A shrill ringing pierced my ears, and my head throbbed like it was about to split open.
I couldn't make sense of what had happened, leaving my mind in utter chaos.
Heart attack? Respiratory failure? What the hell was going on?
"Agh...!"
"Kali! Are you okay?"
Beautiful golden blonde hair swayed gently in my blurring vision.
Her twintails were tied with red ribbons on both sides, and her ruby-red eyes sparkled like jewels.
A stunning girl I'd never seen before was holding my body, her face overflowing with emotion.
This situation was beyond comprehension now.
"Who... are you...?"
"...Huh?"
The moment those words left my mouth, I realized something profoundly strange.
The words coming from the golden-haired, red-eyed twintail beauty before me—and the ones I'd just spoken—weren't Korean.
No, they didn't resemble any language I knew.
Yet I was using them as naturally as my native tongue.
Oh, that was a slip-up.
She was calling me "Kali," which seemed to refer to me, and her pure joy at my waking up suggested she cherished me deeply.
But if that precious person asked who she was? She'd probably think something was wrong with my head and feel devastated.
"It's me, Lia! Rozaria. Rozaria de Magius! Kali, you really don't remember me?"
Rozaria's voice nearly cracked with tears, making me want to cry myself.
No, damn it. Some psycho trolled me with an emoticon, I told him to fuck off, and then I collapsed.
Why the hell was I in this mess the moment I came to?
"Agh...!"
"Kali!"
As those thoughts raced through my mind, the headache intensified, feeling like my skull was cracking.
Then, as the pain slowly faded, strange memories began surfacing bit by bit.
Among them were ones about Rozaria, who had just been crying for me, and the owner of this body I was now moving.
"What the fuck..."
Kali Hu Gladys, the sole heir of the Gladys Family.
That was the name of the body I'd possessed.
Or rather, it felt more natural to think of myself as "Kali" now, with the memories of living as "Kim Siwoo" belonging to my past life.
Even though Kim Siwoo's sense of self felt stronger, Kali's memories and emotions were vividly intense.
I figured the near-death accident had somehow resurfaced my past life memories as Kim Siwoo.
And the reason my sense of self leaned toward Kim Siwoo over Kali? Kim Siwoo had been pushing late twenties, while Kali was just turning nineteen.
Nearly a decade's worth of memories missing—unavoidable, really.
Or maybe Kim Siwoo had truly possessed Kali.
Thinking back, my last memory as Kim Siwoo had ended ambiguously, unclear if I'd lived or died.
Whatever, that's not important right now.
First things first: sort out this clusterfuck.
I'd dropped a line hinting at amnesia, complete with a dramatic headache.
For Rozaria watching that? It must have been a massive shock.
"Rozaria!?"
She fainted from the surprise, leaving me clutching my head in panic.
Of all people, it had to be Rozaria right there, making things worse.
If it'd been family or my sister, I wouldn't worry this much.
Actually, my old self never would have predicted Rozaria freaking out like this.
Well, now I know her prickly attitude stems from shy tsundere feelings, so I get it.
Rozaria de Magius.
Eldest daughter of the renowned mage family, Magius. A magic prodigy with immense potential.
The Gladys and Magius families had deep ties since ancient times, so we'd been close childhood friends since way back.
She was a year older—like a big sis—but we'd never cared about age, treating each other as equals.
Rozaria had always been oddly fixated on me, acting strangely since childhood. Looking back, it was probably just clumsy affection.
But she's an extreme shy girl, so whenever her feelings might slip, she'd hide them by bullying me instead.
Yeah, textbook tsundere.
"Now the patient's got a copycat..."
I grunted as I laid Rozaria on the nearby bed, then returned to mine.
This whole mess traced back to Rozaria's love and obsession, if you really dissected it.
Knowing that explained her shock even more.
Until last year, we could meet whenever we wanted.
But this year, twenty-year-old Rozaria was starting at the academy—equivalent to university here.
Graveda Academy required all students to live in dorms, so casual meetups would end.
She figured she could tough out a year, but if I failed entrance next year? Even longer apart.
For obsessive Rozaria, that must've felt like thunder from a clear sky.
But Graveda? The empire's top merit-based academy?
How the hell was I supposed to pass?
"My arm's still not great. Shouldn't have pushed it by moving to the bed."
Kali Hu Gladys, sole heir of the famed swordsmanship Gladys Family...
had utterly abysmal talent for swordsmanship.
Yeah, that was the root of all this.
"Abysmal" meaning nowhere near Graveda level.
For a commoner kid from some village? Solid enough for a village feast.
If it were worse, Rozaria wouldn't have pushed harsh training, and family would've given up on my future long ago.
But "decent" talent? Entry-level knight exam level.
Impossible to satisfy the Gladys monsters.
I mean, a family lineage stacked with Sword Masters? What is this no-name fantasy novel setup?
No balance control here?
"Haa..."
The stress had crushed me. Lately, I'd wasted a year in total surrender.
Rozaria, unaware, provoked me into sparring to go to school together. Rock-bottom self-esteem made me jealous of her talent and accept.
Obviously, I got my ass handed to me by top-admission Rozaria's insane magic.
Up to there? No big deal.
She held back enough not to seriously hurt me, just focused on teasing.
Probably thought it'd awaken my talent in serious mode.
Real problem: inferiority complex flipped a switch. I broke every sparring rule, lunging straight at her with my sword.
Not expecting it to hit—just a frustrated outburst.
Startled Rozaria instinctively used a heavy defense spell.
I rolled on the ground ten times from the impact. That was today's incident.
Honestly, painful and humiliating enough to unlock past-life memories.
"But now that they've really come back, what the hell do I do...?"
True issue stemmed from those memories actually returning.
Neither Kali nor Kim Siwoo wanted this.
Trolled by some weirdo with unrealistic bullshit, tell him to fuck off, heart attack?
Memory I never wanted.
And the flood of comfy modern life memories? Serious problem.
Robots clean, do dishes, delivery shopping. Luxurious ease.
Even intense sweet-salty-spicy flavor combos from modern seasonings.
Everything would feel off now. Headache-inducing.
Goddamn it...
Real rage? No computers or tablets here.
Snatching those from an artist? Cruelty overload.
I get shaky after a week without drawing. Fatal for me.
Like my chronic "run away if I can't draw" syndrome flaring up.
"Fuck, the world's screwing me over."
No other reason for this piling on an already unlucky me.
Why throw in unhappy memories as a 1+1 deal?
Absolute bullshit.
"Ka... li...?"
"Lia, you awake?"
"Y-yeah... Lia? You remember me, Kali!?"
"Yeah, just a brief confusion."
She stared in touched awe, then hugged me fiercely.
With a pitiful expression, she tearfully swore never to tease or joke like that again.
Even apologized for all her impulsive antics so far.
And then...
"I was so embarrassed about you finding out I like you—no, love you—that I acted that way... I won't hide my love for you anymore. Never again will I do something so stupid..."
"Uh...?"
Isekai Day 1.
Tsundere childhood friend regrets solo, evolves into mega-dere.