"Ahaha… what a mess."
I washed my face with water, but the reflection of another person in the mirror still didn't disappear. Still the same: an 18-year-old man, pale skin, blue eyes, and jet-black hair.
You know? Having someone else's face on your own is very unpleasant and not like what you imagine in Transmigration Novels. Just look at me, every time I see this new face of mine, there's always an urge to claw it off so it comes loose.
It's not because I hate this face. No. It's just that it feels like wearing a hard, sticky mask.
Fortunately, after a week passed with this face and this body's memories entering my brain, I'm starting to get a little used to it.
Well, besides... I'm also starting to forget what my real face looks like.
"Fuhh…" I turned the shower knob, and then cold water droplets began to fall, wetting my body.
But still, that cold water couldn't calm my mind, which was trying to process my absurd current situation.
What really happened?
Why did I end up inside my own Novel in someone else's body that I don't even know?
What did I do wrong to be seemingly punished with a situation like this?
Yes, that's right, I entered my own Novel in the body of someone named Adrian Hale, whom I don't even know why exists without me writing him.
But now I'm starting to understand why.
The reason Adrian could exist is because my Novel World filled in all the 'Blank Spaces' or Background that I didn't write when it became reality, including adding their respective histories that made his existence very logical.
Yes, you could call me an extra character filling the void.
Or maybe not? I am lower than just an extra.
I am a 'Plot Device' whose existence is only to die so the story can move forward.
Well, in short, I will die someday. Not just me, though, but also millions of innocent human lives behind this Wall will die just to Motivate the protagonist.
That is the fate of everyone behind the Safe Zone wall written in my Novel.
Even worse, I don't know what will kill or destroy this Safe Zone because this is a Plot Hole I left.
Here's the problem.
What will this world create to fill this Plot Hole of the Safe Zone's destruction?
I dare say it's not the doing of any of the Villains I wrote. Why? Because my location is different from the protagonists of my Novel, from the Main Plot, maybe even hundreds of miles away from here.
Safe zone. A place where humans who survived the Great Cataclysm 200 years ago gather inside the protective walls they built to ward off Monsters. However, there isn't just one Safe Zone; they exist in various parts of the world, and each of them thinks they are the only survivors of that event.
And here I am… isolated, in a Safe Zone different from the protagonists of my Novel.
But the worst of all is that my Novel World gave me a decent life and a family that loves me unconditionally–something I couldn't get in my previous life–only to know that someday all of this will vanish.
All of this was only revealed after I had already grown to love it all. That's my fault for being too relaxed enjoying my new life this past week until I forgot to find out where my place is.
I finally finished my shower and then put on my Magic Academy uniform, dominated by blue.
I took my bag, then left my room. And right at that moment, I was immediately greeted by my Golden Retriever dog named Debby.
"Move aside, Debby, I'm leaving. Have you eaten?" I said softly then gently moved him aside, before quickly descending the stairs of my house because I was already late and also to distract from the pressure in my head with physical movement.
I took the time to feed my dog because it seemed she hadn't eaten.
After finishing, I didn't forget to take the bread made by my 17-year-old sister, named Alicia, on the table. She's not home now because she's already left for her school…
I left the house and closed the door with a sound –Click! – then locked it.
Then I walked quickly to exit the gate of my Elite Housing Complex.
"Adrian, are you just leaving now?" greeted the gatekeeper with a friendly smile.
"Y-yes, I accidentally overslept earlier," I said but didn't stop my steps.
I finally exited the Housing Complex gate and walked on the sidewalk. The asphalt road was now filled with cars coming and going. On each side, buildings and skyscrapers were starting to be built to fill the empty land.
Inside this Safe Zone, it looked very peaceful as if a great disaster had never happened before. Humans developed very quickly thanks to Magic and Mana Crystals.
On the way to this Magic Academy, I had seen many people who now felt conspicuous in my eyes: a mother pushing her baby stroller, workers saying goodbye to their families, and elementary school children greeting me with calls of 'Big Brother' or 'Tall Bro' because Adrian is a friendly person.
Every time I see each one of them, there's an automatic voice in my brain that says 'They will die' or 'You will die and I am the killer. Why are you still friendly to me?'
It's very disturbing and gives me a headache!
Back then, I wrote these mass deaths casually while sipping a cup of coffee without thinking about the impact because they were just nameless characters in my Novel who had to be sacrificed for the story's dramatization.
Who would have thought that those I killed so lightly were whole humans with a history of existence, families, goals, and aspirations for the future?
I was so cruel. I never thought something like this would happen.
Ah, forget it, no matter what, everything has already been written.
I have to change it by any means I can with this mortal body. I don't care if the plot gets ruined afterward, I will take responsibility, I want to live.
I shook my head to forget this for a moment and focus first on getting to the Academy.
I saw the public transportation bus at the bus stop. Finally, because I was late, I got on it.
The bus was crowded with people with various smells.
For some reason, Adrian's nose is very sensitive to the surrounding smells. This is really uncomfortable. If it weren't for being late, I wouldn't have taken this public transportation.
After five minutes passed, I finally arrived at the Havient City Magic Academy, funded by the government. This place is very magnificent with its vast grounds and a large Colosseum in the corner for practice matches.
Two minutes passed as I ran up the stairs of this Academy to head to my class, and finally, I arrived in front of my classroom door, out of breath.
Then I straightened my clothes.
Honestly, right now I'm a bit nervous. Even though I've been in this world for a week, this is the first time I will enter the Magic Academy because a week ago I ran out of mana due to my own actions, which forced me to rest for a full week.
After steadying myself, I pushed the door slowly. All the students' eyes in the class immediately turned to me, including the teacher who paused his lesson for a moment.
"Sorry, Sir, I'm late because of some business," I said while bowing to my teacher.
My teacher's name is Geist, a 28-year-old man wearing an elegant gray wizard robe. He is now looking at me with eyes obscured by glasses. Then he said, "Alright, go straight to your seat."
I nodded and then walked to my seat in the back near the window, passing by students who were still watching me.
"Are you better now?" said my deskmate Aaron, a guy my age with brown hair and gray eyes.
"Yes." I put down my bag and then sat down to follow the lesson.
In front, Geist, an 'Advanced Wizard,' was teaching how to absorb Atmospheric Mana while drawing the body's anatomy along with Mana Channels on the blackboard.
But I already know that, even more than what he's teaching now, so I ignored it. But when he started discussing how to use Mana efficiently, I immediately became interested and paid attention…
Listening to his lesson made my mind wander to the first day I entered this world, where I was immediately faced with a life-or-death situation because at that time I was in a dungeon with Aaron and the others when I woke up in this body.
At that time I thought they were joking, but when I saw with my own eyes the monster that was a combination of snake-centipede-spider, I realized it was a Common Monster from my Novel because of its physical description.
Then I tried magic and succeeded!
After finding out I could use magic, I couldn't control myself due to euphoria. I felt I could do anything, then used my magic excessively and forgot I had limited mana. Finally, I fainted from running out of mana, embarrassingly.
"Sigh…"
My magic at that time was also uncontrolled; I wanted to release a small fire, but what came out was fire as big as my body.
It seems that's because my knowledge of magic in my novel is very high, but this body isn't capable of containing it, so I ended up experiencing mana leakage every time I wanted to use magic.
Therefore, I have to discard my ego as the author and learn according to my current rank step by step.
After half an hour passed, Geist stopped his lesson and said, "Alright, let's do practice outside."