WAV 01

chapter 01

“…t Blake.”

A stern voice stirred me awake.

Did I fall asleep in the research building again after pulling an all-nighter?

Keeping my eyes closed, I quietly tried to assess the situation.

Everything around me felt strangely muffled and silent, as if submerged underwater.

It seemed the staff had noticed me asleep with my face buried in my desk and were deliberately keeping quiet.

Haah… I should get up and at least wash my face before everyone comes to work.

If Dr. Kang saw me like this, he’d definitely smack me on the back and yell, “You idiot! Are you trying to work yourself to death at your age?”

But contrary to my intentions, my body refused to move.

I want to lie down just a little longer…

Wait.

Lie down?

A sudden sense of wrongness crept over me.

That was when the voice that had awakened me echoed faintly once more.

“For the deceased, who devoted herself during her lifetime… we shall never forget her accomplishments…”

The sound came in fragments, as though someone were whispering through a wall.

The deceased? What deceased?

One clearly audible word jolted me fully awake.

“…May she, now become another star in the heavens, cast aside all sorrow and tears she endured in this world…”

As I strained to listen, the words became clearer.

It sounded like some kind of funeral mass.

Who died?

At staff assemblies, commemorating the dead was usually my role whenever an employee or one of their family members passed away.

After all, I was the director of the research institute.

Still, I wasn’t religious, so I never offered prayers or anything like that.

Suddenly, a sense of unease washed over me.

Maybe my senses were slowly returning.

A thick floral scent lingered at the tip of my nose.

The smell of death I first encountered at my mother’s funeral.

Did I come to a funeral?

I snapped my eyes open.

“…Huh?”

But even though my eyes were definitely open, all I could see was darkness.

“What the…”

It took a moment for my vision to adjust.

When I finally managed to see, I realized I was trapped inside a dark, cramped space.

“…Ah!”

Thud.

I reflexively tried to sit up, only to slam my head into something cushioned before collapsing flat on my back again.

Only then did I realize all four sides were blocked.

I looked around in terror.

If this place felt exactly like a coffin… was that just my imagination?

“H-Hello?! There’s someone in here!”

I reached upward, feeling around for what seemed to be a padded lid while shouting desperately.

Ding… deeeeng…

A bell suddenly rang somewhere nearby.

“…Ahem. The wind is especially harsh today. We should proceed quickly for the sake of the departed’s journey.”

Couldn’t they hear me?

The eulogy that had briefly paused continued again.

I shouted even louder.

“Hello! Can’t you hear me?! Get me out of here!”

“Let us all pray for Lady Edith Blake, who has entered eternal rest.”

Edith Blake?

I froze.

I knew that name.

How could I not? It belonged to the villainess in the novel I’d stayed up all night reading.

Why is that name coming up here…?

My breathing grew ragged with confusion.

Then another familiar name reached my ears.

“The funeral rites will be carried out by Count Dylan Frederick, the young lady’s dearest friend. Now, it is time to bid farewell to the deceased…”

My mind snapped awake.

The Dylan Frederick I knew was an awakened individual with the power to control fire.

And in that damned novel I’d read yesterday, corpses were always burned to eliminate demonic energy.

Which meant—

If this really was a coffin, I might be burned alive by Dylan Frederick.

This was no time to figure out what was going on.

“Hey! Open this right now! There’s a living person in here!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I frantically shoved and pounded against the lid with all my strength.

But whatever it was made of, it didn’t budge an inch.

Still, it wasn’t entirely useless.

DING! DING! DEEEENG!

Every time I hit the lid, a bell rang loudly.

“…!”

At the same time, the funeral speech abruptly stopped.

That was when I noticed a rope tied around my right wrist.

An old superstition flashed through my mind—bells tied to corpses to prevent accidental live burials.

“There’s nobody else in there! Please get me out! Somebody help!”

Now certain that I was the one ringing the bell, I shook my hand wildly like a madwoman.

DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!

The bell rang so violently that no one could possibly ignore it.

Even from inside the coffin, it sounded deafening.

DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!

DEEEEEEEENG—!

How long had I been frantically shaking my hand?

Creeeak—rrrk—

Finally, with a heavy grinding noise, the lid moved.

Cool air and a sliver of light seeped through the crack.

Moments later, my vision opened completely.

At the same time, I locked eyes with the man opening the coffin.

“Gah!”

His face turned deathly pale as he recoiled in horror.

Ignoring him, I shot upright.

“Are you people insane?!”

DING!

The bell rang once more.

I kept shouting.

“Why the hell would you shove a perfectly alive person into a coffin?!”

“…”

“Who’s the doctor here?! Can’t you even check someone’s vitals properly?!”

Ding! Ding, deeeng…

In the heavy silence, my furious yelling alternated with the clear ringing of the bell.

After venting my rage, my pounding heart slowly began to calm.

Only then did I finally look around.

The funeral was being held outdoors in a quiet field.

Foreigners I’d never seen before stood dressed in gloomy black clothing.

Their horrified expressions made me dumbfounded.

I should be the one horrified here.

Then—

“Gah…! Th-The corpse…! The corpse stood up!”

Someone pointed at me and screamed.

That was the beginning.

“Kyaaaaaah!”

“T-The young lady has come back to life!”

“A monster! It might be a monster! Get back!”

Everyone shrieked and stumbled backward in terror.

Some screamed hysterically, some tripped while retreating, some burst into tears and fled…

The entire funeral descended into chaos.

I stared blankly at the disaster unfolding before me.

Everyone looked too shocked for me to even figure out who I should hold responsible for locking me up.

“Edith Blake has resurrected!”

Meanwhile, several people pointed at me while shouting terrifying nonsense.

I subtly shifted away, but their fingers kept following me.

Just then, a breeze swept past, and long strands of hair slid over my shoulders.

“Ha…”

I let out a hollow laugh at the sight of silky blonde hair.

I had never dyed my hair even once in my life, and ever since becoming an adult, I’d always kept it cut short.

So then whose waist-length blonde hair was this?

Whose fragile wrists?

Whose fingers adorned with extravagant gemstone rings?

Whose body was this?

This has to be a dream.

I instinctively denied it.

Because honestly, wasn’t it absurd?

Being transmigrated into the villainess of a novel?

And what was with this insane funeral?

Why had I been trapped in a coffin?

“Ow…”

Pinching my cheeks here and there in hopes of waking up, I gradually realized this was reality.

And as I looked at the terrified people losing their minds at the sight of me—

I screamed together with them.

“AAAAAAAH—!”

Ding, ding, ding…