The classroom clock ticked like it was mocking me.
Siz Arland. That was my name back then. Just another face in the crowd—average grades, no money, no friends worth mentioning.
Every day felt the same. Wake up, drag myself to college, pretend to care about lectures, return to my half-empty apartment. My parents were gone early, a car crash when I was twelve. Since then, it had just been me.
I survived, not lived.
But even in that colorless life, I had one thing: stories. I devoured light novels, manga, webnovels about heroes, empires, gods. Power. Things I'd never have in reality.
Maybe that's why I didn't notice the car until it was too late.
It was raining. Roads slick. I was walking home, eyes glued to my phone. Another webnovel chapter.
Then—screech. Headlights. Impact.
Pain exploded. My vision blurred.
And as the world faded, I thought… So this is it? That's all my life amounted to?
But then—something strange.
A voice cut through the pain. Cold. Inhuman.
"You were not chosen. You were stolen."
And in that moment, everything—the rain, the pain, the lights—vanished into darkness.
That was the last memory of Siz Arland, the nobody.
The next time I opened my eyes… I was no longer in my world.
[Chapter 2 End]