Starting Over

Chapter 3: Starting Over

A mysterious scientific paper appeared, and Han Dong immediately immersed himself in it.

Back when he was alive and still in school, Han Dong's best record had been carefully reading twenty short SCI papers in a single day.

But this time, it was a little difficult. It was not an issue with his brain, but rather that Han Dong could not understand some of the knowledge described in the paper.

"Quantum physics... involving the use of the Fourth Dimension, using subjective consciousness to interfere with the quantum realm?

Using the human brain as a 'carrier' to subjectively 'influence' and 'regulate' quantized space. Wow, reading literature outside my field really is killing me."

Every field had its specialists.

Han Dong's level of physics was only at the undergraduate level.

"If the hypothesis in this paper is correct, bringing it back to my world would probably trigger a revolutionary storm in physics... But this paper also contains the magical principles of this world. I understand even less of the strange writing on these last few pages.

In other words, this technology can only be achieved in this world.

Enough thinking. My head hurts!

In any case, this so-called Subspace Containment Technology has been integrated into this head."

Han Dong turned to look at the head inside the hydraulic tank.

Following the operational procedures recorded in the document, he opened the tank and reached out to touch the 'smooth' head.

Nameless (identity unknown before death)

Faceless One's Head—modified specimen. Possessed the abilities of "Mimicry" and "Portable Prison."

Burden requirement: 100

"Maximum burden value?!

This head had not merely fused with quantum space. It also possessed the ability to alter its appearance.

Moreover, its description was somewhat different from the other bodies in the prison."

Should he choose an intact prisoner's body, or select this head alone?

"I've decided!"

The upper body of the female cultist instantly lost all vitality and collapsed limply onto the table.

Gurgle, gurgle!

A mass of cells crawled out of her mouth and slowly crept toward the smooth, rounded Faceless One's Head.

Faceless One's Head (modified specimen) requires a burden of 100. Once occupied, no other body may be selected. Occupy?

Yes!

He answered without hesitation.

However, this body acceptance was completely different from before.

Accepting the head took an extremely long time.

One minute... one hour... ten hours.

Throughout the acceptance process, Han Dong's consciousness remained in a stagnant state of 'brain combination.'

Who knew how much time passed.

When his consciousness finally cleared and he opened his eyes, the scene before him had completely changed.

A faintly chilly wind brushed against Han Dong's ears.

Night. A full moon. Stars.

Soil. Pine needles. Woods.

The prison had vanished. Han Dong, now in the form of a head, lay in a coniferous forest.

"Because I completed my 'body' selection, the prison disappeared automatically?"

Just Then, the familiar system voice sounded.

Body selection complete. Due to the host's incompleteness, the related abilities of the Faceless One's Head cannot currently be activated.

Please find an intact Ordinary Person body as soon as possible.

Note: Current burden has reached 100%. You cannot occupy the body of a Special Individual. Please select an "Ordinary Person" whose physical condition is below average for body occupation.

This occupation will not increase burden.

After obtaining this information, Han Dong tried to move.

When his brain issued the command to 'move,' an itchy sensation spread from his neck.

Looking down, he saw thick fungal threads, like tentacles, growing from his neck. They carried his head rapidly forward, reaching the running speed of an Ordinary Person at their fastest.

Not long after Han Dong began moving.

Clip-clop, clip-clop!

The sound of horse hooves shattered the forest's silence.

By moonlight, Han Dong clearly saw a scientific creation unlike anything in his own 'worldview' speeding through the forest.

A carriage.

Yet it combined Steam Technology with brass metal.

The horses' four legs had been replaced by copper steam piston mechanisms capable of providing sufficient power.

Combined with precise gear structures, they perfectly replicated the running motion of horse legs.

The streamlined metal design made their gallop more natural and stable.

As for the horses' bodies and heads, they had been completely retained, with iridescent metal armor embedded across their surfaces.

It was impossible to identify what kind of metal the armor had been forged from with the naked eye.

Two copper horses pulled a sealed brass carriage.

Large amounts of steam continuously spilled from neatly arranged pipes along the carriage's edges, indicating that the carriage was currently traveling at Full Speed.

"A Steam Carriage? Racing at Full Speed through the Woods... Is something chasing them?"

Han Dong quietly lurked in the grass, all the tentacles at his neck retracting.

He held his breath and waited for the carriage to pass.

However...

Clack!

The metal side door opened. A human wrapped head to toe in a Black Cloak and wearing a mask grabbed the head from the grass in one swift motion.

The carriage was moving at eighty kilometers per hour, yet the person inside had directly locked onto a head hidden within the nighttime forest.

The movement was Flowing Like Clouds and Water.

The instant the head was Lead Into the carriage, it was casually tossed into a Burlap Sack.

A rotten stench filled Han Dong's Nasal Cavity.

The Burlap Sack actually contained two already decaying corpses.

However, Han Dong had spent years in foul-smelling rodent cultivation rooms and handled nearly ten thousand laboratory mouse dissections. Faced with this smell, his expression remained normal... He pretended to be a corpse and listened in on the situation outside.

In standard British English, someone said:

"Denise! Do you know how dangerous that was just now?! There were Mutants mixed among the individuals chasing us."

This was followed by an elegant female voice with a firm tone:

"Even if it was only a head, we can't give them a chance to feed..."

"You're too stubborn! Your recklessness will get you into a Corpse Bag one day... Strange. The Holy City is close at hand, but where did this head come from?

If it belonged to some coward who secretly slipped out of the Holy City, then either there would be no corpse left at all, or the body would remain intact! It shouldn't be just a head.

We need to examine it!"

Han Dong, inside the Corpse Bag, was startled.

Though they were humans, if they discovered that Han Dong existed as a 'Living Person head,' things would become troublesome.

If this had been Han Dong's world before his death, his fate would have been to be sent to an academy of sciences for research, unable to live or die as he wished.

Even in a parallel world, the outcome was probably no different.

The Corpse Bag opened, and a pair of eyes behind a mask stared straight at Han Dong's head.

Just Then.

Boom!

The carriage suffered a violent impact, and the Corpse Bag shut.

"They actually caught up with the Steam Carriage! Counterattack with copper bullets... We're not far from the Holy City now. We should have enough ammunition to hold out until we enter the city."

Rat-a-tat-tat!!

Deafening machine-gun fire rang out.

Han Dong relaxed inside the Corpse Bag. At the crucial moment, the so-called Mutants had actually helped him resolve the danger.

As he gradually adapted to the gunshots and calmed down, Han Dong grew curious about the world he had transmigrated into because of the group's conversation.

What were Mutants? Some Kind Of monsters?

The Holy City? Why had he never heard of it? Was it a nation that had evolved within this parallel world?

"There's too little information. I can't infer anything at all... Once we reach the Holy City, I need to find a way to leave the carriage! After separating from these people, I can slowly investigate and understand this world.

It would be best if the pursuing monsters damaged part of the carriage."

Just as Han Dong thought this, he heard a creak.

It seemed the carriage's metal plating really had been sliced open by some sharp object.

"Send the signal, quickly! Tell those useless fools guarding the city to open the gates!"

"Yes!"

A firework shot from the carriage roof.

Right afterward, Han Dong heard the Loud Noise made by some massive gate opening.

About five minutes later.

The machine guns stopped firing, and the carriage gradually slowed.

"Have we entered the city... Time to leave the carriage."

Han Dong could roughly guess what was happening outside.

Having escaped the monsters' pursuit, the group's bodies and minds had both relaxed.

Before the city gates closed, they would definitely be watching the outside of the gates the entire time... Their attention would not shift elsewhere.

Using the fungal threads at his neck, he slowly pried open the Corpse Bag.

A tear in the side of the carriage was Enough To let Han Dong's head pass through.

"Wait!"

Han Dong was waiting for the best possible moment, one where he absolutely would not be discovered.

Boom!

The instant the city gates closed, the sound drowned out everything around them.

A head flew from the side of the carriage and, the instant it hit the ground, rapidly crawled into a dark alley.

Listening to the metal hoofbeats that had not stopped.

Han Dong smiled in the dark alley and continued searching for a suitable Ordinary Person body.