"What the hell, what do you mean I got transmigrated?"
Kael questioned his so-called system when it mentioned that he'd just been transmigrated into another world — a fantasy one, at that.
He didn't believe it at first. Who would? Only stupid people would believe some random shit like this, and Kael was pretty sure he wasn't one of them.
That's why he kept asking the same question, over and over, after waking up in this strange place. Well — "strange" might be too strong. It looked like nothing more than a dorm room.
At first he thought maybe he'd been kidnapped. Thank god he hadn't. Otherwise... sigh.
By now, he'd pestered his system so much that even the soulless thing seemed tired of him. (God help that poor system.)
[Are you dumb?]
The system had had enough.
"What? How dare you say that, huh?"
Clearly offended, Kael scrambled for something that might sting back.
[Like I already told you — you've been transmigrated into a world of sword and magic. A fantasy world.]
"Ha. For real? What the hell do you mean, transmigrated? Does that mean I died or something? That's what I wanna know, bitch."
[Oh, that's what you meant. You could've just asked that directly.]
"Oh shut up. If you'd just used your brain, you would've understood. Oops — forgot you don't have one, haha."
Here we go again. But this time the system had no intention of dragging it out.
[Sigh. Fine. Yes. You died. That's why you're here.]
!!!
The information was cold, but Kael, unexpectedly, stayed calm. Calm enough to ask again.
"Hm. Why me, though? Lots of people die out there. So why me?"
[Why you... honestly, I don't know either. Even I'd like to know why it's you — and why I'm stuck with you.]
It sounded like the truth. Or a very convincing lie. Kael couldn't tell. But right now, this suspicious voice was all he had, so he'd have to trust it. A little.
"Okay, so — what's the briefing? Got any?"
[What?]
Not understanding, the system echoed him flatly.
Slap.
Kael slapped his own forehead, already exhausted by this thing. But he needed information if he wanted any shot at starting over.
"Anything on me? Quests, missions, something? No?"
[Oh. No. Not for now. Just live however you want.]
'So I've got total freedom, huh. But what am I even supposed to do with that?'
"Hey — say I can do whatever I want. Fine. But what the hell am I supposed to do? I don't know anything about this world!"
He expected another dismissal. Instead, he got an answer.
[Check your system inventory. There's a tutorial book — {Basic Book of This World} —]
Kael summoned it before the system finished. "This one?"
[...]
"What?"
The system sighed and pushed on. [Yes, that one. It covers the basics — daily life, common knowledge, a bit of history, monsters, fighters.]
"Damn, that's a lot. Tell me more!"
[If I explain everything, what's the book for? Read it yourself. I'm shutting down. Bye.]
"Heyyy, wait—"
...
Nothing.
Kael had no choice but to read it himself. He looked at the book: {The Book of All Basic}.
Sigh. "Guess I'm reading this whole thing, huh. Already got a headache." He eyed the thick book and thought how nice it'd be if someone would just tell him instead. (In truth, he was just a lazy ass who hated reading anything that wasn't fiction.)
He set the book aside and finally looked around the room that was, apparently, his now. Bed to the left of the door, window on the right, and straight ahead — another door.
"For what?"
He got up and checked. Bathroom, toilet separate. Standard stuff.
While looking around in there, something caught his eye: a face in the mirror. A teenager's face.
He leaned in, squinting. The teenager leaned in too — because it was him.
"Damn. He looks better than my old face. I mean — I look better now. Wow."
Slap.
He slapped his own cheeks, both stinging red. "Sigh. Kael, don't get too happy. This isn't yours. Be careful." He left the bathroom.
Outside, a desk and chair sat against the wall, books stacked on top. Beside them — a phone.
"PHONE!"
He grabbed it. Locked.
"What! Now how do I unlock this?"
Formatting crossed his mind, but that felt risky — there could be important information on it.
'I don't even know anything about the guy who used to own this body. How am I supposed to live as him?' If this really was a fantasy world, demons possessing people might be a real thing here — and if one got caught, there'd be no mercy.
He checked the time: 3:37 p.m. Useless without the passcode. He set it down and grabbed a notebook instead.
"Kael Morwin, huh. Same first name as me. Lucky, for once." He flipped through — and frowned. Blank. Every page.
"The fuck! Who writes just their name and nothing else, goddamn it—"
He slammed the notebook down and grabbed another book: {The History of Lunius Continent}.
'Lunius Continent. That sounds... familiar.' He flipped past a few empty pages before content finally appeared:
About the Lunius Continent
The Great Apocalypse
Rise of Humanity
The Fall of the Demon King
Development of the Human Empires
Five sections, ten centimeters thick. Only a nerd would want to read that — and Kael was no nerd. He liked fiction, not history.
He set it aside and grabbed the next one: {The Savior Academy}. 'Academy — this feels familiar too.' Slimmer book. He started reading.
Twenty minutes later, he understood. It was basically the school's info pamphlet — founding, founders, past and current staff.
Principal Profile
Name: Hermes Luke
Age: 68
Class: Magician
Level: Grandeur
'Wait. Hermes Luke — wasn't there a character with that exact name? Principal of the Savior Academy, Lunius Continent...'
!
'[Hero, The Savior]. No way.'
Kael sat frozen for a second, like he'd just had a revelation. He set the book down, grabbed the system's tutorial book, and climbed onto the bed.
"Guess it's finally time to read this."