Chapter Text
Huh… As Audrey opened her eyes in the morning, she instinctively felt something was wrong. Unfamiliar ceiling, unfamiliar sheets, unfamiliar air. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and suddenly paused.
Is it just me, or am I a bit taller than usual…? She shook her head. However, instead of seeing smooth blonde hair cascading around her, she instead felt the sensation of short hair brushing her temples.
Audrey paused. What? Did someone cut off my hair while I was sleeping? More importantly, where am I? Shouldn’t Annie be here already?
She tentatively brought her hand to her head and brought her short hair to her eyes.
Black.
!!
Mirror, mirror, mirror… In a panic, Audrey burst out of the bedroom she had been in, almost banging her head on the suddenly-too-short door frame, and caught sight of the main room, where a strange man with charred yellow hair and brows was snoring on the couch next to a radio transceiver.
Who?! Startled, she still maintained her original trajectory towards the washroom, making sure to give the... strange man a wide berth. Closing the door behind her, she turned to look in the mirror–
And froze.
“Who is this?!?” An ungodly shriek escaped from the washroom, waking up the startled Danitz on the sofa.
“C-calm down, Audrey.” Audrey spoke to herself in the washroom as she stared at the unfamiliar man in the mirror, a young gentleman with cold and sharp features, black hair and dark eyes. Hand shaking somewhat, she lightly poked herself in the cheek.
The man in the mirror also poked himself.
!!!!
Inwardly screaming a little, Audrey tried her best to calm herself down and stared at her chest. Flat. Wait… Audrey had a bad premonition as her hand flew down to her private parts.
There’s something there that shouldn’t be there.
It’s okay, Audrey. It’s okay. First, Placate yourself…
No, where are my Beyonder powers!!!
First hit with the reality that she had somehow woken up in someone else’s body, and even worse, a man’s body, Audrey now had to come to terms with the fact that she had lost her new Psychiatric abilities, and even any Beyonder abilities of the Spectator pathway.
No way.
However, at this moment, the washroom door was slammed open with a loud bang .
“Gehrman?! What happened?”
Audrey spun around to face the intruder, shock written all over her face.
“...Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?” Danitz, having shaken off the initial bleariness of being suddenly woken up, was now wide awake.
“Who are you?”
“Huh?”
“No, who am I?!” Audrey desperately wished she could remain calm, but thrust into a strange new environment without her familiar Beyonder abilities, she found it incredibly hard to do so.
“What? Hey, did you hit your head too hard? Gehrman??”
“My name is Gehrman…?” The crazy adventurer muttered to himself, still shaken.
At this point, Danitz finally noticed something was seriously wrong.
“Wait, you…” He showed an incredulous expression.
Audrey’s face lit up in expectation, just short of furiously nodding.
“Did you eat something wrong last night? It's okay, Gehrman, everyone has indigestion.”
Her face fell.
When he opened his eyes, Klein immediately noticed something was wrong.
Staring at the opulent ceiling and the canopied bed, he slowly pushed out a few question marks.
Since when was this hotel so luxurious?
“Ah! Miss! You’re already awake!” A brown-haired maid entered Klein’s vision.
Who? Miss??
Klein quickly sat up, feeling satin sliding over his skin…and an extra weight on his chest.
He looked down.
What.
Klein felt like he was struck by lightning, poking the two blobs on his chest to make sure they were real and paling even further after they were.
“Miss? What’s wrong? Did you have a bad dream?”
Ignoring the worried maid, Klein slowly reached a hand down there. It’s gone. His expression crumbled. After transmigrating and avoiding all sorts of pits, I lose my little brother in this way?! I don’t even know why!
Leaping off the bed, the young lady dashed towards the mirror on the other side of the room.
This…! Staring at the cascading blonde hair and emerald green eyes, Klein felt his three worldviews collapsing.
No! I refuse to accept that I’ve actually…changed bodies?! Did I die in my sleep and was transported by some perverted collectionist? Did I accidentally use my Faceless powers in my sleep? No, I can only squeeze out A cups… Or, maybe I’m dreaming.. Klein quickly ruled out the last option. With his strange constitution, he could immediately tell when he was dreaming and when he wasn’t. He continued to think of crazier and crazier explanations for his current situation, but he just couldn't make sense of it!
“Miss Audrey?” Annie was stunned at her mistress’ strange behavior this morning. “Miss, what’s wrong? Do you need a doctor?”
Klein forced himself to turn around and give the maid a forced smile, an expression that was amplified by the lady’s beautiful face. “No need, I’m just a little startled from a bad dream…” He tried to console himself. This is good acting experience for the Faceless potion. It isn’t permanent. At all. Looking at the mirror again, Klein tried to use his Faceless powers to turn himself back into his original appearance.
…Where are my Beyonder powers?! This was just as alarming, even more so, as finding out he had suddenly grown a pair of breasts overnight. What acting experience?! I don’t even have Faceless abilities!
Annie watched Audrey’s expression in the mirror contort five different ways in rapid succession.
I think she’s lost it.
“M-Miss Audrey, we’ll be late if we don’t hurry now!” Distressed, the maid tried to distract Audrey from her reflection.
It’s okay, right now the priority is finding out my current circumstances and how to return to normal as soon as possible. If I’ve transmigrated again, maybe I can take the Hunter pathway and turn back into a man…
The young lady let herself be dragged this way and that, still lost in her thoughts.
“Wait, what is today’s date?” Whirling around, she grabbed Annie by her shoulders.
“Huh? It’s XX XX XXXX.”
Klein nodded to himself, releasing poor Annie. Good thing I didn’t go forward or backward in time.
“Miss, which accessory would you like to wear today?” Annie attributed 'Audrey’s' strange behavior to her hormones.
“Huh?” Klein stopped observing the luxurious room. Surprisingly, although he had lost his Beyonder powers, he was able to observe the minute details of the maid and even read some of her superficial thoughts. Is this... body I've 'possessed' also a Beyonder…? Klein glanced over the accessories and was about to respond perfunctorily until his gaze snagged on a particular necklace, sparking a small feeling of familiarity.
Isn’t this..the mystical item I sold Miss Justice?
Sitting back in the living room, Audrey folded her hands in her lap, having changed into formal wear. Although she didn’t know if this strange man could be trusted, given that they were sharing a hotel room, their relationship shouldn’t be that bad... hopefully. Audrey really didn't have any other choice- thrust into a strange environment, in a strange body, she could only take a gamble.
“Sir…” Gehrman started tentatively, instantly breaking Danitz out in goosebumps. “I know this sounds unbelievable, but I appear to have… changed bodies.”
The pirate gawked at her. “Huh? Wait, so you're not... Gehrman?"
Audrey lightly bit her bottom lip. “Yes. I understand if you find it hard to believe, but could you perhaps do me a favor? Please tell me who I am and where I am.”
Danitz looked at the fidgety Gehrman Sparrow devoid of his iconic gold-rimmed glasses and cold, hunter-like stare. He found it difficult to prevent a strange expression from surfacing on his face. Dogsh*t, why does something weird always happen around this guy?! A part of him wanted to just pat his ass and run back to the Golden Dream, leaving 'Gehrman' and his absurdities behind. But, it wouldn't hurt to say a few words...
Looking 'Gehrman' up and down once again to confirm 'he' wasn't playing a trick on him, Danitz swelled up with confidence and swagger after realizing Gehrman had really up and vanished. “Your name is Gehrman Sparrow. He’s a new adventurer in this region and has a few screws loose up here.” Danitz made an exaggerated motion towards his head, taking full advantage to badmouth Gehrman in front of 'his' face. "It's a miracle how he isn't dead already, with how he struts around grabbing every guy with a bounty."
“And… ‘this region’ is..?” Hopeful, Audrey thought perhaps she could take a trip back to Backlund to figure out what happened, selectively ignoring the latter part of what Danitz said.
“Bayam, the City of Generosity.”
Audrey's face cracked. “What?! Where?? How did I travel thousands of miles in my sleep?!”
Danitz simply remained silent, observing the renowned crazy adventurer spazz out with a bit of sadistic pleasure. In all his years of living, Danitz had never seen such a thing happen before, even in the unpredictable mysterious world. Honestly, I feel a little happy… Gehrman, this is what you deserve! Wait, is it still ‘revenge’ if it’s happening to his body, not him in reality? Lost in this psychological debate, Danitz almost missed Audrey’s next question.
“So, is Gehrman– I mean, am I able to protect myself? Do you know my sequence and pathway?”
Danitz shook himself out of his messy thoughts, and for some inexplicable reason, decided to help out this poor soul who had dropped into Gehrman's body. “Truthfully, I don’t know that much about him…all I know is he mysteriously appeared out of nowhere.” As long as he's not actually 'Gehrman,' I don't mind doing things for the greater good! “Well, he is good at divination, can teleport using flames, and also has a ton of super powerful mystical items…like a copper whistle and Creeping Hunger. Oh, you probably don’t know what that is, but it's…”
Creeping Hunger! At the familiar name, Audrey immediately thought back to the Pirate Admiral Qilangos. A strong Beyonder of the Death pathway killed him and took away the mystical item. How come it’s in Gehrman’s hands now? Perhaps… She felt a bit of hope rising within her.
“Excuse me,” she interrupted Danitz’s spiel on Creeping Hunger. “Did Mr. Sparrow perhaps display characteristics similar to the Death pathway?”
Danitz scratched his head. “I don’t think so?” D*mn, using 'excuse me' and 'Mr.' how polite... Danitz could tell the new 'Gehrman' was definitely of good upbringing.
“Oh…” Audrey sighed. However, there was still a strong likelihood that Gehrman was connected to Mr. Fool in some way, so she planned on praying to ‘Him’ after getting a feel for the situation. I wonder what’s happening to my actual body. Perhaps Gehrman has taken it over like I took over his? She paled. What would a crazy adventurer look like when he finds himself in Backlund, in the body of an aristocratic lady?? I just hope 'I' don't get shoved into an insane asylum...
“Ah, do you know today’s date?” Audrey hurriedly asked the pirate in front of her.
“It’s XX XX XXXX.”
Whew. Audrey placed a hand on her chest with relief. “Thank you so much, Sir, for answering my questions.” She beamed at him.
“J-Just Danitz is fine…” Danitz averted his eyes as he broke out in a cold sweat. No way, is this a noble lady? It seems like it, right?
“Alright, Danitz.” Another smile.
…It’s so weird seeing Gehrman smile so genuinely!!