Was I having a nightmare?
That was Kahn's first thought when he opened his eyes and saw a woman hanging from a ceiling beam by a length of white silk.
He still remembered putting down his phone to go to sleep one second, only to find himself standing here the next.
This defied science.
Once he realized he was dreaming, Kahn didn't panic in the slightest. He even calmly began studying the woman before him.
Not moving at all. Looks like she's already stone cold.
A ceiling beam, white silk, a kicked-over stool. Based on my experience watching several historical dramas, this should be a suicide by hanging.
Since the woman had her back to him, Kahn wanted to walk around to the front to see what she looked like, but a sense of resistance rose within him, as though he were unwilling to face reality.
While Kahn wrestled with himself, footsteps approached. He turned and saw someone dressed as a maid.
Clatter!
The plate in the maid's hands fell to the floor along with the fruit on it, smashing to pieces, but she didn't notice at all. Her whole body trembled, and after a long buildup, she finally let out:
"Aaaaaaah-!!!"
The piercing scream tore through the sky, sending chills down the spine. Kahn, who stood closest to her, bore the brunt of it. The sound waves left him seeing stars, his entire head buzzing.
Are you the successor to the Lion's Roar technique?
Through his daze, Kahn saw more people appear, dressed in all sorts of clothing, including maids and guards. At the sight of the hanged woman, they too froze.
Then they erupted into a clamor like bees whose hive had been disturbed. The noise made him frown, and he wanted to tell them to shut up.
Before he could speak, however, a maid stepped forward, picked him up, and carried him out of the room. He wanted to struggle, but his body wouldn't obey him. It didn't move at all.
The maid brought him to an unfamiliar room, laid him on the bed, and tucked him in. His eyelids obligingly began fighting each other as an irresistible wave of drowsiness washed over him.
What kind of bullshit dream is this? I don't have any freedom at all!
Cursing inwardly, Kahn fell asleep again.
Kahn had another dream.
In the dream, he became a little child. His parents were always by his side, and every day was carefree and happy, though for some reason, he could never quite make out their faces.
Later, his father went to war.
Then his father died.
And then his mother died too, hanging herself in front of him.
In the dream, he didn't seem to cry. He was simply led back to his room by a maid in a daze.
"What a sad story."
Kahn pushed himself up in bed and stretched. "Haaah~~~"
"I actually had a dream within a dream within a dream. How amazing. But that kid really had it rough. Who knows what he'll do from now on? If I were that kid, I might as well join them-"
Muttering to himself, Kahn began getting dressed. Once he was done, he hopped off the bed and walked over to a bronze mirror to tidy himself up, only to find a handsome little boy reflected in it.
Wait!
Kahn suddenly snapped to his senses. A bronze mirror?
He looked down again. Ancient clothes?!
Finally, he raised his head to look in the bronze mirror again. Holy shit, isn't that the little boy from the dream?!!
The little boy in the bronze mirror wore the same "holy shit" expression.
"I'd better get some more sleep."
Looking perfectly "calm," Kahn lay back down and pulled the covers over himself.
I must still be asleep. I must!!!
In the end, Kahn had no choice but to climb out of bed, because his stomach had begun to hurt from hunger.
Following the memories from his dream, he found the kitchen and grabbed some random things to eat. Unfortunately, he ended up upsetting his stomach, and now he was squatting in the toilet, contemplating life with a pained expression.
It stinks so badly. No, wait. Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
Answers:
I'm Kahn, a little boy.
I've transmigrated, and I'm now in another world.
I have diarrhea, and I'm squatting over a toilet hole.
The third answer was actually irrelevant, but the first and second were deadly serious.
He had transmigrated!!!
Faced with such an incredible yet despair-inducing reality, he spent about twenty minutes accepting it.
His legs had gone numb from squatting, forcing him to stand and totter out of the toilet.
Feeling the aching, tingling pain in his legs that sent him between heaven and hell, Kahn let out a deep sigh.
Ugh, there isn't even a flush toilet. What's the point of living like this?!
Just kidding, just kidding. Better a miserable life than a good death-he still understood that much.
Since he would be living here from now on, the first thing to do was-
"I'd better figure out the situation first."
Kahn decided to carefully sort through the information from his dream-in other words, the memories of this body's previous owner.
After sorting through them, he found that his home was in the Fire Nation's capital. His father's name was Tate, and his mother's name was Wen Yu. There were quite a few maids and guards in the household, and the family appeared wealthy and distinguished, with no worries about food or clothing.
With such a happy, privileged family, he really had no idea why this body's father had wanted to go to war.
Was he trying to get himself killed?
In any case, Tate had died in the war.
Leaving the other miscellaneous memories aside for now, the one point that interested Kahn most was-
This world had supernatural powers!
Even more fortunately, he happened to possess those supernatural powers himself.
This world had four elements: air, water, earth, and fire. Divided along the lines of these four elements, the world consisted of four parts: the Air Nomads, the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, and the Fire Nation.
However, there was one person who could master all four elements: the Avatar. According to legend, he was the bridge responsible for maintaining balance in the world.
At this point, Kahn passed judgment on the Avatar in his mind: The standard protagonist template.
What a shame. If only I were the Avatar.
The reality was that he was a member of the Fire Nation. The Fire Nation wielded the element of fire, those who could control it were called firebenders, and the ability to manipulate fire was called firebending. The same applied to the other three.
Not everyone could awaken firebending. It took luck and talent, and Kahn happened to be one of those who had.
Although he wasn't the Avatar, being a firebender was acceptable too. At least it meant he had the qualifications to escape the ranks of the small fry.
This was wartime, an age of chaos, and being small fry in a chaotic age was a miserable fate.
If I'm a little more ambitious, and the Avatar is the protagonist, surely it isn't too much to ask to be the second male lead?
Then Kahn extended his right hand, recalling what he had seen in his memories-
"Mmm-"
"Poof."
A small flame bloomed in his hand, only to go out almost immediately. Kahn looked embarrassed. This performance fell far short of what he had seen in his memories.
That meant he was worse than a little brat.
"A fluke, a fluke. I've only just arrived, and I'm not used to things yet."
Kahn comforted himself. After all, the little boy in his memories had been practicing since he was small. How could that count?
At that thought, something suddenly occurred to Kahn:
"Where did everyone else go? Where are my maids? Where are my guards?"
He searched all around, but the courtyard was deserted. He stood there alone, looking bewildered.
"Has my Great Qing fallen?"
Before you continue