The first thing I felt was the weight of silence.
No city noise. No fan humming. No phone buzzing beside my pillow. Just… stillness.
Then came the faint whisper of wind. It brushed across my skin, carrying with it the scent of rain and iron.
I opened my eyes.
The ceiling above wasn't mine. Wooden beams, smooth and polished, stretched across a vaulted roof. Faint blue light seeped in through the curtains, painting the room in the glow of dawn.
I pushed myself up slowly. The bed beneath me was absurdly soft, the sheets embroidered with silver threads. A desk stood nearby, stacked with books I'd never seen before — all written in curling runes that shifted faintly on the page.
For a moment, I just sat there, my heartbeat pounding in my ears.
This wasn't my room.This wasn't my world.
I threw off the blanket and stumbled toward the window. The moment I pulled the curtain aside, light spilled in — sharp, golden, and impossibly vivid.
Outside, a courtyard spread below. Students in dark uniforms crossed the stone paths, the emblems on their coats gleaming in the morning sun. Beyond them rose towers that scraped the clouds, their tops crowned with floating rings of light.
My breath caught.
Ardentspire Academy.
The realization hit like a blow. I knew this place — from maps, from descriptions, from the hours I'd spent buried in The Chronicles of Aetherfall.
But this wasn't fiction anymore.
A faint chill crept up my spine. I looked down at myself and froze. I was wearing the same uniform as the others: black with silver trim, and a crest stitched over my heart — a raven clutching a sword.
House Greyfall.
I stumbled back toward the desk, where a few items were neatly arranged: a pocket watch, a leather-bound book, and a small card made of glasslike material. I picked up the card.
The moment my fingers brushed it, faint lines of light shimmered across the surface, forming glowing letters:
Lucian GreyfallArdentspire Academy – First YearHouse: Greyfall
My throat went dry.
Lucian Greyfall.The villain's shadow. The right hand of the future tyrant.The one destined to die.
"No…" My voice cracked. "No, it can't be."
I stumbled toward the mirror across the room — and froze.
The face staring back wasn't mine.
Steel-gray eyes. Pale skin. Dark gray hair, slightly tousled, medium length. A face that looked noble — calm, distant, intelligent. The face of Lucian Greyfall.
My knees nearly gave out. I gripped the edge of the desk, trying to steady myself as the truth settled in like ice water down my spine.
I'd transmigrated.
Not as the hero.Not even as a random student.As him.
A thousand thoughts fought for space in my head — disbelief, panic, denial — but beneath them all, a single realization echoed again and again:
This was real.
And somehow, I'd taken the place of someone doomed to fall.
A knock at the door startled me.
"Lucian."
The word struck me like lightning.
I turned. The man standing in the doorway — tall, dark-haired, eyes like sharpened steel — looked exactly as he had been described in The Chronicles of Aetherfall.
Damien Valenheart.The prodigy of darkness. The man fated to become the world's greatest calamity.
Even without hearing his voice before, I could feel who he was — the kind of presence that made the air heavier, colder, as if the world itself bent a little around him.
He stepped inside, his tone even. "You collapsed earlier today. I brought you here instead."
That was it. No explanation. No judgment. Just… a statement.
My stomach twisted. Collapsed? What had happened? I didn't remember much. Something had reacted in my body that I didn't understand. Whatever it was, it wasn't ordinary.
I stared at my hands, the faint shimmer of mana flickering across my fingers. I didn't know why it happened, but I felt… different. A thread of something new, something alive, moving under my skin.
Damien studied me for a moment, his sharp gaze lingering, but said nothing more. Then, with a slight nod, he turned and left.
The door shut softly behind him, leaving only silence.
I sank onto the bed, my knees finally giving out.
The air felt heavy, pressing against my chest. My mind reeled at the card still glowing faintly in my hand, the echo of Damien's presence still lingering.
Lucian Greyfall.Damien Valenheart.Ardentspire Academy.
It was all real.
I flexed my fingers again, watching the flickering mana. I didn't understand it. But I could feel it. And one thing was clear: I was not entirely ordinary in this world.
The first step into a world of swords, magic, and destiny had already begun.
"…Guess this is me now," I muttered.
Outside, the night deepened. Stars shimmered faintly, floating over the towers of the academy. A soft wind carried the scent of rain and iron through the open window.
Orientation tomorrow.My new life had already begun.