Have you ever been mocked for liking something "meant for the opposite gender"?
Maybe you collect dolls.
Maybe you enjoy a slice-of-life romance.
Maybe you read reverse-harem novels and get strange looks for it.
If you've ever felt judged for that—don't worry. You're not alone.
I used to think hobbies had some kind of gender assignment, like certain interests became forbidden territory just because you weren't the "target audience." But somewhere along the way, I stopped caring. If something is good, it's good.
That's how I ended up quietly sitting beside the window of a small book café, holding a novel that was definitely not written with men in mind.
The warm smell of coffee drifted through the air, soft chatter filled the background, and sunlight spilled lazily across my table. A peaceful afternoon—perfect for reading.
The book in my hand was titled:
"어라? 내가 소설 주인공이라고?"
"What? I'm the Protagonist of a Novel."
A friend of mine—who was very much into romance webnovels—recommended it.
"It's cute, chaotic, dramatic, and will melt your heart," she said.
She wasn't wrong.
The story followed a girl who suddenly fell into her favorite novel and accidentally replaced the original heroine. A classic reverse-harem setup, filled with handsome male leads and a protagonist who kept stumbling her way into romantic scenarios she never asked for.
Even as a guy, I found myself drawn in. Sure, I couldn't self-insert into the main character's shoes, but there was something charming about reading stories where the woman wasn't treated like a fragile flower who needed constant rescuing.
Korean webnovels excelled at that—fresh ideas, new dynamics, interesting power systems. They always gave me something to look forward to.
I turned another page.
---
**「
She jumped on top of him and pressed her lips lightly against his, a playful gleam in her eyes.
"That makes us even," Nari said with a triumphant smile.
The two of them sat quietly beneath the rising sun, its soft glow marking a new beginning.
After everything she'd been through, Seo Nari finally accepted the truth—she really was the protagonist of this world.
To be continued.
」**
---
"Aaaahh… that was great."
I leaned back in my chair, stretching a little.
I had been reading for three hours straight without realizing it. Not surprising—I was already on volume seven.
"The author really fixed things after volume two," I murmured. "That ending was actually nice."
I closed the book, staring at the cover with a satisfied smile.
"Is this how women feel after finishing a romance novel? Emotional… relieved… fulfilled?"
I snorted at myself.
Who was I asking? Definitely not someone qualified to answer.
I flipped to the author's note page. As expected, it was the usual—thank you, future plans, the classic heartfelt message every volume ended with. Still nice, though.
"Well… I guess that's enough for today."
I yawned. "Time to return this and head home for a nap."
I stood up and stretched lazily. The café was calm—soft music, clinking cups, the distant sound of the espresso machine. I walked to the shelf to return the book, but as I tilted it forward—
slip
Something slid out from between the last few pages and fluttered to the ground.
"Huh?"
I bent down to pick it up.
It was an ID card.
A blank one.
Default profile picture, empty name field, pristine plastic. No scratches, no wear.
"Is this… merch?"
Some novels came with special items for deluxe editions. Maybe this was one of them?
But I didn't recall this being the deluxe version.
"Am I supposed to write my name here?"
I held it up to the light. It was oddly clean, almost too clean, like it had never been touched.
Since it clearly wasn't mine, I walked to the front desk.
The staff member was slouched over his phone, tapping rapidly on the screen like he was fighting boss enemies in whatever game he was playing.
"Excuse me…"
He jumped slightly, sitting upright. "Ah—yes? How can I help you?"
"I want to return this book," I said, holding it out. "And I found this inside. I think it might be part of the novel's merchandise."
He took the book, flipping it over and checking the barcode.
Then he examined the ID card, raising an eyebrow.
"This isn't the deluxe edition," he said. "There shouldn't be any merch."
He handed the card back.
"You can keep it. We don't use these anyway."
"Really?" I asked.
"Really. It's all yours."
"Well… thanks."
"No problem. Have a good day."
After paying the rental fee, I stepped outside.
The sky was bright and clear, a gentle breeze brushing past. The perfect weather for a short walk.
I slid the ID card out of my pocket again. It still looked perfectly blank—almost too perfect. The plastic was smooth, cold, and strangely sturdy.
Then I flipped it over.
There—engraved into the back—was a familiar symbol.
"…Wait a sec."
I leaned closer.
"Isn't this the insignia of Luminaris Grand Academy?"
The same academy from the novel.
The very same crest shown in the illustrations.
Recognizable, iconic, and impossible to mistake.
"Whoa… this actually looks cool."
I stared at it for a good few seconds. Something about holding a fictional academy ID card made the whole thing feel strangely immersive—like I was holding a prop from a drama set.
"Well… might as well write my name."
I grabbed a pen and filled the card in.
---
Name: Asher Reiner
Classroom: Primus-1
Rank: 101
---
"I feel like a middle schooler making a character sheet…" I muttered with a laugh.
But just as I tried to put the ID back into my pocket—
The words on the card began to glow.
"…Huh? Does this thing have LED lights?"
At first, I thought it was a trick of the light. But the letters weren't just glowing—they were breathing, pulsing with a faint rhythm like a heartbeat.
Then the heat came.
A gentle warmth at my fingertips turned into a sharp sting.
Then a burn.
"Hot—hot—hot—!!"
I dropped the card instinctively, shaking my hand.
My skin wasn't blistered, but it tingled like it'd been slapped with a hot iron.
"What kind of card is this?!"
The card pulsed again.
Once.
Twice.
Then the entire surface erupted in blinding white light.
"H-Hey—what the—?!"
The glow didn't stop at the card.
It crawled outward, like spiderweb fractures of light spreading across the air itself.
Before I could move—before I could even think—the world snapped.
The light swallowed my hand.
Then my arm.
Then my chest, pulling me in like a riptide.
"My eyes! My eyes!!!"
I squeezed them shut, but it didn't matter. The brightness pierced straight through my eyelids, through my skull, leaving everything blank.
Then, silence.
A long, heavy silence.
Slowly, painfully, the white haze thinned. Shapes returned. Lines sharpened. My vision steadied.
And I realized I was no longer outside the café.
I was standing in front of a steel door.
Cold metal. Rivets. An emergency handle.
A narrow window beside it revealed an impossible sight—clouds drifting below me, stretching infinitely across a pale blue sky.
I instinctively clutched my chest.
My heart hammered so violently it shook my ribs.
The pounding filled my ears, drowning out the faint hum of machinery around me.
"Haa… haa… W-What just happened…?"
A cold sweat trailed down my neck. My knees wobbled, threatening to give out. I forced myself to breathe—slow, shaky, uneven breaths—until the dizziness faded enough for me to actually take in my surroundings.
The floor beneath me was vibrating softly.
The walls curved slightly inward.
Metal bars hung from the ceiling.
Seats lined both sides of the corridor.
"This… this looks like…"
My voice felt small in the empty cabin.
It was a train.
Or at least, something designed like one—only it wasn't running on rails.
It floated at an altitude no train should ever reach.
I swallowed hard, my throat dry.
"… Where the hell am I?"
I reached out and touched the steel wall. It was cold. Solid. Real.
Not a dream.
Not a hallucination.
Not a delusion born of reading too many webnovels.
Something had pulled me out of my world.
The card.
The moment I thought about it, a sharp chill ran down my spine.
I glanced around the floor—
But the card wasn't here.
"Is this some kind of sick joke!?"
I muttered to myself, but of course there was no answer. No explanation. Nothing that made sense.
I sank down onto the train's bench, the cold metal frame creaking faintly beneath me. My head felt heavy, thoughts spinning in circles as I tried to process what had just happened.
Then—only after a few slow breaths—I noticed something in my hand.
An envelope.
A thick, formal-looking manila envelope, the kind used for official documents. And across the front, written in clean, precise letters:
[Asher Reiner]
My name.
"…What? When did I even—?"
I stared at it for a long moment, my fingers tightening around the edges.
"What's this? Should I… open it?"
I must've asked myself that question a dozen times. Maybe a hundred. My chest tightened with hesitation, confusion, dread—everything mixed together.
But in the end, curiosity won.
With a shaky breath, I slid my thumb under the seal and peeled open the flap.
Inside was a neatly folded sheet of paper… and something else—thin, hard, and rectangular.
"Let's read it first… I guess."
I pulled the paper out slowly.
___
Congratulations.
You have been selected to participate in the newly established
Inter-Faction Student Exchange Program
between the three major human factions.
---
Name: Asher Reiner
Age: 16
Affiliation: Lunaris Church of the Moon
---
As the official representative of the Lunaris Church, you have been granted a position within this year's exchange cohort.
We will be dispatching you to:
— Luminaris Grand Academy —
Primary Institution of the Central Faction
Further instructions, identification materials, and your provisional academy classification have been included within this envelope.
Please read all the contents carefully.
Failure to comply may result in disqualification or immediate recall.
Welcome to your new beginning.
May the Moon guide your path.
— Office of Inter-Faction Coordination
Central Council of Humanity.
___
"What…?"
The word slipped out before I even realized.
Something about the letter tugged at my memory — a strange déjà vu, like I'd seen the exact phrasing somewhere before.
Like I had read it in a book.
My eyes skimmed over the lines again.
Inter-Faction Student Exchange Program…
Representative of the 7th Lunaris Church…
Luminaris Grand Academy…
Why did this feel so familiar?
Before I could piece it together, a soft mechanical chime echoed overhead.
*ding—dong*
The train's speakers crackled to life.
My stomach dropped.
Luminaris Academy.
The same academy from the novel I'd just been reading.
The same crest engraved on the mysterious ID card.
Slowly, almost painfully slowly, I lifted my head and stared at the ceiling speaker like it had personally betrayed me.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
My voice came out flat, strained, somewhere between disbelief and exhausted resignation.
But the train didn't care.
It kept moving—gliding silently through the clouds toward a destination that absolutely should not exist.
Toward a world I wasn't supposed to be part of.
Toward a story I had only ever read.
To be continued....