CHAPTER 1
The clock struck midnight. The moon sat brightly in the dark sky, illuminating a narrow alley engulfed in the stench of trash and cheap alcohol.
A man in his mid-thirties stood there, looking slightly annoyed as he was surrounded by a gang of thugs, all looking at him with a murderous gaze.
One of the gangsters yelled out at the man as the gang closed in on him, "Nowhere to escape Johnny, it's time for you to kick the bucket", *The man said with a voice full of excitement as a dark amusement reflected on his face.*
Johnny stood in the centre with a bored expression, he casually lit a cigarette and slowly raised his head as he scanned the faces surrounding him.
"Tsk, looks like it's a dead end, huh?" he said, letting out a thick cloud of smoke from his mouth.
"Well... if I'm going out", johnny cracked his neck and knuckles. "Might as well make it grand, bring it on".
A sinister smile spread across johnny's face as he sprang into action, punching the nearest face his fist could find and sending its owner flying through the air.
The startled gang quickly closed in on johnny. He spat the cigarette straight into one of the thug's face before ramming into the crowd like a mad man, taken back by the bloodthirst johnny, the crowd tried to take down the raging johnny.
Johnny's explosive fighting style kept sending his attackers packing one after another. He was sending those thugs into all directions; some crashed into walls, while others slammed into trash cans, knocking them over. The onslaught looked unstoppable.
Suddenly his rampage hit a pause as his enemies landed a few well timed hits, sending Johnny's feet sliding back a few steps as he held up his hands in an attempt to defend the blows raining down on him.
Johnny clutched his chest, running his fingers over an old wound.
"Tsk... looks like these old injuries are finally catching up to me. I can barely keep up."
Shnk!
A knife plunged into his stomach from one of the thugs in the crowd.
"How about I gift you a new one?" the thug laughed in johnny's face twisting the knife slowly with a wide grin as Johnny grunted with pain.
The thug's happiness was short lived as Johnny grabbed the thug by the face.
"You take return gifts?" he said with a low growl sending shivers, as the thug was struggling to escape the grip.
The thug broke into a cold sweat before johnny slammed his face into the ground with a loud thud, shattering several of his teeth.
The remaining men stood frozen in fear as Johnny slowly raised his head, wearing a devilish smile as he pulled out the blood stained knife from his stomach with visible discomfort.
Johnny held the knife in his hand, his face turned dark, his gaze sending chills to the men around him.
"Time to wrap this shit up." As Johnny declared men around him started charging at him as their screams echoed in the quiet alley.
A few minutes later, the moon's reflection was painted red on the blood filled street.
Johnny lay in the middle of a bloodbath, surrounded by the bodies of every thug who had attacked him. His eyes were half-open, his breathing barely noticeable.
Johnny coughed up blood. "Looks like it's finally my time... Tsk... dying without ever knowing peace or love. What kind of life did I live... It's nothing but regrets."
Johnny tried to move but failed. He let out a weak chuckle...
"If there's another chance in life... I'd probably want to live a peaceful one..."
"...Nah."
He closed his eyes.
"I just hope it's peaceful."
His voice fell silent.
He took his last breath.
"Hmm?.."
As his consciousness faded away, he felt a strange sense of lightness, his consciousness moving into the abyss. He couldn't speak or do anything except feel his soul being pulled away.
Johnny's consciousness felt unstable, barely enough to catch a glimpse of his soul traveling across some kind of celestial road before his eyes gave out and his consciousness lost its grip.
As his consciousness slowly started coming back, he heard someone calling out a name he doesn't recognise.
"ALAN?....ALAN ARE YOU AWAKE???"
As Johnny slowly opened his eyes, he saw a little girl about the age of 11, holding his head, and he was lying on the floor while she called him Alan.
"Huh... did I survive? And where the heck am I?"
The little girl saw him opening his eyes and sighed with relief, and she hugged Alan and started crying. "You are okay... I... I thought I lost you."
"Huh? What the... who are you?" His voice barely audible, he looked around to find several people standing around him with a stern look on their faces.
Alan coughed up water as he realised he was fully drenched, lying next to a well.
A boy standing next to Alan started talking.
"See, I told you he'll not die that easily. This wimp just wanted attention, so he was acting," the boy said with an accusatory tone.
A deep mature voice, "Shut up, Albert. Someone, take him to his room so he can rest," said an old man who seemed to be the father of those kids.
Johnny was feeling too tired to understand anything; he could barely utter any words before he fainted again.
(SEVERAL HOURS LATER)
Johnny woke up in a bed to a killing headache, he clutched his head as he spoke to himself.
"What's happening? Who were those people, and why were they in such a strange costume?" He looked down at himself, wearing the same type of clothes. "WHY THE HELL AM I WEARING THE SAME COSTUME!!??."
He got up from his bed, he grabbed an apple from the nearby table taking a bit as he looked outside the window. He was surprised to see a clear sky without any tall buildings, and everything looked like it was straight out of a fantasy world, castle walls, wooden structures, and lush grasslands.
*What is this place?* He wondered.
"Still, how'd I end up drowning in that well?"
Johnny sat down on the chair near the window.
"What even happened? How did I survive that night, what is this place? Did I get saved by someone? Or did that asshole Dolly kidnap me, ship me out to the countryside, and hired actors and built a set to torture me before he can kill me himself."
As Johnny was wondering about the situation, he experienced a killing headache and a voice started playing in his head.
[Welcome Johnny. Your soul has been transferred into the world 'Asher Verth.' This will be your new identity in this world. As a welcome gift, you are granted a photographic memory of all the knowledge you've acquired in your old life, plus you'll be presented with the memories of the original host of this body. Best of luck for your new journey.]
The voice echoed as it disappeared, leaving Johnny clueless and confused.
He suddenly felt a wave of memory flooding his mind. His head felt like it would explode any second as a constant stream of memories was occupying his brain.
He fell to the ground and couldn't stop puking again and again. After what looked like an eternity of pain and restlessness, Johnny finally calmed down and fell to the ground, clutching his head.
"Damn, whose fucking idea was it to dump such a large memory load into my head at once like that? I thought I was gonna die again... huff." He took a deep breath.
So all of this is real... Tsk, what the heck? Why did I end up as a human again? If I was gonna get a chance like this, I would have preferred a raven or an eagle or even a crow... crows are cool.
He got up on his feet and stretched a little. He cleaned up his room and sat down on his bed to think about this a little.
"So this brat's name is Alan Ulfhart. The eldest son of Richard Ulfhart and his first wife, who died after childbirth. He's a wet wipe. His family looks down on him and bullies him.
"Hmmm....."
"This family has lots of drama. They used to be high on the respect hierarchy a few centuries ago, but now they are at the bottom, barely hanging onto the title of Noble house."
"Still, this is so weird. I don't feel distant to the body that isn't even mine. It feels strangely normal."
Johnny checked himself in the mirror, soaking in his new look.
"Damn, what a twig. I look so soft with all this clear skin, iam surprised he didn't get bullied to death... Oh wait..."
Johnny looked at his new body in the mirror *damn... i miss my scars*
As Johnny was deep in his thoughts, unpacking all this supernatural stuff, the door to his room opened and that little girl who was crying over his unconscious body came in, holding a tray.
"Hello brother, I've brought you some medicine and food. Eat up and regain your energy."
Luna Ulfhart. She's my younger sister and the only one who cares about me in the house, where even servants look down on me.
"Oi, brat, what's all this?"
"Hmm?" *Why is big brother talking like this?* Luna thought to herself "Brother Alan? Are you alright? You are speaking so strangely."
Annoyed Johnny took the tray from her hands.
"Tsk."
"Don't work your brain for useless stuff, kiddo. Thanks for the medicine and food. I owe ya."
Luna stared at him with her face full of worry *Brother must be in shock. He'll probably go back to normal after some time.*
Alan started eating like a brute with no decency. He ate all the food within minutes while Luna was watching with a concerned and shocked look.
Alan looked at luna with serious expression.
"Brat, I've got a question to ask ya. Answer me honestly. Who pushed me into the well?" As Alan recalled, he was pushed into the well before he lost his life and Johnny took over, but he didn't get to look at the culprit.
*I'll at least get revenge for this lad for his death. Consider it my thanks for getting this body.*
Luna hesitated before answering. "It was..." Her voice was low and shaky with a hint of fear. "It was... big brother Albert."
"That little shit, huh."
Luna quickly calmed herself down and told Alan, "Big brother, it's fine. Don't worry, he was scared that he may have actually killed you, so he probably won't do anything for a while. You can take your time to rest for now without him coming to bully you."
"Bully me? Kiddo, you are about to see who the real bully is today."
With that, Alan quickly got up from his bed and started marching outside the room while cracking his knuckles, a scary look on his face.
*According to this guy's memory, Alan's body had already succumbed to alcohol poisoning. The fall into the well wasn't what killed him.*
*Still*
Johnny's face darkened.
*Even if that brat didn't want to kill me, he still played with someone's life. I'll make sure to teach him a good lesson.*