BANG
SungMoon awoke to a loud explosion.
'Huh?'
He was greeted by an unfamiliar ceiling.
'A ceiling made of stone… Where am I? What kind of hospital is built out of stone anyway?'
He tried to sit up, but his muscles cried out to him.
'What?' SungMoon was confused. He hadn't felt that way in years. Looking down, he could see that he was bruised all over. There was so much black and blue, he almost thought he was a member of a different species. 'Is this what getting stabbed is like? Man, that's a lot of bruises…'
Suddenly, the curtain swished open.
"Alphonse Harvard? What happened to you?" A very attractive older woman started interrogating him, "How do you even get beat up this badly?"
'Alphonse Harvard? Who's that?' SungMoon was confused, "Ah, sorry, I think you got the wrong room?"
"Huh?" She looked at him incredulously, "You're the only one in the infirmary, sweetie. How could I possibly have the wrong room?"
'Infirmary? This isn't a hospital?'
"Well sit tight, alright? Your treatment will be over in no time," she said in her most heartwarming tone as she reached her hands out over him.
Before he could even respond, a warm light emanated from her hand and covered him. He could feel the effects of this treatment in an instant. In a matter of seconds, he could feel the pain subsiding. Upon further inspection, he could see the bruises slowly fade away and before he knew it, his body was without a speck on it, not a blemish in sight.
Although he had never used profanities before in his life, he suddenly felt the urge to exclaim a few. In what world does someone simply hold a lamp over someone to heal some bruises? If he knew that it was this easy, he would have pushed himself even harder in training, and simply come here to get treated!
'Wait…' upon further inspection of his body, he noticed that it was no longer toned and muscular. There was no six-pack, his wonderful obliques that had absorbed so much abuse from kicks were gone, and most importantly, his legs and arms felt flabby and soft as he prodded them with his bony fingers.
"Surprised, aren't you?" the lady said smugly, mistaking his body inspection to come from the surprise at the lack of bruises, "Normally, for that amount of abuse, it would take at least a whole minute to cure. Luckily for you, I'm one of the best healers in all of Aaro!"
'Healers? Aaro?' SungMoon suddenly recalled something he had read about in the past when he was still in middle school. It was all the craze back then among the kids. Although he himself had no interest in it, he would still catch some of the terms that were thrown around.
Before the nurse could continue, he flung himself off the bed and ran straight to the only door in sight.
"Huh, kids these days are so energetic…" the nurse mused, "And would you look at that, he left his clothes in here."
********
It wasn't even a hundred steps before SungMoon felt himself tire out.
"Huh, Alphonse? Why are you out of bed already? And where are your shirt and robes?" a guy called out from behind him, "Did Nurse Veronica already treat you?"
SungMoon turned around only to be greeted by two guys staring at him as if he was some kind of creep.
"Uh, yeah…" he managed to get out, "Uh, hey, where do you suppose the nearest restroom would be?"
The two looked at each other utterly in shock, before the boy on the left responded, "They're in the infirmary that you came from, did you miss it?"
"Oh, I'll excuse myself then," SungMoon responded hurriedly before he fast-walked his way back to the infirmary.
"Welcome back sir Alphonse, did you forget your clothes perhaps?" The nurse greeted him at the door, "And you shouldn't be running in the hallways, you could be sending more people here if you crashed into them!"
��Ah, yes, uh, sorry." SungMoon stammered.
"Well, here you go," the nurse shoved his clothes and bag back into his arms, "Don't you get yourself into any more trouble, alright sweety?"
"Ah yes, I understand," SungMoon struggled to remember her name, "Um, Miss Veronica, might I be allowed to use the restroom really quickly?"
"Haha, why of course! It's right inside here, to your left!" She gestured him towards a room.
SungMoon hurriedly rushed inside and shut the door behind him.
He stopped for a moment to catch his breath before walking over to the nearest sink and looking in the mirror.
SungMoon could not help but gasp at the sight of the person staring right back at him.
His black hair was replaced with blond hair.
His glasses were no longer there, but he could see properly.
His first scar from fencing was no longer on his left cheek.
Instead, he had the face of a highschooler. Not only was he no longer in shape, but he was also no longer in the same body. Clearly, he had become someone else.
'What the hell? Is this what they called a 'Body-Swap' back in middle school?' he thought as he poked at his new face, 'What did they call me earlier… Alphonse? Alphonse Harvard? What a snobby sounding name…'
He stared at the lanky arms and bony hands. Such hands could never have held a rapier nor won an Olympic gold medal. His legs felt unsteady from just a bit of light running. His lungs were still a little heavy, and he could feel a little bit of sweat coming up too.
He went to put on the clothes the nurse had passed him, but before he even put them on, he could see that these clothes were different. The fabric felt different from anything he had felt before. It was silky smooth, yet thick and dense, but still light at the same time. Truly a luxurious material.
Unexpectedly, the shirt fit on quite comfortably. It seems as if it was custom-tailored to him from how snugly it fit. Truly, the original owner of this body must have been decently well off, to have such a shirt be custom-tailored.
But when he went to put on the next article of clothing, SungMoon was surprised yet again. He had originally thought it would be a jacket of some sort, but just as the two young kids from earlier had mentioned, it appeared to be a long robe. It was long, flowy, and had a hood. It reminded him of what cosplayers would wear when they would cosplay a mage or a priest.
The dark blue robe looked good atop his white shirt and dark blue pants. It almost looked like a type of uniform. All he was missing was a large pointy hat, and he would have a full cosplay set ready for a photoshoot!
Suddenly-
"Hey, Al! How are you feeling?" The boys from earlier burst through the door.
"Oh my gosh, Ethan, what if he was still changing?"
"Huh, don't fret, Sasha," the boy called Ethan laughed, "See! He's already dressed!"
"Still, you shouldn't barge into people's restrooms!"
"Relax, I've been with him since we were in the same village! I've already seen everything that there is to see!"
"E-everything.." the boy called Sasha covered his face in embarrassment.
"H-hey there!" Alphonse raised a hand and greeted them.
"Al, everything alright?" Ethan raised an eyebrow, "Why're you being so polite?"
"Ah, no reason, I'm still a bit shocked from the bruises earlier"
"Oh right, you got clobbered by the Halstein twins huh…" Ethan wore a grim face, "It wasn't fair though, you were up against two of them, and they're bigger too…"
"I heard you were super brave though!" Sasha chimed in, "You stepped in to protect Kaya right? THAT Kaya?"
"Right, right!" Ethan's face transitioned to one of pride, "Although you got clobbered, you stood up for the flower of our year!"
"Oh, I see…" Alphonse responded weekly, "Is she alright at least?"
"Huh?" Ethan looked at him confused, "Of course she's alright! The Headmaster Flicker happened to be passing by at the time and put those two in detention!"
"On second thought, Kaya might not be alright," Sasha thought aloud, "She had to drag you here all by herself after all…"
"Yeah, but Al is as light as a twig!" Ethan joked, "He's so thin he used to get knocked out just from his pet dog charging at him!"
"Hahahah…" Sasha laughed nervously, "Well alright. Come on now, Alphonse, let's get to the auditorium. We wouldn't want to be late for the Freshman Orientation!"
"Right! I can't wait to see Professor Hans and Professor Grani! I hear that they're the strongest mages in the kingdom!" Ethan replied enthusiastically as he grabbed Alphonse by the arm, "Let's go! Don't forget your bookbag!"
'Huh? Mages? Kingdom? Freshman Orientation? This doesn't sound like just a body swap…' Alphonse realized, 'This must be what they call an 'Isekai' event'