Reincarnated (Revised)
My vision was blurry. But one figure in front of me stood out crystal clear. No, to be precise, I was forcing myself to see it. I was desperately trying to memorize every scrap of information I could—his breathing, his height, his voice, his silhouette, even his little habits.
“Hoo… Looks like I finally succeeded. What a grueling journey.”
His voice was frivolous yet somehow serious. He spoke like a man letting out a refreshed sigh after finishing a tough job. Then he flicked his right hand.
Splat!
Blood—blood that had once been inside my body—splattered across the floor from the sword in his hand. The blade itself wasn’t in good shape. It was broken, somewhere between a longsword and a shortsword in length. Its shape was also strange. It looked almost like… like… Damn it, I’ve lost too much blood. My thoughts aren’t coming together.
“W… why…?”
The question in my head slipped out through my mouth. Yeah, why? I’d never made any enemies in my life. …Well, even if I had, it shouldn’t have ended with me getting killed like this.
“Who… sent you…?”
“Hm? You’re still alive? My bad. I was aiming for your heart so it’d be painless, but it looks like you barely dodged. Impressive.”
The bastard answered my question. Still using that same frivolous-yet-serious tone.
“Why do I have to die? Who sent you?”
He brought the hand holding the sword to his chin, pretending to think for a moment, then opened his mouth.
“Hmm… Normally I shouldn’t tell you, but this is probably an exception. I did hear some things, after all.”
After another dramatic pause, he said, “For the sake of the world? And because the world itself commanded it?”
“…”
I was an idiot for expecting a proper answer. This guy was crazy. And so was I for thinking otherwise.
“You crazy… bastard…!”
Even though I’d lost a ton of blood, whatever was left in my body started to boil. Thinking there had to be some kind of reason was far too naïve. This son of a bitch was killing me for fun. That’s what I concluded. Even the sword he was holding was weird as hell.
“Ah, I should probably say this too. Otherwise it wouldn’t make sense.”
As if to finish things, he stabbed the blade into my heart and whispered.
“You’re about to be reincarnated.”
For the first time in my life—and at the sudden end of it—I learned what killing intent felt like. Even as my vision faded to black from that insane remark, I glared at him, squeezing out the last of my fading life force and roared with pure rage.
“You son of a bitch! I will definitely kill you!!! I’m going to kill you no matter what!!!!!”
Reincarnated, huh? Fine. I’ll play along and get reincarnated just like you said! And then I’ll find you and—
“Kill you!!!”
“C-calm down…”
“Huh?”
He’d been spouting nonsense about reincarnation and now he was telling me to calm down? Even if I was going to die, I at least wanted to say everything I needed to say first.
“How dare you spout such bullsh—?”
I tried to curse out the guy who’d stabbed me, but something felt off. My vision was bright. It had definitely been blurry before. The burning pain in my body was gone too. And the person who’d just told me to calm down wasn’t the one who’d killed me.
“Eh…?”
I looked around. There were two more people staring at me. A girl who looked like she didn’t like me one bit, and a massive, muscular… old man? While I was examining them, I felt a soft, fluffy sensation against my palms and butt. A bed. So was this a hospital room? Were these the people who’d brought me here?
But their clothes were weird. The girl was wearing armor you’d only see in a museum, and the other two were dressed like they were attending some religious ceremony. It didn’t feel like a hospital room either. It was a luxurious bedroom, but not tacky or overly extravagant. Clean. Yeah, sophisticated was the right word. It even felt somewhat sacred.
And in that place, the three of them were watching me with expressions of worry, disapproval, and shock respectively. It was like… even though their faces showed different emotions, their eyes were all urging me to say something more now that I’d suddenly gone quiet.
Uh… um… What do people usually say when they wake up in an unfamiliar place…?
“An unfamiliar ceiling…?”
“…”
“…”
“…”
Oops. I’d only meant to think it, but it slipped out loud. All three of their faces twisted strangely. Like they were wondering what the hell that nonsense was.
“Uh… well, you see…”
The mood had turned awkward. I needed to say something to lighten the atmosphere. I was racking my brain for the right words when I suddenly noticed something strange.
Wait, didn’t I get stabbed in the heart? No matter how advanced modern medicine is, waking up after nearly dying from a sword wound with zero pain? Maybe I’d been in a vegetative state for years…?
With that thought, I reached down to touch where I’d been stabbed. But it wasn’t my body.
Tiny hands like fern fronds. The hard muscles I used to have were gone, replaced by soft, squishy flesh. The bed was several times bigger than I was used to. And the height difference between me and the three people staring at me with meaningful expressions.
I’d thought they were standing because I was looking up at them, but now I realized they were all sitting. My body… had become smaller…?
That’s when it hit me. Just like that bastard who killed me had said—I had really been reincarnated.
“Haha…”
A hollow laugh escaped me. It was real. Hah. Fuck. I really got reincarnated.
In the luxurious, almost sacred-looking bedroom, I was left alone with the girl who had been shooting me disapproving looks the entire time. She stood guard in front of the door in full armor with perfect military posture—the same girl who had looked so worried earlier alongside the man and the muscular old man who could probably bench-press a thousand pounds. The way she glared at me made it seem like lasers were about to shoot out of her eyes.
Wait, what did I even do wrong? The Confucian dragon inside me—the mind of a fully grown adult—roared that I should give this rude little brat a proper lesson. But the moment it remembered that my current body was that of a child, it whimpered and backed down.
Besides, those two people who could have explained things had simply said, “It seems she needs more rest,” and left without answering a single question. She was the only source of information left. As a generous adult, I had to endure it. It definitely wasn’t because I’d lose if I tried to fight her. Really.
“Um…”
“What?”
Before I could even finish a single word, she snapped at me as if telling me to shut up. Sorry, but I can’t go along with that. I have a mountain of things I need to figure out.
“How old am I?”
Oops. I’d accidentally spoken informally.
“…All this time you didn’t say a single word, so I thought you knew nothing. But it turns out you’re quite the cunning one who understands your own position. Or perhaps you simply have no manners at all.”
“Ah, sorry—”
“Though I suppose it makes sense. After five years of not even making a single babbling sound, the first words out of your mouth are ‘I’m going to kill you.’ Yeah, that is pretty ‘cunning.’”
“No, I—”
“Enough. Speak however you like. That is, after all, fitting for your status.”
What the hell? I can’t even get a word in. The first person I talk to after reincarnating is this walking sweet potato of a human. I feel like I’m going to suffocate and die all over again.
She clearly hated me, but at least tell me why before you start hating me, damn it. Fine. You told me to speak however I want, so I’ll throw manners out the window just like you said.
“How old am I?”
“Did you not hear me? I said five years. Your birthday is coming up soon, so you’ll be five. Though whether it’s your real birthday is questionable.”
She said something meaningful about whether it was my real birthday, but I felt relieved that I was six years old by Korean age and that my past-life memories had returned later rather than at birth. Just imagine—waking up with adult memories while still a newborn who couldn’t speak properly or control their bodily functions. That would’ve been a nightmare.
Anyway, five years old? I’d guessed around four or five, so I was spot on. Even though I used to be 180 centimeters tall and breathed proper air. I hope I grow back to that height again.
“Do you have anything else to say?”
Her sharp voice pulled me out of my thoughts. Right. Information first. Where I was, who I was. I needed to figure those out. Other than the fact that I’d been reincarnated, I knew absolutely nothing. Their clothing and the way they kept mentioning my “status” felt strangely familiar, but nothing was confirmed yet.
Next, I needed her name. Even though I’d decided to speak informally, calling her “hey,” “you,” or “brat” made the Confucian dragon inside me shake its head. Wait, weren’t you just telling me to discipline her for being rude earlier?
“What’s your name?”
“Ha… Unbelievable. You really didn’t even know my name until now. It’s Cheska. Cheska Franc. I thought you were cunning, but you really just have zero manners.”
Why the hell are you treating me like this, you walking sweet potato? What did I ever do to you?
“You don’t even know your own name, do you?”
Her sarcastic remark followed. But I had no comeback. Because it was true—I really didn’t know.
Uh… well, I knew my name from my previous life… but I couldn’t exactly use that one.
I had no choice but to be honest.
“Um… I don’t know? Who am I? What’s my name?”
“…Eh?”
The girl—Cheska—looked stunned. The sharp, fierce glare that had seemed permanently fixed on her face crumbled in an instant. Then she suddenly rushed over and lifted me up. My body dangled helplessly in her grip. It was… humiliating. A normal child might have gone “Waa~ It’s an airplane!” and giggled, but not me! My mind was that of an adult, damn it!
“Hey! Put me—!”
“You crazy—! Why are you only saying this now?! You have no memories at all?!”
Hic! Damn it, that scared me! I almost had a heart attack, you insane woman!
“I had no idea the situation was this serious. I hate to admit it, but this is my fault. We must go to the Archbishop immediately!”
What? What the hell? Weren’t you just being a total sweet potato a second ago? Why did you suddenly turn into soda and start rushing through the plot by yourself?!
“Archbishop? Who’s that?”
My question made even Cheska’s pupils tremble.
“…”
A moment of silence. Then her expression grew increasingly grave. Without another word, she tucked me under her arm like a piece of luggage and kicked the door open, dashing out.
“Hey, I asked who the Archbishop—uwaaaagh?!”
She was so fast I was getting motion sickness. Before I could even look around, we arrived at our destination. Cheska threw open a door decorated with stained glass without knocking and shouted.
“It’s an emergency! Cardinal Benedict! Archbishop Carlo!”
The two people inside jumped to their feet at the commotion. They were the worried man and the muscular old man I’d seen earlier. If my knowledge was correct, the muscular old man should be Cardinal Benedict and the worried man should be Archbishop Carlo.
The muscular old man—no, Cardinal Benedict—flexed his bulging muscles and roared.
“What is this disrespectful behavior?! You know full well that both the Cardinal and the Archbishop are present, yet you dare kick the door open like that! And to think you would have the audacity to carry the Saintess candidate under your arm while running!”
“Archbishop Carlo! The matter is too urgent! Please hear me out!”
Ah, so the muscular old man is the Archbishop. My knowledge was wrong. …Or maybe not.
“Very well, speak! What is this urgent matter?!”
“It seems… the Saintess candidate has amnesia!”
“What?!”
Ah. So that’s why it felt familiar. This wasn’t just any reincarnation—it was another world. Haha. Saintess candidate, huh. There’s no way a title like that would exist on Earth.
…Wait a second. Something feels off.
Saintess… candidate…? Saintesssss? Caaandidate~?
“Saintess candidate?”
I asked the old man called Archbishop Carlo.
“Who?”
“Why, you, of course.”
The Archbishop’s face hardened instantly. It seemed they believed Cheska’s story about my amnesia. But that wasn’t important right now. There was something far more pressing.
“Me?”
“Yes. Levia Leviathan, the Saintess candidate. That is who you are.”
I finally learned my name. But that wasn’t what mattered right now.
“Um… I’m a girl?”
“Obviously. A man cannot become the Saintess. Haah… Oh dear, it really is true. You don’t even remember your own gender.”
“For real?”
“Yes.”
“I… I’m…”
I’m a girl?! The guy I used to be… reincarnated as a girl…?
Still dangling in Cheska’s arms, I fumbled around between my legs. It was gone. What used to be there… was gone.
“NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
I wailed at the top of my lungs. My… my elephant!! My elephant is goooone!!!!!!!!!!!
…Later, Cheska told me that this was the first time I had ever cried since being born as Levia Leviathan. And that I had cried my eyes out in a complete and utter meltdown.