The silence after the fight was deafening.
Arthur stood—or tried to. His knees buckled beneath him, and he fell hard onto the cold floorboards. Dust swirled through the air, thick as smoke from a dying battlefield. The smell of iron and sweat filled his nose.
He blinked, dazed. His body felt wrong. Lighter. Smaller. Weaker.
"What… what is this?" His voice cracked, foreign even to his own ears.
The last thing he remembered was war. Fire and steel. A crown that burned hotter than any sun. Then—a blinding light, a tearing sensation, and now—this.
He looked down. His arm, thin and pale, trembled. "This isn't me," he muttered. "Where is my armor? My blade? Why does my hand look like a child's?"
A sharp laugh escaped him, half hysteria, half disbelief. "I'm dreaming. I must be. Kings don't wake up in corpses."
He reached for his neck, expecting a medallion, a scar, anything familiar—but found nothing except clammy skin. The floor around him was splattered with drying blood. His blood.
"Whose body is this?" he whispered. "Whose life have I stolen?"
The room was small and crooked, its walls cracked like old bones. A half-broken lamp flickered weakly from above. There were torn papers, shattered glass, and a cheap cot covered in ash-gray sheets.
Not a throne room. Not even a peasant's home.
A cage.
Arthur's breath grew shallow. "Is this the punishment for my pride? Have the gods cast me down to crawl among worms?"
He tried to stand again, but his legs trembled like wet sticks. His reflection in a shard of glass made him freeze. The boy staring back was no older than seventeen. Messy hair, hollow eyes, and a streak of blood running down his jaw.
"This isn't real…" he whispered. "It can't be."
But the ache in his bones said otherwise.
And then—
A sudden flash. A faint beep.
Blue light shimmered before his eyes, forming a floating pane of text.
[Welcome, New Host]
[Soul synchronization in progress…]
[Your soul has merged with the original host]
[Would you like to view your current stats?]
Arthur stumbled back, heart hammering. "What devilry is this?"
The glowing words followed his gaze like a phantom. "Who's there? Show yourself!"
No answer. Only the hum of strange energy.
He squinted at the glowing lines, reading aloud slowly: "Would you like… to view your current stats?"
He hesitated. "Stats? What kind of courtly term is that? Some kind of judgment scroll?"
His hands shook. "Yes," he whispered. "Show me."
The blue screen changed instantly.
Attribute
[Strength :10]
[Health : 50]
[Agility :8]
[Stamina :100]
[Mana :8000]
[Dragon Tamed Regenerating Dragon]
Arthur's heart pounded. "Strength… health… stamina. Those I understand." He pressed a trembling finger against the glowing words. "But what in blazes is mana? What is a tamed dragon?"
He shook his head violently. "No. No! This isn't a dream—this is madness!"
He began to pace, his weak legs almost giving out with each step. His mind swirled with questions.
"Have I been resurrected? Am I cursed to live as another man? What if my kingdom burns while I'm trapped here? What of my soldiers? My oath?"
He slammed his fist against the wall, pain blooming across his knuckles. "Damn it!" he shouted. "Who did this to me?"
No answer came—only the faint buzz of the dying lamp and the cold breath of the room.
He looked again at the screen. "A king who doesn't know his kingdom. A warrior who can't lift a sword. A man with power he can't understand."
The thought twisted like a knife in his gut. "If this is hell, then it's worse than fire. It's shame."
He pressed his hands to his temples. His voice dropped to a whisper. "What am I supposed to do now?"
His mind was chaos—a storm of images, broken pieces of memory. A castle. A crown. A blade. A woman's scream. Then blackness.
He couldn't even remember how he'd died.
Before he could think further, a sharp voice tore through the silence.
"Kyle! Kyle! I know you're in there, you lazy barnacle!"
Arthur froze. The name hit him like a stone. Kyle?
He glanced around, panic flooding his chest. Is that me? Is that this body's name?
He swallowed hard and forced his voice out. "Yes! I'm here!"
The sound cracked—too high, too weak. Definitely not a king's command.
The door burst open. A boy, maybe a year younger, stood glaring at him. Taller, stronger, face marked by irritation.
"What's wrong with you?" the boy demanded. "You've been acting weird all morning. Don't tell me Benny's gang messed with you again."
Arthur blinked. "Benny…?"
The boy's eyes narrowed. "Don't pretend you don't know! You got in another fight, didn't you? Look at you, you're bleeding! What happened to you, Kyle?"
Arthur opened his mouth but no words came. His thoughts screamed: Kyle? So this body belongs to someone named Kyle. A fighter? A peasant? A fool?
He hesitated, and that hesitation sealed the boy's judgment.
"You… don't remember, do you?" the boy said softly. His anger slipped into disbelief. "Oh, great. You've really lost it this time. The bullying finally broke your head."
Arthur stiffened. "Lost it?"
"Yeah," the boy snapped. "You're talking weird, staring at walls, yelling about curses—what's next, you start calling yourself a king?"
Arthur's throat tightened. For a brief, terrible moment, he thought about saying it—I am a king. But the words died on his tongue.
He could feel the tremor in his hands. He didn't even know what world he was in, or who this boy was.
So he just whispered, "I… I'm fine."
The boy sighed and rubbed his forehead. "You're not fine. You're losing it, Kyle. Maybe it's the pressure, or maybe you just need rest. Just—don't scare me like that again, okay?"
Arthur didn't answer. He just sat there, staring at the fading blue light in front of him.
When the boy finally left, closing the door behind him, Arthur let out a long, shuddering breath.
"Lost my mind…" he repeated quietly. "Maybe I have."
The glowing panel still hovered before his eyes, mocking him with its strange, foreign words.
He touched his chest again. "If this is madness, then I'll rule it. If this is death, then I'll command it."
His eyes hardened. "I am still a king. Even if my throne is gone."
Damn it I forgot to ask the damn kid of where I am !!!