Silence.
Then breath.
A cold gasp tore from his lungs like a man drowning in fire.
Han Seojin's eyes snapped open—not to smoke or ash, but to rough stone above him. Damp. Molded. Lit only by a single flickering torch nailed into the far wall. The air reeked of piss, rot, and old blood.
His body screamed in agony. Every inch burned, but not with fire—with memory.
He tried to move—chains clanked.
Cold iron bound his wrists and ankles, nailed into a cracked pillar behind him. He was shirtless, his ribs visible beneath taut skin. Fresh lashes marked his back.
> "What the hell…"
He didn't finish the sentence.
Because the moment he tried to say his name—Han Seojin—his mind broke open.
And memory poured in.
---
He was no longer just Seojin.
He was Jin Muyeon—age fourteen, prisoner of the Shi Dynasty.
Weeks after his mother had been executed.
He remembered her scream.
The smell of her blood on the platform.
The way the Shi nobles had laughed.
He remembered spitting at the king.
He remembered the guards dragging him here—to rot.
His breath caught in his throat.
He looked at his own hands. Smaller. Calloused. Bruised.
These weren't Han Seojin's hands.
A whisper stirred in his mind like a distant machine.
> [System Initialized. Origin Point: Jin Muyeon – Timeline Divergence Activated.]
[Quest: Survive.]
[Condition: Prevent natural death. Break fate.]
[Time Remaining: 7 days before execution.]
> [Do you accept this fate?]
[Y / N]
His heart pounded.
He could reject it. Die here, in chains. Fade as both Seojin and Muyeon.
Or… he could become the truth he once sought.
He gritted his teeth.
> "I accept."
The system chimed.
> [Synchronization: 43%... 79%... Complete. Welcome, Emperor.]
---
The door to the cell creaked.
Heavy boots echoed.
A tall man in silken robes entered—black robes stitched with dragons, his hair tied in gold thread, and his lips twisted in permanent disdain.
Shi Liansheng. King of the Shi Dynasty. The man who ordered his mother's execution. The man who would, in Seojin's timeline, rule until Muyeon's vengeance burned the capital.
"Still alive, dog?" Liansheng sneered. "I expected the rats to finish you."
Muyeon lifted his gaze slowly.
His eyes were no longer those of a beaten boy.
They burned—with memory.
"You look younger than I remember," Muyeon rasped.
The king's brow furrowed. "What did you say?"
"Nothing," he muttered, his head falling forward. "Just wondering how many ribs you'll have left when I pull your spine out through them."
The guard behind Liansheng raised a rod, stepping forward, but the king raised a hand.
"No. He dies in seven days—let him speak his madness. It will make the gallows more amusing."
As Liansheng turned to leave, Muyeon spoke again—quietly.
> "A tower stands tall until the foundations rot. That rot starts with you."
The king paused. Then, for the first time, he actually looked at the boy.
His expression twisted—an emotion somewhere between contempt and unease.
Then he was gone.
---
That night, chained in darkness, Muyeon spoke to himself—or perhaps to the system.
> "Seven days. I need a blade. A plan. Allies."
He had knowledge—two lifetimes' worth. He knew who would betray the dynasty. He knew secret tunnels beneath the Shi palace, old escape routes sealed off from record. He remembered the names of key players: merchants, soldiers, revolutionaries—not yet enemies, but not yet allies.
He remembered a girl—Shi Yuyeon, princess of the Shi Dynasty.
In the original timeline, Muyeon had taken her captive.
But Seojin knew the letters they never published. The diary entries hidden in the burned libraries.
They loved each other.
And she was the first to betray him.
His throat tightened. Emotion or anger, he wasn't sure.
---
The next morning, his cell door opened again.
Two men entered—one tall, wrapped in tattered robes with a crooked sword at his waist. The other short, older, his hair half-white, with eyes like burnt coal.
Muyeon gasped.
> "...Geomryu. Dowon."
His swordmaster and scholar.
In the old life, they would rescue him a day before execution. In this timeline—they were early.
"Still got your tongue, brat?" the tall one muttered, stepping forward.
Yook Dowon knelt beside him, placing two fingers on his wrist.
"He's weakened but not broken. The boy endures."
"I'm not the same boy anymore," Muyeon whispered.
So Geomryu raised a brow. "You remember?"
"I remember everything."
---
They exchanged no further words.
The shackles were cut.
Dowon poured tea into his mouth. Geomryu wrapped a rough cloak around his shoulders. They moved like ghosts—silent, precise. The guards were already asleep, thanks to Dowon's herbs. They escaped through a ruined drain into the sewers beneath the palace.
As they emerged into the slums, the air hit him like a slap.
The world outside the dungeon was chaos.
Fires burned in the lower districts. The people were starving. The Shi Dynasty taxed them to death. Executions were weekly. Fear ruled the city.
And somewhere amid it all, the roots of rebellion had begun to grow.
> "This is where we build," Dowon said quietly.
"We take back your name," Geomryu added.
"We give you the throne."
Muyeon clenched his fists.
"First, I need to survive seven days."
---
That night, they hid in an abandoned shrine in the outer provinces.
Muyeon stared at the night sky, his body still aching, his mind racing.
The stars shimmered like embers. He saw the old constellation named "Dragon's Ashes", which was said to curse any emperor born under its gaze.
He smiled bitterly.
> "They called me the Crimson Tyrant."
> "Let's show them what a tyrant truly looks like."
The system flickered.
> [Quest Unlocked: Reclaim Your Blade.]
> [Optional Objective: Find the Merchant's Daughter – Jin Hayeon. Her wealth and networks will play a key role in funding your rise.]
> [Optional Objective: Encounter Princess Shi Yuyeon. Her choice may determine the balance of war.]
---
Muyeon's breath slowed.
He was no longer just a boy in chains.
He was no longer Han Seojin.
He was Jin Muyeon.
The future he once studied…
Was now his to rewrite.
---