Whoosh!
A bamboo switch sliced through the air.
Before I could even react to the sharp sound, a stinging pain exploded across my palm.
Without understanding what was happening, I instinctively screamed.
“AAAH!”
“EEK!”
The woman holding the switch was so startled by my sudden shout that she lost her balance and fell backward with a thud.
I stared at her blankly as she sprawled on the floor.
Seeing my expression, her face flushed bright red with fury.
“Lopez, you…!”
Blue eyes. Orange hair. Exotic features that clearly weren’t East Asian.
And the loose, flowing clothes that looked like something straight out of a medieval European setting.
The ill-tempered woman shot to her feet and stood towering over me.
“How dare you make a fool of your teacher?!”
I watched her rage with unfocused eyes while my mind worked furiously.
The problem wasn’t the furious woman standing in front of me.
The problem was me.
Did I... transmigrate?
The angry woman threw me into solitary confinement.
My palm still throbbed where I’d been struck.
Pressing my burning hand against the cold floor, I sank into thought.
Why am I here?
More importantly, why had I been getting beaten on the palm by some woman I’d never met?
As I slowly looked around, the memories that had been blurred by shock began returning little by little.
Once I pieced together the situation, a small sigh escaped me.
Ah... my inheritance.
Not long ago, a man claiming to be a lawyer had suddenly appeared before me.
He told me that, despite growing up as an orphan, I actually had a mother—and that she had spent years searching for me.
A very rich mother, at that.
Unfortunately, she had fallen ill and passed away recently.
Before the DNA test results could even come back.
The lawyer said he came to find me the moment the results were confirmed after her death.
His purpose was to help me inherit the estate she had left behind.
Honestly, I couldn't even bring myself to resent her.
Apparently, she had lost me in a crowded plaza when I was little and had searched for me every day afterward.
With the lawyer’s help, I inherited an enormous mansion and a vast fortune.
Since I was the only surviving family member she had left, her will was also handed to me.
What happened after that?
I distinctly remembered falling asleep in the mansion I’d inherited while clutching my mother’s will.
Nothing strange happened. I just went to sleep...
And yet when I woke up—
I was a child.
And judging by the appearance of the woman with the switch, this wasn’t even Earth anymore.
I didn’t even get the chance to enjoy spending all that money, and now I’m in another world?
This couldn’t be happening.
Worse, I hadn’t even read my mother’s letter yet.
The image of the crisp white envelope containing her final words floated through my mind.
The lawyer had said there was also a personal letter addressed to me inside.
...I have to go back.
I couldn’t just stay here.
First things first. I need to understand my situation.
Most people would have been overwhelmed, but I accepted it surprisingly easily.
The combination of an unread final letter and a mountain of inherited wealth had forced my mind into perfect focus.
Besides, I’d always been a calm person by nature.
Let’s start with my body.
I moved my fingers.
Tiny fingers wriggled in response.
I was twenty years old.
Now I was a child.
“...This isn’t a dream, is it?”
I pinched my cheek hard and immediately winced from the pain.
Definitely not a dream.
Next, I examined my hair.
Long blue locks cascaded all the way down to my hips.
I stared at them in fascination.
The deep, ocean-like shade shimmered with an impossible brilliance that no dye could ever replicate.
At the same time, I noticed that this child possessed remarkably silky, straight hair.
Unfortunately, that was all I learned.
To understand more, I needed to see the face of the child whose body I had taken over.
“Is there a mirror?”
Looking around the room, I spotted a hand mirror in the corner.
The moment I picked it up and looked inside, an involuntary gasp escaped me.
“...Oh.”
I had never seen violet eyes so mystical and beautiful.
Combined with slightly upturned eyes, pale skin, and soft lips, the child’s appearance was breathtaking.
I found myself staring for several moments.
Judging by the youthful features, the child seemed to be around ten to twelve years old.
With hair and eye colors like these, this definitely isn’t any world I know.
I had no idea where I was or whose body I occupied.
The appearance was completely unfamiliar.
Is this somewhere I’ve never heard of...?
No matter how hard I thought, nothing came to mind.
Well.
There was no point obsessing over questions that had no answers.
My appearance wasn’t the only clue.
Lopez.
The name the woman had called me earlier.
Honestly, hearing it had triggered the faintest sense of recognition...
But my stinging hand made it impossible to focus.
“If I could just learn a little about the people here or what’s going on outside, I might figure something out.”
Unfortunately, while locked in solitary confinement, the only person I could interact with was the orange-haired woman.
And so, unable to learn anything useful, my first night in this strange world passed.
Three days since my transmigration.
I stared at the woman who continued striking a child’s palm without hesitation and finally asked:
“Um... may I ask who you are? I haven’t been able to remember anything since before.”
Including who exactly you are, lady who enjoys hitting children with sticks.
Did this world not have a concept called child abuse?
The woman glared at me fiercely before shouting:
“You still have time to play games instead of reflecting on your actions?! Fine! Five extra strikes!”
I felt wronged as I watched the teacher enthusiastically announce my punishment.
Seriously.
Who are you?
Five days after being locked up.
The woman who struck my palm every day still refused to believe I had lost my memory.
But I couldn’t keep living like this.
I needed information about this world, and solitary confinement wasn’t exactly helping.
Besides, I couldn’t just sit by and watch children being abused under the excuse of discipline.
“Next. Lopez.”
As I stepped forward, I looked at her and asked:
“Are you aware that this is considered child abuse?”
“...What?”
Her expression darkened immediately.
Well, suddenly accusing someone of abusing children would upset most people.
But I didn’t stop there.
I deliberately pushed her further.
Since I genuinely remembered nothing, I wanted her to understand that I had no reason to act like my previous self.
And while I was at it, maybe I could get her to stop hitting children.
“I don’t know what I supposedly did, but from what I can see, there are several children locked up here. You do realize this could be reported, right?”
“...”
“No matter what a child has done, this kind of punishment isn’t appropriate.”
I didn’t give her a chance to interrupt.
At first, disbelief crossed her face.
Then confusion.
Then a strangely serious expression.
Slowly lowering the raised switch, she scrutinized me from head to toe.
Maybe she had finally realized something was different.
“Did you truly mean what you just said?”
“Yes.”
Without avoiding her gaze, I answered firmly.
The woman silently studied me for a moment.
Then, without another word, she turned and left.
So...
Did she believe I’d lost my memory or not?
Couldn’t she at least give me an answer before disappearing?
As I sat there wondering, a girl named Lisa—one of the children being punished alongside me—spoke up.
“Lopez, if you talk back to Teacher, you’ll only get yourself into more trouble.”
“I’m already getting hit.”
“Dummy! You’ll get hit even more!”
“Why are you here?”
“I pulled my friend’s hair!”
“Why?”
Children shouldn’t be yanking out each other’s hair.
“She looked down on me because she’s in Class One!”
“Class One?”
“Lopez, are you stupid? You’re in Class One too.”
I quietly clutched my head.
Lisa giggled.
“I won’t pull your hair since you never made fun of me!”
“...Don’t you think that’s unfair?”
The word might have been difficult for a child, but Lisa proved smarter than expected.
Brushing her vanilla-blonde hair behind her ear, she answered calmly:
“Even if it’s unfair, what can you do? We still have to survive.”
The way she said it sounded almost detached.
Far too mature for a child with such a cute and innocent appearance.
“Um... do you know what transmigration is?”
“What’s that?”
So she wasn’t a transmigrator.
Just an ordinary child.
Lisa smiled brightly.
“Lopez, you’re the one who got sent here for falsely accusing someone. Why are you complaining?”
“...I don’t remember.”
The girl beside us, Sally, snorted.
“You keep saying that because you think it’ll get you out of trouble. Stop talking already. Are you going to take responsibility if we get punished because of you?”
Sally’s fiery red hair matched her fiery temper perfectly.
Even her sharp eyes seemed to advertise how prickly she was.
“Stop it, Sally! Lopez is a good person!”
“Have you forgotten how arrogant she acted outside?!”
“Did you just yell at me?!”
The seemingly gentle Lisa suddenly launched herself at Sally.
Sally’s pink eyes widened in shock before she immediately lunged back.
“Wait, calm dow—ow!”
Girls, stop.
I’m sorry.
Trying to separate them, I ended up caught in the middle.
The next thing I knew, Lisa and Sally each grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked from opposite sides.
My scalp screamed in agony.
This was definitely not how I imagined my second life beginning.
