Kang Sihyun looked at his reflection in the water with a somewhat bewildered expression.
Yes, water.
He was now in front of a lake.
A lake he had never seen before.
Even the clothes he wore felt unfamiliar. They were not modern attire. Although they resembled rags, he was certain. The texture and design of the clothing were far from contemporary styles.
And nature was overly abundant.
Animals that were rarely seen nowadays scurried through the forest, and densely packed trees stood all around, reminiscent of a jungle. The reality was that this was not a jungle since there was a lake, but it was far more lush than any forest he had hiked in before. Far in the landscape reflected by the vast lake, a small manor was visible.
Where on earth was this?
The architecture of the manor seemed decidedly Western. And from a considerably old era of the West at that.
He didn’t understand why he had come here.
Surely, he was supposed to wake up in Kang Sihyun's body from a dream. Where had it all gone wrong?
Sihyun grimaced as he touched the face of the boy reflected in the lake. The boy looked about ten years old and had a youthful appearance, but his face bore several scratches.
Had he been abused?
"Gren! Gren!"
"Ah."
It was the first time he had heard a human voice since arriving here. Sihyun stood up and looked towards the direction of the voice. A man with his hair tightly tied emerged from the bushes, spotting Sihyun and scowling as he approached. His strides were long and savage.
"Gren!"
The man caught Sihyun's arm and shouted.
Gren?
Sihyun blinked up at the man.
"You lazy sod. When I tell you to work, you loaf around?"
The man gnashed his teeth in anger. Only then did Sihyun realize that Gren was the name of this boy. From what he could gather, this boy seemed to be some household’s servant.
"Not only do you disobey orders, you wander into the forbidden forest. You must be insane to wish for death. The master has summoned you!"
His ears rang with the loudness of the man’s anger as he pulled Sihyun along. The boy was small, and the man was large. The difference in their strides was inevitable.
They walked briskly, and Sihyun, confused about the situation yet understanding that he was now possessed by the spirit of the boy Gren who had caused some mischief before the possession, had to quicken his pace to keep up.
It felt somewhat unfair, and he almost opened his mouth to protest but closed it, knowing no one would listen or understand.
"The master is very angry. You better brace yourself."
The man narrowed his eyes and warned, looking back at Sihyun with displeasure, then tightening his grip on his arm. Sihyun's wrist was squeezed so tightly it seemed it would leave a mark, prompting him to glance nervously at the man’s hand and quicken his steps.
The place the man led Sihyun to was the manor he had seen reflected in the lake. It had seemed small from the distance, but up close, it was grand enough to be called a mansion. Sihyun was pushed through the front door by the man’s forceful hand. Thud—the force of the push sent him tumbling to the ground, the sound echoing sharply.
"The master is waiting."
A man with a sword at his waist approached and spoke. He watched Sihyun fall but did not help him up, instead waiting silently until he got to his feet.
This didn't feel good.
Sihyun felt an ominous radar triggering within him as he dusted off his hands and stood up. The man who had dragged him here was now out of sight. Following the knight’s lead, Sihyun entered the mansion.
He had no time to admire the mansion’s antique interior as they climbed the stairs and proceeded down a long corridor. As they went deeper, the corridor grew darker and chillier. The knight suddenly stopped and turned to the left.
Knock, knock. He knocked on the wall. Sihyun only then realized there was a door there; it had been too dark to see properly until the knight knocked.
"Master. I have brought Gren."
"Come in."
A voice from inside called out. Expecting the master to be a man in his forties, Sihyun was surprised to hear a voice that sounded quite young and clear—possibly only in his late twenties at most.
"Go in."
The knight opened the door creaking and pushed Sihyun forward.
Ah, really.
Sihyun stumbled and grimaced as he fell again. The boy’s body was pitifully weak, thin arms and legs barely nourished. Yet the face he had seen reflected in the lake had seemed quite fine. Sihyun shook his head from these unnecessary thoughts as he looked up.
The room, possibly a study, was filled with bookshelves, and a man sat among them.
The atmosphere he exuded was extraordinary. Sihyun immediately realized this man must be Gren’s master and stayed silent.
So, he had entered because he was told to, but now what?
He waited for a command, and the man, who had been staring at a book, took off his glasses and looked up at Sihyun. Now seeing the master clearly, the man was quite a handsome fellow.
"Gren. I assigned you to clean the garden, but you ran off to the lake, didn’t you?"
"Ah…."
So he had run away because he didn’t want to clean.
Sihyun was speechless. It wasn’t his doing, so he couldn’t affirm it, nor could he deny it since it had been Gren’s doing. He clenched his mouth shut, and the man flicked his hand—a gesture for him to come closer. Sihyun walked forward and then gasped.
The man pulled out a cane from a drawer.
The end of the wooden cane was darkened, seemingly stained with blood that had turned black. And there was no need to ask whose blood it was. Upon closer inspection, Gren’s body bore marks that looked like they had been caused by caning.
This guy is pure trash.
Where is there to hit such a frail and pitiable body?
Sihyun, having lived in modern times, felt the injustice deeply but had no words to express it. The man looked down at him with a cane in hand, his eyes terribly cold. The fear Sihyun felt was not his own—it was an instinctive fear that remained imprinted in Gren’s body.
Swoosh!
The man finally swung the cane. Sihyun had thought he would be hit on the legs or hands, but the target was his back.
It hurt terribly.
It was his first time being beaten, and the burning sensation on his back was utterly foreign. However, the boy’s body seemed accustomed to it, enduring the beating that followed. Swoosh, and at some point, blood splattered. Sihyun couldn’t stand it anymore and collapsed after more than twenty hits.
"Stand up straight. There’s still Leonard’s share left. You keep running off to the lake, and Leonard learns bad habits and misses his lessons because of it."
The man spouted nonsensical excuses in a calm voice. How was Gren’s running off to the lake a reason for someone named Leonard to miss lessons? It seemed absurd, but the master’s caning did not consider Sihyun’s feelings.
Swoosh!
The wooden cane hit his bleeding back again. The blood-soaked flesh felt horribly sticky as it hit, and Sihyun clenched his fists. Closing his eyes to endure, he suddenly heard a creak.
A boy with blue hair stood at the entrance of the study. The man saw him and clicked his tongue.
"Get out, Leonard."
So that was Leonard.
He appeared to be between twelve and thirteen years old. Sihyun was startled as their eyes met. He wasn't sure what expression to wear in the midst of being beaten, but fortunately, the continuing hits spared him from worrying about it. He grimaced in pain.
Leonard entered, and the beating intensified, causing Sihyun to stagger unintentionally. He sighed, wanting the beating to stop, but then he saw the boy smiling.
Smiling?
He had thought Leonard was concerned because he was being beaten instead, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Leonard curled his lips into a grin and mocked Gren as he was beaten. The malice was all too clear in the boy’s eyes, and Sihyun was taken aback by the breath he caught.
Now he seemed to understand Gren’s role.
He was the boy in this mansion who was beaten in place of that boy. Leonard seemed to know this and was exploiting it.
Such a pitiful life, isn’t it?
Sihyun frowned and turned his head away from Leonard. Whatever he thought of that, the boy chuckled and then disappeared. The beating continued for another thirty hits or so.
It felt like at least sixty in total. Sihyun grimaced with his burning back as he left the master’s room.
It suddenly felt even more unfair.
Why had he suddenly been possessed into the body of a boy he didn’t even know and beaten like this?
It was both unjust and pitiable. Feeling suffocated, Sihyun sighed deeply and left the mansion, looking around aimlessly as he had nowhere to go. At least by the lake, some man had shown him the way, but now no one was there to help Sihyun. He was left confused about what to do or where to go.
Was he supposed to go to the garden since the master had mentioned garden cleaning?
Sihyun mulled over the man’s words and headed towards what seemed to be the garden. Though he
was supposed to clean, he wasn’t sure what to do and began by pulling out weeds that had grown on the ground. While doing so, he tried to harness the energy within his body as a test. After checking the results, Sihyun was startled.
What?
Gren’s body contained an immense amount of sealed divine power. He couldn’t use it right away, but as this body grew, the seal would naturally weaken, allowing it to be used. The amount was considerable—more than in Sihyun’s own body.
Does this even make sense?
Was everyone here born with such potential? Sihyun speculated about this as he pulled out weeds, pondering whether he could use this power to return to his original world.
"Are you okay?"
As he focused on pulling weeds as if he were a farmer, a gentle voice came from above his crouched form. Sihyun, wondering who had come to torment Gren this time, swallowed his irritation and looked up to see who it was.
"...Yoo Seowoo?"
Without realizing it, Sihyun uttered that name.
A young boy with bright golden hair stood next to Sihyun. To anyone, he looked like a young Yoo Seowoo.
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