She was a beautiful, red-haired young woman with eyes the color of freshly polished emeralds. Her skin was fair and rosy in places, and her full figure was hidden beneath a long, lovely yellow dress—a single piece with short sleeves and delicate ruffles along the hem.
Her beauty, however, was completely eclipsed by the horrible bloodstains painting her dress and parts of her body a deep, dark crimson.
'What is this…? That woman… is me?'
He touched his face, and the reflection of the woman in the blood did the same. It was definitely him—her!
'No, wait. I'm not getting any of this. I need to think.'
A strange cult. Strange voices. Eyes in the darkness. And blood—so much blood.
When the memories of recent events came rushing back, his eyes went wide—because memories that weren't his own began layering over everything he already knew, giving him a splitting headache that forced him to his knees.
He pressed both hands to his head, fingers digging into his long, wavy red hair.
When the pain faded a few seconds later, he exhaled in relief.
That flood of memories had taken shape inside his mind.
'Bonnie Jones, 17 years old. Born and raised in the main town of Warlock County. Daughter of Nicholas Jones, owner of a significant stretch of mines to the east of the county—the source of the family fortune. Bonnie was educated by a private tutor from childhood until recently, who taught her all manner of important subjects. She's skilled at the piano, strong in math and geography, and she paints and draws exceptionally well—her portraits are remarkably detailed. She was always sheltered by her mother, Eleonor Jones, but after Eleonor died of tuberculosis, her father became stricter and more controlling over her life.'
Samuel—no, Bonnie—rose from the ground, looking with disgust at the blood and the crushed remains scattered around the altar. He felt like he was going to be sick if he stayed in this place any longer. Fortunately, whatever was left of the cultists no longer held any recognizable human shape, which made it slightly less horrifying and grotesque.
There, the rest of her memories finished piecing themselves together.
'Recently, she was forcibly betrothed to Caleb Graves, owner of the railroad company "El Camino," with the sole purpose of expanding her father's fortune. Bonnie hated the idea of marrying someone she didn't love—so she ran north on her horse, a mare named Capella. She hoped her disappearance would make her father worry enough to come to his senses about the arranged marriage. But while she was resting along the road with Capella, she was kidnapped by a nameless cult and offered up as a sacrifice to a demon.'
Bonnie shook her head twice. Her heart was pounding like a runaway locomotive.
She clenched her fist tight—though her slight, delicate frame made the gesture look more adorable than threatening.
'So…'
Bonnie looked toward the light forcing its way through the far end of the darkness. It looked like a long stone tunnel—a cave.
'I'm trapped in a girl's body…'
The whole thing felt just as ridiculous as anyone would have imagined. Bonnie pressed a hand to her forehead and rubbed her brow, stressed.
'Bonnie was kidnapped… I was kidnapped! We both got the same treatment. What would've happened if that thing in the darkness had killed us both?!'
Samuel wasn't the type to panic—but Bonnie's fierce emotions seemed to drown his out like a raging flame against a single drop of water. This girl was simply more sentimental than he was.
She wrinkled her nose in disgust. The smell of rot was starting to get to her. Actually—how much time had passed since all of this began? Her sense of time was completely shot thanks to this dark place, so she followed the light, hoping to escape this nightmare.
Gradually, the light grew larger, and when she stepped through it, vast mesas stretched out all around her. A whole chain of them, surrounding the area on every side.
'No wonder no one's been able to find me. Surrounded by this many mesas, searching on horseback would be next to impossible.'
She moved out across the sand and started looking for the one thing that had taken her away from home in the first place.
'Alright… a world of cowboys. Seems like there are demonic forces and mythological monsters lurking around too. Is this one of those classic isekai situations people always complain about online? If so, I'm really in over my head.'
A girl—alone—in this vast and empty place. It almost felt like a cruel joke from fate.
She kept walking, scanning the terrain with her eyes, but found nothing but mesas, sand, and a blazing sun that threatened to set her hair on fire.
Along the way, she tried to piece things together.
'Those cult members were on their own, right? I think there were only three or four of them when they grabbed me. Were they it, or are there more? It might be a much larger organization—because jumping souls between bodies doesn't seem like the kind of power ordinary mortals can just pull off. And what were they even trying to do by summoning a demon in the first place? Aren't demons supposed to be the embodiment of evil on earth? That demon killed every single one of them!'
The further she walked, the less sense their actions made.
"Where are you? I need you with me, girl," Bonnie murmured in a soft, feminine voice.
Scanning the base of the mesas for any spot large enough to hide a big animal, she came across a section that looked different from the rest.
A smile crossed her face when she spotted a cave with a makeshift pen—ropes tied to a series of wooden posts. A few canvas bags hung from a stick nearby. They belonged to Bonnie.
She ran toward it.
"Capella, are you in there?"
When she poked her head inside, she found a beautiful mare with a jet-black coat and golden hooves. The animal whinnied happily and reared up on its hind legs.
"There you are. Thank God. Come on, let me get you out of there. We need to head home right now."
She immediately untied the ropes and adjusted the saddle Capella was already wearing. Then she strapped the bags to either side and climbed on with a little bit of effort.
"Alright. Let's get out of here."
She urged the mare forward, and Capella moved out across the vast desert plain.
Bonnie looked back.
Samuel looked back.
Both of them, now one.
Even though Samuel could feel Bonnie's "soul" alongside his own, he was the one in control.
That realization put a bullet of guilt straight into his subconscious, and it left him thinking.
He had accepted his transmigration so easily—like it was the most natural thing in the world—while in reality he had taken over the body of an innocent girl from Warlock County.
Was it because his lifelong existential exhaustion was finally being satisfied through some absurd situation that should have been impossible? If that was the case, then he was nothing more than a selfish man.
He sighed, looking back at the mesa he'd walked out of.
'I'm sorry for taking over your body, Bonnie. I promise I'll give it back once I find a way home. Until then—I hope we can work together.'
He already knew her. He could feel what she felt, and she could probably feel the same. Samuel was Bonnie now, and his journey through this unknown world had begun.