “He’s a knight. Not completely rotten.”

“So you’re saying I’m the rotten one?”

“Let’s wait. The lord’s fate isn’t decided yet.”

Just then, a maid rushed up and whispered into the treasurer’s ear.

“What? The lord has awakened?”

“Yes, my lord treasurer. He is in the south garden now.”

“Well, what wonderful news!”

Laughing, Torman waved the maid away.

“You may go.”

“Yes, sir.”

After she hurried off, he looked at the minister with relief.

“The medicine I gave him a few days ago must’ve worked, ha!”

“Strange. He hated walks, yet he went straight to the garden after waking…” the minister murmured, stroking his beard.

“What does it matter? Come, we must show him how we’ve worried day and night!”

“Yes, let’s.”

Sending away their guards, the two men headed alone toward the south garden.