CHAPTER 1 — The Three Who Stayed Behind
The school courtyard overflowed with noise as students scattered after closing hour. But through the chatter, one voice rose clearly above the rest.
"This story is too good," a round boy with glasses said, eyes glued to his phone as he walked. His slightly messy black hair shook with every step. This was Bob, the campus bookworm who devoured more webnovels than actual meals.
Jerry leaned over his shoulder. His sharp red eyes gleamed with curiosity, brown hair falling messily to the side. "What story this time?"
Bob lifted the phone like a sacred treasure.
"The Fantasy Prince Who Got Transmigrated Into a Sci-Fi Empire. Peak fiction. You should read it. Mike, that means you too."
A slim, dark-skinned boy walked beside them without looking up. Mike—quiet, observant, always the calmest of the trio.
"I'm already reading something," he said softly.
Jerry grinned wide. "You realize we're basically a webnovel squad, right? I'm the cheerful MC. Bob's the strategist. And Mike's the mysterious quiet guy. We're practically brothers."
Bob laughed, but before he could speak, a heavy shadow swallowed their path.
Three huge seniors blocked the walkway—muscles bulging, uniforms stretched, one cracking his knuckles with a grin.
Bob froze. "J-Jerry… behind you."
Jerry turned slowly. Bullies. Of course.
The biggest of them smirked. "So you three think you're main characters?"
Another leaned closer. "Then what does that make us?"
The third answered himself, laughing. "The final bosses!"
Jerry scoffed. "You? Please. You're small fry. I could one-shot you."
The leader's expression darkened. "Oh really?"
THUD!
A brutal punch slammed into Jerry's stomach, folding him over and sending him skidding backward. His breath vanished as he hit the ground, but he forced himself up and charged again.
Bob jumped in beside him, swinging wildly, trying to help—but the bullies were overwhelming. A clean hit smashed into Bob's jaw, knocking him flat.
Jerry was lifted by his shirt and hammered with blow after blow before being thrown down beside Bob.
Only Mike remained standing.
The leader spat at the ground. "You're next."
Mike didn't respond.
He simply raised his head.
His eyes sharpened.
The bully charged—
And Mike moved.
Effortlessly. Smoothly. Each punch whistled past as he leaned, stepped, and slipped out of the way with near-instinctive precision.
The leader swung again.
Mike caught the fist mid-air.
"W-What the hell?!"
A twist—
A lift—
A slam.
The boy collapsed with a grunt.
The remaining two rushed him with angry shouts. Mike ducked beneath one strike and drove a palm into the attacker's stomach, knocking the breath from his lungs.
The final bully raised his fist—
CRACK.
Mike's spinning kick connected perfectly, sending the boy flying with two teeth and a spray of spit.
Silence swallowed the courtyard.
Jerry and Bob stared, stunned, as Mike stood over the fallen bullies, breathing steadily like it was nothing.
"H-He's a freak!" one of them whimpered before scrambling away. The others followed.
Jerry staggered upright, clutching his ribs. "Mike… that was insane. If we ever reincarnate, you're my rival."
Bob groaned. "I thought I was the rival…"
Jerry shrugged. "Then fine, we're all brothers in another world."
They limped to the school gates laughing at their own misery.
The sun dipped behind the horizon as they boarded their familiar bus home. As always, they took the back seats and immediately opened their phones.
"This novel is wild," Bob said.
"Facts," Mike replied.
Jerry nodded, then frowned. "Wait… something's off."
He sat up.
"We've been on this bus too long."
Bob looked around. "There's no one else on board…"
Jerry's voice sharpened. "The driver isn't at the wheel!"
Mike bolted to the front, grabbing the steering wheel just as the bus swerved off the narrow mountain road.
He yanked it hard.
The bus skidded, screeched, and jerked violently back onto the pavement.
Jerry exhaled shakily. "That was too close."
HOOOONK—
A massive truck barreled toward them around the bend.
CRASH!
Metal folded. Glass exploded. Gravity vanished as the bus flipped. The world shattered into chaos—screams, tearing metal, blinding light, then total darkness.
…
Jerry's eyes cracked open.
A blurry figure hovered above him, touching his cheek.
"Hey! Stop that…" Jerry muttered.
He tried to shove the hand away—
But the hand he raised was tiny.
Soft.
A baby's hand.
His blood ran cold.
"Wait…" he whispered. "Am I… reincarnated?"
To be continued…