"Ah it's morning already" I murmured as the morning sun peeked against my eyes.
It had been a long time since I had gone out of my house.
It wasn't that I was a loner or anything but I didn't feel like it.
Rising up from my bed I noticed something seemed off.
Wait a minute? When did my room suddenly become majestic?
Have I been kidnapped?
No that's impossible, no rich person would want to kidnap me.
I rubbed my eyes, thinking maybe I was still half-asleep. But nope, the velvet curtains, the ornate furniture, the actual chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It was all still there.
"Okay, don't panic Sol. There's gotta be a reasonable explanation for this."
I swung my legs off the bed and immediately noticed something else weird. These weren't my pajamas. I was wearing a fancy silk nightshirt that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe back home.
Back home...
A sudden chill ran down my spine.
I rushed over to the mirror standing in the corner of the room, and what I saw made my blood run cold.
That... wasn't my face.
I mean, it was my face, but younger than I was meant to be. I had clearer skin and sharper features with better hair, like someone had taken me and run me through a premium character creator.
"No way. No freaking way."
My heart started pounding as fragments of memory that weren't mine began flooding my head. My name. My family. And a world with magic and knights...
Oh no.
Oh no no no.
This room. This face. This sickeningly luxurious lifestyle.
I knew exactly where I was.
"I'm inside Chronicle of the Eternal Blade*
..."
The realization hit me like a truck. Actually, maybe a truck did hit me? I couldn't remember. The last thing I recalled from my old life was staying up until 3 AM reading the latest chapter, and then...
Nothing.
And now I was here. Inside the very novel I had been obsessed with for the past two years.
I stumbled backward and sat down hard on the bed, my mind racing through everything I knew about this world. Chronicle of the Eternal Blade* was my favorite web novel, it was an epic fantasy about Adrian Valeheart, a commoner who rises to become the greatest swordsman in the kingdom and gathers a party of incredible heroines to destroy the demon realm.
It had everything. Action, romance, political intrigue, magic systems that actually made sense. I had read all 600 chapters, twice.
But here's the thing.
I wasn't Adrian Valeheart.
The memories settling into my brain told me exactly who I was: Sollivan Reyhart, the third son of a minor noble family. In the original story, I was what you could call a background character. An extra. I appeared in exactly one scene during the Academy Arc, where I had three whole lines of dialogue before never being mentioned again.
"Young Master Sollivan, are you awake?"
I nearly jumped out of my skin at the voice coming from outside my door.
Right. The servants. Because apparently I'm a noble now.
"Y-Yeah! I'm awake!" I called out, trying to keep my voice steady.
"Breakfast will be ready in thirty minutes. Shall I prepare your uniform for the academy?"
The academy.
Oh crap, the academy.
Erudine Academy for the Gifted was where the entire first arc of the story takes place. Adrian meets most of his future party members here. Where approximately seventeen attempted assassination plots occur. Where the first major villain shows up.
And apparently, I'm supposed to be a student.
"Yes, please do that!" I said, probably a bit too enthusiastically.
I heard footsteps retreating and let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
Okay. Okay, I can work with this.
I'm an extra in a story I know front to back. That's actually amazing, right? I know when all the dangerous stuff happens. I know which professors are secretly evil. I know where all the hidden treasures and power-ups are located. I know exactly how to avoid getting caught up in the main plot.
My plan was simple: keep my head down, enjoy the perks of being a noble in a fantasy world, maybe pick up a few of those treasures that nobody finds in the original story, and graduate peacefully while the main character does all the hero stuff.
It was perfect.
I should have known better than to think anything in life could be that simple.
---
Thirty minutes later, I was dressed in the academy's uniform—a sharp black jacket with silver trim, a white shirt, and dark pants. I had to admit, I looked pretty good. The kind of good that my old self could never pull off.
I made my way downstairs, guided more by the memories of this body than my own knowledge. The Reyhart estate wasn't massive by noble standards, but it was still bigger than any house I'd ever lived in.
In the dining hall, I found a spread of food that made my jaw drop. Fresh bread, eggs, bacon, fruits I didn't even recognize, and some kind of soup that smelled incredible.
"Good morning, Young Master."
An elderly butler bowed slightly. From my inherited memories, I knew this was Sebastian, who'd served the Reyhart family for decades.
"Good morning, Sebastian," I replied, hoping I sounded natural.
I sat down and started eating, trying not to look too amazed by how good everything tasted. In my old life, breakfast was usually cheap instant ramen or whatever was on sale at the convenience store.
"Will you be departing for the academy after breakfast, Young Master?" Sebastian asked.
"Yeah, I think so."
Today was the first day of the new semester. In the novel, this is when Adrian first arrives at the academy and immediately gets into a confrontation with an arrogant noble student. It was the classic opening scene.
Since I was just a background character, I should be able to slip in unnoticed, sit in the back of the class, and just coast through.
The carriage ride to the academy gave me time to organize my thoughts. Based on my memories, Sollivan Reyhart was actually a pretty decent guy. Quiet, studious, not particularly talented with magic or the sword, but not completely hopeless either. He mostly kept to himself, which was probably why he barely appeared in the story.
It was perfect for my plans.
Erudine Academy came into view, and even though I had Sollivan's memories of the place, seeing it with my own eyes was something else entirely. It was a massive stone building that looked like a blend of medieval castle and prestigious university, sprawling grounds with training fields, with a forest on the eastern edge for practical exercises, and in the distance, the tower where the Archmage instructors had their offices.
It was exactly like I had imagined it while reading.
Students were flooding through the main gates, most of them were in groups, chatting and laughing. I recognized a few faces from the story—other minor characters who would get more development later on.
And then I saw her.
Silver hair that caught the sunlight, sharp blue eyes, and an air of cold dignity that kept other students at a respectful distance. She walked alone, carrying herself like she was above the excited chatter of everyone around her.
Grace Lumen. The Ice Princess. One of the main heroines.
In the original story, she was the top student of the academy, a genius mage from a duke's family, and completely uninterested in romance until Adrian slowly melted her icy exterior through about a hundred chapters of character development.
I made a mental note to stay far, far away from her. Getting involved with a main heroine was asking for trouble.
I kept my head down and made my way to the first-year assembly hall. The opening ceremony was your standard affair—the headmaster giving a speech about excellence and tradition, introduction of the senior instructors, the usual stuff.
I zoned out for most of it, instead mentally reviewing what I knew about the upcoming plot points.
The first major event would be the combat assessment next week, where students are ranked based on their abilities. Adrian would place surprisingly high despite being a commoner, which would make him some enemies among the nobles.
I just needed to place somewhere in the middle. Not high enough to draw attention, not low enough to be looked down upon.
After the ceremony, we were divided into classes. I checked my assigned classroom and—
Oh no.
Class 1-A. The same class as Adrian. And Grace. And Lyra Whitmore, the Saint candidate. And Celeste Nox, the assassin prodigy.
Basically, every major character was in this class.
Of course they were. This was a story, after all. All the important people get put in the same class for narrative convenience.
I sighed and made my way to the classroom, taking a seat near the back corner. The perfect spot for a background character.
Students filtered in, and I kept my eyes on my desk, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone important.
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"
I looked up, ready to say it was free.
And found myself staring into a pair of striking crimson eyes.
Celeste Nox. The girl who was supposed to be the most antisocial person in the entire academy. The assassin who trusted no one and preferred to work alone. The heroine who didn't even speak to Adrian until chapter 87.
She was standing right next to me, pointing at the empty seat.
"Uh... no, it's free," I managed to say.
"Thank you."
She sat down next to me, and I could feel my carefully constructed plan already starting to crack.
Why was the main heroine sitting next to me? This wasn't how the story went. She was supposed to sit alone by the window, radiating an aura of "don't talk to me" until Adrian eventually broke through her walls.
I decided to just ignore it. Maybe she'd move seats tomorrow.
Yeah. That had to be it.
The instructor walked in—Professor Aldric, a stern-looking man who taught combat theory. He started taking attendance, and I waited for my name.
"Sollivan Reyhart."
"Here," I called out.
I noticed Celeste glance at me briefly when she heard my name. Probably just curiosity about who was sitting next to her.
Nothing to worry about.
Everything was going to be fine.
I was going to keep a low profile, avoid the main plot, and live a peaceful life in this world.
That was the plan.
And as I would soon learn, plans in stories like this never, ever go the way you want them to.