<CHAPTER 08>

In my previous life, I was an ordinary college student.

Of course, there were a few unusual aspects as well.

Most notably, my family background.

My father was a hopeless alcoholic who even left me drowning in loan shark debt as a child.

My mother had long since left the house, exhausted by my father.

So I worked hard to survive.

I wanted to live a proper life, unlike my parents.

I tutored every day of the week and filled my schedule with extra credits earned through academic excellence.

I studied and worked part-time jobs at the same time, paying for my own tuition.

To maintain that life, I often had to stay up for days without sleep.

Sitting in front of my laptop, I watched the dawn break countless times and believed I was living correctly.

That I was doing well.

That someday, good days would come.

That this current suffering was only a passing phase.

And then, one day after several consecutive nights without sleep.

I came home after work, exhausted and drowsy.

I thought I should wake myself up, so I opened a caffeinated drink and downed it.

I had already drunk several cans during the day, so it was probably my seventh.

Maybe it was because I hadn’t slept for days.

Or maybe it was because I had consumed too much caffeine.

I felt dizzy and nauseous, so I lay down on the floor just to rest for a moment.

That was the end.

I thought I would just rest for a bit and get up to finish my assignment.

But I never woke up again.

I didn’t know that pushing myself too far could mean the future would never come again.

The price was an untimely death.

On the dining table, the tteokbokki I had bought but never even tasted had gone cold.

My room, too busy to clean, was in disarray.

That was the end of my ordinary life.

My consciousness drifted back like a wave of realization crashing over me.

I… had already died once.

I had completely forgotten.

That I had once died, and that I had been reincarnated into the world of a novel.

Of course I had.

There was no need to think about it until now.

As a civil servant of the imperial palace, knowing this would only complicate things for no reason!

Was it because I had faced a life-threatening situation that memories buried beneath the surface began to rise?

I didn’t know whether I should thank the assassin, or feel annoyed that it forced me to remember something I never wanted to recall.

It was a strange experience I never wanted to relive again.

The memory of me as a university student in Korea and me who was born and raised in the Velasquez Empire began to intertwine.

Like black and white mixing into gray, something neither of them fully formed emerged within me.

Then who am I? A college student? Or Rena Powell of Velasquez?

My past life and current life flashed before my eyes.

A student leaving home with a small suitcase.

Rena Powell, toddling while holding her parents’ hands.

Rena Powell, an administrative officer of the imperial palace.

What kind of late identity crisis was this?

I wandered between consciousness and unconsciousness for a long while.

Then I opened my eyes again.

The ceiling above me was decorated with a luxurious fresco.

On the marble pillars engraved with relief carvings, angels were depicted severing the necks of demons in exquisite detail.

Jesus.

Startled by the violent sculpture, I shut my eyes and opened them again.

Of all things to see right after waking up, it had to be that terrifying carving—I almost high-fived the underworld’s king of the dead.

Still as cowardly as ever, even after being reborn…

I felt slightly disappointed.

But I suppose it was still the same me in the end.

“Ah, you’re awake.”

Someone spoke to me.

It was a warm, gentle female voice.

Her tone was as soft as a spring day’s sunlight.

She pulled back the curtain beside the bed and sat next to me.

“How are you feeling? Can you see clearly? How many fingers am I holding up?”

She moved her hand in front of my eyes, waving it back and forth.

It seemed like she was checking my condition.

I stared at her moving hand, then looked up at the woman who had woken me up—

“H-Hyaaaah! W-Who are you!”

A scream burst out of me.

Goosebumps spread all over my body.

My skin prickled all over.

Of course it did.

Anyone would freak out if “their own face” started talking to them!

Weapons—where are there any weapons?!

“Who are you, using a body that looks exactly like mine?! What is this?! Who are you?!”

The other “me” sighed as if this was troublesome and pressed a hand to her forehead.

Even her frowning expression was exactly like mine, sending chills down my spine.

She tucked her pale pink hair behind her ear.

Her gentle, kindly-looking face was strikingly familiar.

Her light emerald-blue eyes were exactly the same as mine.

I had always liked how my eyes looked like diluted seawater mixed with milk.

But even that cloudy ocean-like iris was identical.

What is going on?

Now was not the time to question whether I was a college student or Rena Powell.

There’s a much worse identity crisis in front of me!

Possibilities flashed through my mind.

That I might be a twin.

That my parents might have had an affair and secretly had a child identical to me.

Calm down.

Calm down, Rena Powell!

I grabbed my violently pounding heart.

Okay, let’s ask. Just ask!

“Uh, excuse me… do we happen to be blood-related? I mean, we look too alike, so maybe there’s some hidden birth secret or—”

I couldn’t even finish the sentence.

I stared blankly at my own hands.

A wave of realization crashed over my mind.

I… already died once.

I had completely forgotten that too.

Of course I had.

There was no reason to remember it until now.

If I’m an imperial palace civil servant, knowing this would just make things unnecessarily complicated!

Maybe it was because I had faced death that buried memories resurfaced.

Whether I should thank the assassin or resent it, I didn’t know.

It was a bizarre experience.

My life as a Korean university student and my life as Rena Powell of the Velasquez Empire intertwined.

Like white and black blending into gray, a new self emerged—neither one nor the other.

Then who am I?

A student? Or Rena Powell of Velasquez?

My past and present life flashed before me again.

I wandered the boundary between consciousness and unconsciousness for a long time.

Then I opened my eyes again.

A lavish fresco ceiling greeted me.

Angel figures carved into marble pillars were shown decapitating demons with exquisite detail.

Jesus.

I almost met the king of the underworld and high-fived him right after waking up.

Still scared of everything, even after being reborn…

A little disappointing.

But maybe I really was still the same person.

“Ah, you’re awake.”

Someone spoke again.

A warm female voice.

“How are you feeling?”

“H-Huh?!”

I screamed again.

Because the face in front of me… was my own.

And the real nightmare had just begun.