An Unforsaken Tie

This reflection Axel saw was far from his actual body. His hazel eyes changed to crimson almost as the colour of blood. His hair was no longer short or mocha brown in colour but long inky black. His body shape changed as well, with a slim waist and a beige skin tone. He was baffled at this but recalled reading about these physical features somewhere, even though he couldn't think where... Surprisingly, his thick glasses were also gone and his vision had become crystal clear without them. His baggy sweater and loose shorts were now replaced with old fashioned pyjamas.

 "Whoever this body belongs to, they've got a serious problem with the dressing sense...Wait! did I travel back in time or something?!"- He kept pondering about such questions even though he was well aware he wasn't going to be revealed to the answers just yet. Now severely stressed, with an emotional trauma, Axel decided to wander the little cottage for clues before stepping out. The cottage was indeed small but it had a plenty of things. A rusty stove on the right corner, some plants by the window, a seating area with two hay sacks, making it evident that the person was not very wealthy. A wardrobe was there as well, patterned with different designs as well as a huge shelf stacked with books on the left most corner. "This man is probably a bookworm like me." A soft smile greeted his face as he noticed the intricate designs which looked handmade with paint. "An artist too?" he thought in delight.

As he kept wandering the cottage, Axel stumbled upon a thick diary placed near the lampstand. "A personal diary? BINGO! This is what I was looking for! It probably contains some clues about this place and who this mysterious person is." - he thought as he opened the diary for a read. As he flipped the first page, the name of the owner made his hair stand on end. "This diary belongs to Odion" it read. This huge discovery left a chill in his spine. Subconsciously dropping the book, Axel sat on the edge of the bed in panic. "Odion...Odion..." he chanted, then suddenly perhaps out of frustration, he shrieked at the top of his lungs-"IT'S THE FREAKING DUMB ODION FROM THE DUKE'S BETRAYAL!" He began questioning his whole existence!

All the clues led to one conclusion only, Axel Blair's supposed soul had been transmigrated into the novel's protagonist, Odion Auburt! This had to be a dream, he tried to convince himself desperately. "The novel was cursed! It sucked me into it...or worse, IT CURSED ME AS WELL SO THAT MY SOUL WOULD NEVER REST"- different thoughts clashed his mind at the same time. "I can't believe this...I'm O-Odion." Just as these words left his tongue, a yellow scientific window appeared before him almost giving him a heart attack. It said in a sharp AI tone- "𝘜𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 <𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺>" He shrieked again,... But this time tried to calm down and rethink this whole statement he had been exposed to suddenly... Axel was a brilliant bibliophile so he tried to remember what happens in most transmigration novels.

After much consideration, he said in a relaxed tone- "So you must be the system right? The very same system who traps innocent readers and forces them to play these absurd simulation games AND if they don't collect enough points or complete the quests, their soul withers, am I RIGHT?! the system said in an eerie AI tone again- "𝘜𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵. 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘈 𝘗𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴: 5. 𝘜𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘈 𝘗𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘐𝘧 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 0, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩." Axel stared at the system with murderous intent because of its unprecedented blackmailing.

He drank some water to cool himself and sat down again. "So...System, What's my next mission then?" The system's response was quite damning. "𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦: 𝘜𝘴𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘶𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘶𝘬𝘦'𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝘜𝘴𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴." "Grand Duke huh... that rich bastard with the most annoying attitude? You are telling me, that I must get on his good side? DAMN YOU SYSTEM!" The system no longer responded to his tantrums and vanished into thin air.