Lue had been brutally stabbed in the alley by a well-known gang leader called Mance. He watched the lights go out and the world turn dark. His eyelids became heavy, and a persistent sleep clung to his consciousness. There was no doubt about it, he was sure he would die. After resigning himself to death, he was utterly shocked when he saw light hit his vision.
Lue felt his body, heavy and worn out, pressing against a soft bed. He was still alive! "Oh, thank the gods, it seems I made it to the hospital, that means Mary is also safe."
His eyelids fluttered, and his vision cleared. He saw the ceiling in the room and frowned. "Wait a minute, this is not a hospital. Did she bring me home and patch me up herself? What was that idiot thinking? Still trying to save money at a time like this?"
At that exact moment, an extremely heavy headache came upon him. It felt like a tree was sitting atop his head. His once lazy body lying in the bed thrashed around as he held his head in pain. Visions flowed in his mind, fragments and pieces of someone else's memories. A whole lifetime of memories.
He didn't know how long it took, but the headache soon left. Lue sat up quickly and finally glanced around the room. The place was a mess, with clothes, boots, and other weird-looking stuff scattered all over.
"This is definitely not my room, it's not Mary's room either. Where the hell am I?"
He asked the question out loud and then suddenly realized he knew the answer to that question. The answer was in his memories, the new ones to be precise. This was his room, maybe not Lue's, but it was Ramsey's. Lue's eyes widened in realization. He had been transmigrated to another world in a different body. He knew exactly where he was and who he was in this life, he just needed to confirm it.
He stood up and ran to one corner of the room where a mirror stood. The face staring back at him was not Lue's but rather it was Ramsey's. He was in the body of the third son of the patriarch of the Reed clan. It was a weird feeling, having two different memories from different lifetimes. Long, flowing dark hair cascaded down his back like a river. Some of the hair was scattered over his incredibly handsome face with deep blue eyes and a chiseled jawline. Lue twisted his head at different angles, trying to get a view from all sides. He clasped his jaw, still recovering from the shock.
"Yes, that's it, I know now. My name is Ramsey Reed, the third son of the patriarch of the Reed clan." He grimaced after realizing he missed a detail. "The bastard son, to be precise. I am a cripple..."
He looked at his arms and legs that used to be bent in awkward positions, making him the most useless person in the clan. "...Was a cripple anyway, since I took Ramsey's body, it must have healed from the affliction."
A small smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. He had to admit he was good-looking.
According to his memories, because Ramsey had been a cripple, besides being a bastard, he couldn't cultivate and was actually extremely stupid. As a result, everyone in the family had taken advantage of him, taking him to be a fool. Now? Now he was not Ramsey, he was Lue. The scholar from Earth is far from an idiot. With his soul inhabiting this new body, things were about to change around here.
But what had happened to the real Ramsey? He ran back to the room and looked at a small bottle on the table. Nightshade poison. This was the poison Ramsey had drunk to end it all. He had succeeded, and his soul had been replaced by another. Lue sighed, questions filling his mind. "Did this happen to everyone? When people die, are they just transferred to another body in another world? Or was he special?"
Ramsey tried to kill himself because of the humiliation he brought on the clan; he was abandoned by everyone. He asked his personal maid to bring him a poison that would give him a painless death.
Lue's mind flashed back to his sister in the world he was from. He reminisced about their good times and bad ones. He hoped she would keep the promise she made. Then he wished her good luck on her journey to become a lawyer.
As for him, he would finally fulfill his dream of becoming immensely rich. He was poor back on earth, but now he had the chance to live out his dreams.
Just when he was daydreaming about all the amazing things he could do in this new world, he heard a knock on the door. He asked, his voice sounding that of Ramsey and not Lue. "Who is it?"
A frustrated sigh came from outside the door. "Master Ramsey, you haven't drunk the poison yet?" A female voice questioned. Ramsey, or Lue, recognized the voice. That was Selene, his personal maidservant.
"No, I haven't, Selene. I... um... changed my mind."
He heard Selene grunt in frustration. "But young master, you made me get that all the way from the high garden, and now you're gonna let it waste?"
Lue frowned. Was this maid of his stupid? Was she actually trying to convince him to drink poison? Ramsey had been a fool, but he was not.
"Are you complaining? You better not be, it's your job to do what I say, remember?"
Selene was shocked, for a moment she remained silent behind the door. "Young master, you just have to close your eyes and be done with it. Don't you trust me? It's for the best."
"Hmph," Lue scoffed mockingly, "Selene, how stupid do you think I am? If you don't want the poison to be wasted, you can come drink it yourself."
"Ramsey! It seems like you've grown wings, haven't you? I'm not going to spend my life taking care of a cripple, take the poison and die!" Selene screamed like a madwoman. She was infuriated. How dare this cripple talk back to her? She barged into the room with an angry expression on her face.
"You don't have a choice, it's either you take it yourself or..." She was still speaking when she opened the door. Her eyes landed on Lue. Then she experienced pure shock. Her mouth dropped open, and she stretched her eyes. Lue was waiting for her to say something. Instead, she ran out of the room as if he were a ghost. He chuckled; he knew why she was shocked, and he knew where she was rushing to.
He might as well go there himself.
He quickly stepped outside his room and headed to the high chamber. This was where the patriarch would be, his stepfather, Corlannius Reed. Along the way, he watched as the servants stared at him with shocked gazes and dazed expressions. They leaned into each other and whispered.
"Is that Ramsey? When did he become cured? Just yesterday he was a cripple."
"Impossible," I thought he would be crippled for life. This is shocking news."
"Will his status in the clan change after today? Maybe his father will finally accept him."
"You idiot, the patriarch will never accept Ramsey no matter what he does. He's a bastard, think about it."
People began speculating and predicting the effect this unbelievable change would have. But they couldn't have guessed how world-shaking this change would actually be. This was the beginning of the rise in power of the SSS-ranked powerhouse that would become known throughout the Continent of Zion.