"Ouch—my head… what is this foul stench? Are they mocking me now because of my age?!"
I slowly opened my eyes, only to see countless footsteps passing me by—ignoring me, treating me like some worthless insect unworthy of attention.
"Me? Emperor Lucian Arcturus Drevahn? Since when did I become so insignificant that not a single soul dares show me respect?!"
I reached instinctively for my sword, but then froze. Something was strange about my body.
"What…? A skeleton?" My eyes widened as I stared at my hand. "No, this isn't bone—it's the hand of a starved child. WHAT?!! A child's hands?!" I screamed inwardly.
Confused and shaken, I crawled toward a small puddle of spilled water. Forcing this weak body forward, I finally glimpsed my reflection.
"Huh… this is me, at age ten?!"
My gaze drifted around this bustling place. Strange garments I had never seen before, an unfamiliar tongue echoing in the air—and most peculiar of all, every person bore hair as black as ink.
Back in the Empire, black-haired children were condemned as harbingers of misfortune, either slain at birth or cast into the wilderness. Now, here, they were the majority.
I couldn't help but laugh bitterly. "To think there are still things in this world capable of surprising me… Hah. When was the last time I even laughed? Ah… yes, back when my parents were still alive."
My fleeting reminiscence shattered as a massive, broad-shouldered man, as big as a bear, suddenly kicked me. It was the first time I had seen someone so daring as to not only look down on me but to actually strike me.
"GUHHH—!" I nearly vomited blood. I could feel some of my ribs crack from the sheer force of the kick.
"Tch! Damn brat. Pests like you are everywhere. Go crawl somewhere else—you're bad luck for business!" He spat on me before turning away, as if I were nothing more than an insect near his business.
Dazed, I lay still. Strangely enough, I understood every word he said.
"Did he… just kick me? Spit on me? Me?" Instead of anger, a manic laugh spilled from my lips—one full of insanity, confusion, and amusement all at once.
"Heh… since when have I become this laughable?" I said loudly, laughing like a madman.
The man stopped, his face twisting.
"What? Do you have a death wish?!"
His fist swung toward me. But to my eyes, it moved unbearably slow. I willed my body to dodge, but this frail frame betrayed me. I couldn't react the way I wanted. This body was no better than a corpse.
"GUH—!" Blood spewed from my mouth as pain seared through me, an unbelievable pain that even I couldn't comprehend. This was the first time I had ever experienced pain like this physically. No one had ever beaten me in my previous world. I was always the one doing the beating. I always won effortlessly there.
But here? I was merely an insignificant child that no one cared about. A parasite to this society. Worse than commoners.
The brute lifted me and hurled me to the roadside like trash.
"Tsk! Just die already! You filthy beggar scum!" he snarled before turning away.
Flat on my back, I gazed at the endless sky. Never had it looked so vast, so clear. Had I ever truly looked at the sky before? I never knew it could be this… peaceful.
Alone in the alley, laughter bubbled out of me once more—wild, unrestrained. Me, the Emperor feared by all nations, tossed aside like a beggar. And yet, there was no fury in me. No rage. Only… amusement.
This was no longer my world. I knew it in my very bones. I had walked every land in my previous world. I had waged war on every country in that world. I had even conquered the whole world and united it as one, so I naturally knew every place on that continent.
And yet, this land—this place—was utterly unknown to me.
"What a strange, amusing world… Hahaha! Truly, how utterly absurd it all is!"
My laughter echoed through the alleyway. A genuine laugh filled with newly found amusement. I didn't even question why I was here, nor why I had returned to my younger self, or where in the world I was. I simply accepted everything calmly, as if I had been given a second chance at life. A new life where I would figure out what its purpose is.
Who knows? Maybe some higher beings pitied me or acknowledged my strength and granted me a second chance. If so, I'll gladly accept it wholeheartedly.
"I must first learn the ways of this world. I, Emperor Lucian Arcturus Drevahn, refuse to believe there is anything I cannot conquer!"