“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” — William Ernest Henley Pain.
Sudden, unbearable pain.
Riven’s eyes snapped open.
He clutched his head.
“AAAGH!” It felt as though someone had poured molten metal directly into his brain.
None of the slaves even spared him a glance.
He collapsed onto the floor.
His body convulsed.
He broke out into a sweat.
His vision blurred.
And then— Memories.
Hundreds of them.
Thousands.
They flooded into his mind all at once.
A small house.
A woman crying.
A man shouting.
A little boy sitting alone in a corner.
Then hunger.
So much hunger.
Riven screamed.
The memories continued.
A pair of rough hands grabbing him.
A journey through unfamiliar streets.
A group of men arguing over money.
And finally…
A contract.
A strange symbol glowing on a piece of parchment.
A man’s voice.
“Your debt is settled.
The boy is mine.” Riven gasped.
His body went limp.
For a long time, he simply lay there.
Trying to process what had just happened.
Then the memories began to make sense.
They weren’t his.
They belonged to the boy whose body he now occupied.
A boy who had been sold into slavery by his own parents.
Apparently, they had accumulated an enormous debt.
And when they couldn’t pay it back…
They sold their son.
Riven stared at the ceiling.
‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ He closed his eyes.
The memories continued to surface.
He had lived in a slum.
A place filled with poverty, crime, and desperation.
Children were often sold into slavery to pay off their parents’ debts.
Apparently, it wasn’t particularly unusual.
Riven clenched his fists.
‘What kind of world is this?’ Then another memory surfaced.
A strange symbol.
A contract.
And a man collapsing in agony.
Riven suddenly remembered what had happened earlier that day.
The slave who had attempted to resist.
He had collapsed to the ground, screaming in pain.
At the time, Riven hadn’t understood what had happened.
Now he did.
The slaves were bound by magical contracts.
A slave pact.
Anyone who disobeyed their master would be punished by the magic binding them.
Riven slowly sat up.
‘Magic?’ He stared at his hands.
The memories continued.
This world was filled with magic.
Monsters.
Adventurers.
Nobles.
Kings.
And countless other things that sounded like they had come straight out of a fantasy novel.
Riven almost laughed.
‘Of course.’ He had died in one world and somehow ended up in another.
A world where magic and monsters actually existed.
He wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.
But there was one thing that bothered him.
The slave pact.
He remembered the man collapsing.
He remembered the screaming.
And he remembered how he himself had felt nothing.
Not even a hint of pain.
Riven frowned.
‘Wait a minute.’ He looked down at his hands.
The memories of the previous owner were still fresh in his mind.
The boy had been bound by the contract.
But now…
His soul was different.
Riven wasn’t the original owner of this body.
He had taken over.
Which meant…
Did the contract break when I possessed this body?
He wasn’t sure.
It was only a theory.
But it was worth investigating.
If the contract really had broken, then he might have a chance.
A chance to escape.
A chance to live.
A chance to never experience helplessness again.
Riven looked around the room.
The other slaves were already asleep.
Some were curled up on the floor.
Others were lying on filthy mattresses.
Nobody paid him any attention.
He slowly leaned against the wall.
His body was still aching.
His stomach was still empty.
And he was still trapped in a place where he had no freedom.
But for the first time since waking up in this world, he felt something other than confusion and fear.
Determination.
He had spent his entire previous life relying on himself.
He had died because he chose to help someone else.
And now, he had been given another chance.
He wasn’t going to waste it.
He didn’t know how long he would remain here.
He didn’t know how powerful the people holding him captive were.
And he certainly didn’t know how he was going to escape.
But he would find a way.
He would survive.
He would grow stronger.
And he would never allow himself to become helpless again.
Riven slowly closed his eyes.
Tomorrow, he would begin planning his escape.
For now, he needed to rest.
After all…
He had a long way to go.