Noblesse: Bloodbound

      Remember that legendary opening scene from Noblesse?       A soft psssh. A sleek white coffin opens. And out rises Cadis Etrama di Raizel, the Noblesse himself. Solemn moment, all the drama, and collective awe!       So now you remember it, yeah? Well, news flash: That’s not how it happened.       First sound to shatter the silence? Me. Sneezing. Totally inelegant. Followed by some groaning as I stretched my stiff limbs.       Fanfics lie: being crammed in a coffin for hours with a half-dead pretty boy isn’t romantic. It’s not even dark romantic. It’s back pain, numb legs, ragged breath, brain screaming for air. And heart hammering so hard I tasted copper.       Don’t get me wrong, Rai’s a total sweetheart and easy on the eyes. But the only reason I didn’t lose my mind from claustrophobia is that I’d already spent several years stuck in worse places. I’ve learnt the lesson: panic is a luxury. Don’t faint. Don’t scream. Turn your body into stone and pray the cracks don’t show.       Frankie’d better never find out how his precious Master got rescued. I’ll keep my mouth shut. And so will Raizel. First, because he’s got manners. Second? Dude’s still unconscious.       Bet you didn’t see that twist coming, huh? The original story kicks off with Cadis waking up like some regal Sleeping Beauty, but surprise! My coffin buddy needed serious medical attention first. Anyone have questions like wtf with canon? Be my guest!       I started feeling the story went south about two years ago. Ever since, I’d been scrambling to fix this mess and steer things back toward the original manhwa’s plot. Maybe there were other ways for the Noblesse to survive, but honestly? IDK. Sticking to the script was easier.       Ugh. Time to crawl out of the coffin. I recall there was a balcony straight ahead. Desperately needed fresh air.       Hnngh…       With a grunt, I clutched the sheet around me, swung one leg over the edge, then the other. The silk carpet under my bare feet felt like heaven: so plush, so gentle. The first taste of luxury after years of cold lab floors.       Walking was… rough. My body lurched like a rusty puppet with half-cut strings. Every step sent needles through my deadened feet. I shuffled across the room, reaching obnoxiously pink curtains. Shoved them aside with a screech, and —       Yes.       Fresh air. I gulped it down until my lungs ached, until the spots in my vision danced. Inhaling felt like finding hope that smells grass, gasoline and someone‘s coffee. No antiseptic. No blood. Just… life.       Maybe, just maybe, the last leg of operation: Deliver Raizel to Frankenhouse would actually work. Please-please-please!       I slumped against the balcony wall, tilting my face toward the morning sun. Warmth on my skin. First taste of daylight after two years in the dark. Like one of those children of Venus living in an underground city in Bradbury’s All Summer in a Day.       Birds chirping, kids yelling, distant traffic — sounds from a world that wasn’t mine. Not anymore. Literally.       Welp. Time to face the music and admit it: I’d been glitch-ported into this mess. The universe really said: “Let’s give her two flavors of ‘oh crap’ for the price of one!”       I’d been isekai’d into Noblesse. Yep.       That epic story packed with tragic, punchable bishounens, lack of strong female characters, endless fights, and (after fans rioted) a half-hearted happy ending. On the bright side? At least it wouldn’t be boring, huh! And most of the main cast survived. Silver linings.       Oh, and I remember canon. Almost. Every. Bloody. Detail. Another win.       Knowledge is power. Wish I could say it sounded badass, but nah. Plot armor? Zero. Problems? 99,9%. Keep the damn change.       The downsides? First: non-canon entry. Look, I’m all for “be the change you wish to see”, but without me, Raizel would still be the Union’s favorite lab rat. And no “Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?” No Mariana Trench arc here. Nope! Just a coma masquerading as a beauty nap. For centuries.       I’d done my best to course-correct, though. Now? One last step: to deliver Sleeping Beauty to Frankenstein. And pray things would follow the manhwa.       Next: identity crisis. Usually, isekai means the world and the character. Lucky me. I got dropped into a no-name never existed in the original story. Nor a hero, nor a villain. Maybe a scrapped concept? Hey, GM? System? Anyone? Crap.       Either way, my new body wasn’t bad. Lean, athletic, half a head shorter than Raizel, with red-wine eyes, black hair, and sharp features. Basically, his gender-swapped doppelgänger.       So why not be body positive? ‘Cause I had no idea what the Union’s mad scientists had Frankensteined into me. They did give me a serial number (Object N-73 — ugh), but thinking of myself as a lab-grown genetic experiment was… depressing. Over two years, I’d dug for clues about my origins. No parents. No species. Nothing. Only rumors that my DNA cocktail included humans and Nobles. And possibly… Him. How would He react? Yeah, better not to dwell. And I’m not touching that with a ten-foot pole! And definitely never-ever mention it around Frankie.       I was Raizel’s personal blood bank. Literally. They’d drain him, pump his blood into me. <…> Profit!       For years, I’d been a living dialysis machine. Why? ‘Cause chugging pure Noble blood kills humans, that’s why! But in what universe has it stopped mad scientists? Ha-ha! The Union really wanted that power. So they used me to dilute it. Pour in a liter, extract three. Such fun math.       But hey, I’m an optimist. Even this mess had perks:       - Hypothetically, I could use the power locked inside me. All those fancy blood-manipulation tricks. Remember? I’m a damn optimist. So far, only mind control worked.       - Probably, I’m part- or full Noble. Meaning immortal life, insane healing, superhuman stats. Double it! Plus, a special connection to Raizel. Blood is thicker than water, m’kay? If a werewolf heart could upgrade M-21, then Noble genes + Cadis’s blood + a Noble’s heart = supercharged me. (Frankie could run the tests.)       The rest? Those tiny little things like how the mighty have fallen for me to end up as Object N-73 in a super-duper secret Union’s lab? No clue.       Left field, much? No godly summons, no grand mission, no memories of a past life. Just — bam! — woke up on a lab table, staring at a gray ceiling. Couldn’t move, only breathe and blink.       First thought? Hospital after an accident? Tried remembering anything — nada. Just a headache and beeping machines. Then white coats swarmed, babbling jargon. I blacked out (sedatives, probably). Later, it felt like a second take. The only difference: I couldn’t open my eyes. Just listened. Day after day. Slowly pieced together words. Maybe learned the language? Cadis picked up Korean fast, so why can’t I have that cheat too?       Eventually, I connected the dots: I’m in Noblesse. Captured by the Union. Raizel’s nearby. Gotta escape.       So I played dead: acted comatose while filtering blood. Bided my time. Lucky me, the scientists never suspected I was conscious. To them, I was just a fancy meat filter. Then some bigwig ordered to update my heart with a new, Noble one. (Guess they had extras as giveaways. Again, lucky me!) Post-op, they kept pumping blood, monitoring changes. And did never check my brain activity: why would they? It’s not like I could escape… Sweet summer children, huh.       The turning point? The coffin. Saw its reflection in the ceiling lights: pristine white, gold cross, red satin lining. Premium. A gorgeous couchette for an Eternal Sleep. Oh, shut up, no vamp vibes here. Seriously, after two years on a metal slab, even a coffin looked cozy. Then they wheeled in Raizel for his weekly transfusion. Oddly, he’d been dressed in a suit. Prepping for going out? Fancy look, sassy outfit, lol. That’s when it hit me: THE COFFIN! This was the plot’s pivot point. The time has come.       I waited until the lab emptied, leaving one guard. Ugh, that creep. Hated him. Handsy bastard leaned over me, whispering gross jokes. What’s wrong with you, people? Where do such perverts come from?       He lifted my sheet.       I slammed every ounce of focus into one mental command:       “Obey me.”       In a blink, his excited look faded into a thousand-yard stare.       “Put me in the coffin. Disable all cameras. Oversee the shipment. Lock the exits. Blow up the lab. DO IT.”       He jerked, lifted me, and dumped besides Raizel. Sorry, sweetheart, you’ve got an unexpected cuddle buddy. At least it was spacious. The lid closed, cutting off light and sound. Leaving just darkness. Silence. And softness.       The next few hours were agony. Did it work? The mind-control felt solid, but… no way to know. The lab wasn’t in manhwa, no intel. Wish Tao were here. But nope. I had to trust canon.       (Though some parts needed changing. Like saving Rajak. Or healing Raizel before the final fight with Lagus. No resurrection this time.)

***

      The sun felt amazing. But no time to laze around. Had to hand-deliver Sleeping Beauty to his Prince. Or his tamed Beast?       …Wait.       A bitter laugh escaped me. Of course. It’s me who was the monster stitched together from spare parts and made alive by mad scientists.       Was I the real Frankenstein’s creature here? Funny how stories get twisted.       I flexed my fingers, watching the light catch on unblemished skin. No scars. No traces. At least on the outside. Just the ghost of the lab smells clinging to my sheet.       Time to move.       Somewhere out there, Frankie was probably staring at his ceiling again, starting a new day of his pitiful life aimless without his Master.       And I? I had a Noblesse to smuggle.       So why keep everyone waiting? No turning back now.       Let the games begin.