I Became A Slave To The Mastermind

"Meow."

Inside a shabby building, a cat let out a lazy cry as it basked in the warm sunlight streaming through the window.

"Come here, kitty."

At the girl's call, the cat gracefully jumped down from the window and walked towards her. The girl gently cradled the cat that had nestled into her arms.

"Aren't you hungry?"

"Meow~"

As if answering her, the cat meowed weakly.

"It's okay. Just wait a little longer, and my sister will bring dinner."

The girl stroked the cat, speaking as if to comfort it.

"I can't wait to see her…"

The girl with ash-gray hair, Lily, waited for her sister once again today.

***

Growl

"Ha. I'm doomed."

Ignoring the growling of my stomach, demanding food, I lay on the floor, staring up at the sky.

At some point, night had fallen, and the softly glowing moon was gazing down at me.

"Is there some sort of activation condition?"

I tried using my ability by punching the wall, but the only result was the bruised mark on my hand.

It seemed that this wasn't an ability I could use at will.

'I was planning to train my ability and take on mercenary work…'

In this world, the tasks mercenaries performed were varied.

Night watch, security, escort missions, monster hunting.

There were various requests, and the more difficult the task, the richer the rewards that could be pocketed.

It might seem dangerous, but for a skilled mercenary, the story was different.

A capable mercenary earned trust, which meant additional fees, and a wider range of available tasks.

With a unique ability, I could even take on quests that paid in gold coins.

But that was currently out of reach for me.

'In other novels, status screens are helpful…'

Not for me.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the author didn't want to give me such a convenient function.

I tried shouting 'status screen' into the air, but all I received in return was a sense of shame.

'Who needs a status screen anyway?'

I could handle things on my own.

I thought back to the moment I decapitated that guy.

'What was different?'

The man had grabbed my wrist.

Overcome with disgust and anger, I aimed a punch at his philtrum with the intent to kill.

'Does my ability only activate against someone with murderous intent?'

It made sense.

When I resolved to kill that man, I felt like my body had heated up.

But it was still just a guess—it could have been my imagination.

I'd need a target to confirm it…

"How am I supposed to find someone I want to kill…"

Growl

Though it hadn't been long since I possessed this body, unlike me, it seemed to have been starved for a long time.

Unable to ignore the signals from my stomach any longer, I looked at the food lying on the floor.

'I've seen it before, but I just can't eat this.'

The bizarre object I found when I searched the area after possessing this body looked like food.

At first glance, it seemed like nothing more than garbage.

Had the original owner of this body eaten things like this regularly?

'But I'm so hungry…'"

"Wouldn't it be the same nutrients once it goes into my stomach anyway?

Maybe it'll be fine if I just hold my nose and swallow.

It was a time when I was deeply contemplating whether to fight against hunger or against my stomach.

"Still alive?"

A man's voice echoed in the alley where I was alone.

I turned my head and saw a boy around my age.

"It's been a while, don't you think you should at least greet me?"

The boy smiled lightly as he approached me.

"Don't come any closer."

I warned the boy as I spoke.

"Why so scary?"

Ignoring my warning, the boy continued to approach.

I clenched my right fist, ready to throw a punch at any moment.

I watched the boy coming closer, determined to punch him if he came any nearer.

The boy got within arm's reach.

Just as I decided to throw the punch—

"I brought this for you, thinking of you, but now I feel hurt."

I glanced at the hand he extended towards me.

In his hand was a loaf of bread, as long as my arm.

Growl

Uh…

I don't think I can call him 'oppa,' but may I call you 'hyung'?

'What's a Korean doing with bread?'

When I lived in South Korea, I didn't particularly like bread. If I had a choice, I preferred a hearty bowl of rice that filled my stomach.

Of course, I didn't hate it, so I would eat a little now and then when I craved it.

But I never thought of bread as a staple food.

I was wrong.

I felt like I could happily live eating only bread for the rest of my life.

'This is so damn delicious… sniff.'

As I ate the bread the boy brought, I reflected on my past foolish and narrow-minded thoughts.

"Have you been starving for a while?"

The boy looked at me with sympathetic eyes.

'Did I eat too fast?'

Before I knew it, the long loaf of bread I had been holding had completely disappeared without a trace.

"Ahem… Ahem…"

Feeling slightly embarrassed, I quickly brushed the crumbs off my hands and reached out to the boy.

"Thanks. You've helped me satisfy my hunger."

"The Hera I knew didn't know how to say thank you…"

The boy looked at me with a bewildered expression.

It seemed he knew the original owner of this body.

I got lucky.

I have no idea who the original owner of this body is or where this place is.

I had planned to gather information by observing and talking to people on the street—

"Now, I don't need to do that anymore."

The boy, who seemed to know me well, had come to me on his own.

I am not the person this boy knew.

Behaving differently from the original owner of the body could raise the boy's suspicions.

But don't worry.

It's no big deal for me, who has conquered almost every kind of fantasy novel.

Instead of showing weakness by being clumsy, I decided to act shamelessly.

I resolved to use one of the secret tricks from possession novels.

Noticing my strange silence, the boy asked again with concern.

"Are you… sure you're okay?"

I looked at the boy and answered.

"By the way, who are you?"

Amnesia.

In possession novels, amnesia is a convenient device that allows the protagonist to act strangely around others without arousing too much suspicion. In most of the possession novels I've read, the main character takes over a body that lost consciousness in an accident. So when they say they've lost their memory, people usually brush it off as the aftereffect of the accident.

What are you going to do if I say I don't remember?

Honestly, it's such a cheat code that it's almost too easy to avoid suspicion.

Moreover, the place I'm in right now is a slum where it wouldn't be surprising at all if someone died.

Even if I had amnesia, it wouldn't seem like such a strange thing.

"What? You don't remember?"

The boy asks in shock.

"Yeah. I don't remember anything."

Heh. What are you going to do now, boy?

"Really?! You don't remember anything at all??"

"Uh… yeah…"

"Damn it!"

The boy reacts more strongly than I expected. Were we closer than I thought?

I feel a bit sorry, but there's nothing I can do.

"Hey!! What about the money you borrowed from me!!! You're not going to pretend you forgot and not pay me back, are you?"

"Wha—?!"

He suddenly grabs my shoulders and shakes me violently.

"You promised to pay me back! If you act like you don't remember, you'd better be ready for the consequences."

"Uh… what…?"

***

Despite the late hour, the bar was buzzing with noise.

Drax was a ruined city, but it hadn't completely shut down.

There were inns where people could sleep, even if there weren't many.

And while the food wasn't good, there were restaurants that served it.

There were various types of buildings, but most of them were bars.

And here, a woman walked into the most frequented bar in town.

Women were rare in Drax.

Most of them had lost their minds, and those who hadn't were usually captured and subjected to terrible fates.

In a city like this, a woman naturally drew attention.

"She's quite pretty, isn't she? What's the deal…"

"It's been a while since I've had a taste of a woman. Today's my lucky day."

"Walking in here alone… Is she out of her mind?"

Ignoring the leering gazes of the men, the woman headed to the back of the bar.

"Hey, barkeep."

"What the—? A woman—…! Gasp!!!"

As soon as the barkeep saw the woman's face, he immediately bowed his head.

"I-I'm sorry, Lady Dania!!"

The bar began to buzz with murmurs.

"Dania? I've heard that name before."

"You idiot! She's Lord Bram's right hand!"

"Shut up! Unless you want to die."

"Sigh…"

Dania, seemingly uninterested in dealing with the fuss, ignored the commotion and got straight to business with the barkeep.

"I need information about the corpse that was found nearby."

The barkeep, maintaining a polite demeanor, responded to the woman.

"There have been rumors about a few corpses… Which one are you referring to?"

"The one without a head."

The barkeep wracked his brain.

"Hmm… Ah. It sounded ridiculous, but there was a story going around about that."

Dania nodded, urging him to continue.

"Apparently, a man's head was blown off by a single punch from a woman."

Seeing Dania's expression, the barkeep quickly tried to backtrack.

"Of course, that's nonsense! Haha… People must have been seeing things."

"What about this woman? What's her story?"

"Her? Uh… Well… They said she had an enchanting, youthful face and long black hair… Like a witch."

***

Dania left the bar, having gotten what she came for, and thought back to Rick's body she'd seen earlier that day.

'So it wasn't just my imagination.'

On the corpse's neck, there was a clear, deep imprint left by a fist.

It was small enough that it couldn't have been a man's hand.