Saren stood at Akondo's house gate, pressing the doorbell repeatedly.
"Akondo… please open the door!" she shouted, her voice laced with urgency.
As she glanced around, she noticed a neighbor man tending to his garden.
"Are you looking for Akondo?" the man asked, wiping his brow.
"Um, yes," Saren replied, hope flickering in her voice.
"Yeah, you should! He was screaming last midnight and broke my sleep," the man said, shaking his head in disapproval.
"Screaming?" Saren echoed, her concern deepening.
"Yeah, then a neighbor came to talk with him, but he was using slang on the guy. I guess something happened to him," the neighbor explained.
"Who?" Saren pressed, her heart racing.
"Oh, that person? He died today in a car accident. What a coincidence, right?" the man replied, a hint of disbelief in his tone.
"Oh…" Saren thought, feeling the weight of dread settle in her chest. "Did you see Akondo?"
"Sorry, I didn't. But my wife said she saw him heading out somewhere around noon. I don't know where he went," the neighbor said, shrugging.
"Okay, thanks," Saren said, feeling the panic rise in her chest.
"You must be his girlfriend. Take care of him. His mother was a good person; alas, she's gone now. God knows what will happen to him," the neighbor said, his voice laced with concern.
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In the park, Akondo, still in the pigeon's body, stood in front of his human form, desperately trying to get back. The system's timer was ticking down: 55 seconds remaining.
Even in the pigeon's body, he suddenly felt a jolt of pain surging through him. "What should… what should I do now?" he thought, panic setting in as he scanned his surroundings.
His eyes landed on an old man sitting a distance away, feeding the pigeons.
"I'm sorry if something happens to you or you die, old man, but… but I need to survive," Akondo thought, his heart heavy with guilt.
With determination, he forced his pigeon eyes to lock onto the old man. The pigeon's eyelids fluttered, and then he fell to the ground. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in the old man's body.
The system notification popped up, confirming: "Swap completed."
Akondo stared at his new body—an old man's frail form. He examined his hands, noting the thin, wrinkled skin. "I… actually did it," he thought, a mix of disbelief and awe filling him.
Then he turned his gaze to the pigeon lying motionless on the ground, the body he had occupied just moments before. "Did… did it die? Really?" he thought, feeling a pang of guilt. He attempted to stand, but his legs buckled, and he stumbled back down. The old man's body was difficult to control, each movement slow and stiff. Spotting a walking stick lying by the bench, he reached for it.
"This body… its bones, everything is so weak," Akondo thought as he gripped the bench for support. With considerable effort, he managed to sit back down, breathing heavily. "I don't know… I don't know what to do now."
He leaned on the walking stick and slowly, shakily, managed to stand. "I… stood up, somehow," he murmured to himself, relieved. Using the stick for balance, he hobbled over to the pigeon's lifeless form, gently prodding it. "Hey, little bird… wake up. Don't just lie there. Wake up," he murmured softly.
After a few moments, it became clear to him that the bird was dead. A cold realization struck him, filling him with dread. "So… my power… it kills. It kills the swapped body. My… speculation was real?" He looked back at his original body lying on the bench, unharmed.
"My original body doesn't die, but any other body I swap with… does?"
Twenty minutes later, Akondo, still in the old man's body, was seated in the back of a taxi, deep in thought. "I left my original body at the park, and I'm far away from it now," he mused, considering his situation. "If this old man's body dies, no one will be able to link him to me. If I'd reentered my own body, this man would've died right there in the park—too close to me. This way, even if something leads to suspicion, there's less chance of a direct connection. And since I need to lock eyes with someone to swap, it limits how easily I can get caught."
The taxi came to a stop, and the driver said, "We're here, Uncle."
Akondo stepped out, paying the fare from the old man's wallet, and found himself standing outside a cozy coffee shop. "This old guy's phone has a wallpaper of this place. Looks like he's been here often," Akondo thought, glancing at the coffee shop. "When I unlocked his phone, I found photos he took here, especially one where he mentioned it was where he met his wife. This place must mean something to him."
Akondo scrolled through the old man's phone gallery as he stepped into the coffee shop. He studied the photos briefly, then chose a quiet corner seat, where he settled down.
"Alright," he thought, glancing around to make sure no one was paying attention to him. "If I need to leave this body, this place might be a good spot."
He took a deep breath, closing his eyes to concentrate, pressing his mind to return to his original body. "Please let this work…" he thought, a hint of desperation in his mental voice.
Suddenly, the system interface appeared before him with a new message: "Use a swap spell for easier transfers. To activate, choose a unique spell word and confirm it by saying 'confirm' afterward."
"A spell word? Something to trigger the swap by command?" Akondo pondered.
The system responded instantly: "Yes."
"Alright… what should it be?" he mused, thinking of a word that would feel natural but unlikely to slip in conversation. After a moment, he said, "Repel," and added in his mind, Confirm.
The system replied: "Spell word confirmed."
"Great," Akondo thought. "So if I use this word, the swap should activate."
Taking a final, steadying breath, he whispered, "Repel."
Immediately, his body was wracked with sharp, stabbing pains, as though knives were piercing him from within. The old man's body slumped forward, eyes closed, motionless on the table.
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Akondo blinked, disoriented for a moment, then felt the familiar weight and presence of his own body. He was back on the bench in the park where he'd left himself. "I'm… back in my body," he murmured, relieved, sitting up and glancing around to confirm his surroundings.
A pang of realization hit him. "So… the old man died?"
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Meanwhile, inside the coffee shop, the old man's lifeless body slumped forward in the chair before slipping to the floor, unnoticed at first by the other patrons.
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Inside a spacious mansion near a small forest, Ren sipped his coffee while focused on his laptop screen. Outside the room, Maxima called out, "May I come in?"
Ren looked up, surprised. "Mom? Yeah, sure."
Maxima entered the room, and Ren, turning his attention back to the screen, asked, "Where did you go?"
"Oh, me? I went to see an old friend," Maxima replied, her tone slightly hesitant. "You know how I like to catch up with people."
Ren glanced at her briefly and noticed the faint red glow around her soul—a sign she was lying. This surprised him. Why would Mom lie? She never lies, he thought, growing uneasy.
He changed the topic. "Well, Dad mentioned that you should stay here. This country is safer for you right now, at least according to him."
Maxima nodded thoughtfully. "I spoke to him about it… Anyway, how was your first day at school?"
"Average," Ren shrugged. "My classmates seemed interested in talking to me."
"Well, you are a future king, after all," Maxima said with a soft smile.
"Not of this country," Ren replied with a small sigh. Then he turned back to her, noticing the tension in her expression. "Mom, is something wrong?"
Maxima hesitated for a moment before answering, "No… no, not at all. Just… my brother will face the death penalty tomorrow. Your father made arrangements for it to happen at the Royal Execution Center here."
Ren's expression hardened. "Don't feel sad for a killer, Mom. I hate people who kill."