TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 1

Outside the bustling subway station, a young boy tightly held his older brother’s hand, afraid of getting lost.

His brother was attending a comic convention today, and the boy had tagged along to explore and experience something new.

One of his brother’s companions waved at them from the meetup point. “Is this the little brother you mentioned? He’s adorable.”

The boy peeked out from behind his brother and smiled shyly, sweetly greeting, “Hello, big sister! I’m Xiao Bai. I’ll be good and stay with my brother the whole time! Are you a mermaid? You’re so beautiful.”

Dressed in suspenders with clean, tidy clothes, the boy’s soft hair resembled a lamb’s fleece. His delicate features and bright, lively eyes radiated a charm that even his fluttering eyelashes seemed to emphasize.

In contrast, his brother exuded a lazy, nonchalant charm, making the two siblings both stand out in their own ways. However, Xiao Bai’s appearance bore little resemblance to his brother’s.

The companion recalled that this boy was adopted.

“Such a sweet talker! I’m cosplaying the Siren Queen from Fatum.”

Fatum was a fantasy revenge manga set in a world of swords and magic, where humans worshipped twelve gods while waging brutal wars against monsters. Its backdrop resembled medieval Europe.

The story followed a half-human, half-demon boy named Blake from the City of Sin. In his quest to find his father’s killer and a long-lost friend, he formed alliances with various companions, journeying together to uncover the truth and face their enemies.

Due to its revenge-driven characters, fans jokingly called the series the “Revenge Alliance.”

For today’s cosplay, though, they were portraying the villains—the antagonists who challenged the protagonist team at every turn. The Siren Queen was one such villain: a powerful monster capable of human form.

“How old are you, little brother?” she asked, pulling out a piece of chocolate for him.

Xiao Bai blinked, seeming to guess her thoughts, and leaned his head closer, reminding her of a friendly, well-mannered kitten.

“Thank you, big sister. Just call me Xiao Bai,” he said politely while taking the chocolate. Puffing his chest out proudly, he added, “I’m eight years old and already in primary school!”

A polite and adorable child—who wouldn’t like him?

As she patted his soft hair, the boy’s brother promptly pulled him back.

“Ugh, sibling complex!” she teased, unsurprised, before turning her attention back to Xiao Bai. Smiling warmly, she asked, “Do you want to cosplay, too? There’s a character in Fatum nicknamed Xiao Bai—your brother’s favorite!”

“Really? I can cosplay someone my brother likes?” Xiao Bai asked, his big eyes lighting up.

With his brother’s approval, he eagerly asked the Siren Queen about the character.

“Oh, he’s a very cute boy named Albin. He has white hair, red eyes, and is an orphan. When he was eight, he got picked up by a scumbag. Do you want to cosplay him before or after that happened?”

“Scumbag?” Xiao Bai tilted his head.

“Yep, a despicable character! The worst! The cockroach of humanity!” she huffed, clearly irked. “He took advantage of Albin’s amnesia, adopted him, and manipulated him until his death. Absolute trash!”

She showed him two pictures of Albin on her phone.

The first image depicted a lively white-haired boy in patched clothes, clutching a stale loaf of bread while fleeing down an alley. His eyes sparkled with determination and energy.

The second image was of a frail, red-eyed youth wearing opulent yet ill-fitting clothes. His lips were pursed, his eyes hollow, and his thin arms were wrapped in bandages, revealing faint scars beneath. He looked like a shattered glass doll on the verge of breaking.

“Poor Albin died at sixteen, never recovering his memories…”

Before she could continue, Xiao Bai quickly interrupted. “Big sister, I haven’t read Fatum yet! No spoilers!” He pointed to the pre-adoption picture. “This one looks simpler.”

While Xiao Bai enjoyed anime more than manga, his brother’s cosplay had piqued his curiosity. He decided to read Fatum that very night.

The Siren Queen nodded. “Great! We’ll sort out your costume once we’re inside. No need for heavy makeup—you’re already cute enough!”

As more companions gathered, they made their way to the convention center, stopping at a red light.

“Big sister, who’s your favorite character in Fatum?” Xiao Bai asked curiously.

“Ze-daddy, of course! A breathtakingly beautiful high-and-mighty man,” she said, her voice full of admiration.

Ze-Man, the villainous king of monsters, was a pure human who achieved godslayer status. His infamous line, “So gods bleed too,” was iconic and still her phone’s wallpaper.

The crosswalk turned green, and the group headed across.

Xiao Bai, being small, walked at the back with his brother to avoid getting jostled. He glanced up at his brother’s casually tousled black hair and the dark fur collar framing his pale complexion. His half-lidded purple eyes caught the sunlight, making him look like a sleepy vampire.

But before Xiao Bai could ask who his brother was cosplaying, he saw a truck running the red light, barreling toward them.

He panicked.

Letting go of his brother’s hand, Xiao Bai threw himself forward, shoving his brother out of harm’s way.

“Bang!”

—-

So hot!

Cough cough cough—

Waking up in the heatwave, Albin accidentally inhaled a breath of hot, thick smoke. His mouth and nose pressed against his arm as he coughed repeatedly, curling his body up.

His eyes watered from the smoke, only vaguely seeing the flames. The crackling sounds of burning wood filled his ears.

What’s going on?

He vaguely remembered that he had died…

Could it be that he woke up during the cremation? That would be terrible.

He hurriedly wiped away his tears and only then realized he was in a burning forest, with thick smoke clouding the sky, making it hard to breathe and causing anxiety.

What he saw before him wasn’t a typical forest fire. It looked as though the area had been ravaged by an earthquake or storm, or even like a scene from a war film, with forests bombed to pieces. The terrain was either raised or sunken, the soil and plants overturned, and vegetation uprooted. Fallen trees caught fire, but because the ground plants had been destroyed, the flames spread slowly and wouldn’t reach him for now.

He observed his surroundings, unsure if he should feel relieved.

Well, at least he didn’t wake up in the crematorium.

But what exactly was happening here?

He took a deep breath, using his school fire drill experience to calm down and assess the situation.

Memories from his past life flooded back like a tide.

In his previous life, he died at the age of 8 in a car accident. After death, he was reborn into a different world full of swords and magic, again living as an 8-year-old.

It seemed the cost of regaining his past life’s memories was losing the memories of his current life. Now, only some basic awareness of his present life remained, and he couldn’t understand why he was here.

In this life, his name was “Albin,” and he had white hair and red eyes…

As his memories settled into place, Albin’s face became confused.

This seemed so familiar—wasn’t this the character from Fatum that the sea witch sister had spoiled for him?

He had actually transmigrated into a comic book and become a character destined to die young.

He hurriedly looked around.

Amnesia, fire, 8 years old, orphan…

Oh no, could it be the very day the sea witch sister mentioned in her spoilers?

—He was about to be adopted by a villain comparable to a cockroach, exploited mercilessly, and then die at 16.

Thinking of those comparison images and the sea witch sister’s description, Albin’s imagination ran wild with the image of a giant cockroach climbing all over him. He was instantly disgusted, his hairs standing on end, his hair frizzing out, and he felt completely unwell.

Ugh, so gross!

Brother, come quick—

Instinctively calling out that title, Albin froze, his throat tightening and tears falling freely.

He gritted his teeth and took a deep breath, turning his sadness into motivation.

Run! He had to run!

He was afraid of pain and didn’t want to end up like the person in the images, scarred and broken.

If he could just leave this area quickly, run far enough, maybe he wouldn’t encounter the villain.

The fear of the fire, and the fear of the future, pushed Albin to act immediately.

Using his fire drill training, he covered his mouth and nose with his tear-wet sleeve, moving away from the fire and searching for a way out.

Wandering for a while, unsure of how long he had been walking, he saw a white figure on the ground.

Huh, there were other people trapped here?

Albin immediately turned back.

When he saw the white-haired man collapsed on the ground, his complex clothes had been slashed by sharp objects, stained with red blood.

Judging by his hair color, this wasn’t the villain the sea witch sister had warned about.

He cautiously approached, expecting the man to be badly injured, but upon closer inspection, he realized the man didn’t have a single wound. Instead, he seemed to be in a strange kind of unconsciousness, and the so-called blood-red stains were just patterns on his clothing.

Maybe the torn clothes were considered fashionable by adults?

Albin breathed a sigh of relief, checked the man’s breath, and then pressed his ear to his chest to listen.

Great, he was still alive!

Looking around at the flames, growing fiercer with the wind, Albin couldn’t just leave a living person behind.

What if the man died because he left?

An adult… if he saved him, could he ask him to take him to a safe place?

But how could he carry him?

He could feel that his physical condition had improved in this life, but he was still far from being able to move an adult.

Staring at the crimson-lined cloak beneath the white-haired man, Albin had an idea.

“Heave-ho, heave-ho…”

The cloak wrapped around the man like a body bag. Albin pulled the sturdy and smooth cloak with great effort, managing to drag the man to a nearby cave.

The cave was deep and echoed with sounds. Albin felt uneasy, but he was in a dark forest at night, with partial amnesia about where he was, and had no other place to go.

He didn’t know how to preserve fire or make a torch, so he dared only stay near the entrance where he could still see the firelight and moonlight.

The unconscious adult beside him gave him some sense of security. At least he wasn’t alone in this vast, dark, cold, and unfamiliar place.

He sat hugging his knees next to the man, exhausted and upset after everything that had happened. He cried and muttered about his brother, and soon felt very sleepy.

But he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching him from outside. Fearing something terrible would approach at night, he dared not sleep.

His messy white hair swayed like garlic being pounded, sleepy and muddled.

Suddenly, there was some movement from the “body bag” next to him. Albin woke up in shock, quickly retreating three steps, fumbling for the weapon he had picked up along the way, and pointing it at the man’s throat.

“Don’t move!”

He was terrified.

He wanted to hold onto the adult’s leg, but was also afraid this was another bad guy.

The man also had white hair and red eyes, looking handsome. He reminded Albin of the beautiful lady the sea witch sister had described, but even if it was her, Albin didn’t know if she was a good person or a bad person.

If this was a bad guy, he definitely had to run!

The awakened man’s face was hidden in the shadow beyond the reach of the moonlight, his dull crimson eyes staring at the tearful white-haired boy in front of him. The boy looked obedient but was baring his teeth and clawing in an exaggerated show of force, like a small animal startled into arching its back and bristling.

The man’s gaze shifted downward, and he saw that the so-called weapon was just a thin branch, its broken end pressing against his throat. The display of defiance only made him feel a slight itch.

This was a harmless boy, top to bottom.

But this was the criminal city of Thorns.

He glanced at the sky outside, his gaze cold like the ice that never thaws, with currents swirling beneath its surface.

Why would an ordinary child be here, in the place of his battle with the Sun God? The nearby villages had been slaughtered by the Sun God, leaving no survivors.

Such an arrogant deity wouldn’t let anyone who might know his secret live.

His scrutinizing gaze landed on the boy’s smoke-blackened face, traces of tears on it, and his clothes were scorched by the flames.

His gaze lingered on the boy’s fresh burn on his ankle.

The Sun God wielded the power of fire, so when someone was burned, people considered it divine punishment. Even extinguishing the fire was an act requiring repentance and judgment.

Neither priests nor doctors would treat these people. If they walked on the streets, others would avoid them for fear of angering the deity.

The burn would follow them for life, until their death when they were thrown into the flames for purification.

The man looked at the “body bag” that had been pulled to reveal two “long ears,” noticing the boy’s reddened palm. Although he didn’t understand how this boy survived, he now understood why he was in the cave.

This unfamiliar boy had pulled him out of the divine punishment fire.

Such an act was considered senseless and foolish in both the eyes of the public and the priests.

He half-closed his eyes, unafraid of the weapon pressing against his throat, and sat up.

“What do you want? I told you not to move.” Albin was so nervous he nearly jumped up. He cautiously asked, “Are you a bad guy?”

The man coldly replied, “Yes.”

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