I abruptly opened my eyes and rose from my seat before collapsing to the ground again. Sharp pain pierced through my entire body, accompanied by a heavy feeling of weakness and dizziness.

Crawling on the ground, barely maintaining consciousness, I tried to comprehend what was happening. Fragmented memories flashed before my eyes, the gleam of a knife and cold eyes staring at me.

Despair, fear, panic, and a deep sense of betrayal lingered within me. I couldn't understand why this happened and why they did it.

Lost in thought, I sank into depression due to the memories. My consciousness gradually darkened until I could no longer hold on and stopped resisting.

.................

It was dark and cramped around me, still immersed in a trance-like state. I didn't understand what had happened and how. Suddenly, a book appeared before my eyes, or at least I called it a book.

Simultaneously, my mind seemed to open, and I remembered what had occurred. The outward appearance was clearly worn-out and dilapidated, and the book was very thin. But I knew it was a book because it was the one I had bought with my own hands.

Recalling the time when they did it, the book was inside my pocket. The thickness of the book didn't save me from the sharp knife, but now it somehow appeared in front of me.

In this dark environment, I could think and be aware freely. Now, thinking about it, I should have been dead.

If that's the case, what place is this? How did I end up here? Could it be hell? Heaven? Emptiness?

I couldn't move my body, but I could easily turn my head. However, everything was dark around me. There was no place that could catch my gaze.

Because of this, my attention once again focused on the book. It floated before me, without any apparent trace of the knife.

When I looked at the book, it suddenly seemed to come alive. Slowly, its previously empty cover began to turn.

Although I was curious about what kind of book it was, I didn't open it until I got home. At that moment, it was the first time the book opened before me, let alone the fact that it was happening on its own.

Soon, the first page appeared, and it was a hand-drawn eye. The lines on it were very distorted, and even as I looked at the drawing, it sometimes seemed like the eye would disappear from the page and then reappear when my gaze shifted.

While I was wondering what this could be, suddenly my eyes started burning fiercely. I had never experienced such pain before, and instinctively I wanted to close my eyes and look away.

But no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't do it because at that moment I realized that I couldn't take my eyes off the drawing.

As the pain continued, changes also took place on the page. The eye that was drawn earlier began to slowly disappear. Finally, when the eye completely vanished, the excruciating pain burning in my eyes also disappeared.

Then came a feeling of relief, and my vision started to blur...

.................

"Bang!"

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

I was awakened by the heavy sound of an object hitting the floor. Slowly opening my eyes, I found myself looking at a wooden ceiling.

Confused about the changes and not knowing where I was, I looked to the side. At that moment, an old man, quite elderly in appearance, was doing something on the ground.

Observing him, I saw various types of herbs lying on the floor. Meanwhile, the old man was carefully gathering these herbs. He was dressed strangely in my opinion, wearing a long gray robe with wide sleeves.

I wondered what was happening as I subconsciously tried to get up. However, a sharp pain in my side made me stop. The pain caused me to involuntarily emit a hissing sound.

This caught the attention of an old man whose head turned towards me. His eyes focused on me before I saw a look of astonishment on his face.

"Oh, young girl, I didn't expect you to wake up so soon," he said.

Picking up the remaining herbs from the ground and placing them in a container, he approached me slowly.

"I thought you would regain consciousness in a week or two. There was even a chance that you might not survive. But it seems your willpower is strong enough."

As he spoke, he took some instruments from a nearby table and started doing something.

However, his words made me doubt if he was talking to me.

And what was happening? I...

Memories came to my mind of how I was killed. And the dark space with a book.

Remembering, I looked around but couldn't find the book. Finally, I looked down and saw something resembling bandages on my body.

They were attached to my side, but something else made me tremble.

I had extra things that should not be on a man. When I looked at the round objects on my chest, the old man approached me.

"Don't move now, rest until the lady visits you. You should be grateful to her, young lady. If it weren't for her, you would have died somewhere, and maybe it would have been better to die than fall into the hands of bad men."

While the old man spoke, his hands moved quite skillfully. He was probably a doctor in the village because it was clear that I was in a village, but my situation puzzled me.

Why did my body change...

Calming my racing heart, I looked at the old man and wanted to speak.

But my mouth felt very dry, and I wanted to drink water.

It seems the old man noticed my movements after he untied the cloth tied around my mouth. He turned to the side and grabbed something resembling a cup, handing it to me.

Carefully taking the cup, I looked inside. Thinking that if the other side wanted to kill me, they wouldn't bother giving me something to drink. So I started drinking, gradually gulping down the water eagerly.

Surprisingly, it tasted very good, but it wasn't enough to make me feel better. Although it would suffice for conversation.

Looking at the old man, I finally spoke and was immediately shocked.

"Old man..."

Because the voice definitely wasn't mine, and it seemed more likely that the body wasn't mine either. Because the voice sounded very much like a girl's.

Thinking, I subconsciously wanted to feel something between my legs. But there was no such sensation.

Finally, no matter how unreal it seemed, I confirmed one fact. I had become a girl, or rather, I somehow ended up in a girl's body.

For some reason, I recalled many novels about such things, but looking at the old man who was looking at me, I took a deep breath and asked.

"Where am I?"

Looking at the wound on my side again, the old man spoke.

"You are currently in the City of Mizuki. Mistress found you in the river. News reached us that bandits attacked a village far up the river, Hanasaki Village. And you seem to be from those parts..."

It seemed he understood the doubt on my face and interpreted it his own way, asking me.

"Do you... remember?"

I shook my head, to which he sighed.

"It seems you've lost your memory, but it doesn't matter. You need to rest and be prepared. Mistress will arrive soon to see you."

While he was speaking, I kept thinking, what the hell is happening? Not only did I end up in a girl's body, but there are also unfamiliar city and village names.

Looking at him again, I thought and asked with doubts.

"What year is it now?"

"Eh?... It's the year 1003."