As space itself seemed to twist and spin chaotically, a throbbing pain assaulted Evan's senses, causing him to frown involuntarily.
"...Where is this?"
When he opened his eyes, he saw a glowing lamp and a ceiling decorated with intricate patterns he didn't recognize.
He turned his head and looked around in confusion.
The room was quite spacious and filled with luxurious furnishings. With just a single glance, Evan immediately knew that this was not his room, not even any part of his house.
Based on that, he quickly concluded that he was either in a wealthy person's house or a luxurious hotel, judging by how elegant the room looked.
However, that raised a question.
"How did I get here?"
Evan clearly remembered that just moments ago, he had been in his bedroom, using his computer.
Besides, he had locked every door in his house, so the possibility of being kidnapped was very low, though not entirely impossible.
"Whatever the case, I have to leave this place before anyone comes in."
Evan moved his body, trying to get up, but no matter how hard he tried, he didn't have enough strength to lift himself up.
A bad feeling immediately rose within Evan.
He hurriedly looked down at his own body, and what he saw shocked him to the core.
"What?! Why is my body so small?!"
Evan could hardly believe his own eyes as he stared at the tiny body that undeniably belonged to him.
How could he not be?
Just moments before, he had been an eighteen-year-old man with a height of around 178 centimeters.
But now, his body somehow looked as though it had shrunk into that of an infant less than a year old—something utterly impossible no matter how he thought about it.
"I need to calm down."
Evan forced himself to think back, searching for the final fragments of his memory before he ended up in this unfamiliar place.
Eventually, he remembered something.
Or more precisely, he remembered a certain message.
[Do you want to change the fate of Theodore La Apocalypse?]
Evan was certain the message had said something like that.
And then, right after he selected the "Yes" option, he suddenly felt dizzy, the world began spinning violently in his vision, and by the time he regained consciousness, he was already here.
Another message surfaced in his mind.
[New Game Started]
That was the final message he had seen on his computer monitor before everything went dark and his consciousness faded away.
"That message... Could it have something to do with what's happening to me right now?"
Evan could not help but feel suspicious of it, considering everything had happened right after he had chosen the option presented by the message.
Although he was not entirely certain that it was related to his current situation, there was at least one thing he was sure of.
He had been reincarnated—or more accurately, transmigrated into the body of a baby.
Evan was already familiar with this kind of concept because he had read countless novels where the protagonist died and was later reborn, or revived by a god for some reason.
But if that was the case, was there someone or entity behind all of this?
That question continued to linger in his mind.
"This is all so confusing."
The reason behind his transmigration, and the reason he had been chosen instead of someone else—no matter how many times he thought about it, he still could not find an answer.
Then, as if responding to his question...
The door to the room suddenly opened, and a man who appeared to be in his early thirties stepped inside.
Evan instinctively turned toward the door.
The moment his gaze fell on the man, a sudden wave of shock swept through him.
He recognized that face.
Jet-black hair, a pair of sharp, blood-red eyes, and a thin vertical scar over his right eye—everything about him was far too familiar to be dismissed as coincidence.
The man continued walking toward Evan before stopping right in front of him. His gaze was sharp and cold, as though it wanted to pierce straight into Evan's soul.
A chill ran down Evan's spine at the man's overwhelmingly oppressive presence. Yet he still forced himself to remain calm. Any unusual reaction would only arouse suspicion.
However, the man himself was not the only thing that terrified him. There was something else that nearly drove him to despair.
The man's identity made him realize where he had transmigrated.
The man standing before him was Darius La Apocalypse.
A side character from Estasia Fantasy World, and the biological father of one of the game's seven main characters—Theodore La Apocalypse.
A Duke. The head of one of the four most powerful noble families in the Arcadian Empire, a grand noble who was both respected and feared by countless people for his ruthless and merciless reputation.
And now...
That terrifying man stood before him, staring at him coldly as though evaluating the worth of a piece of meat.
Within the suffocating silence, the man finally spoke.
"Tomorrow is the Ritual of Steel Birth."
Those words struck Evan's consciousness like a hammer. The final two words—Steel Birth—completely confirmed Evan's suspicions.
The identity of the man before him, and the place where he had transmigrated…
Everything finally became clear.
He had transmigrated into the world of the game he used to play.
Estasia Fantasy World.
A world where things called magic and monsters truly existed. A world where strength ruled above all else, and murder was simply part of everyday life.
Worse still, judging from his current situation, it seemed he had been born into a cold-blooded assassin family that would not hesitate to kill infants, pregnant women, the elderly—anyone—if the mission demanded it or if the clan head gave the order.
And now...
The highest figure within the clan had personally come to see him.
"No, there has to be a reason. There's no way someone like him would bother coming to the room of a baby like me."
Evan's mind raced desperately to uncover the mystery behind all of this.
But then, Darius's voice shattered the silence like thunder.
"I hope you won't disappoint me tomorrow, Theodore."
Time itself seemed to freeze.
The moment he heard that name, every scattered piece finally clicked into place.
Theodore.
That was not a common name.
It was the name of the main character he had once controlled.
The character with the tragic fate.
The character who was never meant to survive.
The character destined to become nothing more than a sacrifice.
Evan could hardly believe his own ears.
But he had not misheard.
Darius had truly called him Theodore.
After saying those cold, emotionless words, Darius turned around and walked out of the room, completely unaware of the storm he had just unleashed in Evan's mind.
Evan could only remain frozen in place.
This game world, Estasia Fantasy World, was not a fantasy world filled with adventure and wonder.
It was hell.