After having a successful and happy life, he had expected anything but a cruel, untimely death.

Marven's end was pitiful as opposed to the grand life that he had lived. He didn't want to die, but was killed. Against his will.

Yeah, even after going through all that, he didn't want to die.

"...other! Brother!" while miserably unconscious, he heard what seemed like a call for him.

'Ugh...even after killing me these guys won't let me rest...wait, kill?' he jolted upright as the realisation dawned upon him. "I died."

"Brother...?"

"I should have died... What is this? Am I alive...?" he mumbled, unable to comprehend what was unfolding.

"Brother!" someone screamed, as if a cry. Only then did Marven realise where he was.

A dimly lit area surrounded by the concrete walls, with only a single bed on which he was laid.

It was dreary, gloomy and claustrophobic...not somewhere he would ever be.

Not somewhere he belonged.

It was then that he saw the one, sobbing, too close to him.

"AHHHHHH!" he screamed, bewildered as he had just woken up from a nightmare. "W-WHO ARE YOU?!"

"Y-your siste-" she managed to whisper under his piercing eyes but...

"DID THEY SEND A CHILD TO KILL ME?! SINCE I DIDN'T DIE?! 

"...uh..?" she was speechless. 'Die? Why is he talking about death..? Brother?' she thought to herself, unable to process the heavy subject with her little brain even under maximum operation.

Eventually mustering up the courage she asked, "Brother, what do you mean?". But, she was immediately shut down. 

"Who are you calling your brother?! Is this another tactic of yours? To make me let my guard down? Sorry to say this kid, but I won't be fooled again. Don't make me repeat myself and get out."

She looked devastated.

"...brother...?" with horror and pain in her eyes as she did her best to hold back the tears threatening to rush out any second, she hoped for a last chance and called out to him again.

"OUT.! NOW..!" Marven was out of control, it could be seen from every movement he made. Not wanting to aggravate his condition to something more than it already had been, she left the room. Afterall, her brother needed rest now. He would surely be her "kind" brother once again after he got better. Unbeknownst to her, her brother would never be the same again.

...----------------...

Not among a stranger anymore, Marven's anxiety finally subsided. 

This was not like him. Marven was far from those unscrupulous fools who yelled and screeched as they desired. In fact, he was revered to for his patience in the network he came from. 

Yes, a network. That's all it could be called. Full of cunning, cruel and crude people hiding under the guise of elegance. Luxurious halls he had been invited to over the years, as he wore the back tie and sipped wine with a pretty smile. 

The world of the conglomerates.

And that's where he came from.

That's where he belonged.

^^^to be continued...^^^

"Marv! Let's go home together today!" a friendly and energetic guy from afar exclaimed at Marven's retreating figure, unaware of the look of gloom on Marven's face.

'Stop it. It's not even me you are calling for.'

He knew the guy was calling to the original Marven, not someone who had taken his place.

Marven was having a tough time adapting to this world. He also felt disturbed by the fact that this boy had the same name as his, in a world uncannily like his own. Except, now he was at the bottom of the ladder. And to top it all off, he now had to live with some child who claimed to be his sister. 

Being an only child in his previous world, he neither had the experience nor the will to take care of some rando. But ever since he had woken up a week ago, she refused to leave him alone. So, all he could do was to delay going home every day, which wasn't easy as...

"Oi shithead, get yo' ass here." yelled someone before he could even gather his thoughts in annoyance.

Talk of the devil and he's here with a smile. Well, more like a scowl.

"What?" seeping with annoyance in every action of his, our protagonist couldn't give the childish brat the time of his day as he had a lot to worry about. He had to find a way to get back.

Or maybe he could just die.

Everyone burst into laughter as the bully's face reddened. 

As you maybe guessed it, Marven, the original owner of this body was being bullied and the whole class was in on it. After all, being so poor there was no way Marven had a way to retaliate. Due to this, even staying in school was difficult.

Believing Marven was retaliating, which he kinda was, Vero - the bully, came storming to Marven. He thought that would be enough to scare him. But Marven didn't care.

Marven was an empty doll now as he had no hope. He believed the ones who killed him were the reason why he had to leave his joyous life behind.

' I'll kill them. '

He would have such thoughts repeatedly, but even his enemies were in the perfect world that he was unable to reach anymore. It burned his soul even further.

Not knowing the reason behind his murderous aura, Vero flinched.

'How dare he!'

Regaining his composure after that brief moment of threat, he was overcome with fury and flung his fist towards Marven.

"Oh! Vero's at it again haha!"

"Well, he should've expected it after what he did."

"What do you think? Will he survive this time?"

"Probably not, he was especially stupid today."

"LOLOLOL"

Everyone was laughing yet again. But there was only one thought Marven had.

“Ugh, what a pain..!” Eckart was hit, his face a bloody red, as soon as he heard it.

^^^to be continued...^^^

Usually, Marven wouldn’t have gotten involved in such frivolous matters, but it’s not like he would let others beat him up.

Moreover, he had just seen a flashback of the original Marven being bullied by this asshole and the whole class chiming in to enjoy what they thought to be top tier entertainment. This had thoroughly disturbed Marven.

‘It’s not that I feel bad for him but I just can’t stand someone having the same name as me sullying their reputation. And, I’ll be living in this body for as long as I find a way, so it wouldn’t hurt to set the records straight.’

This saddened Marven yet again. The realisation that he has no way to get out of this unfamiliar environment hurts.

But he wasn’t in a situation to think about those stuff now.

“Y-you! How dare you! How dare you hit me?!” he huffed.

“You were just so slow I couldn’t have sat back and do nothing even if I wanted to.” Marven snorted, shrugging his shoulders.

Vero's face flushed red, perhaps due to anger or embarrassment, or both. Quite a sight to behold, as he was one of the strongest in the school, which was evident.

Loud chatter echoed around the now bustling classroom, shocked and mocking. They just needed amusement. Cowards.

Before long, the homeroom teacher made his way into the room, silencing all. 

‘At least Vero will not be acting up anytime soon. I only hit his face but it seems like I have a fracture now…well this may also be because Marven* is just weak.’

Judging by the timing, the teacher must have been waiting outside to avoid getting caught up in any mess, but decided to interrupt before things could get out of hand. What a corrupt system…

...---...

“Sigh… I was lucky today…” The last period's teacher was on leave, so he snuck out of the classroom before Vero got a hold of him. 

As he looked back on the events that happened today, Marven realised this body hardly had any talent. Well, it did seem to have a good head. The original Marven was on scholarship too so maybe he wasn't totally useless… But this hardly helped with the harsh life he lived.

“First, I need to survive somehow. I refuse to live in the gutter for the rest of my time here. I wasn't too keen on helping this body, but seems like that's the only way now…” he had been muttering to himself, attracting a few pairs of eyes, which he hadn't realised. That's when-

“Brother! Welcome home!” A cheerful voice greeted him. “How was your day at school today?” She continued on.

It seems Marven had unintentionally made with to his home. Muscle memory was a scary thing.

‘Not this, please...’

“You should freshen up! The meal is ready. Let's eat together~” She was as excited as always.

^^^to be continued...^^^