Chapter 001
Chapter 1. The Second Transmigration
I was exorcised.
And by the very people who were supposed to be the original male leads.
This happened right after I overcame every hardship, won the battle against the final villain, and saved this world, which even the gods had abandoned.
It turned out that the three male leads were the ones who had engineered my transmigration into the body of the Saintess, ‘Linzia,’ in the first place.
I vaguely recalled hearing about a prophecy long ago: only a hero from outside the world could prevent the scheduled destruction.
And that ‘hero’ turned out to be me, who conveniently overworked myself to death just in time.
…Hoo. No wonder. A few months ago, when I revealed that I was a transmigrator, they all dismissed it so casually.
I want to hit my past self hard for being secretly touched by their reaction, not knowing the truth.
“The more I think about it, the more absurd it is. Exorcism. Me, exorcised!”
Hey, doctor—no, author. What kind of world setting is this supposed to be?
Even if my soul came from a different dimension, I am still the Saintess.
How does it make any sense that they could ‘exorcise’ me?
Did I engage in corruption like other priests, or did I have an illegitimate child?
My only crime was maybe reading that red book you wrote, author, before I fell into this world!
“Shiiiiba.”
Calling upon the name of the ‘God of Destruction’ from Hindu mythology, I made a vow.
“Since things have come to this, all that’s left for me is destruction and revenge.”
I will utterly destroy the salvation I crawled through the mud to achieve.
I will plunge this world, which I saved with my dying effort, back into the abyss of ruin.
Let them try to live happily with their real Saintess in a world spiraling toward destruction!
“…But to do that, I first need to get out of here.”
Right now, I am wandering in the Void Dimension as a soul.
To be abandoned in this wretched place not once, but twice.
Just as I was grumbling about how miserable life was,
Chizizik—.
A small glitch burst forth in the darkness before my eyes, and a hazy pop-up appeared.
[There is a transmigratable body nearby.]
It was the status window.
My status window, which had flashed error signs incessantly and was ultimately destroyed during the exorcism ritual performed by those damned three male leads.
Perhaps still affected by the aftermath, it looked severely worn, as if hit by digital weathering.
It kept glitching with noise, seeming so precarious that a single touch might shatter it.
Yet, the status window stubbornly brought up the next pop-up.
[Would you like to transmigrate?]
YES / NO
“Ah, absolutely!”
As expected, the only thing I can trust is my status window! Without hesitation, I selected YES.
I didn’t care if I ended up transmigrating into the body of the final villain I just defeated, as long as I could escape this place!
I squeezed my eyes shut against the bizarre sensation of my consciousness being sucked away somewhere.
* * *
[Synchronization Complete]
At the notification ringing in my mind, I slowly lifted my eyelids.
The first thing I realized was that my surroundings were dark.
‘Where is this? How much time has passed?’
Then, I felt a chilly dampness pressing against my back.
‘Am I underground?’
Thinking this, I reached to brace myself on the floor and stand up, but…
Something was strange.
‘Why can’t I feel the floor? Was my arm this short?’
The strong sense of incongruity made me pause my movements involuntarily.
The cold stone floor and sturdy iron bars felt both familiar and utterly alien.
How should I put it? It felt like wearing high-magnification magnifying glasses?
‘Ah! Right. It feels like I’ve walked into the underground prison of the Central Temple, magnified ten times.’
I nodded and folded my arms. At that moment, a rough fur coat brushed past my fingertips.
‘W-What. Did something stick to me…?’
Tense, I lowered my gaze.
Four adorable fingers, each with a sharp claw peeking out.
Below them, I saw a rounded body covered in glossy fur.
And beneath that, a long tail…
I gasped and jumped up on the spot.
“Squeeeak—!?” (A Mouse—!?)
And I was shocked once more by the sound that came out of my mouth.
‘Squeeeak’!
As I wandered in denial of this unacceptable reality, my eyes grew accustomed to the darkness.
Thanks to this, I finally witnessed my reflection in a small puddle.
It was a mouse. Not just any mouse, but a disgustingly ugly mouse!
It looked less like it would giggle and more like it would laugh Ku-hel-hel!
Despite the horrifying situation, I quickly collected myself.
This won’t do. I need to find another body and transmigrate again!
I can’t bring about world destruction as an ugly mouse—unless it was a hamster so cute it could break the world!
“Squeak! Squeak!” (Status window! Status window!)
But the status window did not answer my call.
[A critical error has been detected in the system.]
[The system will be forcibly shut down due to an uncorrectable error.]
It just showed this pop-up and abruptly shut itself off. I tried calling it up several times, but not a single pixel appeared.
“…Squeak!” (…Ha!)
I dropped my head into my hand. The short fur’s texture felt not just unfamiliar, but horrifying.
To be betrayed even by the status window of all things. Life is truly terrible!
It was while I was lamenting my unfortunate fate.
Roll. Thud.
A piece of bread rolled over from the front and stopped at my feet.
Only then did I realize that another living being besides myself was inhabiting this cell.
‘Surely not another mouse…? Or a cat…’
Worried, I raised my head, and after tilting my neck far back, I was finally able to confirm the face of the creature who dropped the bread.
Fortunately, it was neither a mouse nor a cat, but a human.
The first thing that caught my eye was his long black hair, flowing down to his waist.
It was a color blacker than the surrounding darkness, like a horrible nightmare, and I involuntarily held my breath.
‘N-No way. It can’t be. Surely not.’
However, the moment I faced the bloodless face revealed through the jet-black hair, I had no choice but to stop denying reality.
Calix Neferto.
The very man who had driven this world to the brink of ruin, but who was knocked out in one hit after taking a direct hit to the head from my golden ppatta.
I internally poured out my resentment to the status window.
‘Wicked status window! I said I wouldn’t mind if it was the Final Villain’s body, but I never said I was fine with being his cellmate(?)!’
But the status window, already shut down, remained silently unresponsive.
‘Hmph. Since it’s come to this, I have no choice. I’ll have to find my own way out.’
I decided to quietly escape this place for now.
That’s because this guy is known as a madman famous for equally killing both friend and foe if things go wrong.
Although his body is covered in mana-sealing restraints, a rotten shad is still a shad.
With his skill, he could easily kill a pathetic ‘mouse’ with just one finger.
It’s bad enough that I was exorcised and turned into a mouse; am I going to die a dog’s death in prison, too?
‘…No, in my case, should I call it a mouse’s death?’
As I indulged in pointless thoughts and carefully watched for an opportunity to slip away.
Swoosh.
The man, who had been as still as a plaster statue, suddenly lifted a long, white finger.
Tense, I followed the straight, firm tip with my gaze.
I thought he was about to attack, but unexpectedly, he pointed to the piece of bread that had stopped at my feet earlier.
“…Eat.”
A low voice cut through the quiet stillness of the cell and struck my eardrum.
His tone was so calm, so indifferent, yet somehow it sounded strangely gentle.
“…Squeak?”
It was an utterly cognitively dissonant situation.
Calix Neferto, mercifully offering food to a mere ‘mouse.’ This was completely contrary to the wicked actions he had shown until now.
As I tilted my head, unable to figure out the meaning, our eyes suddenly met.
‘Huh…?’
I involuntarily rubbed my eyes. Yet, still unable to believe what I was seeing, I severely furrowed my brow.
Where had the villain’s trademark, the jet-black eye sockets that looked like empty holes, gone? A normal-looking pair of eyes occupied their place.
“Squeeeak…?” (How…?)
Two clear, amethyst-colored pupils stared quietly back at me within the clean, white sclera.
As I hesitated, clueless as to what was going on, the pleasantly low voice resonated once more.
“Don’t worry. It’s not poisoned.”
“…”
After a long pause, I reached a conclusion.
It seems this villain got hit in the head and went slightly crazy.
