The blue moonlight shimmered beautifully across the sky alongside hundreds of glittering stars, forming a breathtaking scene that stirred the heart, while the cool night wind carried an unfamiliar scent he had never inhaled before.
From a lower-floor window in the living room, Liam Tirarty realized that he was inside an unfamiliar house, accompanied by a strange feeling that had haunted him since the moment he woke up.
A brief glance at the stone-paved street outside revealed no one passing by. Confusion wrapped around his thoughts. Where exactly was he?
"Who is he? How did I end up in this person's body?" he muttered in confusion, his blue eyes glimmering in the dim light, locked onto his own reflection in the window glass.
Right now, I'm on Street Eleven. Virca. This house is located in the Chapena District, Moran City, Kingdom of Norn. Mysticism has always been deeply rooted in this kingdom, not merely as belief, but as part of everyday life…
He was astonished, never expecting Norn to resemble the city where he once lived on Earth.
In various cities, supernatural incidents often occurred and ended tragically, claiming lives in horrifying ways. The causes of those deaths were never clearly identified, and even now, the authorities had no answers. Alongside that, prophecies about the coming apocalypse circulated widely. No one knew when it would happen. There was no exact date, month, or year.
It had been an hour since Liam's soul transferred into the body of a twenty-year-old young man named Zavi Actitus. In this modest two-story house with a total of seven rooms, Zavi lived with his mother, Mei Actitus, his older brother, Ren Actitus, and his younger sister, Isabelle Actitus.
He was the second child in the family.
More precisely, the first.
So… when Zavi was five years old, his father left without a clear reason. Isabelle was only one at the time.
Zavi's mother, Mei, said that his father had remarried. That was all. No explanation. No reason. Some time later, his mother remarried as well, to her senior from school. He brought along a boy. Ren. Ten years old. His mother had passed away. From that moment on, their household gained one more person. But Zavi's biological father… would never return..
Liam felt a pang of pity as he turned away, his eyes locking onto the second-floor floorboards.
As a child, Zavi was consumed by his obsession with prophecies of the apocalypse that spread across the continent of Chynoria, especially within the Kingdom of Norn, Moran City, far from the dominant eastern kingdoms near the sea. His deep curiosity unintentionally led him into the supernatural world.
His older brother, Ren, knew about this and repeatedly warned him to stop doing dangerous things. But they held different views. Young Zavi believed in the prophecies, while his brother considered them nothing more than stories fabricated by those in power.
From that day on, Zavi no longer wanted to speak to his brother. And as he grew older, by the age of eighteen, Zavi stopped believing in those absurd prophecies and began to recall Ren's words from ten years ago, spoken half a month after their father's death.
On the same date, October 20th, 1543, according to the Star Calendar, Saturday, exactly at 8:30 in the morning, Zavi committed suicide by stabbing his own heart with a knife.
Why did he do it? Because on Thursday the 18th, he went with a friend to a place considered sacred in the Tezny District, and on Friday night, he felt an unbearable sensation spreading throughout his body.
"What caused me to end up here?"
Like the appearance of two black spots on the right and left sides of his neck, along with a tingling sensation in both hands, especially around his wrists, the discomfort stabbed at him repeatedly.
On that fateful day, right after breakfast, the sensation became so intense that his body reached its limit. His jaw clenched, his chest expanded, and finally, Zavi stabbed his heart with a kitchen knife.
That day, no one in the family knew what happened. Even his loud scream was never heard by the neighbors.
That death somehow triggered Liam's soul to forcibly take over Zavi's body.
At present, Liam was unable to speak after experiencing this strange incident. When he woke up at exactly five in the afternoon, he encountered a woman he recognized only through fragments of memory. He realized he had to hide the knife in his wardrobe because his mother had returned home with his younger sister.
"What's wrong, Zavi?" his younger sister asked with a mischievous smile. "Did you get heartbroken after being rejected by a girl?"
His younger sister, Isabelle, was extremely mischievous toward him. Unaware of the truth, hidden to protect her future, and for reasons unknown since childhood, she had barely ever spoken to Ren.
Liam slowly turned his head. His previously blank expression instantly brightened when he saw his sister's cheerful face.
Why is this? I've never felt this before.
He thought in surprise. The corner of his mouth lifted briefly before he stepped forward, choosing to indulge her for a while.
Eventually, the two of them ran around the house for five minutes, prompting their mother, who had been in her room to the left of the living room, to come out with her hair in disarray.
"It's already night. Aren't you two sleepy?" their mother whispered as she rubbed her eyes.
"Oops, looks like you woke Mom up," Liam said, covering his mouth, his tone half playful.
Of course, Isabelle denied it loudly. "Zavi was the one who teased me first."
Naturally, Liam refused to accept that accusation. He approached his mother and explained that it was all just a game Isabelle played to cheer him up.
Their mother smiled after hearing her son's words and gently asked, "Has Ren come home yet?" Her gaze carefully examined both of her children.
Isabelle's cheerful expression instantly darkened. She walked up the stairs and entered her room, leaving the two of them behind.
Liam tilted his head after witnessing that. He did not quite understand why Isabelle hated Ren so much.
Even within Zavi's memories, he could not find a single clue explaining it.
He sighed and looked at his mother's anxious face.
"I don't know. You should get some more rest, Mom," Liam said softly as he gently guided her back into her room.
Click.
The bedroom door closed. Meanwhile, Liam walked toward his own room, having information he wanted to investigate.
It was located to the right of the living room.
He stood beside the door, closed it, and held a tray with two lit candles positioned toward his face.
A strong gust of wind struck his face, powerful enough to extinguish the flames. Noticing the window was still open, Liam was forced to close it tightly. This time, the candle flames stabilized and no longer flickered.
He placed the tray on top of the wardrobe in the right corner, and the candlelight illuminated the desk in front of him. Liam sat on the chair, staring at a sheet of paper while holding a pen in his right hand, occasionally spinning it to look cool.
"So… what should I do?" he muttered softly.
"Strange prophecies? Supernatural phenomena? And how did I end up in this world?"
Liam was confused, unsure of what to do. But not long after, he heard faint footsteps passing by outside his room.
His jaw tightened, his breath caught, and terrifying memories resurfaced in his mind, of a human-shaped shadow walking in front of the house. Liam immediately stood up, pushing his chair back. He slowly opened his door and peeked out.
"Was that Ren? I'm curious why earlier no one questioned his absence during the morning and his return only at night."
Because the living room was quite dark, and he was just an ordinary human unable to see clearly in the dark, he could only make out a shadow standing in front of the window.
Accidentally, he pushed the door further, causing the unpleasant creaking sound of the hinges to echo briefly through the room.
Damn it…
Liam suddenly grew nervous. His hands trembled violently, enough to make the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
From the doorway, his gaze briefly caught sight of a man with straight black hair, blue eyes filled with exhaustion, staring coldly in his direction.
Ren lowered the hood of his cloak and glanced briefly at his younger brother's face before walking up the stairs.
Liam did not know what to make of it. He sighed, slightly annoyed that the door had not been closed again. In the end, he closed it himself and returned to his room.
Back in his room, sitting calmly while staring at the neatly arranged books on the desk, Liam thought of one thing regarding fragments of Zavi's memories.
That bastard is hiding something in his left hand. I'm sure of it. He's hiding something from his family… but what is it?
Those questions churned in his mind without answers, irritating him until he unconsciously struck the desk.
Not long after, unexpectedly, his ears caught the sound of rapid footsteps descending the stairs. He thought, If a human can come down the stairs that fast, does he have supernatural abilities? Then came a knock on the door from the right side.
His eyes widened, his breathing grew heavier, and his gaze locked onto the door.
Suddenly, he stood up and decided to open it.
He saw his older brother standing there with a weary face and an indescribable expression.
"Why are you here?" he asked in a cold tone while looking at his brother's face, his breathing slowly calming.
Ren inspected every corner of the room, making sure nothing strange was hidden inside. Suddenly, he grabbed Liam's shoulders with both of his cold hands.
"It's nothing. Just be careful."
After saying that, he left without explaining what he meant.
Hearing those words, Liam immediately thought about them. Then, he realized their meaning.
"Does he know that I'm not his real younger brother? That's impossible… he can't know," Liam muttered in panic.
Liam closed the door again, anxiety filling his thoughts. He returned to his chair and began writing something.
Five minutes later, he tore a sheet of paper from the book, containing the plan he would carry out next.
He lifted it up and reread it, checking for mistakes or errors. There were none. Satisfied, he stood up and walked to the left, toward the wardrobe.
The wardrobe door opened, and he slipped the paper into the pocket of his coat. Closing it, he walked toward the bed and prepared to sleep, waiting for morning to arrive.