"Tch! What a boring main character. He's such a softie."
A boy holed up in his room expressed his frustration after finishing the novel.
That was his life. Wake up, read some novels, go to work, return home, read again, and repeat.
A boring life of a regular teenage kid. He had no family, no friends, and no girlfriend.
This type of entertainment media had become his coping mechanism. After finishing the read, he went back to sleep.
"Holiday was short-lived, and I have work tomorrow. I should go to bed now."
He said before closing the book and trying to sleep. But little did he know, he might never have to worry about it again.
Ran woke up to the noise of several babies crying.
"Wahh! Waah!"
"Kgh!"
He couldn't speak. His vision was blurry, and all he could perceive was the cry of countless babies.
'What is this place? Where am I? Am I dead or something?'
Countless questions spiraled through his mind when someone entered the room.
Although his vision was fuzzy, Ran could still see the man who came in. He was a tall, middle-aged man wearing a lab coat, holding a small parchment in his hand.
"Talia, how many are born this time?"
A woman entered the room. She also seemed middle-aged, wearing the same lab coat.
"Thirty-four, my lord."
"Hmm... Test all the babies and make sure they're in perfect condition."
Ran was able to grasp the situation. The small bed he was lying on, the small hands and tiny fingers he felt, he was undeniably inside the body of one of the babies.
But unlike them, he wasn't crying, just observing the situation.
And it didn't go unnoticed by Talia. She found it quite odd while examining his body but ignored it since he was just a baby.
"My lord, he doesn't have any defects either."
Just then, someone entered the room. His mere presence made them almost cough up blood. They immediately kneeled before the man.
"L-Lord Somes."
He was a tall man with black hair and a long black coat. The most notable thing about him was his crimson eyes and the blood-red aura surrounding him.
He was the patriarch of the Crimsonbane family, Somes Crimsonbane. The renowned most powerful swordsman in current era.
"How are the children, Jake?"
"A-All the children are healthy, my lord. No birth defects were found in any of them."
Somes was unimpressed.
He deemed this generation a failure as well.
Eyeing all the babies, his attention turned to the baby who wasn't crying at all. The baby who was calm, observing, and grasping the situation.
"What about this one?"
"T-There were no defects found in him either, Lord Somes."
Talia said, cowering in fear. After hearing that name, he understood he was inside the novel he just finished reading.
'So I got transmigrated into the novel I was just reading! This feels surreal.'
After a long pause, Somes turned and walked away.
"Take them to the first trial after two weeks."
"Yes, Lord Somes!"
Jake said, still bowing until Somes left the room.
The novel "Iron and Sword" featured the world where swordsmanship and magic existed. The world where there are countless possibilities and opportunity to become the most powerful in the world.
On the bad side, he was born on the worst family.... and even worse as a bastard child.
The Crimsonbanes are one of the most powerful families in the empire, renowned for producing some of the greatest swordsmen history had ever known.
But only he knows how they manage to produce such capable swordsmen.
Weakness was not tolerated. Any child born with defects was disposed of immediately. The moment you were born, your worth was tested.
The same thing was going to happen in two weeks.
'Whose body is this though? Is this the main character's?'
That was the question he was most curious about, but he would find out eventually.
Even though he had the mind of his previous self, he was still just a baby. So his instincts kicked in, and his eyes gave out.
Lying on the bed for two whole weeks was too much for him, but Talia frequently came to feed the babies, change their diapers, and talk to them, which distracted him for a while.
Other than that, he saw no one else. He knew only one baby would get to see the outside world.
After two weeks, the wait was finally over. He woke up to someone lifting him up. It was Jake Crimsonbane.
"Well, time for some fun, you little shit. Try not to die."
Jake handed him to Talia and she took him to the trial room.
It was a closed, dark room that was almost empty. One baby bed was the only think he could see. She placed him gently on the bed before giving him a kiss.
"I'm sorry. May the Lord protect you."
Then she walked away, and the door closed. He was left all alone in the pitch dark room.
'If I remember correctly, I have to survive five days in this dark room without food or water.'
He was pretty sure he'd be fine if this was the body of the main character. He wasn't scared since his past experiences had been much worse.
The only thing he didn't like was lying here for five days straight. It would bore him to death.
It was pin-drop silence most of the time. Sometimes, he would overhear conversations between Jake and Talia through the walls.
From their talks, he found out that around seventeen babies had already died, and ten more were on the verge of dying due to severe malnutrition.
He would sleep sometimes or crawl around on all fours to pass the time.
The babies in this world grew much faster than on Earth, so most of them could crawl by the time they were two to three weeks old.
He was no exception. In the dark room, he had learned to move as well.
After what felt like an eternity, the door finally opened. Jake came inside and lifted him up.
"So this little runt survived! Talia, come here."
Talia quickly entered the room hearing his call.
"Yes, my lord."
"Take him to the food chamber."
Saying that he hands him over to Talia. She lifts him up ad starts walking to the so called food chamber.
'Food chamber, my ass.'
After reading the novel, he knew it was nothing but a fancy term.
It was not a food chamber but a death trap. It was the second trial.