Kim Yujin stirred awake with a groggy groan, his mind sluggish like molasses. At first, he thought he had simply dozed off after another long day at the university, but the moment he opened his eyes, a prickling unease crawled up his spine.
This wasn't his cramped Apartment.
He was in a wide, dimly lit chamber, with walls covered in strange machines that hummed with an otherworldly rhythm. Tubes filled with glowing liquid coiled like serpents against the walls. Panels embedded with blinking lights flickered in patterns that made no logical sense, as if they were alive. A faint, metallic tang filled the air, mingling with the sterile scent of disinfectant, and the constant hiss of some unseen steam vent echoed faintly in the distance.
Yujin blinked, rubbing his gritty eyes, his mind racing to process.
What the hell is this place? A research lab? A secret facility?
'Wasn't he just taking a short nap in his University dorm?'
Something about it teased the edge of familiarity, like half-remembered déjà vu, but the harder he tried to grasp it, the more it slipped away.
His gaze lowered to the table in front of him, cold steel, cluttered with papers filled with equations, designs, and strange sigils that looked like someone had tried to merge modern schematics with magical runes. His hands rested on a pen and an ink-stained quill at the same time, as though the body's original owner couldn't decide between eras.
And then the pain hit.
"Ah— shit!" Yujin hissed, clutching his jaw as a sharp sting surged through his face. His teeth ground unevenly, his jaw hanging slightly askew. It took him only a moment to realize: his jaw had been dislocated from the awkward way the body had been slumped on the table. He must have spent hours with his face pressed against the hard surface, drooling into blueprints of gods-know-what.
As he tried to massage it back into place with trembling fingers, a ding! resonated in the air, startling him.
A translucent, glowing blue screen materialized before his eyes, floating in the air like a hologram.
[System Notification]
[Syncrhonizing...]
[1%... 2%... 4%...]
Ding!
[Binding Completed!]
[Congratulations on binding with the Codex System successfully!]
[You've managed to dislocate your jaw while napping at your desk.]
[Truly, an impressive feat.]
[Condition: Jaw Dislocation – Minor. Pain +10, Dignity –50.]
"…"
Kim Yujin stared at the floating words, his expression twisting.
"…Is this thing mocking me?"
As if in response, the screen flickered, replacing its message with another.
[Congratulations, Host! You have successfully unlocked the "Sleep Like an Idiot" achievement.]
[Reward: A dislocated jaw and 3 minutes of existential regret.]
Yujin froze, jaw half-hanging, eyes widening. "What the hell…?" he muttered, irked by the behavior of this stupid screen while staring at the words that glowed with mocking cheerfulness.
Another line flickered into existence, as if the system wasn't done laughing at him.
[Warning!]
The screen reappeared with various options that made him feel his pressure would rise at any moment.
[Your current posture is scientifically proven to ruin spines and reputations.
Would you like a Beginner's Guide to Not Dying at Your Desk?]
[Yes (Recommended, because clearly you need help)]
[No (Continue being a tragic academic corpse)]
"…F*ck off!" Yujin shouted out in anger and frustration as he threw a fist towards the screen despite the pain, shaking his head in disbelief.
'What's wrong with this crazy window? Don't tell me I transmigrated or something?'
Cause if it's true, then he died?
He only remembers resting in his dormitory. And now… what?
He had woken up in some stranger's body, inside a lab that looked like a cross between a scientific think tank and a wizard's workshop.
This wasn't his tiny Seoul apartment, nor the laboratory at the university where he had spent countless sleepless nights as a professor of material science. No, this place was different. Yet eerily familiar in a way that tugged at the edge of his memory, like a half-remembered dream.
Somehow, this lab felt familiar. But he wasn't sure where he had seen it before.
The flickering machines around him seemed to react to his awakening, as though acknowledging the presence of a new mind. Somewhere deeper in the lab, a mechanism stirred with a metallic clank. His head pounded, his jaw ached, and that damn glowing screen floated in front of him, still humming with faintly smug energy.
Just as Kim Yujin was wondering, there was another flicker in the screen before him, changing the details on it.
[System Reminder]
[Welcome, Professor Reynard von Esteban.
Status: Noble of the Empire.
Occupation: Lecturer at Nirvana Academy.
Reputation: Greedy parasite.
Dishonorable plagiarist.
Respected by none.
Role in Narrative: Minor Antagonist. Destined to be ruined by his own arrogance.]
Yujin's blood ran cold. The name carved into the screen was painfully familiar.
Reynard von Esteban.
The novel he had read last night was a book he was forced to read by one of his friends. In the 'Blood Hound of Nirvana', the main character was a student of the empire's prestigious educational institutions, the Nirvana Academy.
And for the first time since waking up, Yujin realized that this wasn't just some random place.
Professor Reynard was one of the most despised characters of this novel, who appeared in the first volume of the story for a few chapters, a third-rate villain to be exact.
As a noble-born professor at the Empire's greatest academy, he was infamous for exploiting students, siphoning research funds, and, worst of all, stealing the protagonist's hard-earned discoveries to publish under his own name.
In the story, Reynard was nothing more than a stepping stone. A corrupt academic, whom the protagonist would eventually humiliate and destroy on his path to greatness.
And now… Kim Yujin had taken over his body.
This...
Isn't this the beginning of the novel?
As if the system wasn't finished tormenting him, the screen flickered once more.
[Warning!]
[This body is destined to be humiliated and destroyed within two years.]
[Default Timeline:
Accusations of plagiarism (confirmed guilty).
Loss of noble title.
Expelled from Nirvana Academy.
Imprisoned.
[Would you like to attempt to alter fate?]
YES / NO