When I gained consciousness again, the first thing I felt was a stream of warm water hitting my back.
In a moment of disorientation, I lost my balance and fell backward, my head striking hard against the tiled wall behind me.
Where am I? I thought to myself, the pain in the back of my head pounding through my body. However, thinking only made the pain worse as memories that weren't mine flowed through my body.
Memories of someone I knew very well.
Ronan Ashbourne.
A minor antagonist in the novel I was reading before my death, The Rise of the Final Hero of Light.
A typical scumbag character whose only purpose was to be a stepping stone for the main character, Luca Underwood, to stomp on and strengthen the relationship between him and the female lead.
And for some odd reason, me, your average college student was in his body.
My head throbbed at both the sudden influx of memories and the impact of my head hitting the tiled wall behind me.
Warm water splattered on my face as I tried to come to terms with reality.
I had to start from the beginning.
I was killed by my friend Spencer after he had somehow found out that I had exposed everyone's secrets.
Somehow he had gotten access to a laptop I had completely destroyed.
And there was something else that I was really struggling to remember.
However I decided not to think about it, I had plenty of time to think about that later. I had to understand my situation first.
I had died. I was sure of that.
So how was I alive?
And in the body of a fictional character.
I finally took a moment to look down at my naked body.
I was very well built. Sculpted muscles, and I looked pretty tall as well. I was very lean, and I had what looked like a tattoo on my left shoulder.
I recognized it instantly of course, the Ashbourne family crest.
The Ashbourne family crest was given to individuals of the Ashbourne family the moment they turn 18.
The painful headache didn't subside as I forced myself to walk to the mirror.
The bathroom was massive. Bigger than my old apartment, including both rooms.
I leaned against the bathroom counter and looked at my reflection in the mirror. I saw a very handsome man with pitch black eyes and midnight black hair.
Was this me?
I touched my face to confirm it for myself.
Wow, this is actually real. I thought to myself.
I wiped myself down and dressed myself. As I walked out, I saw two maids standing there, towels in hand.
"Oh, Young Master Ronan, it seems you're already dressed. Usually you have us wipe you down and dress you," the maid on the right said. She looked around 20 and she was absolutely beautiful.
Did he really have his maids do that for him?
Although I had his memories, I sadly didn't pick up on small things like his habits and his subtle body gestures.
All those were still mine.
I looked them both in the eyes for a bit to gauge their reactions.
The older maid on the right showed no reaction, as if she were used to the presence of Ronan, but the younger maid on the left flinched and diverted her eyes fearfully. She pressed her thighs together ever so slightly, but I noticed it.
Wow, this dude was a real scumbag.
I spoke tonelessly, as if they weren't worth my time, "No need to worry. Now get lost."
Honestly, I wasn't used to talking like that, but I remembered how he treated the maids at least. And he really didn't treat them well from my memories. He would sexually harass them constantly, and that showed from the relieved expression of the younger maid on the left as he said that.
After the maids left, I sat down on his massive bed and started thinking.
I had been transmigrated two days before the Zenith Academy entrance ceremony. Two days didn't give me much time to prepare, but at least I had some time.
[Welcome. You have inhabited the body of Ronan Ashbourne. Say the word "status" to open your status menu]
My eyes widened at the blue screen in front of me. Was this what I thought it was?
"Status."
Suddenly, a status screen appeared in front of me.
=======
Name: Ronan Ashbourne
Age : 18
Picture : (Holographic Image)
Bloodline Art: N/A
Talent: N/A
Class: Mage
Rank : F
Potential : B+
=======
If I had been skeptical before, this confirmed it.
I was in The Rise of the Final Hero of Light.
"He.. haha…!"
What an absurd situation!
Was I seriously transmigrated into a shitty novel? Had I really become the main character of some shitty 'I transmigrated as an extra in the novel I was reading right before I died' type of novel?!
And I had a system screen on top of all that?
How truly absurd.
I shook my head, the smile not leaving my face I looked back at my status screen
I was currently F rank. At least it was better than F-, but I was still pathetically weak.
It also seemed like I didn't have a bloodline art. But that matched up with what I knew from the novel. Despite being the Ashbourne heir, Ronan Ashbourne wasn't able to awaken the Ashbourne family art.
It also seemed like he didn't have a talent either.
I pinched my eyebrows.
In four years, when the academy ends, a terrible calamity will fall upon the Eastern Continent and the demons will learn how to cast portal magic to bridge the gap between the Western Continent and ours.
Before that, I needed to get to at least A rank to survive.
Which was a problem. Ronan's potential was B rank, which obviously didn't meet the threshold.
I would need to use some unconventional methods to get around this.
I had some ideas in mind, but I didn't have to implement them instantly. Not that I could anyway,I had to be in the academy for that to happen first.
Badump. Badump. Badump.
I placed my hand on my chest and I felt my heartbeat quickening.
In my past life, I had nothing to live for. Truly, I was bored, without ambition, goals, or drive.
However it seems like in just a few minutes of coming to this world, I had a goal.
A slight smile found itself creeping on my face.
BANG!
I turned around at the sudden noise and saw a beautiful woman standing there. She looked a little younger than me with snow white hair, pitch black eyes and a cute button face.
For a second I couldn't recognize her, but then my eyes flashed in recognition as Ronan's memories surged through my brain again. I stared at the girl glaring at me with her hands on her hips.
She was Ronan's younger sister, Elvira Ashbourne, one of the major antagonists in arc 4.