The Wrong World
Li Yue awoke to chaos.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her body trembling as she gasped for air. Cold, dry air, unlike anything she had ever breathed before. The air of a world that was wrong.
Her heart pounded—hard, frantic—like a war drum sounding before the battle.
Her eyes snapped open, expecting to see the silken canopy of her chamber, the golden embroidery of her wedding robes, or the familiar stone walls of the palace.
Instead—
Blinding light.
A strange, pale ceiling, covered in thin, ridged lines, completely smooth and without beams or carved details. The air smelled sterile, metallic, carrying no trace of burning incense or morning dew.
And the noise—gods, the noise.
A strange beeping filled the air in rhythmic bursts. A deep, unnatural hum vibrated beneath her, unlike the steady silence of a palace morning.
Panic shot through her.
She bolted upright—
And immediately froze.
This body.
These hands.
They were not hers.
The arms that emerged from beneath the thin, stiff blanket were strange, foreign—shorter than they should be, the skin smoother, unblemished by the faint scars she had carried all her life.
Her breath hitched. No.
She yanked the blanket away and saw legs that were not hers, wrapped in some kind of thin, unnatural cloth. Her feet, bare, looked smaller, more delicate.
Her hands shook violently as she reached up and grabbed a lock of hair—short, barely past her shoulders, soft and straight instead of the heavy, braided weight of her usual hair.
Her breathing became ragged.
"What sorcery is this?" she whispered, though the voice that left her lips was not her own.
It was sharper, stronger, deeper than her usual tone.
This was not her body.
And this was not her world.
She scrambled to the edge of the strange, too-soft bed, her legs unsteady beneath her.
A cold sensation ran through her as she noticed wires attached to her wrist, connected to a thin, metal pole standing beside her. A clear liquid dripped down a tube—some kind of alchemy? Some foreign magic?
Her breathing quickened.
She tore the strange bindings from her skin, her fingers fumbling as she yanked the tube free. It stung, but she barely felt it.
She needed to get out.
She pushed herself up—her legs wobbling slightly—but she forced them to move.
She had no idea where she was.
The walls were smooth, white, empty of any carvings or tapestries. Strange boxes lined the wall, with glowing blue lights blinking in a pattern.
The window—gods, the window!
She stumbled toward it, pressing a palm against the cold glass.
And her breath caught in her throat.
A world she did not know stretched beyond it.
Towering structures of glass and steel loomed in the distance, standing taller than any palace or pagoda she had ever seen.
The streets below were filled with metal beasts, moving swiftly without horses, glowing red and white lights flickering on their backs and fronts. The sky was dark, yet alive with unnatural light—signs, flickering words, colors she had never seen before.
Her stomach lurched.
"No…" she breathed.
Where was she?
She turned wildly, searching the room for any sign of familiarity. A mirror. She needed a mirror.
Her gaze landed on a shiny rectangle mounted on the wall, reflecting a blurry version of herself.
She rushed toward it—only to stumble back in shock.
A woman stared back at her.
A woman she did not recognize.
Short, jet-black hair. Wide, intelligent eyes—not hers. A face with sharp, modern beauty, lips slightly parted in her same stunned expression.
It was not Li Yue.
But somehow—it was.
"What in the name of the heavens…" she whispered, her fingers shaking as she pressed them against her own—no, this woman's—face.
How was this possible?
How had she ended up in this body?
And if she was here—
Where was the true owner of this body?
The door slammed open.
Li Yue spun around, her heart leaping into her throat.
A man in a strange white robe rushed inside, his face drawn with urgency. Behind him, another figure—a woman—followed closely, speaking rapidly in words she only half-understood.
"Miss Song Rui, please calm down!" the man said, his voice firm but oddly soothing.
Li Yue stiffened.
Song Rui?
Was that… her name?
No. No, it wasn't.
She was Li Yue, Princess of the Northern Realm.
Not… whoever they thought she was.
The man's hands reached toward her as if to stop her from moving. Instinct took over.
She reacted.
With a swift movement, she grabbed his wrist and twisted, it spinning him off balance. The man yelped, stumbling back. The woman behind him gasped in shock.
"W-What are you doing?!" the woman exclaimed.
Li Yue did not know.
Her breath was ragged, her body tense.
She had no idea who these people were, no idea what they wanted.
All she knew was that she was trapped in a place she did not understand.
The woman raised her hands in a placating gesture.
"Miss Song Rui, I promise, you're safe. You were in an accident—"
Li Yue's stomach turned.
An accident?
Was that why she was here?
Had this Song Rui—this woman—been injured, allowing their souls to switch?
Was Song Rui now in her body, waking up in a world of silk and swords and warlords?
The thought terrified her.
She had to find out the truth.
But first—
She had to escape.
The voices behind her grew louder and more urgent, but Li Yue was already moving.
Her body felt weaker than she was used to, but she adjusted quickly, ignoring the dizziness threatening to slow her down.
She pushed through the doorway, entering a strange, blindingly white hall.
People turned to stare—men and women in white coats, carrying strange metal devices, their faces full of concern and confusion.
She didn't care.
She ran.
The floor beneath her was strange, too smooth, too polished. She nearly lost her footing, but her instincts kept her upright.
More machines beeped and blinked around her, glowing with symbols and numbers she could not comprehend.
A loud noise erupted—some kind of siren, piercing through the air.
Someone shouted her name.
"Song Rui! Stop!"
She ignored it.
She needed to get out.
She needed to breathe.
She stumbled through an open doorway and suddenly—
She was outside.
And the world hit her all at once.
Blinding lights. Unnatural, flashing, flickering symbols on giant glowing screens.
People everywhere, dressed in clothing so unfamiliar, some holding strange glowing rectangles in their hands, others speaking into thin wires attached to their ears.
The ground beneath her feet was hard stone, but smoother than any temple floor she had ever walked upon.
The air buzzed with a thousand voices, machines roaring past her on wheels, their glowing eyes flashing red and white as they moved with inhuman speed.
She felt small.
Trapped.
The world was too big, too loud, too alien.
She clutched her head, her breathing ragged.
She needed to think.
She needed to survive.
And most of all—
She needed to find a way back.
Because if she was here, trapped in this body—
Then Song Rui was out there.
Somewhere.
And if she was in Li Yue's body, in Li Yue's world…
Then she was in grave danger.