Chapter 1:
When He Opened His Eyes
SOMEONE TAPPED THE SHOULDER of the man in bed. The rough hand was warm; it reminded him of the touch of an exhausted parent.
“Young master, it is morning.”
That voice, on the other hand, was imposing. Getting goosebumps, the man in bed instinctively opened his eyes. Rather than bright, warm sunlight coming through the window, he saw an old man staring at him with a pleased expression.
“I’m surprised you awoke after a single attempt,” the old man said.
“Huh?”
“The master wishes to dine with you, since you two haven’t done so in a while. That should be possible this morning.”
As the old man spoke, the man in bed noticed a mirror past his shoulder. It reflected a bare-chested young man, not yet twenty years of age, with a bewildered expression. Seems like that’s me.
“Young Master Cale?”
He turned toward the source of the worried voice to see the old man—who appeared to be a servant—eyeing him apprehensively. But the servant’s worry wasn’t the issue; it was what he’d said. “Young Master Cale.” Strangely enough, the name was familiar.
“Cale Henituse?” the man in bed asked. The name flowed smoothly from his lips.
The old servant peered at him kindly, as if looking at his own grandson. “Yes. That is your name, young master. I take it you’re still a bit drunk.”
Hearing the old servant’s confirmation, the man in bed naturally remembered an even more important name. “Vicross…”
“You mean my son?”
“The chef…”
“Yes, my son is a chef. Should he make something for your hangover?”
The man’s surroundings suddenly darkened, and the world spun. He lowered his head, resting it in his hands.
“Are you still drunk, young master? Should I call the doctor? Or would you rather have a bath?”
With his head hung low, the man glimpsed the strands of hair falling in front of his face. They were a vivid red, very different from his original black hair.
Cale Henituse… Vicross… Vicross’s father, Ron…
These were characters from the beginning of Birth of a Hero, the series he’d been reading before he fell asleep the previous night.
The man jerked his head up and looked around. The chamber, completely different from a Korean bedroom, reminded him of a private room in an old European manor. Every aspect was extravagant and luxurious.
“Young master?” Ron—the old servant—prompted, though his worry was merely a facade.
“Cold water,” the man in bed responded. He needed something to clear his mind.
“Excuse me?”
As the man in bed glanced up at Ron, he again saw Cale Henituse’s reflection in the mirror. His handsome face was perfectly smooth.
Still looks normal. I guess the main character hasn’t beaten Cale up just yet.
After opening his eyes, the man in the bed realized he had become Cale Henituse. He was now the very jerk the main character beat to the verge of death at the beginning of Birth of a Hero.
“I presume you will not bathe in cold water, young master. Are you asking for drinking water?”
Cale stared at Ron. He knew the old servant was pretending to be a benevolent old man, hiding his cruel and vicious character.
“Please get me some drinking water,” Cale said. His first priority was to sip on that; he figured it would help him think straight.
“I will prepare it right away.”
“Great. Thanks.”
Ron flinched, an odd expression flickering across his face, but the man in bed didn’t notice.
The water in the bedchamber was tepid, so Ron left the room to fetch cold water for him. Once Cale was alone, he hopped out of bed and headed to the bathroom. If he really was inside Birth of a Hero, a full-length mirror should be there.
He was right, as it turned out. The real Cale Henituse had demanded its installation, given his obsession with his own appearance and physique. The bare-chested Cale looked fairly fit. Any garments would have suited him.
“I really am Cale,” he muttered.
The redhead was indeed the minor antagonist depicted in Birth of a Hero. Since that series was unusually detailed when it came to each character’s appearance, he’d had to acknowledge that he was Cale Henituse as soon as he saw the face in the mirror. Wondering how long it took people to calm down after such a shock, Cale placidly recalled what had happened the day before—when he was still Kim Roksu.
It had started as a typical day off. He hadn’t leafed through a physical book in a while, what with how often he read on his phone, so he went to a book rental shop to borrow some. He checked out an entire series, planning to read all day long. The series was Birth of a Hero, and he’d read up to the fifth volume before falling asleep. When he woke up, he found himself in the body of an antagonist the main character mercilessly humiliated in Volume One.
Things are unfolding just like they did in that volume. Have I possessed Cale’s body?
Overcoming his initial bewilderment, he thought back to the beginning of the series. Birth of a Hero was about the trials and growth of heroes emerging from fictional eastern and western continents. The main character, Choi Han, was a Korean high school freshman who’d transmigrated into a fantasy world. There, his life span was as long as a dragon’s. Despite being human, he never aged.
“This is bad…”
The protagonist would eventually pulverize him. Still, the key thing was that he hadn’t had his ass handed to him just yet.
Tearing his eyes away from the mirror, Cale submerged himself in the tub of warm water. He tilted his head back, looking up at the undoubtedly expensive marble ceiling. Cale’s family estate was actually chock-full of marble.
“It’s not like I’m missing much,” Cale mumbled, staring at the ceiling.
In his life as Kim Roksu, he was orphaned and broke. He’d lived by himself since both his parents passed away in a car accident when he was little. He wasn’t head over heels in love, nor did he have friends he would’ve sacrificed himself for. He had no particular attachments at all. He’d only continued to live because he couldn’t die.
No, he couldn’t bear to die. He truly hated the thought of death, to the point that rolling in dog crap sounded much more appealing. And he hated pain to boot.
I need to make sure I don’t get walloped.
Cale wasn’t certain what part of the series he was in, but he was confident he hadn’t yet met the protagonist. The reason was simple.
I don’t have a scar on my side.
Cale Henituse was the lout of Count Henituse’s family, but he hadn’t gotten the scar in a fight. Rather, prior to meeting Choi Han, he’d thrown a public tantrum because his drink of choice tasted bad. Cale had hurled things around the room in a drunken rage—at which point a broken table leg had cut his skin, giving him the scar. Shortly afterward, Cale met Choi Han. They bumped into each other a few times before the hero thrashed him in a mortifying beatdown.