Records Dyed Red

Chapter Three

Roksu snapped awake.

What?

What had woken him?

Distantly, he heard the muffled sound of a large crash. The space he was in vibrated, and vertigo surged through him as if gravity had suddenly shifted direction.

Another violent crash, followed by a quick succession of things splintering and breaking as if someone outside had decided to just flip everything over.

What the hell?

Had the monster that had swallowed him gotten worked up? Were they fighting it?

Ahh, back to work soon if that were the case. He could just imagine the mountain of paperwork waiting for him. He should use all that time off he had built up. He could claim he was injured and needed to recuperate.

Maybe, while he was gone, Kim Min Ah would take pity on him and...

A sudden bang, so loud it sounded right next to him, reverberated through the dark space around him, before his gut suddenly seized with vertigo for a second time.

His body shook and rattled, crashing into the thick membrane until it gave way and sent him bumping up against a hard, slick surface.

Adrenaline surged through him and, for perhaps the first time, the fog of fatigue lifted completely away. He felt alert and aware, his senses sharpening as he tried to make sense of what was happening.

He tried to move his limbs, hoping to reach through the membrane to that hard surface again, but frowned as body failed to respond they way it should.

His arms and legs felt like they were moving in weird, unnatural directions, and his fingers seemed longer than they should be...and...curved? Also, how was he just noticing an odd feeling behind him, as if someone had attached a thick rope to the base of his spine.

What the hell?

A deafening crack split the air, and blinding light flooded Roksu's vision. He had no time to process the change as his body was yanked upward. The world spun in a dizzying blur of colors and shapes, each more vibrant and intense than anything he'd ever experienced as if someone had taken his eyesight and dialed it up to a thousand.

The movement stopped and, as he slowly took stock of his surroundings, Roksu found himself suspended in midair, held in place by an enormous hand.

WHAT.

The giant hand holding him aloft belonged to an equally enormous face, peering at him with a mixture of curiosity and excitement.

On any given day, this would have been a shocking enough event that it would have taken all of Roksu's attention...if he hadn't caught sight of his own body.

Where once there had been smooth human skin, now gleamed brilliant crimson scales, each one catching the light and sparkling like glittering rubies. His torso was long and sinuous, tapering into a whip-like tail that had coiled itself around the stranger's wrist. Instead of long legs and arms, he now had stubby limbs that ended in clawed feet that looked more suitable for climbing than walking.

WHAT.

THE.

HELL.

He was a LIZARD????

Why was he a lizard????

Roksu's mind struggled to make sense of what was happening. Was this reincarnation? It was the only explanation that seemed to fit, but even that felt woefully inadequate. If he had been reborn, how had he died? He searched his memories, probing for any recollection of his final moments as a human, but found nothing but a hazy blur.