Ding!!
[Author Cha Jin-sung, Welcome to the World of Meltonia—Please do your best to complete your story without regrets—Theron is on your side.]
"What? Transmigration? Who is Theron?" I muttered, perplexed by my situation.
[Survive your own plot... ]
My mind raced. 'Just a moment ago, my reply to the weird email shone on the screen, but now...? Does that mean transmigration truly exists?'
Although I enjoyed reading transmigration novels and often fantasized about experiencing one, I never genuinely believed such a thing was possible.
'Damn it, I merely answered with "Yes" for the sake of it, who would ever believe that another world exists out there? And from the name of the world, I'm sure of it.'
"This is my novel." As my whisper landed, a fist which no mundane human could react to crashed into my cheeks, completely disorienting me. The force of the punch made it clear—these kids were using mana.
"Oi, Roach, what the hell are you saying?" A boy with black hair asked me, his brown eyes flickering with pent-up rage.
'How can they be so reckless?'
Struggling to gather myself, a throbbing sensation engulfed my face, followed by an uncontrollable burn.
My arm was twisted, my bones ached, worst of all, the pain struck all at once. The reason was simple: a soul couldn't just enter a new body and instantly become one with it. Only now had my soul fully merged with that of my predecessor.
I let out a muffled scream as one of the boys, wearing a white tracksuit like everyone else visible beyond the spotless white alley, hoisted me up and locked my arm behind my back.
"Do you want it like this, Joshua?"
"Yeah, perfect," the boy with the raging brown eyes answered, looking at me.
Wriggling, I struggled to break free from his iron grip, only to take another brutal blow to the gut. Pain surged through me, sharp and blinding, making it nearly impossible to stay conscious.
'Am I going to die right after getting transmigrated?' I thought, trying to pull myself away from the river and the boat waiting in the mist.
The barrage of their attacks only intensified as my mind wandered, trying to make sense of whose body I now inhabited.
It wasn't any known main or side characters, that was already obvious, and without a mirror to look at, there was no way of knowing who it was. It wasn't like I could tell them to stop to let me check.
'Wait... No, it can't be! No! No!'
The pain, coupled with my frantic thoughts, jolted loose a memory from a year ago—back when 'THD' first began. It was the day an act of bullying unfolded before my eyes on my way home from school. Fear kept any action at bay, but the brutality of that moment etched itself deep into memory.
So what did I do? Simply put, I rewrote that very scene into my novel, ensuring that by the end of the Noctis Academy entrance exam, it would be announced that a candidate had died due to bullying.
"Kaiser Vanguard."
'And I just had to end up in the body of a character created out of pity.'
Joshua's face lit up. "So you can now speak?"
Only when he said it did I notice that part of my words escaped my lips, not that it helped me in any way.
'Let's find a way to escape.'
Scanning the alleyway just as the bullies took what seemed like a short break, my blurring vision caught a glimpse of what looked like a professor, though I also knew it was just a parent walking in a formal suit, but the three musketeers didn't know that.
"Help!!! Mister, help me!!!"
"Oi, what do you think you are doing?" Joshua asked.
"Josh, let's just leave first, I think he is calling a professor."
Upon seeing the direction of my gaze, the three boys bolted the other way without sparing a second glance at the figure beyond the alley.
Why would they? They certainly wouldn't want a teacher to identify them before the exam commenced.
A crooked smile crept across my lips. "Damn fools, look what you've done to me."
Collapsing to the ground, I inhaled deeply, attempting to regulate my erratic breathing. "Transmigrated into the body of someone being bullied. Just great."
[User has survived his original death... You have diverged from the original plot... You have earned 2 stat points.]
"That's right, I'm in my novel." Bracing my back against the wall, I asked, "System, do I have a stat window?"
[...Yes, user has a stat window. Do you wish to view it?]
Thinking up a strategy took priority, but knowing my current self was more important. "Yes."
'Ding'
---
[ARCHAIC SYSTEM]
Name: Kaiser Vanguard
Class: None
Affiliation: None
---
Rank: D-Rank
Core: Red
Title: Hunter
---
Archetypes: Manipulator
Affinity (Singular Affinity): Shadows
Mana Pool: 9/10
---
[Techniques]
None
---
[CORE CAPACITY]
Strength (STR): 4
Speed (SPE): 7
Agility (AGI): 7
Dexterity (DEX): 7
Intelligence (INT): 9
Charm (CHA): 8
Endurance (END): 3
Stamina (STA): 5
Luck (LUK): 9
D-Rank Stat Capacity: 59/300
Available Stat Points: 0
---
[Talents]
Shadow of Dominion: Allows the user to extract and command Saints formed from a target's essence.
Description: Two types exist—Shadow Saints, fragments of a target's true form created when conditions are met (not the main body); and Mage Saints, real individuals who willingly swear loyalty. Unlike Shadow Saints, Mage Saints retain human appearance and free will.
Saints maintain their abilities, exist as immortal shadows tied to the user, and die only if the user does. They grow stronger with the user and can be summoned within the Dominion Radius or via mana imprints.
Condition: The user must either overpower the target, disgrace them (directly or indirectly), compel their loyalty, force surrender, or instill self-doubt.
To possess and dominate one's shadow, one must either fracture their belief in it or convert that belief to oneself
[CURRENT MAGE SAINTS: 0...]
[CURRENT SHADOW SAINTS: 1...]
---
[Sub-talents]
Alabaster Ice [Gobo]: A talent acquired from a Sequence Nine drifter—Goblin. Enables the user to reduce the surrounding thermal energy by 20% in normal to low-temperature environments, and by 150% of the excess heat in high-temperature zones. The "surrounding temperature" is measured immediately before activation.
---
[VESTIGES]
Hunting Dagger [Weapon]:
Description – Spirit: Just a normal dagger.
---
"Hmm... So I'm a D-rank. Not too bad, considering the main cast are mostly C-rank, and the highest rank in the entire academy is B-rank, but..."
My focus shifted elsewhere, towards my core capacity and my talent.
Even among D-ranks, I was positioned at the lower spectrum. My core had not even reached one-fourth of its potential, not to mention my stamina and strength, which were weaker than that of most children.
My talent, however, was something else entirely.
"Shadow Dominion," I whispered to myself.
It wasn't an overpowered, straight-shot ability that would catapult me to the top; its conditions were stringent. But once fulfilled, it could bypass the fundamental limitation of my novel's power system—
'Gaining multiple abilities.'
"But what exactly does it mean to dominate, god...!!" Calming down, my eyes scanned through the stats once more. "Let's come up with a solid strategy..."
My next words were cut off by a loud announcement:
ALL APPLICANTS, REPORT TO THE COMBAT TEST AREA.
"It's already starting... Let's rest for a moment."
[Attention. If user fails his entrance exam: Instant Death. If by an almost impossible chance the user survives, my processing unit shall be upgraded.]
"I know already, you said it like twenty times while I was getting my ass handed to me, but isn't it unfair for you to get my rewards?"
[User, I'm more useful than a hundred of you.]
"I won't lie, that's true. Am so weak that even small fries can harm me."
[Blame yourself.]
"You know? I think you're right. I should blame myself for answering that email and making such a character. Pity why?"
Sighing heavily, I waved away the status window. "It's just an entrance test. How hard could it be?"
I shut my eyes, partly to confirm if it was all a crazy dream, but the chatter of applicants told me otherwise, the other reason was I was just tired and my body hurt.
"I'm tired... and it doesn't seem like leaving the academy is an option once admitted. That gives me only two days to get that."
Blood still smeared my knuckles as I eyed the plasters left behind by the three musketeers.
Picking it up and prescribing a quick first aid, I let mana flow through me.
It was better to get the feel of mana so as not to fumble on stage.
"One minute."
Breathing in, the rapid mana circulation began.