Lucian lay in the cradle, blinking up at the ceiling.
His tiny body was exhausted, despite doing nothing more than lying there for hours.
The maids had finally left, and the oppressive atmosphere they brought with them was gone, giving him a moment of peace.
As his thoughts slowly gathered, the reality of his situation sank in like a rock thrown into a calm pond.
'Reborn.'
'In another world.'
But not just any world—the one from «Hero's Counterattack», a novel he had just come to know of its existence only a few minutes before...
Or maybe it was hours?
Time felt distorted, and he had no idea how long he had been lying in this cradle, trying to make sense of everything.
It wasn't the worst reincarnation scenario, but it wasn't great either.
He was stuck in the body of a newborn—scratch that, an unusually heavy newborn.
Turning his head required effort he didn't have, and his tiny limbs felt like they were weighed down with bricks.
Moving at all was a slow, frustrating process, and even though his eyes could wander, his head refused to follow.
'Do I really have to live in this body?' Lucian thought, closing his eyes for a moment, willing the overwhelming reality away.
He didn't even bother trying to cry or scream; he already knew it wouldn't change anything.
If he cried, no one would come.
And even if they did, what would they do?
He was a baby.
Babies cry.
No one would bat an eye.
And the worst part?
He could still remember.
The ghost.
The one that killed him a few hours ago.
The memory lingered in his mind, too vivid to be a dream.
That was what got him here, apparently.
Whatever had happened to throw him into this world was out of his hands now.
There was no point in getting angry or lashing out.
'What could a baby do, anyway?'
Cry?
Not necessary for now.
He sighed—mentally, at least—trying to focus on what he could control.
'So, I'm in the body of a third-rate villain,' he thought, the absurdity of it settling in.
A cursed character who gains ten times the body weight in comparison to a normal human every day.
To put it simply, if a newborn baby gains 1 gram of weight in an hour, then he would gain 10 grams in an hour.
So, the weight gained is not a multiple of his present weight, but rather the weight that would be gained by a normal newborn if placed in his position.
'Fantastic.'
It was surreal.
He had come to know about this character just maybe a few minutes before his abrupt death.
Lucian wasn't even significant to the main plot—he was a minor extra antagonist at best, doomed to become an undead villain monster who would be killed by a team of new heroines and heroes.
And now, here he was, inside that character, saddled with a ridiculous curse that made his body a ticking time bomb.
Ten times weight?
He might as well be a balloon with a countdown timer.
The frustration of it all was almost funny—almost.
'Fuck, this body, damn....' Lucian felt his eyes heavy and sleeping in slumber, then opened his eyes again, staring at the ceiling.
'Huh? I even woke up.' He couldn't help but feel how he had woken up so soon.
sniph sniph
Lucian's nose twitched, and the unmistakable smell hit him.
A rank, dirty stench, strong enough to make his eyes water.
'Fuck!' He groaned internally, realizing that he hadn't just woken up from a short nap—he'd been out for hours, long enough for even his poop to decompose.
'Great,' he thought, his disgust mingling with a sense of helplessness.
'I've been lying in my own poop for God knows how long.'
No one had bothered to check on him or change him.
The smell was thick, filling the entire room.
He cursed his body again—what kind of reincarnation was this, where he couldn't even control his own bowels?
Desperate, Lucian tried to call for help.
He inhaled, ready to yell for the maids.
But instead of words, what came out was a pathetic stream of babble.
"Goo gaa qoo."
His face went blank.
'Are you kidding me?' He couldn't even form words, let alone scream for help.
Frustrated, he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, before letting out a wail—a loud, desperate baby's cry.
"Uwaaahhhh!"
It was the only way left.
The sound of footsteps soon followed, and two maids entered the room, clearly bothered by the disturbance.
"Ugh, he's at it again," one muttered, rolling her eyes.
"He reeks. How long has it been since his last change?" the other groaned, wrinkling her nose.
She approached the crib with all the enthusiasm of someone handling a pig in a pen.
'Not again, like that, you idiots!' Lucian watched as one of them lifted his legs, while the other carefully peeled off his soiled diaper, their expressions filled with disdain.
"Damn, he's heavy," complained the maid holding him up. "Hurry up!"
"Yes, yes, I'm doing it," the other snapped, quickly replacing his diaper.
As they worked, Lucian peered through the outside world while hanging upside down.
It was night time, but due to the presence of mana lamps lightening the whole room, it appeared this whole place was still illuminated enough to confuse him if it was really night.
Thinking about mana, he remembered his body condition's reason, causing him to sigh, "Haa...."
It was a hilarious scene where a maid held both of his legs while lifting him upside down, while another one was changing his diaper; the newborn baby was sighing as if he were thinking something deep.
Krieeek
Suddenly, the door creaked open, and four more maids entered the room, causing the two by the crib to freeze in place.
"What are you doing here?" One holding the newborn baby asked, eyes narrowing as she observed the one who had more favor with the Duchess arriving with the other three.
"The Duchess has summoned everyone for the mana testing," the newcomer said, arms folded. She wrinkled her nose at the smell. "And for God's sake, at least change his diaper on time. This room smells like shit."
The maids nodded sheepishly, one of them hurriedly finishing the diaper change.
Lucian felt himself being lifted again, this time by the newer maid, who handled him with a little more care, though it still felt like he was being carted off like a sack of potatoes.
As they carried him out of the room, trapped inside this body with no chance to move, he could only look, remembering whatever story he had heard from those couples about this novel of which he was a part now.
'Old man, if it wasn't for your R-18 mags...' The only thing he could do while being taken by those maids was curse the old man for having visited the graveyard, which led to his death at the hands of a ghost.