The stone ceiling above me was rough, the prison cell was filthy, and the entire room reeked of dirt and soil.
It seemed I was inside a prison.
I looked down at my clothes.
All I had was a single dirty brown piece of cloth wrapped around my body.
I had just woken up and realized that I was here.
Was I kidnapped?
My body looked thin and neglected.
Even my skin seemed slightly paler than before.
This was strange.
My skin had never been this pale, and I had always trained my body.
So why had I suddenly become so skinny?
“How are things?” I heard someone speaking, which immediately piqued my curiosity.
I peeked outside the cell and saw two people wearing medieval armor.
“Same as usual.
Boring days.” Their language sounded completely foreign, yet somehow, I could understand every word they said.
I returned to my cell and tried to think about what had actually happened.
This situation felt strangely familiar.
Wait—don’t tell me?!
“A-ah…” I tried to speak, but the voice that came out sounded completely different from before.
This is bad.
Something that should have been impossible had happened to me.
I had been transported to another world and possessed someone else’s body.
“This is confusing.” My previous voice had been ordinary and rather deep, but now… Hmm… I could only describe it as the voice of a handsome man.
I wasn’t really sure how else to put it.
My hair was still black, just like before.
The only difference was that it had grown considerably longer, reaching all the way down my back.
“I wonder what my face looks like.” I touched my face, which felt unfamiliar.
My skin was smooth and soft.
“Don’t tell me I’ve changed genders?!” I panicked and immediately checked between my legs.
“Oh.
It’s still there.” I let out a sigh of relief.
At least that important asset was still intact.
And, judging by the size, it seemed to be slightly larger than what I had before.
“Honestly, I don’t know whether I should be proud of this or not.
The previous me would probably feel a little insulted.” I touched my arm and examined my body.
My entire body was incredibly thin, without a trace of muscle.
“This isn’t good.” I had always trained my body before this and had managed to increase my strength, even though it had taken a long time.
Looking at my new body made me feel as though all the sacrifices and effort I had put into training before had been wasted.
I noticed a piece of rope lying beside me.
Almost instinctively, I touched my neck and felt a mark where something had strangled me.
Looking at my palms, which had a few minor abrasions, made me realize something.
“It seems the previous owner committed suicide, and I entered this empty body after he was gone.” Whatever had happened, it didn’t change the fact that I was now in this world.
I peeked outside the cell again.
The two guards were still talking.
They didn’t look particularly impressive.
In fact, they looked rather weak.
I could see small bellies protruding from beneath their armor, and the muscles in their arms weren’t particularly well-developed either.
“They remind me of security officers from a certain country in my old world.” Since I was in prison, there was nothing I could do but wait until I was released.
When that time came, however long it took, I should use the opportunity to train myself and rebuild my muscles and strength, just like my old body.
“I can’t stand feeling this uncomfortable in a body like this.
Besides, I still don’t know what kind of world this is.
I should prepare myself and minimize the risks as much as possible.” Two months had passed since I realized that I was in another world.
For two months, I had trained inside my prison cell, doing push-ups, sit-ups, and various other exercises.
The food here was quite simple: bland, rather hard bread and plain water.
I was rather curious about what crime the previous owner of this body had committed to end up in prison.
“I hope it wasn’t anything serious.
I don’t want someone suddenly attacking me out of revenge after I get out of here.” Putting that problem aside, my body had clearly changed from the first time I saw it.
Back then, it had been thin and frail.
I touched my arm and felt the muscles I had built over the past two months.
I looked at my stomach.
My abdominal muscles had started to take shape as well.
“My efforts weren’t wasted.” I felt rather proud of myself.
Cold air brushed against my skin while the light from the lanterns illuminated the entire prison.
“It’s quite quiet at night.
There aren’t many prisoners here.
I haven’t even spoken to anyone for the past two months.” I leaned my head against the wall and slowly closed my eyes, trying to fall asleep.
Ding, ding, ding, ding!
The sound of a bell ringing repeatedly jolted me awake, ruining my chance to sleep.
“What happened?” Loud noises came from outside the prison.
The guards immediately left after hearing the bell.
I didn’t understand what was happening, but perhaps it was some kind of alarm signaling danger.
I peeked through the bars to find out what was happening, but it was useless.
All I could hear was the chaos outside.
“Sounds like we’re under attack.” A woman’s voice suddenly came from the cell beside mine.
“An attack?” “Yeah.
It seems there’s an attack somewhere within the Baron’s territory.” “What do you think is attacking this place?” I tried speaking to the person in the cell beside me.
“Who knows?
Maybe another territory, bandits… or something worse.” She paused.
“Blight.” The woman extended her right hand through the bars.
“By the way, what’s your name?” My name?
I didn’t know the name of the body I was inhabiting.
Should I just use my old name from Earth?
Since I was in another world, I might as well use a new name.
“Valerius.
My name is Valerius.
Just call me Val.” “My name is Sera.
Nice to meet you.” “Ah.
Yeah.
Nice to meet you.” “By the way, how long have you been here?” I thought for a moment.
“I don’t know.
Around two months, I guess.
What about you?” “I only arrived yesterday.” I hadn’t even realized that someone had been placed in the cell beside mine yesterday.
“BLIGHT!!” A loud scream echoed through the entire prison.
The voice seemed to come from the front of the detention area.
“Blight?!
You have got to be kidding me!
I don’t want to die right after arriving here!” Sera looked worried and frightened.
I had no idea what a Blight was, but judging from her reaction, it was clearly something dangerous.
I should ask Sera about it.
“Um, Sera.
I want to know what a Blight is.
You mentioned it earlier, but I don’t understand what it is.” “What?!
You don’t know what a Blight is?!
Where in the middle of nowhere are you from?!” Sera looked shocked by Val’s confession.
“Forget about that for now.
We need to escape before we get killed!” Blight must be something extremely dangerous.
For now, it was probably better to listen to her.
But how was I supposed to get out of this cell?
I checked the iron bars and tried shaking them, but they were sturdy.
I looked toward the cell door and examined the keyhole.
“I can see the other side through this.” The lock was incredibly simple.
If there were still houses using locks like this in my old world, they would probably be ridiculously easy for a thief to break into.
“Sera, do you have something like a needle?” “A needle?
What for?” “Just answer the question.
Do you have one or not?” “…I think so.” Sera extended one hand through the bars and placed something on the floor.
She then pushed it toward my cell.
I picked up the object she had given me.
It was a golden flower-shaped brooch.
I broke off the needle normally used to fasten the brooch to clothing and bent it slightly.
“Hopefully this works.
I’ve only ever seen this in movies.” I inserted the needle into the keyhole and started fiddling with the mechanism.
Click.
It opened.
Looks like I was pretty lucky.
The cell door creaked open, causing Sera to look surprised.
“You opened the cell?
How?” “Just some basic knowledge,” I answered casually.
I stepped outside my cell and stood in front of Sera’s.
I finally got a proper look at her.
She was a young woman with long, wavy red hair.
Her bangs were pinned neatly to the right side, while the hair on the left was left loose.
She wore a worn red dress mixed with gray accents.
Her violet eyes carried a sharp gaze.
“Huh.
I didn’t expect the person beside me to be such a handsome man.” Sera complimented my appearance.
Do I actually look handsome, or is she just flattering me?
“I didn’t expect a princess to be locked inside a prison cell either.” “Enough with the small talk.
Get me out of here.” I unlocked her cell.
“Can you stand?” I extended my hand simply to be polite.
She raised one eyebrow.
“No.
I can stand on my own.” Sera stood up and brushed the dirt off her dress.
The commotion outside continued, and I honestly had no idea what to do.
After all, I still didn’t know what a Blight was.
Sera also heard the chaos outside.
She simply stood there in silence, staring toward the prison entrance.
Screams, panic, and the sounds of things being destroyed echoed through the prison.
Then came a strange shriek.
It sounded like a high-pitched scream.
There were even noises that sounded like someone violently vomiting their guts out.
It was strange.
And horrifying.
“It sounds chaotic outside.
We should stay here until everything settles down.” Sera made a reasonable suggestion.
I agreed with her.
It was better to wait until the chaos died down.
“Ahem.
Excuse me.
While you two are talking, could one of you let me out of here?” A man’s voice came from another cell.
The voice came from the very last cell at the end of the corridor.
“Who are you?” I asked for the man’s identity.
“My name is Marc.
That’s all.” The man gave me his name.
“Marc?!” Sera seemed to recognize him.
“Val, let him out.
I know him.” “Why are you suddenly ordering me around?
I’m not your servant.” Damn it.
I was a little annoyed with her, and my thoughts accidentally slipped out of my mouth.
“Just let him out!” “Okay, okay.” I walked toward the last cell.
All the cells I passed were empty.
Apparently, there were only three prisoners in this place, including me.
When I reached the final cell, I saw a middle-aged man with brown hair parted down the middle.
He had a thin beard and mustache, dark blue eyes with the lifeless gaze of a dead fish, and clothes that looked extremely worn out.
He seemed to have been here longer than I had.
Without thinking twice, I unlocked his cell.
“You can come out.” “No.
I’ll stay here and wait for the chaos outside to end.” Whatever you say.
There was a mirror on the wall beside me.
I looked into it and saw a face I didn’t recognize.
The face of the body I had possessed.
A young man with long black hair, crimson eyes, fair skin, and a face that looked like that of an Asian actor from a movie.
I covered my mouth to suppress a cry of happiness.
I’m more handsome than I was before.
Thank God.
Marc seemed rather confused by my behavior, but I didn’t really care.