When I opened my eyes, a white ceiling greeted me.
Reflexively, I tried to move, but my whole body was numb. My vision was also hazy that it felt like staring into a bathroom mirror fogged up after a hot shower.
On my right, I could hear a faint beeping sound. It was slow and steady. Took me a second before I realized it was a heart monitor.
'So... I actually survived. How was that even possible?'
The reason I was in total disbelief was because the whole incident was still vivid in my mind.
I got smacked by a twelve-wheeler . Like, full-on anime-style launch into the air kind of accident.
When I hit the ground, face probably twisted beyond recognition, I had this dramatic thought. Did I at least save the little girl?
Then I remembered. There was no girl.
I got run over because I was too busy sulking and walked straight into traffic. On a red light. Like a total dumbass.
At least I'm alive. Even if my dignity died on impact.
Lying there, I couldn't help but wonder how I was supposed to explain this to my family.
How was I supposed to tell them their son nearly died… all because of my own stupidity?
But that worry vanished the moment I realized something far more terrifying.
I couldn't feel my body. Not even a twitch. Nothing.
'Oh shit!'
Every limb, every muscle were useless. I was paralyzed from head to toe.
"Hrrlgh mmgh…"
Words tried to form, but all that came out was garbled nonsense. My tongue flopping uselessly, like it forgot how to be a tongue. This was worse than death.
The sound on the heart monitor started beeping fast reflecting my current emotion.
"Doctor! My son… something is wrong with my son!"
A beautiful woman with silver hair rushed into the room, sounding really worried.
She looked like she came straight out of a women's magazine. Smooth skin, a waist that looked like it had been photoshopped, and a pair of melons so massive they deserved their own zip code.
I swear, even a blind guy would have noticed them.
Actually, forget that. He would snap his eyes open, start drooling, and stumble out of the hospital like a prophet, yelling, 'I can see! Praise be to the almighty melons!'
"Son, are you okay?" she leaned over me, and damn, my vision went dark fast. The room didn't just dim; it got its own mini solar eclipse… only this time, there were two moons.
'Mamma mia!'
My heart went from beep… beep… to be-be-beep—bebe—bepeep!
If there was a DJ in the room, he could have sampled my heart monitor and dropped the sickest dub step beat of the year.
Enough joking. I needed to breathe, get it together, and figure out what the hell was going on.
Who was this woman, and why was she calling me her son? I don't remember having a mom that looked like a supermodel. Pretty sure I would never forget that.
"The doctor will come soon," she bent over so far that her chest accidentally bumped right into my nose.
'Dios Mio!'
My lower half started to throb. And just like the Big Bang. The start of all life, the moment stars were born and galaxies were flung across the void… I got an enlightenment.
Somewhere in the great cosmic darkness that was my numb, useless body… a single, proud survivor had defied fate.
My crown jewel. The last soldier standing. The chosen one.
It had risen. Slowly, boldly, like a tower against the odds, challenging the heavens themselves.
The blanket above it started to bulge, like a volcano about to erupt. It wasn't just a bump. It was a monument.
She saw the suspicious mound and gasped. Without thinking, she reached out and touched it.
"Doctor. It's a miracle!" She let out a victorious scream, eyes sparkling, holding it aloft like it was Excalibur itself.
Meanwhile, I was mentally screaming.
'Lady. Please. Let go of the miracle.'
But it was too late.
Right there, I tainted my clothes… and the poor blanket suffered the consequences too.
She finally let go, her face turning bright red after she realized what happened.
Thankfully, the doctors burst in before I had to witness another second of her painfully awkward face.
They started checking my pulse, flashing lights in my eyes, doing all the usual stuff.
Suddenly, the silver-haired woman pointed straight at my lower half, explaining everything with way too much detail.
"Miss Ellie," one of the doctors asked carefully, "are you absolutely sure it… stood up?"
"Yes!. It stood up! Look, the blanket's even wet after I touch it a little!"
I wanted to die.
I wanted to yell, 'Wait! It's not what it looks like! I just got a little too excited. I swear I usually last longer!'
But I couldn't even move my jaw, let alone defend my shattered dignity.
Just as I forced myself to speak with all my being—boom. Instant brain freeze.
Memories came crashing in, one after another, like someone booted up a hard drive in my brain.
This wasn't my old body. This was Zane Park's. The only son of some crazy rich businessman.
Also, the gorgeous woman calling me "son" was his stepmother, Ellie. His father had married her after his biological mother died in an accident.
Apparently, his dad couldn't have any more kids, so Zane was the golden boy. The precious heir, destined to carry on the mighty Park family name.
That was… until the fated incident that turned the young man's life completely upside down
Three years ago, in a totally unexpected gate incident, Zane was swallowed whole by an A-rank monster; a frog-like freak called Miluk.
Hunters did manage to save him before he became lunch, but the damage was done. The toxic saliva messed him up so bad, he ended up completely paralyzed.
Basically: rich kid, eaten by frog, now turned into a vegetable.
And somehow… I was now him.
What. The. Hell.