Shiro felt extremely weird.

He felt a dull throb on his left cheek.

He opened his eyes, but the view he saw was completely unexpected.

A long, extravagant hallway entered his view, and a woman with a furious expression stood before him. She wore an expensive and elegant dress that matched her blonde hair. If not for her frightful scowl, she would typically be a very beautiful person, possibly one of the most beautiful he had ever seen.

Standing behind her was a little boy who also had blonde hair. He resembled the woman strikingly, and he figured they were related. He hid his face behind her legs, which was normal for children.

Judging from the woman's outstretched arm and open palm, she was the culprit behind the throbbing pain on his cheek.

What he did not understand was why had she slapped him?

And who the hell was she?

His eyes wandered curiously as his mind attempted to comprehend the impossible situation.

Where the hell was he?

Hadn't he just been hit by a truck?

All these questions swirled in his mind.

Aside from the woman in front of him, multiple individuals were standing to the side. They all wore strange uniforms resembling maid and butler outfits.

What confused him most, one of them, a small girl who looked to be in her teens, had fluffy ears on the top of her head.

Are those animal ears?!

Did he somehow end up at a cosplaying convention of some sort?

An influx of information overloaded his mind, and he needed to be given time to take in the situation slowly. But he did not have that chance.

"Are you listening to me? Do you need to be hit again?" the woman's harsh voice snapped at him.

While he didn't understand anything, he knew he wasn't a fan of unnecessary pain, so with the best response he could muster, "No...?"

Her frown deepened at his response, and she stared at him silently for a second.

She again warned him, "If you dare to lift a finger against your brother one more time, I will make sure it never moves again. Do you understand me?"

My brother? Who's brother? Since when did I have a brother?

She grew visibly disgusted as she observed the incredulous look Shiro had.

The younger boy, who had previously shrivelled behind his mother's legs, peeked out. When Shiro met his gaze, the boy flashed a wicked smile unsuitable for a child. But that was the least of his concerns right now.

The woman narrowed her eyes, and Shiro quickly responded lest she snaps at him again, "Yes...?"

The woman waved her arms exaggeratedly, "Then get out of my sight. Your presence alone is enough to irritate me right now."

After she and his "brother" left, he looked at the remaining servants, and they immediately avoided his gaze the moment he laid eyes upon them.

He instinctively scratched his not-swollen cheek, only to be stunned when he saw something strange. His fingers, or more like his arms and entire body... why were they so thin and small?

They were not the limbs a 16-year-old should have and were more like a child's limbs.

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A cough broke him out of his stupor, and he looked up to see an elderly man. Like all the other servants, he also wore a butler outfit, but he was more refined and elegant than them, giving off a seasoned aura that implied his years of experience. One could see everyone respected him. He must've been their superior.

"Layfia, take the young master back to his room."

"Eh?...I... uh...yes, sir.".

The animal ear girl Shiro saw earlier freaked out as the older servant gave her an order. She wanted to protest but obediently complied after experiencing his pressuring glare. However, her panic was not ordinary, making Shiro wonder, What am I, some kind of monster?

***

The animal girl, Layfia, led Shiro through the long winding hallways of the building.

He had not uttered a single word because confusion overwhelmed him, and the remaining attention span he did have to spare focused on the tail swaying side to side in front of him.

Either they possessed some extremely high-quality cosplay costumes, or a real tail swayed in front of him.

The longer he inspected it, the more convinced he became of it being the latter case. So too, did his desire to touch it.

Thus far, the girl with animal ears had sneaked several glances at him. They were too obvious to ignore. He wanted to ask her something, but the instant they arrived at what he presumed to be their destination and tried to call out to her, she ran away clumsily, almost tripping along the way.

He watched her, at a loss for words.

Her figure soon vanished and left with no other choice, he turned to look at the entrance to his supposed room.

Entering the room, a wide, open space greeted him. Due to the lack of light, the room radiated a gloomy atmosphere.

He searched around, sat on one of the chairs in the room and stared blankly.

Only one conclusion could be made from this, he had been reincarnated.

As someone who had just been hit by a truck, he expected the next thing to be... Well... He didn't know what to expect. He didn't believe in heaven, hell, or any god for that matter. And while he definitely knew the concept of reincarnation and had read many novels and fiction regarding it.

Having it actually happen to him shook him to the core.

A large mirror with an intricate design stood on one side of his room. He stood up and walked over to it like a zombie.

He almost didn't believe the reflection of the boy belonged to him. He moved his arms, and the mirror image followed his movements. He studied his own appearance. Black hair, blue eyes and sharp-looking features, and let's not forget the swollen cheek.

Is this a dream? He considered pinching his cheeks to confirm it. But he didn't really have to do that. The consistent painful feedback he felt from one side caused him to reject the notion of it being a simple dream.

I really reincarnated...?

First, hit by a truck. Second, reincarnated. Third, slapped. What's next, a status system?

"..."

"..."

Nothing showed up. He had to admit some part of him inside held expectations.

"No way, right? It would almost be too cliche if I had a status, right...?"

With a flash of light, a screen appeared in front of him.

"Oh..."

Looks like he had to say it out loud.

Name: Cael Roya Lamgas (Shiro)

Age: 10

Species: Human

Titles: Reincarnated

Rank: 0 Star

Traits

???

Skills

???

So he had to say it out loud? He found that rather impractical.

Cael... is that my name?

If he wasn't convinced before, this made it certain that he now resided in another world.

A floating screen? A game-like title that quite literally said 'Reincarnated'? That was one question resolved, but he still had a mountain of them left. And unfortunately, no one answered them for him. And asking the adults would be a pretty tall task and something he determined should be avoided for now unless he wanted to arouse suspicion. This annoyed him to the extreme.

He thought back to the encounter he had not too long ago. The woman said brother, his brother.

Let's suppose they were siblings, fights between siblings were common for any family, but the woman's tone and attitude towards him seemed to stem from more than just bad blood from a light sibling squabble.

Just what had he done?

And was it so bad it warranted her to threaten to break his fingers?

He ruffled his head in frustration. It now resembled a bird's nest.

Didn't memories also come along with reincarnation? He tried hard to dig up some memories, but his mind blanked out. The last thing he remembered was the incident. Nothing else.

He heard a noise from the entrance. He had forgotten to close the door.

Peaking through was Layfia. She had returned for whatever reason.

Perfect.

A person who could answer a lot of his questions had shown up.

He beckoned her to come closer. Maybe because she was less distressed than before, she actually listened to him, albeit reluctantly.

At the very least, she did not run away, so that was a start.

It took a while, but she eventually stood before him. She shifted nervously, and it was somewhat amusing to watch.

He sighed, "I'm not going to hurt you, so stop being so worried."

"... you won't...but..." a barely audible mumble escaped her lips.

On the one hand, she was too scared to talk, but on the other, she was afraid of not obeying.

She really embodied the words nervous wreck. But from this, it could be seen that the one she was afraid of was not him.

He scrutinised what to ask first, but he supposed he should ask her the first thing that came to mind.

"Can I touch your ears?"

In response, she almost jumped in fright.