"Aaargh! I’m late! Terribly late!"

Yun Minsoo stumbled over the chair, grabbed his backpack and left his room in a hurry. Class was about to start, and he was still at home. He would never be able to reach the Department of Legal Science in time. Not that he would mind it, since he didn’t care at all about his studies.

Becoming a lawyer wasn’t his dream at all. It was his father — that damned prick who always complained about everything — who wanted his third and most disappointing child to become a successful lawyer. Of course, it was for the sake of his business — he didn’t care at all about his useless son.

And Minsoo didn’t care at all about him or any of his older brothers. That’s why he refused to enroll in the most prestigious university in Italy and chose to study in Florence. The reason? It was quite far from his mother’s influence.

No one agreed with him, but Minsoo shrugged off their opinion, packed his belongings and left Milan for Florence, where he spent his days eating junk food, reading manga, and playing otome visual novels. What a wonderful life!

Minsoo chuckled as he darted toward the tram station. It was really a wonderful life! No worries, no need to search for a job; he could spend those years doing nothing, then return to Korea and ask his father to hire him in some low-effort position.

"I’m a fucking genius!"

He took his smartphone out of his backpack, looked at the screen and saw that his mother had called him many times. Minsoo pursed his lips; he didn’t want to call her back. He was sure it wasn’t something important.

Instead, he pressed the icon of the visual novel Hearts of the Rosen Garden. Last night he spent hours trying to romance that damned duke of Eledea, but he didn’t succeed. Such a complicated character, but maybe he just needed to change the MC’s outfit. A more revealing one, maybe?

"Don’t tell me this asshole likes crop tops and miniskirts. Well, he seems a bit of a perv…"

He changed the MC’s outfit, confirmed and restarted the main route. This time he would succeed in romancing the duke.

"Hey! You! Look out!"

Minsoo raised his head, glared at an old woman who was waving her arms and flipped her off. And in that moment, something really hard hit him from behind and sent him flying onto the pavement.

The last thing that Minsoo felt was his own blood spurting from a deep cut in his belly and a pain so sharp in every bone of his body that he wished to die as soon as possible. Because he was dying, he was sure of it. He had watched enough thriller dramas to know that being hit by a tram is a one-way ticket to heaven.

Killed by the Italian public transportation. He would have laughed if only he had strength left for it. If only he hadn’t wasted his damned life being just the useless freak of the Yun family. The black sheep who couldn’t do anything except play video games and fall in love with the wrong gender.

If only he had a second chance, he wouldn’t have wasted it in that way.

If only he could live just a little longer, he would prove himself worthy of his family’s love.

If only… he could have found something to fight for, then… maybe…

Minsoo opened his mouth and wished to live, because dying was so frightening and he was still young.

And God fulfilled his wish.

 .

.

.

Minsoo opened his eyes and sat up abruptly. He pressed his hand over his face, chest and abdomen, but he didn’t find any scars or blood. The only bandage was the one around his head, but the wound didn’t seem serious.

He sighed, then let out a chuckle. He was alive after all; the doctors must have saved him.

He turned to check the hospital room, but he froze when he saw elegant, wooden furniture and silk linens. Warm light came from a wide window, and the sky beyond wasn’t hidden by ancient palaces and new buildings.

Minsoo squinted. "Is that a mountain?"

He was quite sure that Florence wasn’t surrounded by mountains — they were merely hills, nothing so sharp and tall and… That was ice?!

"Where the hell am I? Did Father take me to a private clinic?" Minsoo snorted. "I bet I’m in one of his clinics in Switzerland. That damned prick."

But he was pretty sure that even a private clinic’s furnishings would be aseptic and white; that room seemed more like a hotel room or the bedroom of an old villa. Minsoo was sure he had seen something similar when he visited Turin the month before.

And for some reason it seemed quite familiar…

A soft knock echoed in the silence, then the door opened. A tall man with long, dark hair and a strange uniform entered the room and glanced at him with cold eyes.

"You’re awake."

"I… Yes. You’re the doctor, right? Can I have my smartphone?"

The man raised an eyebrow. "What are you saying?"

"My… smartphone? Oh, you mean that it wasn’t with me when I got here? Maybe my father took it." Minsoo shrugged. "In that case, can I make a call? I need to tell my parents that I’m fine."

"I don’t think you’re fine. Your parents died a long time ago." The man tilted his head. "It seems you hit your head pretty hard."

"Well, I was hit by a tram."

"What is a tram?"

Minsoo blinked. What was wrong with that doctor? How could he not know what a tram is? Didn’t Switzerland have public transportation?

No, wait a moment, he doesn’t seem like a doctor. Those clothes are strange, but somewhat familiar. I’ve seen them before, but where?

The man sighed and approached him, then he placed his hand over his forehead. Minsoo caught his breath; the man had deep, violet eyes, and a beauty befitting an actor or a singer.

I didn’t know that humans could have violet eyes…

"Archie," the man said, "are you sure you’re fine?"

"Archie?"

"Would you prefer that I call you by your last name, Aide Glennhort?"

But before Minsoo could say anything, a loud sound, like a police siren, rang and a translucent screen popped up in front of his eyes.

And written on it, in capital letters, were these words:

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE JUST REINCARNATED IN THE VISUAL NOVEL HEARTS OF THE ROSEN GARDEN!