Reincarnation of the Gun Swap Goddess [Volume 1]

Prologue - Slyker Dynasty Falls

"What... do you exactly mean by that?"

"I meant what I said. The Slyker Dynasty must fall. You must be eliminated."

"What...!"

*THWACK!*

Another dagger was implanted in her back, and with double the poison in her bloodstream, she became unable to speak. She wanted to yell, send a message to anybody about her situation, but the poison prevented her from doing so.

Fae heard footsteps slowly approaching her from behind. Fortunately, the system prevented those with crude thoughts from performing vile actions, so she was not that afraid. After all, if she died, she would only be afflicted with a minor penalty. There were more important issues at hand.

*Our dynasty will be eliminated? When this is over, I must tell Father...*

Thoughts of who to contact swirled around her head, but one sentence cut them short.

"The Emperor is dead."

*...huh?*

A sentence so strange that Fae couldn't process what she just heard. Of course, her face remained expressionless due to paralysis.

"... Ah... I forgot you're paralyzed. It's a shame I couldn't see your face twist in despair."

*...what? Father is dead?*

The assassin kicked her back and slowly fiddled with the dagger in the wound. Due to the paralysis poison, she couldn't feel any pain, but she knew she was being humiliated. However, such a feeling wasn't strong, because the Emperor of the Slyker Dynasty was supposedly dead.

*How can Father die? He's lying.*

As if the assassin could read her mind, he responded emotionlessly.

"You obviously don't believe me, but it's true. I did it myself."

Fae's brain short-circuited. She couldn't form a single thought besides...

*How? He's lying. He's lying. It's impossible. There's no way.*

"Do you want to see how?"

*...*

Fae heard rustling behind her that drew closer.

"Ah.. where is it..."

The rustling stopped, and the man spoke up again.

"Here."

A black gloved hand placed a screen in front of her eyes that was playing some footage. If she wasn't paralyzed, Fae's eyes would have gone wide. Because the footage was of the Slyker Royal Palace ablaze.

"Your father is indeed dead. Very dead."

The assassin was no longer able to keep an emotionless tone as he burst out into laughter. He continued in a merry tone, as if his emotionlessness from earlier was merely an act.

"And do you want to know something even better? Your father isn't the only one."

*...no...*

"Your mother, your sister, and... mostly everyone else in the palace! Because I forgot who was in there..."

*...no...*

"You know, it was surprisingly easy to do this. You would think there would be more security around a royal palace..."

*...*

As the man rambled on, Fae involuntarily tuned him out. As she was mourning her losses, another question popped up in her mind.

*Wait... How am I still alive?*

This was because the body of Jisha Slyker should have been inside the royal palace. Even though she was deep underground, there was no way the assassin was careless enough to let her get away.

"Of course, I saved the best for last."

*...!*

When the man spoke these words, adrenaline kicked through Fae's body as her fight or flight response was triggered. However, the result of such a response was lackluster. Because... everything went dark.

Jisha Slyker woke up in a basement room of the Slyker Royal Palace. Immediately, she was on guard. However, she was unable to feel or see anything because of the status of the virtual gaming cabin.

*Force logout?*

There were only a few methods of a force logout. One was if the body was experiencing extreme hunger or thirst. Another was if the body was experiencing extreme pain. And the last one was...

*The cabin was disabled.*

Jisha's latest model of virtual gaming cabin was forcibly turned off. This was why she was on guard. Someone had removed the power source from the cabin.

Jisha's body was lying backside down in a pool of sensory deprivation material, and was wearing relatively little clothing because of this. After a moment of nervous hesitation, Jisha opened the cabin lid. The top slid off and she was able to sit upright. Though the room was dark, it was still brighter than the complete lack of light inside the cabin, so it took few seconds for her eyes to adjust. Despite the footage she had witnessed, the room she was in was unscathed. However, she knew she couldn't let her guard down because somebody had been here to disable the cabin's power.

Jisha climbed out of the cabin, put on her nightclothes, picked up a laser pistol that was on a nightstand, and slowly headed towards the exit of the room.

However, before she could reach the door, she noticed something that made her heart stop. By the door, there were multiple charred corpses lying on the ground. Though they were badly burnt, Jisha recognized them at a glance. They were...

"Father? Mother? Sister?"

Jisha fell to her knees as it seemed like the world spun around her. She thought it was impossible, yet the evidence was right in front of her eyes. Once again, the same thought ran through her mind.

*How?*

She wanted to scream. She wanted to run. She wanted to cry. However, she was unable to do any of those things. Instead, she pathetically fell to the ground. Perhaps it was because of the shock. Or perhaps it was because of...

*Shik.*

A cold dagger in her back that paralyzed her. In a ridiculous series of events, she died the same way twice. She couldn't even laugh.

*...Am I going to die like this? Is this really the end of the Slyker Dynasty?*

Though her willpower was never-ending, it could not prevent the poison from spreading throughout her body, nor could it prevent the blood draining from the wound of the melted ice dagger.

*I... can't... die... here...*

With these thoughts, she tried as hard as she could to move to no avail. As her consciousness fizzled out into nothingness, she heard a voice whose gender could not be specified. The contents of its sentence brought both warmth and chill.

"I'm sorry to do this to you, sweetheart."

As those final words entered her ears, Jisha Slyker passed away.