When he opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a large bed,one that was clearly not his.
He slowly looked around, confirming that he was in an unfamiliar room. The space was luxurious, filled with several high-tech machines he had never seen before, their sleek designs far beyond anything he recognized.
A small ball of light floated gently through the air, illuminating the entire room despite having no visible power source. Nearby, a white, box-shaped machine continuously pumped out cold air.
An air conditioner… maybe?
"Where am I?"
As confusion continued to build, a sudden, violent pain assaulted his head. Before he could react, a massive flood of strange and foreign memories poured into his mind without restraint.
"Argh!"
The sensation was hellish. His thoughts shattered as images, emotions, and information that did not belong to him forced their way in.
Half an hour later, the pain finally subsided.
"Huff… haa… huff…"
Panting heavily, he staggered toward a mirror and stood before it. Reflected back at him was a young boy,around fourteen years old,with black hair and black eyes. His appearance was ordinary, lacking any distinctive features.
Nothing special at all.
"I really got transmigrated?" he muttered. "So… transmigration is actually real?"
He remembered clearly that just yesterday, he had been reading a novel,Strongest Mage with a System, or something close to that. It had been a gift from a friend. He'd read it casually, finished it in a single day, then gone to bed.
After that, everything went blank.
Yet now, it seemed he had somehow entered the world of that novel,reborn as nothing more than a background character.
He shook his head, forcing himself to calm down. Drawing on the memories he had inherited, he made his way to the kitchen. With a simple command, the high-tech 3D printer activated, forming a cup of tea seemingly out of thin air.
Tea in hand, he walked to the window and stared outside, slowly organizing his thoughts.
From the incomplete memories, he learned that this body belonged to an orphan who had awakened a sword-related talent and had been selected as a student of the largest academy in human territory,the prestigious Freya Academy.
An institution established directly by the government to nurture future talents.
According to the novel he remembered, this world resembled modern society,but with dungeon gates opening across the globe. Multiple races now lived on Earth, and repeated space rifts had expanded the planet's size many times over.
Humanity had entered an era of supernatural abilities.
Every person possessed a personal status window visible only to themselves. Naturally, the main protagonist's was special,enhanced by a system that allowed him to grow stronger as a mage through accumulated EXP.
"The academy's entrance ceremony is about a month away," he said quietly. "In the meantime… I can take some of the opportunities that were supposed to belong to the hero."
"As for what happens if he misses them?" A faint smile formed. "That's not my problem."
He had always been a selfish person,even in his previous life. That selfishness had allowed him to live comfortably, without regrets.
In a world where strength was valued above all else, weakness was practically a crime.
And in an academy like Freya, the weak would inevitably become targets.
So why shouldn't he take anything that could make him stronger? Why should he care about the plot, or the protagonist's fate, when his own survival was on the line?
He gazed at the distant horizon, sipped his still-warm tea, and pushed those thoughts aside.
"I'm an orphan again this time," he said calmly. "Well… it doesn't really matter."
Setting the cup down, his eyes sharpened.
"Let's check my status."