Rain drummed softly against the window.
The only light in the room came from the monitor in front of me.
On the screen were the final words of the novel.
"And thus, Leon Ardent became the hero who saved the world."
I stared at it for a few seconds before letting out a quiet sigh.
"...Of course he did."
Leon's Odyssey.
The most overrated web novel I had ever read.
The protagonist was absurdly strong, every girl fell for him, and every villain conveniently became an idiot whenever Leon showed up.
But what annoyed me the most weren't the villains.
It was the extras.
Characters who existed for a single purpose—to make the protagonist look cool.
I scrolled through the chapters lazily.
"Chapter 17…"
I remembered this part clearly.
The dungeon incident.
A student died there.
A background character who lasted barely a few lines before becoming a corpse.
I leaned back in my chair.
"Poor guy."
A meaningless death.
A meaningless character.
Just another extra in Leon's story.
Eventually I closed the laptop.
The room fell into darkness.
The clock beside my bed read 2:17 AM.
"Whatever… I'm done."
I lay down and closed my eyes.
Silence filled the room.
Seconds passed.
Then—
Tick.
The clock stopped.
My eyes slowly opened.
"…Huh?"
The air felt strange.
Heavy.
Like the world itself had suddenly become aware of me.
Then I heard it.
A sound.
Soft.
Distant.
Almost playful.
A small laugh echoed somewhere in the darkness.
"...What?"
The walls of my room faded.
The floor disappeared.
The ceiling dissolved into nothingness.
Before I knew it, I was standing in an endless void.
Black.
Silent.
Infinite.
My heartbeat thundered in my ears.
"Where the hell am I?!"
The laughter returned.
This time closer.
Amused.
Then something appeared in the darkness.
Not a body.
Not a face.
Just the faint outline of a smile.
Slowly forming.
Watching me.
A voice followed.
Calm.
Curious.
Almost entertained.
"Tell me…"
The void seemed to tremble.
"If you dislike the story so much…"
The smile widened.
"Would you like to try changing it?"
Cold ran down my spine.
Before I could speak—
The world shattered.
The world shattered.
For a brief moment, there was nothing.
No sound.
No light.
No sense of direction.
Then—
My lungs filled with cold air.
I gasped.
My eyes snapped open.
A bright classroom ceiling stared back at me, glowing with faint blue lights embedded in smooth metallic panels.
My vision slowly focused.
Rows of desks stretched across the room, each one equipped with floating holographic displays. Lines of data hovered in midair above them, shifting and updating in real time.
This place looked like something straight out of the future.
But that wasn't the strangest part.
Everyone was staring at me.
Dozens of students sat around the room, their eyes fixed in my direction. Some looked confused. Others looked amused.
A few were whispering.
"Did he fall asleep?"
"What's wrong with him?"
"Is he broken or something?"
My mind was still spinning.
Where am I…?
Then a sharp voice cut through the classroom.
"Mr. Chrono."
I didn't respond.
My thoughts were still tangled with the memory of the void… the laughter… that smile.
Had that actually happened?
Or was I dreaming?
"Mr. Chrono!!."
The voice came again.
Sharper this time.
Still, I didn't react.
Then—
SLAM.
A loud sound echoed across the classroom.
My head snapped up.
Standing at the front of the room was a woman in a dark academy uniform.
Ms. Clara.
She looked to be in her early thirties, carrying the calm authority of someone used to commanding an entire room. Her short purple hair was neatly cut just above her shoulders, framing a mature face that held both elegance and strict discipline.
But what stood out the most were her sharp eyes.
They were narrow, piercing, and intimidating—like they could read every thought running through your mind.
Right now, those eyes were locked directly onto me.
Her arms were crossed tightly, and the veins on her forehead were visibly bulging.
The entire classroom had gone silent.
She slowly spoke, her voice dangerously calm.
"So."
Her gaze hardened.
"After ignoring my question twice…"
She took a slow step forward.
"Perhaps you'd like to explain what is so fascinating that it requires your full attention during my lecture."
A few students snickered quietly.
My throat went dry.
Because in that moment, a terrifying realization hit me.
Ms. Clara.
This classroom.
Chrono looks at the board and sees at the top written in bold Eldoria Arcane Academy
I knew this place.
I had read about it.
This was the opening arc of Leon's Odyssey.
Which meant only one thing.
I wasn't dreaming.
I had somehow ended up inside the novel.
And judging by the name floating above my desk…
I hadn't become the protagonist.
I had become something far worse.
An extra.