"Damn this world. Nothing else to do. Nothing for real shit."
That was the first thing I said out loud after staring at the cracked ceiling of my Mars apartment for three hours. My name is Nox, scholar graduate, supposed to be the pride of humanity. In reality I was a twenty year old who hid in his room, hated fake people, and spent every spare minute reading novels, webtux, monhwax, and cumikx.
I laughed but it came out hollow. "Great job, Nox. You survived school, survived work, and now you're surviving boredom. What an achievement."
Then it happened. One blink just one and everything changed.
I opened my eyes to fresh air that filled my lungs like water to a drowning man. The sun was bright but it did not burn. My hands were not my hands anymore. They were smaller, thinner, calloused.
Memories slammed into me like waves crashing against stone. I stumbled, clutching my head. Villages, fields, chores, a tiny wooden bed. Laughter, but not mine. Pain, but not mine.
I was still Nox inside but the body I wore was a village boy. A country bumpkin. A nobody who somehow found himself at Universitix, the academy where hunters, mages, elves, and other races trained to become legends. This Nox was the class joke. The weakling. The extra.
"Oi, country rat," a tall boy barked. He shoved me backward with one hand and grinned like he owned the place. Two humans and an elf girl snickered behind him. She flipped silver hair and said, "He probably thinks breathing our air makes him special."
I tasted the insult and let it sit. I looked at the boy then at myself and a dark corner of me softened. "I just hope my family will forget me," I said under my breath. "Oh well. I don't matter to them."
The tall boy paused. "What did you say?" he demanded.
I met his stare and let a grin slide out even though something inside me was raw and close to breaking. My veins burned like ice, my chest tightened, and a calm fierceness settled over me that did not belong to a weak village kid. For a second the world narrowed to a point and a voice inside whispered that if I wanted to, I could erase him, her, everything in a breath.
I laughed softly and pushed the feeling down. "Nothing, man. Nothing at all."
The tall boy's hand gripped my collar and lifted me half off the ground. His breath stank of cheap rations, and his eyes burned with the joy of being stronger than someone else.
"You don't belong here, bumpkin," he said. "Universitix isn't a barnyard. Go back to your mud huts."
The elf girl giggled. "Maybe we should help him. Cows need to be led back to their pens."
Her two human friends laughed, and one of them kicked dirt onto my boots. I stared at it for a second, then at my reflection in their polished shoes. Same story. Different world. I sigh. "Damn… fake people here too. Figures."
The tall boy's brow furrowed. "What?"
"Nothing," I said with a crooked grin. "Just admiring how original you guys are. Really, never seen bullying done like this before. Five stars."
His fist smashed into my stomach. Pain exploded and folded me in half. My body wheezed, weak, useless. I hit the ground, coughing blood soaked my mouth.
Inside, though, something stirred again. That burning chill. That whisper. The one that promised I could end this all in an instant. My vision sharpened, the world slowed, and I could almost see his bones like fragile glass waiting to be crushed. But I held it back.
"It is what it is," I muttered to myself, clutching my gut.
The boy spat near my face and stood tall. "Pathetic. Don't bother showing up to class, you crazy rat."
They left laughing, their voices echoing like broken glass in my head. I lay there, staring at the academy towers looming above. Hunters, mages, elves, brawlers everyone striving to go beyond their limits. Everyone except me, the extra.
I wiped the blood from my lip and forced myself to sit up. "It is what it is," I whispered again. But this time I laughed, and it wasn't hollow anymore.
Because for the first time in my miserable life, I knew something they didn't.
I dragged myself back to the dorms, ribs aching and pride already gone. The room wasn't much just four walls, a bed, a desk, and some kind of magic cushion that floated up behind me the moment I sat down.
"Now, now," I muttered, slumping onto the bed, "what shall I do in this damn world?"
The cushion pressed against my back, soft enough that for a second I forgot about the bruises. My eyelids got heavy. Universitix wasn't just some school it was the academy. The place where all the top figures of this world had once walked, trained, and ascended into overpowered legends. And here I was, an extra, bleeding on the pillow.
I sighed, long and tired. "Instead of getting stronger, they waste their time picking on the weak. Same fake people, same rotten game." Sleep swallowed me whole.
When I woke, a full day had passed. My body felt lighter, strangely so. I shook my head, trying to push away the memory of those bastards. A new day, a new beating what else was new?
I splashed water on my face at the dorm's washstand. The droplets ran cold down my skin, sharp enough to jolt me awake. I leaned closer to the mirror—then froze.
The reflection staring back wasn't mine.
Broad shoulders. Defined chest. Arms with smooth, lean muscle that flexed without effort. Abs eight of them. And my face… handsome, nobler, flawless in a way that made my old self look like a joke. My skin glowed faintly, like divinity itself had taken a paintbrush to me.
I stumbled back, nearly crashing into the wall. "The hell…?" My hands roamed my torso, my jaw, my biceps. Everything was real. This wasn't a dream. My body had transformed overnight. Godlike. That was the only word for it.
I stared at myself again, chest heaving. "Damn. If this is what passing out gets me, I should've died on Mars ages ago."
But there was no time to sit and worship the new me. The academy bells were already ringing in the distance, sharp and urgent. I cursed. "Great. Late on day two. Perfect start."
I pulled on my Shixfurm, the standard Universitix academy suit. The thing shimmered, adjusting to my new body instantly, as if it had been carved just for me. For a second I admired how brilliant it looked—then remembered I had places to be.
Today was Practical Work Summoning class.
I grabbed my satchel and sprinted down the dorm halls, heart hammering with more than nerves. Summoning was no ordinary lesson. Every first year got one chance to call forth a familiar, a spirit, or a beast that reflected their soul. For hunters, it was a partner in combat. For mages, a conduit of power. For me? I had no idea.
Because I wasn't supposed to be here. I wasn't supposed to exist. And that made me an anomaly. I grinned to myself as I shoved open the doors to the Summoning Lab. "Well… let's see what kind of hell I drag into this world."
The Summoning Lab looked like a cathedral someone rebuilt with glowing runes instead of stained glass. Marble floors stretched forever, covered in circles that pulsed like they were alive. Students lined up across the hall, some nervous, some cocky.
At the center stood a man wreathed in lazy flames. His robes shimmered with heat, and every student went dead silent under his gaze.
Professor Tedor. Head of Summoning Arts. The guy in charge of making sure we don't blow ourselves up today.
I tilted my head, smirking. In the novel, he's just background. An NPC with a bad temper and cool fire effects. Strict, scary, but not plot-relevant. Overcompensating with flames, though. Definitely overcompensating.
"Step forward," Tedor said, his voice low and heavy. "Show us your soul."
One by one, the students did. A wolf burst out of the first circle, snarling with glowing eyes. The next kid summoned a dragonling the size of a cat, sparks dripping from its mouth. Another pulled out a crystal bird that sang in a voice sharp enough to make my teeth ache.
The class clapped, cheered, whispered. Everyone loved a show.
Then it was my turn.
I stepped into the circle. The runes beneath my feet flared. I closed my eyes, half-expecting nothing, maybe a chicken if I was lucky. The country bumpkin's soul wasn't exactly famous for surprises.
But then the floor cracked.
A black smear spread like spilled ink, swallowing the light. The runes flickered and died where it touched. Gasps rippled through the hall.
"What the hell is that?"
"Is that… even a summon?"
"No way. He's a bumpkin. He can't—"
The shadow pulsed. It crawled up my boots, not heavy but cold, like the chill of a grave. It didn't feel like something I called. It felt like something that had been waiting.
Tedor's flames burned brighter. His eyes narrowed. "That… is not a familiar."
The tall boy from earlier forced a laugh, loud but shaky. "See? Even the professor knows he failed! Summoned… what, a puddle of darkness? Pathetic!"
The elf girl smirked, but her silver hair trembled as the shadow brushed her direction. Her body knew what her pride didn't.
I stared at the black mass curling and twisting like it was alive. And maybe it was. My chest burned cold, and for a second, it felt like the thing was breathing with me.
I chuckled. "Damn. Guess I broke the tutorial."
Tedor's fiery gaze snapped to me. "Control it, Nox. Now."
I swallowed. My grin slipped, just for a moment. Control it? I didn't even know what "it" was.
Then, in the silence, I heard it.
You are me. I am you.
The words weren't spoken. They were carved straight into my skull. My vision blurred, my veins froze, and I stumbled back, laughing to cover the crack in my voice.
"Welp," I muttered, "does it really matter."
The shadow didn't wait for me to figure it out.
It surged.
Black tendrils whipped out across the marble like living chains. Students screamed and stumbled back as the runes under their feet shattered. One tendril shot toward the tall boy who mocked me earlier. He froze, wide-eyed, as if his body already understood what was coming.
The shadow stopped inches from his throat.
I didn't move. I didn't even breathe. But inside, I felt it. That whisper again, deeper, colder.
[Say the word and you can erase him] the shadow muttered.
My heart slammed against my ribs. My grin cracked. I could do it. One thought and the bastard would vanish like he never existed.
But my hands shook, and my lips stayed shut. "No," I muttered under my breath. "Not like this."
The shadow hissed, retracting as if sulking. It slid back toward me, curling at my feet like a loyal beast waiting for orders.
Professor Tedor moved at last. Flames roared off him, filling the hall with searing heat. He raised one hand, and fire chains erupted from the floor, wrapping around the shadow's edges. The runes reignited, forcing the black mass to shrink, hiss, and finally settle back into the circle. The air was heavy with smoke and fear. No one spoke.
Tedor's gaze burned into me. "Nox," he said, his voice sharp enough to cut stone. "Whatever you summoned… it is no familiar. It is an unknown. And until you prove otherwise, you are a danger to this academy." Students whispered, eyes darting my way. I swallowed, my grin sliding back onto my face because what else could I do? "oh man what a twist" I said softly. And for the first time, even I wasn't sure if I was joking.