Chapter 1: The Saint of the Back Alley (1)

Have you ever been put under general anesthesia?

After the sedative flows into your veins, someone tells you to count backwards.

You’re definitely counting—but then you hear a nurse’s voice waking you up, and when you open your eyes, everything’s already over.

While you weren’t even aware, in what feels like not even a moment, all the changes that would completely transform you have already finished.

That’s exactly what this feels like now.

‘Where… am I?’

When I opened my eyes, I was standing in some strange back alley.

It was a completely unfamiliar place, nothing like the small apartment where I’d just been sitting in front of my computer a few seconds ago.

The outdoor air was cold and dry, sharply brushing against the tip of my nose.

I was so shocked, I stood frozen like a block of ice for a moment.

And then I noticed something was off.

The situation was already strange enough, but more than that—it was a kind of instinctual, unexplainable sense of wrongness.

I looked around without thinking, then slowly took a step forward.

And I stopped in front of a dusty glass window tucked into the corner of the alley.

“……..”

I raised my right hand, which looked strangely small today, and wiped away the grime on the glass.

And beyond the cleared window, what I saw was a face that was truly unfamiliar.

It should have been mine, and yet it felt so foreign.

Not just the facial features or expressions—even the age, race, and gender were all completely opposite from before.

‘What… what the hell is this?’

Staring blankly back at me from those sky-colored eyes was a beautiful girl.

Silver-white hair cascading down her shoulders.

A delicate, slim body.

A girl so pretty she looked like she’d been illustrated by hand, blinking back at me through the glass.

She tilted her head every time I moved mine.

And that’s when I realized something horrifying.

‘No way… is that me?’

My head spun for a moment.

“C-calm down. First, figure out what’s going on…”

Even the voice I muttered in without thinking was so unfamiliar that I flinched again.

I shivered and slapped my cheeks, trying to snap myself out of it.

And when I really tried to understand what was happening, something about all this started to feel vaguely familiar.

‘Wait a sec, now that I’m looking closely, this is…?’

The girl’s appearance looked exactly like the “Saintess” class character I had customized earlier in the game [Cinder Knights].

The whole outfit matched.

A black nun’s habit.

A rosary with a starry crest hanging from the neck.

She looked like she’d stepped straight out of a medieval church.

‘But then…’

When I looked up, I saw massive skyscrapers towering into the sky.

But it wasn’t quite like a modern city.

Vivid neon signs.

Passenger aircraft frequently crisscrossing the skies.

Holographic billboards sweeping across my vision—this was a full-on near-future metropolis.

And something about it struck me as familiar again.

‘This is… isn’t this Omega Detroit?’

The setting of Neo Front Cyber City.

A city of opportunity, saturated with technology, pleasure, and violence.

Realizing I was standing right in the middle of it, I could only stare blankly in disbelief.

====================

‘No, no no no, hold on—’

The situation was too jumbled to make sense of.

Cyber City and Cinder Knights were fictional worlds, created entirely for entertainment.

I couldn’t believe I had somehow entered a video game world.

And worse, the reflection in the mirror wasn’t even my original self—it was a stranger, a young girl I didn’t recognize.

I felt like I was about to lose my grip on reality.

Maybe I was still dreaming?

But no matter how I tried to rationalize it, it felt far too vivid.

The cold air.

The stench of the alley.

Every little puddle on the ground.

Something deep in my gut, a chilling instinct, was telling me—this wasn’t a dream or just a nightmare.

While I was still panicking, a sudden noise rang out.

Clatter!

“…!”

I jumped and looked around—but there was no one there.

The alley fell silent again.

‘Probably just the wind.’

But with my nerves already rattled, even the exact same scenery from a moment ago now felt eerie and threatening.

Then I finally remembered this place might not be safe.

‘If this really is [Omega Detroit]…’

The city’s crime rate, at least according to the lore, was several times higher than the most dangerous neighborhoods in Latin America or Africa.

Unless you were in the luxurious high-rises, the slums and back alleys like this one were infamous for kidnappings, robberies—even murders.

Even if someone went missing in broad daylight, the police wouldn’t even pretend to look for them.

Given that, I realized how dangerous I currently looked.

First of all, my outfit had nothing to do with the current era.

Wearing a nun’s habit in a world where religion had been wiped out by advanced science?

That was as eye-catching as wearing cosplay on public transit.

Which meant I’d be an easy target for crime.

And above all… my face.

‘I stand out way too much.’

The overly pretty, custom-designed face of the Saintess was strikingly beautiful in real life.

Even in this era, you’d have to assume I was a celebrity or something.

Put negatively, I had a face that was just asking to be kidnapped in a shady alley.

If I just walked out onto the streets like this, something bad would happen before I even made it a block.

And what came after that… well, it was too horrifying to imagine.

‘Ugh… I can’t believe I’m worrying about something like this…’

I didn’t even want to think about it, especially coming from someone who used to be a guy.

Seriously, where the hell did my main character go—the one I spent hundreds of hours upgrading into an endgame-tier cyborg?

(TL Note: The protagonist is lamenting the loss of his powerful cyborg build from “Neo Front Cyber City”—not Cinder Knights. He’s now stuck in the weak Saintess form from that fantasy game.)

How did I end up turning into some helpless girl?

If I still had that build, none of this would even be an issue.

But the damage was done.

No point in panicking now—I needed solutions.

I looked around and spotted a nearby trash container.

And an idea popped into my head.

“…..”

I hesitated for a moment.

Is this really the best option?

Do I really have to do this?

I wrestled with myself for a while, but… safety came first.

“Hhng—!”

Holding my breath, I dove in.

Right between the reeking garbage bags.

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Beneath the deeply pulled-down hood, I could see a shadow of a passerby approaching from across the street.

I tensed slightly as the distance closed—but only for a second.

“Ugh? Gah—”

The other person plugged their nose, grimaced, and immediately veered far off to the side as they passed.

“……”

It was probably because of the stench coming off my body.

Earlier, I’d dug through the garbage until I found a worn, black plastic rain poncho.

I pulled the hood down low and smeared myself with enough filth to pass as a homeless person.

The stink was so foul that even I could barely stand it, but honestly, it was way better than getting mugged or worse.

See? Everyone ignored me completely once I looked like a vagrant.

‘Man… this really is Cyber City.’

I’d recognized it earlier just by glancing up at the skyline from the alley.

But actually walking into the streets made it all feel way more real.

The futuristic vehicle designs.

The avant-garde fashion of the passersby.

Mechanical limbs replacing human ones.

Quirky and expressive implants everywhere.

The dense, vertical sprawl of buildings lit up with neon signs was so much more intense than any modern city.

It felt like an alien world.

Like a country bumpkin seeing the big city for the first time, I stared around in awe for a while.

And then my energy suddenly drained.

‘What now?’

I’d come up with a way to deal with the immediate danger, but I had absolutely no idea what to do next.

One moment I was gaming in my room—and the next, I was lost in a strange world.

Why was I being put through this out of nowhere?

I started feeling more and more down.

My eyes and nose began to heat up just a little.

“Sniff—”

But I quickly shook my head to push the thoughts away.

‘Did my personality get all emotional along with my body?’

Getting this upset over something so small wasn’t like me at all.

When did life ever go as planned anyway?

You just had to roll with it.

No matter what, I would absolutely find a way to return to my original world.

‘Yeah, I can do this. I will do this.’

I repeated it to myself, forcing my spirits back up.

Determined to get home safely, I hurried my steps again.

It took a while before I reached my destination.

‘There it is.’

When I finally saw the sign ahead, I let out a quiet sigh of relief.

If I hadn’t remembered this from the game, I never would’ve found it in this maze of apartment buildings.

< K Fixer Office >

Standing in front of a crooked LED-lit door sign, I took a deep breath and rang the bell.

From deep inside the office, I heard a faint chime.

Ding– ding-dong–

“………”

I waited for what felt like forever before the front door finally creaked open.

As I stepped cautiously inside, I saw a small, single-room office space.

A table and a couple of chairs—just enough to count as a reception area.

Sitting across from it was a woman who looked to be in her mid-to-late thirties.

Her youthful glow had faded, but she still had the kind of face you’d call attractive.

Her tired-looking eyes gave me a quick once-over before her expression twisted in disgust.

“Ugh, what is that smell?”

She pinched her nose, clearly debating whether to kick me out right then and there.

Worried I’d be rejected on the spot, I quickly stripped off the filthy poncho and blurted out,

“W-wait! I’m not a beggar. I’m here to make a request.”

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