Not long after whatever was possessing Vel's body spoke, Sami felt a disorienting rush, and in the next instant, he regained control of the body. He swayed, suddenly heavy and dizzy as a nauseous sensation rose in his gut. Slowly, he moved toward the wall and clutched it for support.
A few moments passed before the sensation finally faded.
Then Sami clenched his fist.
"Hey. Hey! What the hell was that?" He asked, his voice carrying a mix of frustration, anger and fear.
For a moment, the alley was silent. Then the familiar voice echoed in Sami's head.
"What do you mean? I killed the creature. You are welcome."
Sami gritted his teeth. "I told you to run, but you completely ignored…" He paused mid-sentence. For a long second, nothing came out. Then he shook his head. He still did not understand who or what this voice was that had taken over the body, so he decided against arguing with it. Truth be told, he was now scared very of whatever it was.
He exhaled deeply and asked politely, "Who are you? Are you Vel?"
The voice didn't reply immediately. After a moment, it answered tiredly. "No. Have you already forgotten? Vel is dead. He was killed by the guard who caught him stealing the mirror."
Sami tilted his head back, his brow furrowing slightly. Then he asked, "So… if you are not Vel, who or what are you?"
"I'm you..."
"Huh?" Sami blurted, arching a brow. "What do you mean, 'you're me?'"
"I'm a different version of you, I think," the voice answered, though it sounded uncertain. "I have all your memories, but I feel like a completely different person."
It paused before adding, "I came into existence after you woke up in this world. I've been in your subconscious, but I was only able to speak to you after you looked at that mirror."
Sami frowned. If anything, his confusion deepened. Does that mean there are now two versions of him? How is that even possible? Also, what exactly did the mirror have to do with this?
He exhaled and rubbed his temples. "So let me get this straight. This body's owner, Vel, is dead, and we took his place in this world after I died in Seoul, right?" he asked, though it was more a thought process than a question.
The voice spoke again. "Well… more like you took his place as the new owner of the body, while I stay trapped in your subconscious. It also looks like I can only come out when you let me take control."
"Oh." Sami rubbed his chin. It was finally clear to him that he had truly transmigrated from Seoul to this strange world after his death, taking over Vel's body.
After a few moments, he turned his attention again to the voice. "I still don't get how there can be two different versions of me, but until I figure that out, what should I call you?"
It was quiet for a bit, then the voice echoed again. "Call me Imas."
Sami arched a brow. "Imas? Isn't that just Sami spelled backwards? Feels a bit… on the nose, don't you think?"
The voice sighed. "I'm a bit too tired to think of a proper name." It paused, then brightened. "Oh, I know… how about Joonas?"
Sami made a wry face, nodded slightly, and said, "That's a bit better."
His gaze slowly drifted to the mangled creature nearby, and then he leaned over to study it. "What sort of crazy world did I transmigrate to?" he muttered to himself, covering his mouth with one hand as the smell from the corpse hit him. It was so pungent it made his stomach churn.
At that moment, a memory fragment triggered, and Sami suddenly knew what it was. The creature was called an aberrant, a monster that fed on people.
Apparently, aberrants had existed in this world for as long as anyone could remember, usually staying outside the city walls. But every now and then, many of them managed to slip inside. The people most at risk were the poor humans living in the lower sectors, which were closer to the walls.
'If one of these creatures is moving around freely here, then I must be in a lower sector,' Sami thought, his gaze shifting from the corpse to the dumpster beside him. Then another realization clicked.
'Wait… this means… after Vel was killed by the wealthy woman's bodyguard in Sector 3, his body was brought down here and dumped like trash.'
Sami shook his head as the mystery of why he had woken up in a dumpster finally fell into place.
'Ah… What a harsh way to go. Killed over a mirror and discarded just like that… poor guy!'
Just then, Joonas's voice pulled Sami out of his thoughts. "Aren't you going to take the creature's core?"
"Core?" Sami repeated, frowning as he glanced at the corpse.
"Yeah. According to Vel's memories, it trades for good money."
Sami's lips suddenly curled upward. Joonas was right! Aberrant cores could be used as batteries, and in a cyberpunk city like this, with its constant demand for power, they were highly valuable, especially since they were so difficult to obtain. The more powerful an aberrant, and thus its core, the more money it would trade for.
He was suddenly grateful that Joonas had managed to kill the aberrant. This city that he had suddenly transmigrated to, was as expensive as it could be. If he wanted to survive even a week here, he would need to trade that core for money.
Joonas spoke again. "Considering how we managed to kill this one, it's probably at the lowest stage. Still, it should fetch enough to get us food and maybe cover rent for a month."
Sami turned to the dumpster behind him, lifted the lid, and began rifling through the waste for something sharp he could use to pry open the monster. He didn't have to search long before his fingers closed around a large metal crow bar.
He gave it a shake, testing its weight, and a small grin tugged at his lips. "This should do."
He turned around, back to the creature, then frowned as he suddenly realized he had no idea where exactly an aberrant's core was located. Vel had only seen aberrant cores in the trading centers, and since he had never been this close to an aberrant, he had no way of knowing where their core was.
Sami scratched his head. "Hey, Joonas. Do you know where the core is located?"
"If you don't know, how the hell am I supposed to know? Dumbass!"
Sami rolled his eyes. "You could have just said no."
He sighed and bent down, prying at the creature. The dumpster had fallen on its large abdomen, but the humanoid torso part of it was exposed. Sami hoped the core would be somewhere in this exposed area.
It took a great deal of effort from him, both physically and mentally. The creature's body was incredibly tough, and the sight of the gore made him grit his teeth. The stench wafting from the corpse only made the task harder. After several tense minutes, his eyes finally caught something: a small black crystal orb visible through the exposed upper back, just below where the chest ended.
'Found it!'
A large smile tugged at his lips as he immediately pried it free with the crowbar. Then he wiped it clean on his jacket and held it up, studying it closely.
Just then, Joonas's voice echoed in his mind again. "You found it, great. Now let's go. There has to be a reason these two dumpsters were stacked on top of each other, creating a dead end here."
Sami's smile slowly faded. Joonas was right: he needed to get out of the alley immediately. He stood, pocketed the orb in his jacket, jumped over the second dumpster, and continued down the alley, leaving the mangled corpse behind.
After a few minutes of walking down the long dim alley in silence, the noise from the city grew louder. It didn't take long before he finally reached the end of the alley and stepped out into a crowded street.