Suddenly the door behind swung open, "Who goes there??"
A group of monks dressed in black cloaks barged in. The one in the front had a lamp in his hand and moved it around in a circular fashion to discern who intruded into their sacred place.
"Damn," he drawled, a deep twang colored in his voice. "Seems like you were waiting for your friends. Don't forget...this isn't over. Remember my name, Arian. I will be coming for you soon."
The handsome pervert was alarmed seeing the group of monks coming in and bolted towards the exit after introducing himself as Arian? What kind of name was that and why would I need to remember your name? I snorted at the end of his sentence. 'Hmph, this isn't over for me either.'Luckily, there was a group of monks who came to the rescue—hang on, were they the very monks I ran away from?
Ha. Ha. Ha. Damn, double damn. How ironic.
But then images of the ritual they were doing rolled around my mind. A chill went down my spine, I shuddered. I suddenly had the urge to run away. Reality hit me like a lightning bolt. Apparently, there was no other exit I could take.
Just escaped from the tiger's mouth, and now I had myself slipped into a wolf's den.
Now, I had only two options. Either I have to run towards where Arian went or I have to face the monks behind me. And both weren't very much a good choice.
With no other choice, I steeled my nerves as I slowly walked out facing the monks.
"You!! At last, we found you. So, this is where you were hiding." The monk at the front snarled. He then turned towards one of his lackeys, and said, "Go and tie her up. Bring her to the 'Naomh' room. We will wait for the Head Priest there. He will know what to do with her."
Wait...did he just order his lackey to tie me up? What the hell. I was just a passerby who stumbled onto this eerie temple by accident. I felt a volcanic surge of fury. This was bloody insane!
The moment I saw one of the monks coming towards me with a sturdy brown rope, I shouted hastily, "Hey-hey-hey, hold there Mr. Monk. This isn't right. You can't tie me up just because I unintentionally trespassed into your temple. There are laws and rules for trespassing and I'm sure it doesn't involve tying someone up. We can speak this matter in good terms."
But the monk gave me a sharp look and his face locked in a hard-stiff expression. He ignored my words and he came closer to me. He took my wrists and tied them up together using the rope. I didn't dare to struggle afraid that they might do something more weird to me if I resisted.
I thought of following them quietly for now and see who this so-called Head Priest is. Maybe I could talk some sense into him. Usually, the Head was more sensible than the underlings.
Gosh, if only I had my phone with me, I could have called up the police and have them arrest all these weirdos. I was sure there must be some kind of dubious scheme going on around here. You couldn't defy a woman's sixth sense.
Who knows, maybe these nutcases kidnap random tourists and ask for ransom from their families. Unfortunately, my family was as stingy as hell. They wouldn't even give out a single penny for me. To which, I was done for.
A part of me wondered what the rituals are for. By chance, all these people couldn't be suffering from mental illness, were they?
Please. God, I hope that you still love me as a human being. And let me live longer. At least let me have my first kiss, experience dating, get married and have kids, and, and…
Ouch! I was snapped out of my mind when I found myself dragged by the rope. Who the heck knew through how many rooms we had passed. They could at least be a bit nicer or softer, I wasn't like I could escape any time sooner though. Not long, they brought me inside a well-lit room with lots of candles lit up around the room.
They pushed me onto a squeaky chair which looked as if it was an antique from the medieval era. Where did these guys even get these kinds of stuff? I was sure they must have bought it off some second-hand website selling fake stuff.
"Stay still and don't try any tricks." The monk who seemed like the leader warned me.
Tricks? Hmph, you have no idea what's coming for you all. Wait till I get out of this messy situation.
Soon an old monk with a wise-looking white beard stepped out from the shadows as he went inside through the door. I couldn't tell much because he was just as well-hid as those other weirdos in their black cloak. His originally narrowed eyes were squinted into a slash of the thin line at me. He walked in my direction while stroking his beard.
As he came to a stop, I felt his eyes carefully scrutinized me from top to bottom. He swiveled round to face the supposed-to-leader-guy. His expression seemed genuinely concerned rather than hostile, taking on account that I was their sacrifice. Well, that was something else. Maybe I had some hidden value that I didn't know about?
"Hmm, is this how you all treat my guest?" His tone started off gentle but by the end, it became firm and sounded like he was angry at them.
Excuse me? I was his—what? As far as my brain could tell, I didn't become anyone's guest. What the hell was happening here?
"Get the ropes off from her right now!" The old man bellowed.
One of the monks hurriedly came forward and freed me.
Ow, my wrists felt sore… The look on my hand made my jaw drop. Oof! What had they done to my beautiful hands! Gosh, years of body lotions had gone to waste in this state. In the dim light, I clearly noticed my hands had already grazed with red marks and a few cuts. Oh, my poor wrists, my assets... I would definitely make them pay for your suffering. Need not worry, Mama is out for revenge.
Hmm, this old monk was way better than those weirdos. Maybe, if I talked some sense with him, he could understand my situation and help me out.
"Look, sir, you have to let me go now. I'm sorry for intruding into your holy temple but believe me, it won't happen again." I put on my best puppy eyes to garner as much sympathy and pity from this good-natured old man.
"Child, I know this might all seem confusing and scary to you. But believe we are not here to harm you. What is the last thing you remember before opening your eyes?" His tone was soft and gentle and it made me feel relaxed.
I didn't know what kind of sorcery it was or if it was just that his voice was gifted with a relaxing effect. Like there was a strange kind of feeling that I could trust this man.
Anyway, the question he asked me about gave me the vibes of a doctor asking a memory loss patient. I cleared my throat, answered his question while wondering lots of whys inside my head. "All I remembered was my head getting hit by a pot. I didn't exactly recall what happened, but I seemed to have fainted on the road and somehow I woke up to find myself in the middle of some strange ritual."
The old man nodded, rubbing his chin. "Hmm, the 'Toghairm' succeeded, just as expected," that sounded more like a murmur to himself rather to me. He jerked his head at me, "Your soul has successfully traveled from your mortal body to this one."
I raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "Mortal—what?"
What nonsense was this old monk even sprouting about?
I let out a frustrated sigh. My breathing came in more and more heavily. I wasn't even sure if I could stand this.
It took me a minute or two to work up my next word. I wet my lips, trying to connect the gaps in his words, "To all due respect Head Priest, do you mean I'm dead?" I could feel myself laughing. "You're joking, right? Ah, I know, did I actually get myself participating in a variety show for some life-changing experience?"
"Va-vary show?" The old man looked flabbergasted. He arched his eyebrow higher than mine, I supposed. "I don't exactly understand what you mean, but I believe that isn't the explanation for this. You see here, we don't have much time—you, your time is limited. Only when you complete your task here can you go back to your own world."
"Just… just give me a moment."
I gently rubbed my temples, I had to think. Clearly. Or at least as clearly as I could, bearing in mind that the room appeared to spin at my disposal.
My fingers fidgeting as I was thinking, 'Go back to my own world? Limited time?' I had felt equally dejavu and equally fizzy. Where did I hear these phrases before? Such a well-written scenario. An oddly familiar warning.
Suddenly I recalled the isekai mangas I had been binge-reading months ago. About transmigration. A soul in another body. Complete the task and go back to your own world. That finally rang the bell! For God's sake, did I just transmigrate to a freaking monks world? Everyone was all about wearing fancy dresses in the medieval era or pretty yukatas in the Edo period. And now I was about to have my head bald, wearing some crappy black clothing?
At last I looked up at the old man, my mouth couldn't stop twitching. "And if I don't finish my task, I'll be stuck here, rotting in this world. Or worse case, die. Is that right?"
The old man's face completely dropped. "How can you possibly know?"
Somehow his astonished voice sounded like a sarcasm to my ears. I sighed knowing I was beaten by the harsh reality, "Tell me, how until I reach my own graveyard?"
He kept his pace from getting totally trashed in an embarrassing manner. "If my calculation didn't miss, it'll be limited to a year."
"What the fu—A year?!" I heard my euphoric scream crack throughout the temple. "You've got a lot to explain to me, old man. Right now. This instance!"
My vacation for the new me had me transmigrating. Ha! What a joke!