When I opened my eyes again, the first thing I noticed wasn't the ceiling, or the bed, or the strange unfamiliar scent of the room.
It was the letter.
The envelope that had once gleamed with a golden divine crest, the one signed by an "angel," was no longer the same.
I blinked a few times. Rubbed my eyes. Looked again.
Gone was the elegant handwriting, the holy aura, the sacred shimmer that had made my heart tremble only moments before. In its place sat a simple, plain-white envelope. The crest was replaced with the insignia of a Korean educational institution. Bold black letters now decorated its front:
[Eternia Academy – Official Notice of Admission]
"…What the hell?" I muttered under my breath.
I grabbed the letter, half expecting it to turn back the moment I touched it. But no. The texture was real, the cheap paper stock unmistakable. Not divine parchment—just the kind of paper you'd expect from any school office.
The seal was a standard red stamp. No trace of angelic intervention. No glowing words. No heavenly choir playing in the background.
It was… mundane.
And yet, my pulse refused to calm down.
Because mundane or not, this was still the Academy.
The Academy I had spent thousands of hours studying, grinding, and min-maxing strategies for in Eternia Online. The place that was the cornerstone of the entire game's lore. The heart of where every important storyline began.
My fingers tightened around the paper.
This wasn't just some invitation. It was the first domino.
I broke the seal with trembling hands and unfolded the letter.
"To Han Jiwon,
Congratulations. Based on your exceptional aptitude and evaluation results, you have been granted admission to Eternia Academy, the most prestigious educational institution in the nation.
Your attendance is required at the Seoul Campus in two weeks' time, where you will join the incoming freshman class of this year. Orientation details and schedules are enclosed.
Sincerely,
Office of Admissions, Eternia Academy"
My eyes scanned the lines three times, heart pounding harder with each pass.
Two weeks. Seoul Campus. Freshman class.
That was it. The trigger point. The start of the game's story.
I let the letter fall to my lap and sat there, staring blankly at the wall in front of me.
It wasn't a dream.
It wasn't some weird hallucination from sleep deprivation.
I really… I really was here.
"Shit…" I whispered. "It's real."
I forced myself to breathe slowly. In. Out. Calm down.
This wasn't the time to panic. If I lost myself now, I'd regret it later.
First things first—I needed to know what I was working with.
My gaze turned to the mirror standing in the corner of the room. A tall, full-length mirror, polished to perfection. Slowly, I pushed myself out of bed and walked toward it.
What I saw stopped me cold.
The face that stared back was familiar—and yet not.
Still Korean. Still… me. But sharper, cleaner, refined. My jawline wasn't weighed down by years of instant ramen and junk food. My eyes didn't look sunken from endless nights gaming. My skin wasn't pale and lifeless.
It was as if someone had taken my original body, erased all the bad habits, and replaced it with the "optimized version."
My reflection was… handsome. Not in the celebrity way, but in the way of a man who exercised daily, ate properly, and carried himself with natural confidence.
I flexed my hand. The muscles tightened under the skin, lean and solid. Not bodybuilder-tier, but athletic, toned.
"…Holy shit."
Was this what it felt like to not be pathetic?
I took a few steps, testing my balance. My legs felt lighter, smoother, like moving air instead of dragging bricks. I bent down, touched my toes—something my past self hadn't been able to do since high school PE.
Even breathing felt different. My lungs expanded cleanly, no wheeze, no burn.
It wasn't just a new world. It was a new me.
I returned to the desk, the letter still lying open.
Eternia Academy.
In the game, it was infamous. A place that shaped the strongest hunters, magicians, and warriors in the country. The Academy was where the protagonist began their journey, where rivals were made, where guilds formed, where tragedies struck.
And now, I was about to walk through those same halls.
I clenched my fists unconsciously.
I couldn't afford to be weak.
Not here. Not in this world.
Because I knew—though I wouldn't dare speak it aloud yet—that challenges were coming. Tests, enemies, betrayals. The game had always been merciless, and reality wouldn't be kinder.
I sat back on the bed and closed my eyes for a moment.
My mind replayed faint fragments from the game. Characters. Events. Bosses.
I stopped myself. Not now.
I couldn't reveal too much, even in my own thoughts. The details didn't matter yet. What mattered was this: I had two weeks until orientation. Two weeks to get used to this body, to learn this world as it truly functioned outside of the screen, and to prepare myself.
Two weeks.
I exhaled slowly, forcing calm into my racing heart.
"I won't be weak again," I whispered into the silence.
The next hour passed in a blur of exploration.
The dorm room I'd been placed in was simple but tidy: a single bed, a desk, a wardrobe, a small bathroom attached. No dust, no clutter. Almost sterile.
Inside the wardrobe were clothes—neatly folded, my size exactly. A uniform too, pristine and formal, with the Academy crest embroidered on the chest.
I touched the fabric. Smooth. Real.
It was one thing to play a game. Another to stand inside it, feeling the threads under your fingers.
I changed out of the plain sleepwear I'd woken up in and put on a fresh set of casual clothes from the wardrobe. A simple shirt and jeans. They fit perfectly.
Looking back in the mirror, I couldn't help but smirk faintly.
It was like a reset button had been pressed on my life.
And this time, I wasn't going to waste it.
Eventually, I decided I couldn't stay cooped up.
I needed to see the world outside.
Pushing open the door, I stepped into a hallway, then out into the streets.
The moment I did, my breath caught in my throat.
It was Seoul.
But not the Seoul I remembered.
The neon signs, the crowded sidewalks, the endless noise of traffic—it was all the same. And yet, woven seamlessly into it all was the extraordinary.
Billboards advertised mana-charged smartphones. Vending machines sold enchanted trinkets alongside canned coffee. Street performers weren't juggling balls—they were juggling fireballs.
Across the road, a policeman in sleek armor directed traffic with a glowing baton. Above, a wyvern soared lazily across the sky, its rider in uniform, part of the Air Patrol Division.
Magic was everywhere, casual, normalized, like it had always belonged.
People walked past without a second glance.
But for me, it was everything I'd ever dreamed of.
"This is…" I whispered. "…This is the world I wanted."
My chest tightened. My lips curved upward, not quite a smile, not quite a smirk.
A quiet determination burned behind my eyes.
I wasn't just some background NPC anymore.
This time… I was going to live.
To Be Continued...