Transmigration or illusion

"Are you really Ryuuga?"

The young man asked again, his voice laced with suspicion.

"Yeah, why? What's wrong?" Zidan replied nervously.

"Hmm... Why do I feel like something's different about you?"

The young man lowered his head, narrowing his eyes at Zidan in suspicion.

Shit...

The helmet still stuck on Zidan's head was pulled off by the man.

"Hey, hey! What the heck are you doing?!"

Zidan instinctively stepped back.

'Who even is this guy? Why is he acting so weird? This is freaking me out!'

"Nothing. Maybe it's just my feeling."

Grab.

In one swift move, Zidan was hoisted up and thrown over the guy's shoulder. He froze mid-thought.

"Eh—wait, wait, wait?!"

Zidan thrashed about in the guy's grip. It wasn't a gentle princess carry—it was more like a sack of rice tossed over a delivery man's shoulder.

"Hey! Dude! I'm a person, not a fifty-kilo bag of rice! Put me down already!"

Zidan's face was pressed into the guy's back.

"Help! I'm being kidnapped! Somebody call the cops! Help! MOMMMM—"

he screamed.

SMACK!

"OW! Don't just slap my butt like that!"

Zidan yelled, his cheeks flushed with fury and embarrassment.

"Who told you to wander off to the lake when you said you were coming home?"

the man muttered coldly, his voice calm but with an ominous undertone.

He casually tossed Zidan into the front passenger seat like he was unloading cargo.

"Who the hell are you?! I don't even know you! Are you a criminal? A kidnapper? An alien? A... life insurance agent?!"

Zidan glared and pointed at the man's face in alarm.

The man let out a sigh.

"I'm Arutala. Your cousin. Don't tell me you forgot?"

Zidan froze.

"...Oh, haha, of course I remember! Just kidding. Who could forget their own cousin, right?"

he replied awkwardly, cursing the original body's owner for not leaving behind a single memory.

Arutala didn't respond. He just drove quietly, ignoring Zidan's panicked babbling.

"Wait—my motorbike! We left it behind! What if someone steals it?!"

Zidan twisted in his seat to look out the rear window.

"Just buy a new one."

Arutala replied coolly, clearly unconcerned.

"What the hell, buy a new one?! If it still works, why waste money?! Rich people logic, ugh!"

Zidan grumbled.

"Bodyguards will retrieve it. Happy now?"

Arutala sighed, not understanding why his cousin was suddenly so loud and chatty.

Zidan huffed.

"So, where are we going?"

he asked, watching the road.

"Home."

Arutala said flatly.

"Oh... cool."

Zidan replied, trying to stay calm even though his heart was pounding.

'OMG... What do I do? What if I say something wrong and they find out I'm not the real Ryu? What if they kill me?! Oh God, please help this poor confused soul!'

Before long, the car stopped in front of a massive mansion with an elegant iron gate.

"Is this... the Arkatama residence? Dang, it's huge."

Zidan whispered in awe.

Before he could even admire the place properly—well, more like a castle than a house—Arutala once again tossed him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Dude! Stop carrying me like this! I look like a newborn calf being carried by its mom! Put me down! People are staring!"

Zidan protested, squirming as bystanders gawked.

"Relax. No one dares mock you."

Arutala replied, tossing his car keys to a bodyguard as they entered the mansion, complete with European-style gates, automatic steel bars, and retina scanners.

Still on Arutala's shoulder, Zidan squinted.

"Is this a house… or the freaking Avengers HQ?"

he muttered, just loud enough for Arutala to hear.

Without answering, Arutala gently placed Zidan down as if he were setting down a treasure chest.

"Walk on your own."

he said, walking ahead.

Zidan blinked.

"Holy crap... Ryu's life is stupidly rich, man."

he whispered, swallowing hard.

"What are you waiting for? Go in."

Arutala said firmly, prompting Zidan to shuffle into the Arkatama mansion.

---

Meanwhile, inside the Arkatama mansion's living room...

Two adults—one male, one female—were locked in a heated argument.

"This is all your fault, Kara! My sweet little nephew wouldn't run away if it weren't for your frozen personality!"

shouted a middle-aged woman, pointing a stiletto heel at the man across from her—unfortunately, her own brother.

"Lidya, can you put that shoe down before I throw you into 1998 using Doraemon's time-travel door?"

Kara replied with a bored look but a dangerous gleam in his eye.

"Besides, you think I'm a werewolf or something? Able to sniff him out in the forest? He ran away because he's a brat, not because of me."

Lidya put her hands on her hips, dramatic like a soap opera lead actress in episode 997.

"He's a good boy, Kara! Sensitive, gentle, loves K-dramas and the gym! He needs warmth, not the freaking Arctic Circle you call a personality!"

Kara raised an eyebrow.

"Not my fault. Every time I try to get close, he backs away."

"ARRRGHHH!!"

Lidya clutched her hair in frustration.

"Of course he backs away! Your face is terrifying! You look like you're constantly craving human flesh!"

Kara scowled.

"I've always looked like this. And for the record, your face isn't exactly sunshine and daisies either."

Lidya, offended, threw her stiletto at him—

THUNK!

"Ow!"

Except it missed and hit someone else entirely.

A teenage boy had just walked in, looking around cluelessly, when the shoe bonked him square in the head.

"Oh no, Ryu!!"

Lidya screamed, rushing over to Zidan, who swayed and nearly collapsed—thankfully caught by Arutala.

'Am I dying? Yeah, probably,'

Zidan thought before darkness overtook him.

"Ryu, sweetie! Wake up, baby! Oh my God, what do we do?!"

Lidya panicked, patting his cheeks frantically.

"Mom, why the heck did you throw your shoe?!"

Arutala snapped at her.

"Blame your uncle! He made me mad!"

Lidya pointed at Kara, who was still munching banana chips like nothing happened.

---

Somewhere far, far away...

"Whoa... Where is this? This place is freaking awesome."

Zidan now stood at the edge of a crystal-clear lake, surrounded by otherworldly plants glowing in impossible colors.

"Is this... the afterlife? Or... heaven? Wait, me in heaven? Nah, no way. I've definitely sinned too much for that,"

he muttered, walking along the lake whose surface mirrored the sky like glass.

"So I died again, huh? But seriously? First time I died from a sneeze. Then I transmigrated into some villain's body. Barely got the hang of things—and now this? Dying again 'cause of a freakin' high heel? Unreal. My life's like a cursed mix of soap opera and isekai anime,"

he grumbled, lying back on the warm, soft grass that felt suspiciously luxurious for a "dead guy zone."

"So now what? Am I gonna be a ghost? Or get reincarnated again—this time as an even more annoying character?"

Zidan closed his eyes in defeat. But one thing was clear—

Even in the afterlife...

He just couldn't shut up.