[ System Downloading Successful ]
[ Activating the System ]
[ Activation Successful ]
[ Access Granted ]
[ Fusion with the Host Body Successful ]
[ Host Access: System Window ]
"Hm ?? What are these loud noises in my head? They are killing me."
"???"
"Huh? The hell, looks like I survived, but… I am not able to breathe; it's suffocating and too dark. What the …"
With all his might, Jack tries to move his body.
"Arghhhh !!!!"
Finally, after much struggle, he saw a ray of light and reached out to it. As he popped his head out, he took a deep breath.
"Damn, I almost lost it"
"As he settles down a bit, he realises that the surrounding atmosphere is a bit different, and more like some movie set. The buildings were of design which weren't seen in modern days. It was raining quite heavily.
His lower half was still stuck, so he shook his leg with all his might, and his eyes went down where he was stuck. It was a pile of human dead bodies on which Jack was standing, while his body was covered in blood.
It surprised him, but not like a sane person would have reacted. Looking at his hands, which were covered in blood, he realised that it wasn't his body. He was in the body of a child in an unknown place.
"What the hell is going on??"
As Jack was trying to figure out the situation, a transparent window suddenly popped up in mid-air in front of his eyes.
[ Status Window ]
[ Name: Rhys ]
[ Title: The Cursed One ]
[ Age: 5 ]
[ Class: ??? ]
[ Level: 1 ]
[ HP: 50 ]
[ Mana : 0 ]
[ Strength: 4 ]
[ Agility: 5 ]
[ Intelligence: 10 ]
Jack, no, Rhys was actually surprised by the turn of events and was trying to process it.
"Hey, I found a survivor," a cavalryman shouted, looking at Rhys.
Looking at his uniform and his sword, Rhys had to think quickly. He might be instructed to kill the survivors or make them slaves and sell them. Anything might happen, judging the situation.
But Rhys's lower half was still stuck between the piles of dead bodies. The cavalryman slowly moved toward Rhys, while he was struggling to free himself, but his efforts were futile. His little body wasn't even budging.
The man stretches his hand towards Rhys while sitting on the back of his horse. With one hand, he grabs Rhys, easily taking him out of the situation.
Rhys tries to resist at that moment.
"Easy there, kid. You are safe now. The Empire army subdued the attackers. I will take you to the refugee camp."
The language wasn't different, and those simple words were enough to calm Rhys down. He didn't understand the whole picture, but for now, he decided to calmly observe the situation and see where this went.
At the Refugee Camp,
There was a long queue of people, some traumatised, some covered in bandages, some in tears. Everyone was checking up with the officers who were writing something up in the ledger present in front of them.
Jack also had to endure this long wait, and finally, after standing and waiting for nearly two hours, he was called forward.
"Name"
The officer asked in his husky voice while turning the pages of his ledger.
"J….Rhys "
"Do you know your last name?"
"No"
"Rhys …hm, let me see…nope, I haven't received any requests regarding you kid. Do you remember your parents' or relatives' names? Let me know. If they come looking for you, I will inform them."
The officer looked at Rhys, but he nodded in disagreement.
"Don't lose hope, kid. We have five more camps like this across the whole city. I am sure you will find your parents. For now, I will just register your name."
After saying so, the officer looked at the soldier standing beside him and nodded at him. As he nodded, the soldier approached Rhys.
"Follow me, kid, I will take you somewhere safer.
The soldier leads Rhys to a carriage station where a lot of carriages were standing in a row, carrying war-kids, just like him.
"Have a seat in any of those; they will be departing soon."
As Rhys sat in one of the carriages, only one thought came to his mind.
"This is really fu*ked up."