Pain.
Too much pain.
Through the sound of rain, Adam lay sleeping—until a sudden jolt of pain in his head snapped him awake. It was unbearable, like his skull was splitting open. But even more shocking was his surroundings: this wasn't his room. It wasn't anywhere he recognized.
"Last night I was reading the final chapter of Lord of the Mysteries in bed… Where am I now?" thought Adam.
He tried to sit up and look around, hoping to figure out where he was. The room was styled in an old-fashioned London aesthetic, like something he had seen in period TV dramas. He glanced at his hands—they looked a shade paler than usual. Before he could process anything more, another wave of searing pain surged through his head, and everything went black.
When he woke up a few minutes later, he was stunned.He had transmigrated into the body of Adrian White, a 17-year-old teenager living in London—in the year 1925.
Adrian's life was a tragic one. His father, a policeman, had been gunned down by a local mob boss. Since then, the gang had relentlessly harassed Adrian, trying to force him to sell the house. But Adrian refused—his memories with his father were tied to that home. Overwhelmed and without hope, Adrian eventually took his own life with his father's gun.
Now, Adam—reborn as Adrian—was terrified. He had time-traveled from America in 2025 to a completely foreign era. He had no useful skills, no understanding of the time period, and no plan. Back home, he had been a 25-year-old otaku, spending most of his time watching anime and reading web novels, living off his parents' money. He wasn't stupid—he had once dreamed big—but laziness always held him back.
Now here he was.
His first instinct was simple: sell the house and get rid of the gang. He had no real attachment to this place, after all. He could move to a smaller home and use his modern knowledge to try starting a business—maybe finally make something of himself.
With that thought, Adrian walked slowly toward the bed. As he laid down and closed his eyes, he felt a strange sensation… like he was being wrapped in a thick grey fog.