THUD. THUD. THUD.
The sounds of a heart beating rang out in Alex's ears.
How was that possible? Didn't he die?
He knew that opening his eyes was a pointless act, but since he still seemed conscious, there was no harm in trying.
'...'
Instead of failing horribly, it actually worked.
Instead of the expected darkness that came with death, what fate had greeted him was a straw roof.
A crude, cheap, uneven straw roof.
"What…?"
He muttered audibly, his voice hoarse as he tried to return to his senses.
A few more seconds passed, and more of his senses began to return.
Touch.
The hard, rough sensation of lying directly on hardwood.
"Ughhh…"
Alex groaned as he pushed himself up, his arms trembling slightly.
He rubbed his eyes once, forcing them to focus.
And there he saw it all.
A wooden shack. A shack so shabby it barely qualified as a room. The only piece of furniture inside was a closet beside the bed.
And that closet was filled—not with clothes—but with stacks of paper.
Papers covered in threatening messages from debt collectors.
Alex wasn't dense. He could immediately tell what this meant.
In his past life, he had been a lay practitioner of Buddhism, so the idea of reincarnation didn't shock him as much as it might have others.
And besides, he had read novels before. He wasn't a stranger to the concept of transmigration.
"Is this… it?"
He gave a hollow smirk, but it quickly disappeared when pain struck his stomach like a knife.
"Hmgghh!"
He doubled over, clutching his abdomen, and without thinking, rushed outside the shack.
The moment he stumbled past the doorway, he collapsed onto his knees and vomited violently into the shrubs beside the rustic home.
'What…?'
The thought spun in his mind as his body convulsed.
The amount was unnatural. It wasn't food poisoning. It wasn't a normal sickness.
It was poison.
The kind of poison you'd use for an assassination.
'Shit…! I just got here and now I'm dying!?'
Alex panicked internally, his whole body trembling as his strength drained away with every heave.
And then—
[Eye of Ophiuchus: Ability]
A booming voice exploded in his mind. So loud it made his ears ring and his head feel like it was splitting open.
"Ahhh…!"
He grabbed his head with both hands, his nails digging into his scalp, his eyes squeezed shut in pain.
But then—clarity.
The pain vanished in an instant, and suddenly his vision sharpened.
That was when he saw it.
A bright green glow radiating faintly from a flower just a few feet away.
He could feel his stomach shutting down, his liver burning out, his heart slowing.
But none of it mattered. Not when that was right in front of him.
A flower. Yellow petals, almost like a sunflower. Yet completely alien, something belonging only to this world.
And beside it—floating text.
[Automatically Translating to Useful Information]
[Sol Fern]
[Slows down current affliction]
"What…?"
Alex grunted, his throat tightening as bile threatened to rise again.
But the glowing panel shifted once more.
[Its roots provide effects to lengthen your time]
He didn't hesitate. He couldn't afford to.
With trembling hands, he yanked the flower from the dirt, ignoring the soil that clung to it.
CRUNCH.
He bit into the roots immediately, ripping them free with his teeth and swallowing them without a care.
He didn't care if it was dirty. He didn't care how bitter it tasted. The only thing that mattered was survival.
[Eye of Ophiuchus: Passive]
[Medicinal Effectiveness: 200%]
The change was instant.
The poison didn't just slow—it was destroyed.
Alex felt it. The burning in his stomach eased. The pain in his chest vanished. The weakness drained away as warmth flooded his body.
The roots were healing him at double their normal effectiveness.
His eyes regained their glow. His breathing steadied. His body finally returned to his control.
But still, the aftereffects lingered. His stomach was empty, and the sheer amount he had vomited left him weak and unsteady.
Panting heavily, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve—only to pause.
The fabric was rough. Thin. Torn.
Rags.
He looked down. His shirt was nothing but scraps stitched together with vines. His pants weren't any better.
He was wearing the clothes of the lowest beggar.
'So I'm starting from zero…'
The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth.
And then—his eye.
A strange glow emitted from it, blinding his vision for a second before a panel appeared before him.
[User: Alex Mercer]
[Race: Human]
[Attributes:]
Vitality: 3
Strength: 2
Dexterity: 4
Mana: 4
[Skills]
Eye of Ophiuchus: Ability
Eye of Ophiuchus: Passive
Alex stared, but he didn't even need to think hard about it.
He had transmigrated into another world.
He had been given a system.
Anyone who had ever read novels would recognize it immediately.
"Ophiuchus…? So even in this world, I'm still tied to medicine?"
A bitter laugh escaped him.
"What a cruel joke."
Slowly, he pushed himself up to his feet. His legs wobbled. His head swam.
"I'm gonna need some food… This body's already malnourished. Yellow skin, thin arms, multiple deficiencies…"
He muttered to himself, analyzing his own condition the way he would a patient.
He turned his gaze toward the dirt road.
Dozens of other people walked past. Every single one looked just like him. Ragged. Weak. Barely surviving.
And none of them even glanced his way. Not at him. Not at the pile of vomit by his feet.
To them, this was just normal.
But to him…
Something flickered in his eyes.
This was a medieval fantasy world. Medicine here would be primitive. Healing magic might exist, but not everyone can use it.
And him? He had something more valuable.
The Eye of Ophiuchus. His knowledge of pharmacology. His experience.
Here, in this slum where disease ran rampant, he could make a living.
He could survive.
But even as that thought crossed his mind, he stopped.
'Christ… was I always this predatory?'
The thought should have bothered him.
But instead, a chuckle escaped his lips.
Because he knew the truth.
In this kind of world, it would be survival of the fittest.
And right now…
He was the opposite of the fittest.