What is Special admissions student?
It's a program created by Atlas Academy for students who have talent but zero money.
In short?
It's for the talented broke kids.
As an special student, you do get the essentials—like a dorm, a uniform, and maybe a desk that doesn't fall apart if you breathe on it too hard—but everything is downgraded to rock bottom.
No fancy meals. No personal assistants. No spell-tech showers that sing to you while you bathe.
You either want it… or you Want it.
There's no second option.
◇◇◇
Taking out my clothes from the suitcase, I couldn't help but frown at the pathetic collection inside.
A couple of graphic T-shirts with weird designs, a hoodie, a cardigan that looked like it belonged to someone's grandpa, and a pair of pants that had clearly been stitched up more times than Frankenstein's face.
"Seriously, is this guy's that broke?" I muttered under my breath.
After unpacking everything into the available wardrobe, I stashed the rest of my stuff under the bed—just like I used to do back in high school. Some habits die hard.
With that done, only one last thing remained.
I turned around and faced my new roommate.
"Hello. You probably already know, but the name's Kylen Noor. I'm just a normal, ridiculously handsome guy—so don't fall in love with me, okay?"
Seo Ji-Hyun gave me a look so disgusted I thought I'd just asked him to eat a raw frog.
"I'm not stupid enough to fall in love with a guy like you," he said flatly.
I rubbed the back of my neck and laughed. "LOL, very true. But still—" I held out my hand for a handshake. "Why don't we try being friends?"
He let out a sigh like the world had already disappointed him enough for one lifetime, but he grabbed my hand anyway and gave it a weak shake.
"Seo Ji-Hyun," he said. "I know I'm a bit... delicate, but please don't bully me because of that."
"I'm not the type of guy who bullies people," I said, puffing out my chest trying to hold back my laugh. "Don't be so tense around me."
He relaxes his body, letting out all sorts of trouble stuck inside of his mind.
"Sure, you can call me Ji-Hyun then."
"Wow, we just met and now you want me to call you by your given name, are we going to kiss tomorrow?"
Ji-Hyun let out a soft chuckle.
Maybe my garbage-tier humor really was the universal cure for awkward roommate tension.
"You can call me Kylen then, that's what my friend usually called me by."
"Sure!"
We ended up chatting about all sorts of random stuff until an instructor slammed our door open like a SWAT team breaching a drug den, and we dove into our bed without another word.
◇◇◇
I opened my eyes and glanced at the drawer beside my bed. An old-fashioned digital clock blinked back at me:
[00:13]
Past midnight.
I sat up slowly, dragging a hand down my face. My head was still buzzing with leftover haze. My gaze drifted to the window beside Ji-Hyun's bed.
Through the glass, I saw it—the glittering skyline of Seoul, Korea.
But not the one I saw from the internet.
Towers of reinforced glass pulsed faintly with arcane light. Strange runes etched into buildings shimmered in sync with traffic lights. Drones buzzed lazily across the night sky. Every corner of the city looked like Earth—but layered with magic, monsters, and neon.
For the first time since arriving, I had a moment to breathe.
This world was unbelievable.
Oh yeah I forgot to check my stat.
"System."
A chime rang in my head, and a holographic panel unfolded in front of me.
[Status Window – Cadet: Kylen Noor]
____
Name: Kylen Noor
Age: 17
Affiliation: Atlas Academy – Special Division
Class: Commander
Rank: ???
Talent: [Endless Adaptation] — expand to see more.
Level: 1
Stats:
Strength: 7
Dexterity: 5.2
Endurance: 5.3
Vitality: 6.1
Intelligence: 15.6
Willpower: 10.2
Perception: 10.6
Luck: 57 (Karma – Immutable)
[Total Base Stat Allocation: 60]
____
I stared at the numbers, and for the first time, I understood just how different I was from a normal human in this world.
Here, an ordinary person could only have three points in any stat, anything beyond that was considered extraordinary. Even Albert Einstein, the greatest genius of Earth, would barely reach 20 Intelligence on this scale.
Compared to that, my Intelligence alone was 15.6. My physical stats were equally absurd. Even the weakest of them, Dexterity, still put me leagues above anything a "normal" human could achieve.
And then there was Luck.
57.
Not something that could be trained or bought. That number was karma made manifest—an imprint of the deeds of the original Kylen Noor.
"My stat was... Okay."
I closed the panel with a swipe, the window folding back into nothing.
"…Guess this body's stronger than I thought."
Leaning back, I let my eyes wander once more to the city skyline—a world that looked alive, glowing, and undeniably real.
What am I supposed to do now…?
I'll admit it. There's a ton of stuff I don't even recognize in AO. Storylines I never followed, monsters I never fought, items I never bothered to learn.
For someone like me, just a regular player who happened to get a little famous because of streaming, "following the main story" is easier said than done.
Half the time, I barely even knew what was going on in the story even when I was behind the keyboard.
So why the hell am I chosen?
"Why in the world did I even enter this place in the first place?" I muttered under my breath.
…Was it because of that new ending I unlocked? Or is it because of that email?
"Whatever the reason is… I'm still hoping I can find a way home."
A tear slid down my cheek. I wiped it away quickly.
"Damn it… it doesn't want to stop, does it," I muttered.
I've been acting like I had accepted this whole situation, like slipping into another world was something I could just laugh off. But the truth? I was terrified.
What if I'm stuck here?
What if I die here?
What if the real world forgets about me?
I don't even know what happened to my real body after I hit the back of my head. For all I know, I could be lying in a hospital bed—or worse.
"Why does my life always turn down the bad path?"
The only word I could use to describe my childhood was… tragic. But there's no benefits from recalling such memory.
I let out a long, shaky sigh.
To Be Continued...