As if in response to his tumultuous scream, the sea of numbers flooding his vision vanished and was replaced by an unfamiliar sight.
"E-eh? Where am I…?"
Seojin found himself in the middle of a decorous room, looking like a noble's residence.
Growl!
Ignoring his empty stomach, he looked around.
Behind him, blue curtains fluttered in the breeze from an open window, beside which stood a desk with books.
To his right, a luxurious bed rested atop a prodigal mat, while a large closet occupied the left side of the room.
The walls were made of pristine stone, and the floor from polished wooden planks. Above, a crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling.
"Ah. That must be it. This place must be a hallucination induced by hunger."
Seojin closed his eyes and calmed his breathing.
Starvation has always loved to play tricks on a person's mind, what more if that person hadn't eaten anything for the past two days?
"Yeah, damn right. This had to be that."
Seojin blinked his eyes.
Just as he expected, he found himself standing back under a street lamp right before the crosswalk, outside the convenience store.
"Heh. I knew it…"
Then again, a familiar tingling sensation hit his nose— a nosebleed. He did what he had done earlier, raising his chin to stop the blood from flowing, then pinched his nose.
After a minute, it subsided.
"Puft!"
Seojin spat a frothy red blood off the road and wiped his nose with his collar.
"Damn it. I feel like shit. I should better wash up."
Deciding to head back, he walked through the pedestrian crossing. His house was only about 700 meters away, so it would be approximately 7 to 8 minutes to walk back home.
But.
Thud!
"O-ow…!"
He bumped into someone, or perhaps someone bumped into him. He couldn't tell who was the one at fault.
He stumbled back. His vision swirled here and there like a Van Gogh painting.
"Look at your stupid way when you're walking, you piece of shit! I'm already pissed off enough as it is, don't add…"
Seojin gulped, swallowing his words.
To be more accurate, he was silenced by the breathtaking beauty of a woman before him, holding her arm out to help him up with a stiff and straight posture.
"I beg for your forgiveness, my lord. I have no excuses for my lack of attention. Please take my hand."
Her twin ponytails swayed left and right along with her weight.
"Eh? What… did you just say?"
"Pardon?"
The woman looked confused, but believed she had no right but to oblige and repeat her words if the lord ordered her to.
"Ah. I have no excuses for my lack—"
"No. The one before that."
"Forgive me, my lord…?"
"…My lord?"
Seojin stared at her, then down at the hand still offered to him, then back at her face. All they had done was bump into each other, yet she was already being submissive.
'Wait, wait, is this it?! Are my exceptional genes finally taking effect? Perfect. At this rate, ramen is guaranteed tonight. But scratch that, I need more than just ramen.'
Seojin accepted the hand to help him up.
"Hm. Well, if you really are sorry for bumping into me, then treat me to dinner. I know a good place."
"...??"
Bonk!
Seojin bumped the nail of the pinky finger of his right foot the moment he confidently walked back, eyes closed.
"O-o-ow!! That— hu-huh?"
Turning around, the woman stood still, her brows raised as she looked at him.
Only then did Seojin realize he was back in that noble-like room as he clutched his aching toe, stifling a groan of pain.
"It seems you are not yet fully awake, my lord."
"..."
The woman walked past him and gently closed the windows. Snowflakes had been drifting inside, and she feared that Seojin might catch a fever from the cold.
But just because the air was frigid did not mean Seojin should forgo his bath.
"Please, take your time to refresh and wake up yourself in the bath, my lord. I shall return shortly with breakfast."
Creak.
The woman closed the door.
Seojin, now left alone inside this unfamiliar room, scowled.
He couldn't tell where this place was. Sure, it might be true that hallucinations might trick the eye, but could they conjure pain so vivid it burned through his toenail?
No.
Looking around one more time, there was no banner hanging inside the room like a usual 'noble' family.
In short, there was nothing that could hint at his origins or tell him where he belonged.
Thus, he walked to the window and looked outside.
However, only rows of trees stretched into the distance, their branches touched with a thin layer of snow, indicating that snowfall only began a short while ago, perhaps a day, or perhaps less.
Seojin stroked the hair (bangs) cascading his forehead.
"Strange. Is this the doing of the great and mighty Truck-kun? Nhaw! As if trucks crossed the pedestrian crosswalk, heh."
Seojin thought of all the possibilities.
"Besides, it definitely felt like I bumped into a person."
Shortly after, Seojin stretched his body, paced the room, and did a quick shadow boxing.
Another strange thing was, there was no heaviness or delay in his movements as often described in those tales of people sent into another world.
This place certainly looked like another world.
Step, step.
Shaking his head, he moved toward the door beside the closet to take a bath. For some reason, he knew that the adjoining room was the bathroom.
However, he stopped when his eyes caught the calendar pinned against the door.
"...Wait! That calendar."
Displayed before him was a calendar, it showed a month read [Bruma], and beneath it were a total of 53 days.
Seojin flipped back through the earlier pages, and each month before that carried only 52 days.
More than the numbers, what unsettled him was the familiarity.
Seojin knew about this calendar. He had seen it before, studied it before, and lived with it for seven years!
"N-no way. No damn way…"
Seojin recalled his own comment on that post pinned by the author:
> Seojin, looks like me and is a genius like me. Any genius skill.
Hastily, he rushed into the bathroom and stared intently at his reflection at the vanity mirror.
"It really does look exactly like me."
The reflection showed black hair, but he knew better.
His true hair was a very dark brown in color, so dark it often appeared black in dim light, yet under the sun it revealed those brown tones.
His eyes were the same as well, those rare irises.
In South Korea, such eyes were rarer than winning the lottery, falling as jjok within the ancient o‑bang‑saek hues.
"If that's the case, then have I transmigrated inside that novel and the author's post wasn't just complete bullshit?!"
Normally, he should be happy about this, but he had no privilege for that.
After all.
"If I look exactly like me as per my comment said, then that unhinged brainrot drawback should also be—"
Ding!
[A character matching your description has been found.]
A system interface appeared before him.
[Attempting customization.]
[The character's name cannot be altered. The original name has been restored.]
[Character customization complete!]