The sun was setting.
Under the last rays of light, Kevin Carpenberg stood up from the lawn in his garden.
He took off his sweat-soaked tank top and headed into the bathroom, habitually pulling the curtain shut and giving himself a quick wash.
It had been a week since he transmigrated into this body.
Ever since his return, life had inexplicably calmed down.
This gave him plenty of time to adjust his mindset and integrate into this unfamiliar world.
Eating, sleeping, exercising, studying—this had basically been the entirety of his daily routine for the past few days.
Muscle memory and the inherited knowledge in his mind made studying medicine go exceptionally smoothly. It made him feel like a genius.
At the same time, he used the computer in the room to further understand all aspects of this world.
His biggest concern hadn't happened—this body's original owner was an orphan. Cold as it sounded, he couldn't help but think that this situation was really perfect for him.
As for training, it needed no further explanation. Both the physical body and the mysterious supernatural aura had him fully captivated.
He turned on the TV and listened to the news while heading into the kitchen to get busy.
By the time dinner was done, night had fully fallen.
This city's public safety was less than ideal—at least worse than the country and city he came from.
Once darkness set in, there were barely any pedestrians on the road.
"Beep beep! Beep beep!"
Car horns blared from the street outside.
Kevin frowned and walked to the balcony to look out.
On the street near the entrance, a van had stopped. Under the dim streetlight, a man in the driver's seat was waving at him.
Clearly, the man knew him.
Kevin's heart sank with a sense of dread.
An acquaintance had come knocking.
There was no avoiding it after all.
The original body's owner had been a top graduate from a famous university—even if he was involved in some shady dealings, he surely had friends.
Honestly, occupying someone else's body and dealing with strangers who thought they knew him always felt uncomfortable.
He headed downstairs and approached the door.
"Kevin, open up the garage, let me hide for a bit—damn, those cops are on my tail."
The tall, thin man looked anxious. Seeing Kevin unresponsive, he sighed and got out of the car.
"Alright, alright, I'll do it myself."
Under Kevin's cold gaze, the man helped himself, opening the garage door and backing the van inside.
Sirens could still be heard in the distance.
"Great, a partner in crime," Kevin thought helplessly. After all, the body's original owner had been involved in illegal activities—having criminal associates wasn't surprising.
The man clearly was one of them, and the van likely contained contraband. The only question was what kind.
Once everything was settled, the tall man walked over and lit a cigarette, not bothering to offer one to Kevin.
Apparently, he knew Kevin didn't smoke. The two were quite familiar with each other.
"When'd you get back? If your lights weren't on, I wouldn't have come here. Good thing you were home.
Otherwise, I'd have had to stay at Barrel's place tonight, and that guy would definitely rob me of some goods."
He patted Kevin's arm as he spoke and then headed back toward the garage. "Don't just stand there like an idiot. If the damn cops show up, we're both getting questioned."
Kevin silently followed.
But in his mind, he was wondering if he should just move away and cut all ties with his past.
He'd returned here mainly to see if familiar surroundings might help him recover more of the original owner's memories.
It had worked—but clearly, the original owner's relationships weren't suitable for him. The best option now was to sever all connections and disappear.
After all, even if he hadn't taken over this body, the original owner was already dead.
Starting over elsewhere seemed like the better choice.
Otherwise, he'd end up entangled in trouble like tonight.
As he followed the man into the garage, the sound of sirens grew louder and then slowly faded.
"Mm! Mm!"
The van suddenly shook, and muffled sounds came from inside.
The tall man smacked the side of the vehicle and scolded, "Quiet, or I won't be so nice next time!"
That seemed to work—the van quieted down. But faint sobbing could still be heard.
Kevin's brows furrowed.
Living beings? And the worst possible kind.
The tall man noticed his expression and gave him a greasy grin.
"Heh, got my hands on a batch of high-end goods recently. They'll fetch a big price. Don't look so sour—I get it, I totally get it."
He gave Kevin's shoulder a pat with a perverted grin, then walked over to the van.
"Mm! Mm! Ugh!"
Young, mature, teenage, childish…
A total of six girls of varying ages and styles sat inside the van, bound and whimpering.
They looked at the man, then at Kevin, eyes filled with terror.
"How about it? Pretty good, right? This is the best batch I've scored in years," the man boasted proudly.
"You're lucky—just got one yesterday that matches your taste perfectly. Consider it your lucky day."
He wore a face of false pity and looked at Kevin with an expression that said, "You hit the jackpot."
Then, he leaned into the van and, amid the terrified whimpers, pulled out a petite blonde girl.
She wore a red Lolita dress, had twin golden ponytails, and a small, perfectly proportioned figure. Her large, watery eyes were full of fear and innocence.
The man tossed her to the ground and looked at Kevin.
"What do you think? Right up your alley? Don't say I never looked out for you. If you don't cough up a couple bottles of the good stuff to thank me, I ain't letting you play for free."
He rambled on, completely oblivious to the increasingly cold and grim expression on Kevin's face.
Human trafficking.
And young, beautiful girls—some even just children.
This girl couldn't have been older than her early teens…
Disgusting.
The original owner of this body was an absolute monster—worse than he had imagined.
Whatever little guilt he had left was now completely gone.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Kevin shouted.