What should I do now?

A light flashed in the man's eyes as he attempted to remember what had happened to him. One day, he was just reading novels in his room, and the next thing he knew, he was transported into another world. For another person, this would've been a dream come true, and it was the same for him.

If it weren't for the fact that the plot got skewed somewhere along the way!

"It hasn't even started yet and things have already gone wrong!"

The unconscious body on the bed made the man's fingers curl in discomfort. It was like everything he had experienced was all part of a bad dream. A dream he desperately wanted to escape from. Though, the situation did sort of remind him of something. That being a certain subgenre of web novels he liked to read. One where the main protagonist possesses the body of one of the book's minor villains.

"What was it called again? Oh right, villain novels."

But as soon as the man said that, he just paused. Then he started laughing as if he heard the funniest joke in his life.

"…"

"Oh wait… It's not a joke."

The man sighed. He had been transmigrated into a villain novel. A sub-genre of transmigration novels known for its horrid difficulty and terrifying plot line. Worst of all, though, was the fact that he was still in his own body.

"I'm so fucked."

He didn't know if premature transmigration was a thing, but it felt extremely close to what he was going through right now. Although a situation like this wasn't written in the books he read, a lot of the elements were still the same, like an arrogant noble on the verge of death.

It wasn't all bad, though. A part of him was glad that he was still in his own body. The idea of wearing someone else's skin and pretending to be them was a bit too extreme for him, and he wasn't one of those weird serial killers who enjoyed doing that.

"Speaking of serial killers… what should I do about that?"

At this point the unconscious body on the bed was starting to creep him out. He didn't know whether he should help the guy, or if he should just leave him there. By all means, the youth was most likely a villain, but with all the slight changes he had noticed, he wasn't so sure about that anymore. For all he knew, the boy could be innocent.

"Wait... why am I thinking about this now? I can always come back to it later."

Ultimately, the man decided to take a look around the place first. He wanted to find anything that could help him get a better understanding of the situation he was in. But unlike what he expected, there wasn't actually much inside the room with him. It had a very minimalistic approach to it, and with such little information to work with, he knew he'd have to take a closer look.

Searching around for anything of note, the man noticed a table sitting in the top left corner of the room. It looked unnatural, with a dark, soot like substance covering over the surface of it. Its body was made out of a muted brown wood, similar to most of the other furniture around him, except… this one looked decayed.

Oddly enough, nothing about it breathed a sign of life. No trinkets. No stationery… Nothing. Like it had been untouched in ages. To be honest, he didn't even want to look at it anymore. Something about it just felt off, and he could swear that someone was monitoring him from the shadows.

I must be overthinking things.

Suppressing the weird feeling in his stomach, the man moved on towards a pair of large bookshelves behind the table. A variety of different books were neatly stacked inside, and luckily for him, it seemed to be unlocked.

"Perfect, I can use this to learn more about the world I'm in."

However, after the man flipped to the first page, he just placed it back and shook his head.

...

"I can't understand any of it…"

He didn't know why he tried to read it. He had clearly seen the book's cover and based off what he, well… couldn't read. It was pretty obvious that it was written in a different language.

"I'm so stupid."

Shaking his head in embarrassment, the man witnessed a bright gleam flash from the back of the room. The gleam drew him to a place where a lone glass mirror sat isolated on the floor. It was shattered, with shards of glass missing from its once pristine cage. And once again, the weird feeling started to come back.

Not wanting to think too much about it, the man decided to focus his attention elsewhere. Looking up, he was able to spot a large window span across the entire length of the room. A little ledge peeked out from the bottom of its frame, and a small glass vase sat on top of it. Inside, it had a bundle of red flowers arranged in a neat bouquet.

An elegant garden laid on the other side of the wall. Flowers of all sorts of colors slept inside its little shed. From reds to greens to blues… It was like a miniature world resided on the opposite side of the glass.

The man slumped and cried.

"Where did it all go wrong?"

A hint of hopelessness welled up inside of him as he looked back at the unconscious youth. Nothing about this situation matched up with the typical isekai fantasy he had always dreamed of in the past. And to make matters even worse, he didn't even know where he was.

Unlike the protagonists who've only read/played one book/game in their entire life, he was the complete opposite, and at this point, he wasn't even sure if he could distinguish the story of a single book.

"Who am I kidding… It's not like it even matters."

It was probably better for him to not know what the future held. After all, it wasn't like he'd be able make any meaningful differences with the knowledge he'd have. In his mind, it was more likely for him to mess things up and ruin everything like he did in his previous life.

As for all the opportunities he'd miss out on. Well... he didn't need them. The price of theft came with the burden of knowledge and responsibility, something he didn't want weighing down on his mind.

I just want to live a life I could be proud of.

But as soon as the man said those words in his head, he just paused. He was thinking about it all in the wrong way. He wasn't the protagonist.

It doesn't matter if I don't know the future, and it doesn't matter if things went wrong, because by the end of it, I'm just a normal person. It's not my job to fix everything wrong with the world.

He then laughed.

Also, if anything, my chances of survival only increased by not possessing his body. I can't act, so even if everything followed the script, it would've only been a matter of time before I'd get caught.

With all of that out of the way, it was now time for him to answer the question he asked himself at the start.

Should I help him… Or should I leave.

The man just stood there in silence. After gritting his teeth, he whispered.

"I hope you keep your word."

Stepping towards the center of the room, the man started to carefully plan out his next steps. Based on what he remembered from the youth's request, he could conclude that there was no water in the room with him. He could logically assume that, since if there were any, then the youth could've grabbed some for himself, and he didn't believe anyone was lazy enough to ask for something within walking distance.

However, that assumption came with its own set of issues. If there weren't any in the room he was in, then he'd be forced to go outside.

"No way. I'm not doing that. Not now at least."

He didn't know what was out there. For all he knew, there could've been a dragon on the other side waiting for him. So, not wanting to take the risk, the man decided that he would only leave once he was certain of his hypothesis.

With that said, the man started to search. Minutes passed as he looked under the bed, on top of the desk, and even inside the young man's wardrobe.

"Wait… why am I even searching in here?"

Honestly, he didn't understand why he was searching through a clothes drawer for a bottle of water. Anywhere else would've been a better place to look, since, unless this fantasy world held a social norm of hiding water in their closet, this should've been the last place he checked.

"Heck, even the windowsill's a better place to look."

Wait… windowsill. That's it!

Then, as if a fire had been lit underneath him, the man jumped up and ran towards the back of the room.

Flowers need water in order to grow. That's basic biology.

And just like he theorized. Inside the small glass vase was a clear pool of stagnant water.

"Thank god."

The man never expected to be so happy to find water out of all things. Although he felt a little bad about feeding plant water to an unconscious person, he couldn't exactly find anything better without risking his life.

"He's not even awake... It's not like he'll know."

After excusing himself, the man brought the vase over to the bed. But then, a serious question popped up in his mind.

Wait… How am I supposed to feed it to him if he's unconscious?

Mouth to mouth?

"No, I'm not dumb enough to do that."

He had learned a long time ago to never feed water to an unconscious person. From what he understood, it apparently goes down their windpipe, and they can choke themselves to death if not handled properly. It's a surprising fact considering that most romance fiction out there depict it as a dedication of love.

Dedication, my ass.

So, with nothing else he could do, the man got up on the bed and cupped his hand over the young noble's mouth. A constipated look emerged on his face when the unsettling feeling of being watched returned, and with how ambiguous this position looked from an outsider's perspective, he suddenly wanted to stop.

You're just thinking things. It's not real.

Trying to move his hand in a less ambiguous position, the man was puzzled by the fact that he couldn't. It was like his hand was trapped inside a mire of quicksand.

Then, after looking down, he screamed.

"What the...!"

The man jumped as he found himself in a situation he didn't expect to be in. His hand had been merged inside the young noble's chin, and unfortunately for him, there was nothing he could do about it. The force pulling on him was too strong to resist.

Sweat started to drip from the man's face, but before he could do anything, a sudden sharp tug pulled him into the young noble's body. Then, with one final scream, he vanished from the world.

All that was left inside the empty room was a young noble. A young noble who had just opened his eyes.