Chapter Text
As the first rays of light gently filtered into the bedroom, they bathed the dimly lit bedroom in a warm golden glow. The light stretched languidly towards the edge of a bed where a man with ashen hair laid, his breathes slow and steady as the warmth of the sun softly caressed his face, coaxing him awake from his slumber.
As he gradually began to wake up, his eyelashes fluttered faintly. A flicker of irritation stirred inside the man as he reluctantly opened one eye to peer at the sunlight streaming through the window.
Caelus grunts in annoyance and turns to face the shadows away from the sun.
God give him a break, wasn't it just night time a moment ago? He was still feeling upset as well from his favorite character dying unfairly too, and he was not in the mood to get up and do whatever shit he had too today.
Just a little more. Caelus sniffles, as a wave of drowsiness lulled him into sleep once more.
’Just a small break…”
And just as Caelus was on the verge of drifting into sleep, a chorus of cicadas begin to chirp outside.
He just barely restraints himself from hurling his pillow at the noisy bunch of insects.
And just like that his day was ruined.
Caelus let out an exasperated groan; his day was already ruined, and it had barely begun. It felt as though the universe held a grudge against him.
Thoughts of his unfinished assignments on his computer flashes in mind, and Caelus seriously thinks about dropping out of college and possibly living his life as a homeless man.
"Caelus, you're awake." Someone says.
“No." Caelus replies absentmindedly, voice hoarse and throat itchy as he'd just woken up. "No actually, I think I'm dead."
"You're doing that annoying thing again."
Caelus lets out a yawn and stretches his back, the satisfying pops in his joints bringing him a sense of relief. "Is it annoying when it's just the truth?" I do think that I am dead- dead inside that is."
He slowly turns towards the source of the voice, blinking once, then twice before the realization strikes him; there's a stranger in his home.
Caelus scrambles away, shrieking. "Who the fuck are you!?"
As the man sat beside Caelus' bed, his brows knitted together in concern, casting Caelus an incredulous look as if he were the odd one in the room. ”Perhaps you hit your head harder than I thought.” he murmured, lifting a pale hand to feel Caelus' forehead. "Can you recall where you are right now? What’s your name?" After he releases his grip he points his index finger up to Caelus. “Look at my finger and follow it’s movements.”
The man moves his finger left and right, and Caelus can’t tell whether he should either laugh or cry at the absurdity of the situation.
“You- are you joking me right now?" Caelus scoffs, pushing away the mans finger from his face. "What the hell are you doing in my house?!”
The other man, with long black hair and striking blue eyes Caelus notes, manages to frown even deeper at Caelus' behaviour. "Mind your words, don't be vulgar." Caelus lets out an insulted loud squawk. “And this is my abode."
"Yeah right, cut the bullshit this is my- Caelus trails off, as he finally took in his surroundings since the moment he woke up.
He was no longer surrounded by the comforts of his own bedroom; instead, everything resembled a rustic dwelling. The walls were made of tightly woven bamboo strips, adorned with shelves brimming with an assortment of books.
The bed—or futon—was carefully arranged on a raised platform at the far end of the room, away from the single door. In the center of the space, a low table rested, inviting casual gatherings.
And at the base of the bed, a single potted plant sat alone.
...Oh dear god, was this what they called a kidnapping?! Had he been kidnapped?
What was the man going to do with Caelus? Was he going to sell him? Sell his organs? Kill him?
Was this the end to Caelus life?
This was it, he could see it now, his face was gonna be plastered all over the news as a kidnapping victim. '22-year-old Caelus gets kidnapped from his own home!' He wonders how long it would take for everyone to realise that he was missing, would his friends miss him? Would he get his own documentary?
The man furrows his brows, tilting his head slightly. “What’s a documentary? Are you okay? I don’t even understand what you’re saying- hey!”
Caelus bolts upright from his bed as the man reaches out for him, attempting to escape from the other's grasp.
And ridiculously fails as he stumbles and falls, tangling himself in the blankets that covered him.
Fuck that was so embarrassing! Caelus feels a flush climb up his neck as he tries to remove himself from the bunch of fabrics in a panic induced frenzy.
“You- What are you doing?” The guy who had to witness all of Caelus' hysterics asked helplessly, reaching for Caelus again until his hands get swatted away from said man.
Caelus breathes heavily, dragging himself to the furthest corner of the room, away from the man. ”Where is this?! Where have you brought me?!” Caelus cries, clutching the pillow he’d inadvertently carried with him. “Someone help me please! This man is going to kill me and sell my organs!” He blubbers whilst flailing around.
“I- You- you are not well." The man says, voice heavy with defeat. He lets his arms fall to his side as he stops trying to approach Caelus, giving the most judgemental look Caelus had ever seen. "I'm going to get Shifu. You...stay here."
With that he turns away from Caelus and quickly exits the room, unwilling to glance back at the chaos behind him.
Caelus ignores him though, as he starts crying and asking for foregiveness for every single bad thing he's done. He asks for his parents forgiveness for not completing his studies before he died, for his professor for not being a good student, for his goldfish which he accidentally flushed down the toilet when he thought it'd died when it didn't-
[ Host please calm down ]
A loud thud echoes through the room as Caelus recoiled, striking his head sharply against the wall.
He swears as he cradled his throbbing head in his hands, he scans the room except there was no one else besides himself.
Was that a hallucination?
[ I am not a hallucination ]
Caelus' soul almost leaves his body, heart thumping wildly at the unsettling sound of a voice resonating in his mind.
"What the fuck?!"
[ Host if you would please calm yourself, I can explain what is going on ]
"God?" Caelus asks hesitantly.
[ No, I am not god. ]
"Oh my god, the devil!" Caelus cries, tears streaming pitifully down his face. "I always knew I'd go to hell for accidental murder- but I swear I didn't know that Chewy wasn't dead! He wasn't moving at all even when I poked him I swear-"
[ Host please stop you aren't dead nor are you going to die. You are in a different reality. ]
Caelus tenses, his cries and sobs abruptly silencing as a wave of confusion washes over him. “What?”
[ To put simply, you’ve transmigrated ]
”What?”
[ You’re no longer the Caelus of your world, but the Caelus from the novel ‘Atop This Peak’ ]
”Huh?”
[ …I will just send over the information and hope for the best. ]
”Wha-“ Caelus doubles over in pain, his head begins to spin at the amount of information running through his brain.
He curses under his breath, and it feels like an eternity before everything gradually comes to a halt. Caelus grabs his own hair and pulls, the sharp pain anchoring him as he finally begins to comprehend the situation he’s in.
Which was to say, he was entirely fucked.
Backtracking on what the voice had said before, he had actually transmigrated into the world ‘Atop This Peak’, where he was no longer Caelus, an ordinary 19-year-old college student. Instead he had become Caelus, a cultivator who was the sibling of the main character in the book, Stelle.
The character in the novel who became cannon fodder the moment he died fighting a low demonic beast.
And the reason why he transmigrated because-
“I’m supposed to prevent my own death?”
[ Yes. ]
Caelus fell silent, a whirlwind of emotions swirling within him as he struggled to process the reality before him. Doubt, frustration, fear, they all clouded his mind—was this an elaborate prank, or was he truly caught in a bewildering nightmare? What on earth was happening?
"...And what are you supposed to be?"
[ I am the administrator of this world, I oversee the world and now I am to supervise you on your missions.]
”So you are a god! Wait, missions? Plural? As in stopping Caelus’ death isn’t the only one?” Caelus rambles to himself, his heart gradually shrinking as he contemplated the grim possibilities of his future.
[ There are side missions too, which are not without rewards of course. And saving Caelus is your sole mission. ]
[ Succeed in saving him and you will be sent back home with rewards. Fail; your soul will be ripped to shreds where you can never reincarnate. ]
Caelus froze, his breath catching in his throat as a wave of dread washed over him, draining the color from his face at the horrifying thought of his soul being torn apart. “Isn’t this punishment excessive?” he whispered, his voice trembling. “Why must the consequences be so severe when I never even asked for any of this?”
[ But you did ask for Caelus to be saved the night before, wishing “I wish I could change Caelus’ fate” before you fell asleep. Did you forget? ]
Blood almost splutters out from Caelus’ mouth as he sagged down to the floor, regret and bitterness pooling in his gut.
That book again! That book that book!
It was nothing but a curse, a demon spawn from hell!
He knew he shouldn’t have read that book!
Sampo was always never up to no good that little-
“Caelus?” A deep voice calls out from beyond the door. “Are you alright? Dan Heng told me that your head injury was much more serious then we originally thought.”
Caelus’ head snaps towards the door, his body trembled slightly at the onslaught of adrenaline filling his veins as he jumped to his feet.
That guy, that guy. He was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he almost completely forgot about the situation he was in, and the man that had been with him when he awoke.
He must've gotten reinforcements, Caelus had to act fast by firstly fixing his appearance.
Caelus, soon realizing his home clothes had been replaced in some complicated robes, quickly brushed away sort of dust and misplaces fabrics on himself, then attempted to tame his wild- waist length hair into some semblance.
As if the anxiety wasn't enough, the gravity of it all sunk in once more. This was no longer a mere joke and his life was hanging on the balance of his performance of keeping his head on his shoulders.
It made him nauseous.
And not only that, but now the administrator had stopped talking, leaving Caelus behind to deal with the mess that could’ve been prevented if it just gave him a heads up!
Another series of knocks. “Caelus?”
The Caelus' eye twitches. Someone, give him a break! Caelus cries frustratedly internally. “I’m fine. Everything is okay er- Shifu! I’m just gonna rest a bit more.”
A second passes, and Caelus exhales shakily, wearily rubbing the back of his neck as silence filled the room once more.
Now to deal with that administer-
The door opens, and then one becomes three as two other men enter the room.
Oh come on!
Caelus purses his lips, eyes flickering back and forth between the two who barged into the room. One distinctively older, while the other was the man who left Caelus previously.
“Caelus?” The older one walks towards him with a cane supporting his weight, a worried look on his lips. “Are you alright?”
Caelus shifts his gaze to the cane in the mans hand, forcing a smile as he laughed. “I’m fine Shifu, there's no need to worry about me!” He raised a hand and tapped his own head playfully a few times. “See! My head is definitely in great shape.”
The younger man, whom Caelus learns is called Dan Heng, steps forward from behind Shifu. “You said I was kidnapping you.” He says bluntly, eyes locked onto Caelus like a hawk. “You were screaming and running around like a headless chicken.”
Caelus cringes at the reminder, still he forces himself to smile and laugh like nothing were wrong. "Ah that- you see- I was just so confused when I woke up and I wasn't in my own uh- abode! You see I'm not really a morning person and it's hard for me to remember things in the morning-"
"Shifu, I still believe that he is being possessed." Dan Heng cuts off, turning away from Caelus to give his thoughts to the older man. "Is it not reacting at all?"
Rude! Caelus shot a glare towards Dan Heng just as Shifu shook his head. "There is nothing happening." He said, searching Caelus's expression as if trying to uncover a hidden truth. "Perhaps you are mistaken, Dan Heng."
Dan Heng blinked, his expression unreadable as he scrutinized Caelus once more. "I see." His voice makes Caelus want to throttle him. "My mistake, I apologise for the confusion." He said, lowering his head. Yet, despite the apology, the emptiness in his tone renders it utterly insincere in Caelus' eyes.
Still, he has to do whatever he can to appease these people and they can hopefully leave him the fuck alone so that he can gather his wits. "Water under the bridge." He replies dismissively with a wave of his hand, looking away from the awkward display.
Dan Heng nods, not bothering with the situation any longer he exchanges a few words with Shifu before taking his leave, taking one last glance at Caelus.
What the hell was his problem? Just because Caelus was acting dramatic just now- he didn't ask for this either okay! All Caelus wanted was to just wake up in his own bed in his own home without these strange people here-
"Caelus." Shifu speaks up, snapping Caelus out of his own thoughts. "We must discuss what happened earlier."
Caelus took in a sharp breath, dread filling inside him. At this point of time when the two men had barged in earlier Caelus was unable to obtain the memories of this Caelus so he hadn't known what had happened earlier before he came.
Not only that but they were suspicious of his behaviour and identity now, one misstep and he was entirely done.
Forget attempting to survive later on in the books, Caelus would have to figure out how to survive right from the start! Or whatever chapter of the book he was in now!
Stupid book! Stupid administration!
If reading was what was going to be the cause of Caelus', he swore in his next life he would never pick up a book ever again!