[South Korea, Seoul]
Morning arrived in the Land of the Morning Calm, with the sun stretching its delicate golden threads over the vast lands of Korea.
Reflecting off the towering windows of the buildings that mostly made up the capital, high school students, middle schoolers, and businessmen began their day, heading to their respective areas of responsibility.
The streets started to fill with the country's inhabitants and foreigners alike; the roads buzzed with traffic, the sound of honking from angry, tired, or desperate people running late flooding the streets in turn.
But that doesn't matter. We'll focus on an area farther from the center—our interest isn't in this country's beauty or the hectic daily life of ordinary Koreans.
Jaewon High School, or J High School, whatever you want to call it, located in a more remote area away from Korea's tourist center, a school based on vocational education—and currently, it's our area of interest.
"Whoa~ Did you see his hair? It's incredible," Someone Whispered.
"He's so tall! Is he a foreigner? An exchange student?"
"I've never seen him around here before. He must be new, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, and did you see his skin? It feels so exotic."
"(A wild yet refined beauty at the same time!!)" That was the conclusion everyone reached at the school's entrance.
Standing there was him—the one who is currently our main interest, standing tall with his gaze fixed ahead.
He looked relaxed, with a soft smile and calm eyes, his body exuding confidence... Though inside...
[Kaito Lee]
(Shit, how did I end up here...? My nerves are eating me alive! I never thought I'd have to go through damn high school again.)
Feeling a drop of sweat roll down my cheek, I tried my best to hide my nervousness, my poker face forged from years of dealing with a boss who only understands himself.
That's right, I've landed in a world completely different from mine... Well, not completely. It's essentially the same, but with small differences—like the fact that freaking Pepsi is now called Peksi. What's the point of that?
It all started a few days ago...
[3 Days Earlier]
The sun's rays fell over the streets of Korea, piercing through the windows of the buildings that made up the capital. In a remote area away from the center, inside a somewhat old apartment complex, a young man was sleeping.
He had tan skin, long hair reaching just below his waist, silky and smooth. He was lying on a futon that was a bit dirty and worn out, with sheets in the same condition covering him.
The room looked empty, with little more than a sink, a kitchen, and a small cabinet where an old box-style TV sat—you know, the kind that's the complete opposite of a flat screen.
The dishwasher had a few piled-up plates, and the dust in the corners of the room made it clear that whoever lived here didn't care about cleanliness or hygiene at all.
With a groan, the body in the middle of the room began to move, dragging the sheets over itself as it tried to get up.
"Huh...? The floor?" A confused voice sounded as he looked around, trying to figure out where he was, thinking maybe he had fallen off the bed while sleeping.
But he knew instantly with one glance—this wasn't his normal room. With a quick reaction, he jumped up and slammed into a wall, like a cat in one of those videos where they're scared by a cucumber.
"Where?!" Looking around in fear, he tried to find something that would help him figure out his location, only to come up empty.
Given the room's gloomy appearance, he briefly wondered if he'd been kidnapped—though that wouldn't make sense, given his nonexistent status and lack of a social life.
Feeling like he'd overreacted, he decided to take a calmer look around.
An old TV, a dishwasher, a kitchen, two doors, the futon, and magazines scattered on the floor. He couldn't see much else—the place was so empty he doubted there was anything more.
Finally calming down, he placed a hand on his chest and exhaled his fears—though... it felt strange. His chest was much softer than usual. He looked down and saw it.
In front of him wasn't his hand or his body—it was a tan, chubby hand, where the fingers could barely be called fingers and not sausages or something, while his stomach seemed to have tripled in size, rolls of fat pressing against his pajamas.
And, of course, two fat lumps hanging from his chest. That was the final clue that made him snap awake and instinctively run to the bathroom.
Opening the door, he ignored the cramped space that barely fit a shower and a toilet, staring instead at the small rectangular mirror above the sink. There, he saw it.
A round, chubby face, bloated with fat, long, loose hair reaching about his knees. He was roughly 1.70 meters tall, and overall, his appearance looked unkempt—except for his hair, which for some reason looked amazing.
That's when it hit him. Taking a few steps back, he bumped into the toilet (lid down) and fell onto it with one realization:
"Did I... reincarnate...?" He poked his cheek softly, testing if this was real, then pinched himself as hard as he could.
"Ow!" The sharp pain confirmed it—this wasn't a dream or anything like that.
Somehow, he'd ended up here—in someone else's bathroom, in someone else's body, and he didn't understand why.
He was sure that the day before had been completely normal. He'd followed his routine and gone to sleep, ready to start another day in his lethargic, endless cycle called life. He was certain no suspicious truck had hit him, nor had he answered any weird online surveys.
"So why...? What does this mean? A new world? Another body? Or maybe it's just my same world, but I'm in someone else's body?"
Placing a hand on his nearly nonexistent chin, he tried to think of possibilities. He'd read and seen plenty about this kind of thing, so he wasn't freaking out too much. All things considered, being reborn could be great—as long as he got some cheat abilities.
"Shouldn't a screen pop up in front of me now, saying it's my personal system or something? I've seen people get awesome starter packs—if I had something like that, I could do so much."
Between thoughts, something interrupted him—the ping of a phone in the living room caught his attention.
Deciding he'd done enough thinking for now, he got up to check it out, still feeling that nervousness about the unfamiliar. He tried to shake it off.
Among the magazines, he noticed a sound—the notification ping was louder from one pile, so he moved things aside and found it: a somewhat old phone, nothing impressive.
"Three notifications... Let's see."
But there was a problem—the phone, like most, had a PIN. For a moment, he started to panic, until accidentally, when he placed his middle finger on the back, it unlocked.
"Huh? How? Magic?" No, not magic. The phone just had a specific spot on the back that recognized fingerprints and unlocked automatically.
Among all the apps, he didn't recognize many beyond having seen or heard of them in videos or shows. Most were apps used in Asian countries like Korea and Japan.
One in particular had a red circle in the corner with a "3," indicating three notifications. Without hesitation, he opened it.
The sight was... sad? A messaging app, with only one contact saved: "Bruce Lee."
"Just one contact... I don't know how to feel about this, knowing this body is now mine..." Though he still couldn't assume anything 100%—after all, this could also be like that 'Your Name' experience.
But he'd rather not. The whole falling in love and losing memory thing... Just thinking about it gave him chills. Without further delay, he opened the chat.
Only three messages: an image, an address, and an emoji.
"That's it?" Staring at the phone in confusion, he decided to open the image first. It was a transfer receipt for a total of 90,000 yen.
"Yen..." Still staring at the screen, his face twisted into an incredibly serious expression.
"I have no idea how much that is."
So, pulling up what looked like Google, he converted the amount to dollars for a better idea.
"That's about $600... What does that have to do with me? I don't get it." His gaze shifted to the address.
It was a place in Seoul, South Korea. Confused, he opened the pre-installed maps app to see what it was—only to be met with an odd surprise.
"Jaewon High School." Staring at the phone, images of a large educational facility appeared. He checked a few more pictures before continuing his train of thought.
"So, according to this, I'm currently in Seoul, and on top of that, I can somehow read Korean." Until now, he hadn't realized how natural it felt, but somehow, he understood Korean despite never having studied the language.
He assumed it was thanks to this body.
"Now, what does this mean? There should be more messages in this chat." Going back to the app, he decided to investigate further.
Minutes passed quickly, with Kaito sitting on the floor, eyes glued to the screen—until finally, after intense searching, he looked up.
"No clues."
That's right—the entire chat was filled with the same thing: image and emoji, image and emoji, image and emoji. All of them were transfers of around 100,000 yen, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less.
"There's no way there isn't a single record or hint about what I'm supposed to do with this." Scratching his head in confusion, he glanced around.
The floor was littered with risqué magazines—nothing interesting beyond that. Maybe this body had a bit too much appreciation for feminine charm. Just as he was about to give up for the day, something caught the corner of his eye.
A white triangular shape stood out slightly among the magazines, its neat appearance making it noticeable.
Dragging his heavy body over, he pulled it out from the piles. The triangle took shape—it was just the corner of a folder. Now holding it in his hands, Kaito's eyes widened.
"Finally!! Haha." On the front of the folder was text that read: 'Jaewon High School.' At last, he had a clear lead.
But his excitement didn't last long before his body froze.
[Ting]
[System initiated. Hibernation complete.]
[Recognizing host.]
[Host recognized: Kaito Lee.]
[The Ascension System greets its new host.]
"Eh...?"