1 Doom Came Crashing on Them

"AMBULANCE! Call the emergency lines!"

"Help! People trapped in there!"

"N-No! I saw a mother and a child walking there earlier! Are they the victims?!"

Faint cries and shouts made their way under the wreckage. Fighting against the searing pain, Leslie forced her eyes open. Trapped under the collapsed billboard, the dimness limited her eyesight.

"Urgh... C-cough! Cough!"

Leslie let out an aching cough. The piercing ache traveled all over her body. She was lying face down among the debris, her whole body was covered in dust.

"Poppy... Calliope..."

Leslie's hoarse voice was barely a whisper. Her erratically beating heart almost jumped out of her throat. Her precious daughter's name kept coming out of her lips.

"Calliope... Mama's here... where... Cough! Cough!"

More dry coughs escaped Leslie's mouth. Using what was left of her energy, she tried pushing the debris off her body. She was forced to crawl, her palms sustained cuts from the scraps.

"Calliope... where are you? P-Poppy!"

Leslie reached a quite ample spot where she could at least kneel. Pushing her upper body up, her mind and heart were still focused on finding Calliope.

Desperation and fear washed over her the longer she was separated from her daughter.

Today was supposed to be a joyful day for them.

Then, why...

Why did it end up like this?

Slipping in and out of her consciousness, Leslie inadvertently recalled the few hours before the chaos fell on her and her little one.

Leslie received her salary today. She treated Calliope to a meal at her daughter's favorite restaurant. The cheap yet delicious food was enough to make Calliope happy.

"Mama~ Poppy wants matching dresses with Mama."

Calliope was overjoyed when Leslie promised to buy her a new dress. She should have gotten it last month but, a few episodes of bringing a sick Calliope to the hospital depleted her small savings.

But... 

Once again Leslie failed to keep her promise.

While passing a massive billboard by the pedestrian walkway, Calliope playfully let go of Leslie's hands.

The little one's infectious laughter echoed in the air as she tried to run ahead of her mother. Her chubby hands were hugging her favorite fox toy.

"Mama~ Come and catch Poppy and Mimo~"

"Poppy! That's dangerous!"

Right when Leslie quickened her pace, something unbelievable happened.

A truck lost control and rammed into the billboard. The huge impact caused the devastating end for the billboard as it crumbled before falling on the walkway.

"ARGH! Calliope!"

"M-MAMA!"

In the blink of an eye, their joyful day turned nightmarish. The mother and daughter were imprisoned under the wreckage.

'I shouldn't... let her hands go...'

Dread clawed into Leslie's heart. The horrifying image of Calliope's face was stuck in her mind. Her failure to protect her precious daughter was eating her insides.

"...Calliope!"

Leslie's eyes widened the moment she finally spotted Calliope lying not far from her. Yet, her happiness was cut short.

"N-no... Calliope! No! NO!"

Leslie dragged her injured body to get to Calliope. Tears pooled in her eyes, blurring the gruesome sight of her daughter's little body impaled by a broken steel rod. 

"Mama's baby... Poppy... Calliope... open your eyes..."

Leslie carefully touched Calliope's small shoulders. Warm blood stained her palms. A sick feeling twisted her gut but, she kept trying to wake her daughter up.

But...

Calliope's eyes remained closed and not even the faintest breath came out of her nose.

A realization dawned on Leslie. Her heart froze for a second.

"...Poppy? Why... aren't you waking up? Don't... don't do this to Mama... Open your eyes, please."

No...

Her daughter was still alive!

Her daughter was still here with her!

She hadn't...

|Leslie, do you want to follow Calliope?|

"...huh?"

A child-like yet genderless voice suddenly drowned the rest of the white noise. Before Leslie could say anything, it spoke again.

|Ten seconds before the offer ends. Do you want to find your daughter Calliope?|

Caught off guard by the disembodied voice, Leslie didn't realize a piece of steel rod was hanging loosely above her. It would fall within a short time.

|Do you want to live another life with Calliope?|

The words gently penetrated Leslie's hazy mind. Calliope's small body was still warm in her arms. Her eyesight lost much of its clarity.

As if being under enchantment, Leslie whispered as her body slowly tilted down.

"...yes, bring me... to her."

Lying again on the ground covered by debris, Leslie didn't feel the pain when the steel rod finally fell, piercing her back. Calliope stayed in her arms.

|You've made the better choice, Leslie.|

**********

"...where am I?"

Leslie found herself surrounded by a white void. The eerie calmness of her surroundings sent shivers ghosting down her spine.

"Earlier... What had happened? ...urgh!"

Leslie pinched the space between her temple. An onslaught of pain stabbed into her head.

|Aren't you looking for Calliope?|

"...?!"

The slightly familiar child-like voice shocked Leslie. She abruptly looked up to where the echo came, only to be caught off guard once again.

A red fox toy was floating above her. The stuffed crochet toy's appearance was so familiar to Leslie.

"Aren't you... Mimo? You... you can talk?!"

Mimo nodded slightly. It jumped toward Leslie. She flinched, surprised by the movement of the fox toy. Mimo remained floating in the air yet, it assumed a sitting position. 

|Have you forgotten what happened just now? Leslie, you said you want to find Poppy again.|

Leslie's eyes enlarged. 

"M-Mimo! That was your voice?" shouted Leslie, her eyes staring widely at the fox toy.

|Yes. That's my voice.|

Horrified, Leslie was robbed of her words. The shock made it hard for her to register her current situation in her mind. 

But...

"P-Poppy! Where is she? Where's my daughter? Why can't I see her now?"

Leslie's worry for Calliope took over the initial surprise. She frantically looked around her but, there was no sight of her daughter anywhere. There was only Mimo in her eyes.

|Poppy is safe. I promise you. But, we couldn't get to her now. We need to find her in the new world first.|

Frowning, Mimo's words unintentionally managed to cease Leslie from panicking nonstop.

"...find her in which world?"

Saying nothing in response, Mimo flicked its red tail. A book suddenly appeared in front of Leslie, catching her off guard.

"Wait, Mimo..." Leslie's voice suddenly lowered, laced with disbelief, "This book... don't tell me..."

Mimo retained its calmness as it replied, |Leslie, you need to transmigrate into this book world. Calliope is in there, somewhere.|

"..."

Leslie was speechless. Her movement was quite stiff as she took the book from floating in the air. 

'The Grumpy CEO Chases After His Glamorous Wife'

Wasn't this the book she was reading? Did this mean she would transmigrate into any of the characters?

But, who?

"Mimo, do you mean..." Leslie was distraught. She couldn't believe this was happening to her, "I'll take someone else's body? How could I do that?"

"You can possess my body."

Leslie froze when out of nowhere, a young woman materialized in front of her. The latter seemed to be around her age, a beautiful yet frail-looking.

"...who are you?"

The unknown woman smiled but, it didn't reach her doe eyes.

"Hello, my name is Charlene Li. How about you take over my body?"