Louis had teleported everyone to his underground base using a teleportation circle; it was probably their safest hideout for now. He did need to have another room built for the flying spaghetti monster now, though.

“Woah, an underground base deep inside the earth, I’ve been wanting one of these for a while.” Cale’s voice echoed throughout the room

“Shut up. I’m focusing.” Llamiryl was currently carefully handling Frank’s soul, coating it in a layer of world energy, sewing a soul and vessel that weren’t too compatible with each other required a tremendous amount of knowledge and effort.

“This one’s probably coming out with one or two mental illnesses, reincarnated or not, a human’s soul would be fucked up when its put in a body that’s originally hosting a monster one.”

At Llamiryl’s statement, Louis had an expression of realization on his face, he walked through space, appearing a few seconds later with a talisman with a sigil written on it. World Energy was swirling around the piece of paper.

Cale and Elizabeth appeared confused, but Llamiryl gave him a slight nod.

Cale had a thoughtful expression on his face, he was currently reading over Llamiryl’s report, although he was unsure if he was reading a chapter of 30 H’s or an honest-to-goodness report on a flying spaghetti monster in action.

He had never imagined that such a vivid, bloody and accurate description of a culinary monstrosity ravaging a fleshly abomination could exist within this world, but here he was.

Although, what caught his interest was not that part, he knew Llamiryl well enough to not give a shit about it, but what he paid attention to was the flaming meatballs at the start of the battle.

“Can’t your soul weapon only summon food? May I ask how you are able to summon flaming meatballs that are tough enough to survive falling from high up in the atmosphere AND completely destroy an oak tree the size of a huge building?” Cale asked Louis.

“Ah, that’s a bit of a long story you see…”

‘Father, did you just try cooking pasta in a cauldron made for weapon forging?” Li’er asked calmly

‘Haha, why of course Li’er, bigger is always better, why wouldn’t I use a giant cauldron for cooking this ‘pasta' you speak of?” Dai Gengrui answered.

In front of them was a kilometer wide plate of flaming hot meatballs made from the meat of a high-ranked spirit beast that resembled a boar. Along with pasta forged from the wheat of the best cultivation sect within the Ten Earths. He topped it off with qilin-quality tomato sauce.

Dai Gengrui waved his hand, then put his hands behind his back, standing proud with a gentle smile on his face.

‘Dong’er, dinner’s ready!” Dai Gengrui

A golden eastern-style dragon flew down from the sky, piercing the heavens, before wolfing down the plate of pasta like a ravenous dog.

Dai Gengrui laughed like a jolly old man.

“See Li’er? Dong’er likes it!”

Li’er sighed, dusting the flames and dragon saliva off of her robe.

“Father, I must teach you a thing or two about cooking, AGAIN!”

Later that day, Dong’er had a terrible stomach ache. They say the smell of his waste carried across entire continents.

This flashback may have taken a while to write, but in true Xianxia-style, it all happened within an instant.

“Well if you don’t wanna say it I won’t bother you.” Cale spoke.

“That would be for the best.” Louis turned around, leaving his dark past behind.

An hour later…

“All done! He should be up within today!” Llamiryl stood up, wiping the imaginary sweat from her forehead.

“I’ll have the facility’s commodities and security measures prepared now, we all still have to go to the academy.” Louis took out a communication crystal and headed to another room.

“You two didn’t get any sleep, will you be okay?” Elizabeth asked.

“I don’t need any.” Louis said, matter-of-factly

“Me too.” Llamiryl added.

“How enviable, well, we best be going now.” Elizabeth waved her hand in goodbye.

“Hold up! I have a plan for later!” Cale yelled.

The three huddled around Cale, a gleam of interest within their eyes.

“So Dai, you need to learn more about what a ‘trope’ is, and I have just the thing to teach you.” Cale smiled.

“Hmm, alright, as long as what you request for me is nothing too absurd.”

“No worries, just a little acting.”

“Oh geez, Quin, not this stuff again.” Elizabeth sighed.

“Well this will be interesting.” Llamiryl smiled widely

--

Frank opened his eyes, awakening to a familiar yet unfamiliar ceiling. The aesthetic of the light hanging upon the ceiling reminded him of a fluorescent light from his previous world.

He felt as if he did not have the need to breathe, which he felt was strange, but he realized that he died.

‘Is this the afterlife? Hah, it’s quite poetic then, reminding me of home like this.’

The aroma of breakfast food was even wafting through the air.

“I’ve cooked pancakes before, but isn’t this batter a little bit too thick?”

The voice that he heard was melodic and feminine.

“Well uhh, Dai? Help, please?”

The other voice was that of a young boy.

“Well it was you who said you wanted to learn how to cook on your own, so there would be no use if I just make it for you, no?  In any case, you two mixed it too much, it’s fine if there’s still some lumps of flour, it wouldn’t be good if you stirred the batter too much.”

The next voice also sounded a little young, but there was some depth and a sense of ancientness to it.

Frank tried to move his body, and something did in fact move, but it felt different. His form felt smaller, yet much, much heavier than usual. It would seem that he had the strength to stand up, however.

‘Sounds like a father teaching his kids how to cook… wait, don’t tell me I got transmigrated into some kid’s body?’

He looked down at his body, he was wearing a plain white robe, so he couldn’t really tell the shape of his figure nor his gender, well, until he found out that the white robe was actually a dress and he had long pink hair.

‘Oh fuck it’s that type of reincarnation. Veteran adventurer reincarnates as a little girl, great. It was interesting to read but this will probably suck’ He thought.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes he was met with two men and a woman dressed in casual clothes, they all seemed to be wearing clothes that were of quality for nobles, but Frank wasn’t even sure if he was still in that world anymore.

‘Come to think of it, why doesn’t that world have a name? Everyone was just calling it ‘this world’ or ‘that world’.’

Perhaps, he would never know the answer to that question.

“Oh, are you finally awake, young lady?” The woman with auburn hair spoke.

“Yeah, where am I?” Frank responded, he would play the amnesia card if necessary.

Upon observation, his voice was surprisingly androgynous.

“We found you beaten up in an alleyway, you were trying to cross the border huh, along with the thief we found alongside you. You were pretty beaten up, but my wife and I found you in the alley, so we patched you up.” The boy with black hair and eyes spoke.

“Husband and wife? Aren’t you two a little young?”  Frank questioned, he felt some familiarity with the dialogue of the boy, but he couldn't exactly place his finger on it.

“Oh, we’re older than we look.” The handsome young boy with golden eyes answered him

‘So are they a part of some long-lived race?’

Standing up, Frank stumbled a bit, very much not used to his body, he finally noticed the lack of his little bro, and was crying inside. These types of stories were somewhat enjoyable to read, but he had no intention of living it. Just like his life as an adventurer…

“Oh! Your injuries must not have healed yet, please be careful.” The auburn haired girl pulled him into a hug, for the first time in decades; he felt warmth once more, even if it was from a stranger. He didn’t care if it was just a biological reaction of his new body, or his true feelings. He just wanted to cling on to that feeling.

So much that he didn’t notice a hole in what they said earlier, he did not in fact have injuries.

He started sobbing.

“There, there, you can cry as much as you want, you can trust us.” The woman hugged him tighter.

He started crying more, as if all the emotions he had bottled up over the years were suddenly unleashed like water from a dam.

He heard a cough.

“Hey, breakfast is ready.” The golden-eyed boy interrupted, holding a plate with soft and fluffy pancakes stacked upon it, it had a thick layer of maple syrup.

‘Right, focus Frank, you were a grown-ass man in your previous life. No need to be sobbing like a little girl even if said life was shit.' He wiped away his tears, though he probably looked like a little girl trying to act strong as of the moment.

He sat down on a chair in front of a round table which had five seats. The golden—eyed boy distributed the plate of pancakes to the plates on the table; strangely, he also put one on the plate which belonged to the fifth and empty seat.

“Oh, that’s for grandma.” The black-hair and eyes boy spoke, pointing to the empty seat. Did he hear a chuckle somewhere?

'Nevermind.'

“Oh, sorry about that.” Frank twirled pierced a pancake with his fork, the taste was delicious, it reminded him of home. Judging by the aesthetic around the place, it may very well be similar to his home.

‘Perhaps this isn’t all that bad.’ He thought.

He immediately shut down that thought, two of his closest friends just died in a dark alleyway, how the situation could possibly be ‘not all that bad’.

“I’m glad you liked it, may we know your name, young lady?” The auburn haired girl asked him.

‘Oh shit.’ He was not prepared for this, it was time to play the amnesia card.

“I don’t remem-“

His voice was cut off by that of a young girl, but the tone of the voice left him paralyzed.

“That’s enough! Cut! I’ve seen enough, Quin you little shit, calling me a grandma like that, that was not a part of the script.” A girl in a black dress sat on the fifth seat, Frank knew that voice all too well, it was the voice of his murderer.

He dropped his fork, which clanged loudly on the floor of the room, but no one seemed to have cared.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help but ad-lib that line in, it was too good not to, y’know?” Cale added.

“Well whatever, respect your elders and all that. Anyways, I’ve read his facial expression enough, he’s from earth, or at least something similar, the twitch in his expression while looking at the fluorescent light confirms that and the nostalgic expression on his face when he ate the pancakes further supports that fact.” Llamiryl explained, leaving out the part that Frank was in a volatile state and easily emotionally manipulated.

Cale nodded in understanding.

“So is this what a trope would constitute as?” Louis asked Cale.

“Well, we’re sorta twisting the definition a bit, but yes, it’s a likely or commonly occurring event. Sometimes the protagonist of a novel gets his life saved by a family out in the woods and they turn out to be overpowered.” Cale shrugged.

Frank’s expression turned blank, everything that happened was all an act, a test, a play. They were just actors on a stage, and he was completely unaware.

He was so afraid of Llamiryl, so much that he couldn't move, he knew he could not escape the place. All he could do was shake in fear.

Louis secretly cast some mind magic to sedate him.

“Ah, so it was all an act, what do you wish to do with me now?” Even with the sedation, he could barely blurt out the words.

“It may be an act, but we had never lied to you. Me and Cale are indeed technically engaged, we are all indeed older than we look, you were indeed, err, injured in an alleyway and you can indeed trust us. Welcome to the Secret Society of Reincarnated Souls.” Elizabeth smiled.

“So, I was revived so I could join your organization? Even though one of you was the one who murdered me and my friends in cold blood.?" Frank asked, feeling annoyed. He didn’t even care about finding others like him that much anymore, he just wanted to retire as an adventurer, settle down, and start a tavern,

He felt wronged.

“Hey, no hard feelings, you three were just unlucky you happened to be near me when the disguise wore off. I never even knew you were reincarnated.” Llamiryl voiced mockingly.

“UNLUCKY HUH?! How many damn times did someone say that to me, again and again, my life has always been a trainwreck… I’ve always been unlucky. Just when things were turning out good, I get slaughtered in a dark alleyway like some nameless mob character. I’ll be damned…  I must have been born under a cursed star.” Frank lamented.

But indeed, truly he could imagine no other course of action for Llamiryl to take during that moment, he was truly just unlucky to ever meet her.

That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t loathe her though.

“Explain everything to me.” He said.

And so everyone gave their respective introductions, however, Cale changed things up a bit when it came to explaining the organization’s objective.

“And so, we’re trying to create a safe place for reincarnators to exist in, along with finding more about the mystery of this world. We don’t know much yet though.”

Elizabeth gave him a sideward glance, but then simply closed her eyes and crossed her arms.

Frank nodded, he thought he could work with this, although, he still had a question.

“Why did you revive me in a girls’ body?”

Llamiryl laughed, smacking the table and breaking it in the process, to which Louis simply fixed the table with the wave of his hand.

“You got trolled hard. That body’s genderless; also I’m quite sure fleshwielders can shapeshift. Yes, don’t give me that look, we decided to revive you in the body of an abomination, you’re lucky there aren’t any adverse effects.”

She was right, there wasn't a pole nor a hole down there when Frank checked, to everyone's laughter.

“Sorry about the dress by the way, that was the only one that fit you well, aside from the hundreds of black dresses Llamiryl has.” Cale spoke, although Frank had a feeling he was lying through his teeth.

‘Alright then, it seems I can change my form.’

Frank tried to move his limbs and reshape them, but nothing. He tried feeling some sort of energy flowing through his body, but then there was nothing. He even tried meditating, but there was still nothing.

“Ah, so it’s as I expected. The ability of the fleshwelder is innate to their soul, as with all beings of proper power, meaning you would not have access to such power.” Louis spoke.

Frank looked at him confused.

“In my world, after you hit a certain realm, cultivation stops being something that merely circulates around your physical dantian, higher cultivation includes circulating qi to temper one’s soul, that is why corpse puppets of cultivators above a certain realm experience a drastic drop in quality. The phenomena your body is experiencing is similar to a corpse puppet, you are simply unable to use the innate abilities of a fleshwielder, which I assume is shaping the body with their soul. In short, you’re stuck in that body, but you have access to their physical strength and any abilities that exist solely within their body.” Louis explained.

Llamiryl jotted down something in her notes.

“So, you mean… I’m stuck looking like this?” Frank looked at a copper mirror, he had pink hair with black eyes, and his face looked very cute and feminine.

“Nana just put some make-up on your face, it will wear off soon. Might want to get your hair dyed, though” Cale spoke.

“I’ll dye it black; I’ll have to cut this hair though.” He gestured towards the waist length hair behind him.

Louis absentmindedly tossed him a steel sword, Frank took it by the hilt and examined it, it was of excellent quality.

He bundled up a bunch of his hair and swung his sword at it… the sword broke.

“That’s some pretty good durability.” Llamiryl commented

“I guess I’m destined to be trap then…” Frank fell to his knees.

Louis walked behind Frank, he took his hair and bundled it up, and then proceeded to tie it into a braided ponytail.

"Rather than letting it flow freely, this looks much better, don't you think?" Louis whispered to his ear.

Frank looked at the copper mirror and nodded, the hairstyle was more fitting for him.

“Anyways, I’ve dealt with your enrollment. Your backstory is you couldn’t attend the entrance ceremony since your two parents died in an expedition to the dwarven country a day prior. I doubt anyone would like to question that topic too much. And anyone who bullies you for that is just a straight up asshole.” Cale handed him all the documents he would need.

It included seals from the De Leon and Enriquez family, even a recommendation from Elvus Dominica. Besides that, it included documents showing many minor noble houses and rich merchants in the capital supporting him. In terms of political power, he would not be lacking

Llamiryl took out two sets of academy uniforms, and smiled.

“So would you like the girl’s uniform, or the boys uniform~?”

“What kind of stupid question is that?!” Frank exclaimed, he grabbed the boy’s uniform, stomping his foot on the ground, shaking the entire base.

“Learn to control your physical power please, I wouldn’t want you destroying the underground base, you won’t be able to pay for it.” Louis spoke,

“Did you just say underground base? Ugh, whatever, that clock says it should be the early morning of Thursday, so I’ll go prepare for school now.” Frank gathered up the documents and got up from his seat.

Llamiryl smiled and shifted her seat.

“I shall accompany you, alone.” Elizabeth stood up, casting as stern glance towards Llamiryl; she knew that Frank resented Llamiryl, so she decided to not let the situation worsen any further.

She and Frank ran out of the room, Llamiryl shrugged and walked out too, heading back to the surface so Elyssa would not go searching for her in the dorms.

Louis turned to Cale, placing his arms on the table as if he was interrogating Cale.

“Quin.” He said with an authoritative voice.

“You didn’t tell him everything, why?”

“He’s been in this world longer than us. He’s more attached to it than us, if I tell him about the world dying… he may resort to more drastic measures that will hinder our plans.” Cale spoke with a serious expression on his face.

Louis smiled.

“Good answer, I personally think you are somewhat worthy of working with me. Speaking of plans, you haven’t told me anything, right? Why don’t you tell me now that we have a fifth member?”

Cale relaxed on his seat, he stared at the ceiling which reminded him of a home far away.

“Very well.”

He turned back to Louis

“Have you ever heard of an otome game?”

Cale looked around the room, as if he expected something to happen.

“Of course not, we’re from entirely different worlds, duh.” Louis spoke.

“Dammit there was supposed to be a cliffhanger at that line.” Cale said, annoyed.

“Well, let me explain how that relates to the current events…”