Wait… where… am I? No… who… am I??
What's this darkness?? … Just what's happening? …
I can't remember anything… Do I even need to remember something? …
Pain? But I can't feel anything at all? …
Host for the Infinite Template System has been found
Huh? … What's that??? I just heard something??? A boat?? Wait—what is a boat anyway??
I can't see a thing… all I see is endless darkness…
Synchronization with host started… Error… Host's soul has been damaged from staying too long in the void… Activating emergency protocol
Huh??? What is this?? Who's disturbing me???
I just want to… sleep…
Warning: Host's soul is fading due to the void environment… Selecting a random template to transfer host's soul to, to prevent further fragmentation
Doesn't matter… I feel so tired…
…Template selected. Preparing soul for transfer… Selecting random dimension…
A gate to the Hell Dimension has been opened… Due to selecting a template and opening a gate to a random dimension for transfer, system functions will shut down for recovery… Good luck, host…
Huh??? … Hell?… I don't know why, but I feel a bad premonition…
⸻
Huh??? A village?… Yuno and Sister Lily?… Who are these people?? Wait—I've become 15 years old?
I need to hurry to the grimoire selection ceremony—this way I can awaken my magic and begin my journey to become the Wizard King!!!
"Ughhh… Damn it, who is this Wizard King?? And who the hell is Yuno, the guy I apparently can't allow to surpass me???" I woke up with a splitting headache.
And along with that headache came names and memories of people I've never seen in my entire life—people I don't even know—yet they were in my mind.
A burning, overwhelming desire filled me to get a grimoire from the magic tower so I could join a Magic Knight squad.
Just what is a grimoire? And what's so important about becoming a Magic Knight? I just want to sleep and get rid of this damned headache.
"…Finally!" After a while, the intense pain in my head became less unbearable.
I slowly opened my eyes to see… a crimson sky… and a scarlet eclipse.
"…Hahaha… I imagined a thousand things, a thousand possibilities… but opening my eyes to a red sky and a crimson eclipse wasn't among even my wildest thoughts."
But that wasn't all.
Character Template: Asta
Character Template Unlock Progress: 1%
A white, translucent screen floated before me.
"Wait… Asta??" That name was strangely familiar.
…He's the one whose memories I've been seeing… I wasn't stupid; I could figure out what was happening to me.
Asta—the boy whose memories I'd been experiencing. And now, this screen tells me he's my "character template" at 1% progress.
That means… right now, I'm in his body… and for some reason, I've inherited his memories.
And it's all because of this screen.
I tried to remember anything from before this happened, but nothing came to mind.
So… I've lost my memory. Why, how, and when—I have no idea. But I do know that the memories I have aren't truly mine… they belong to this "Asta" template.
It's… kind of depressing, but whatever.
From Asta's memories, I know he grew up in a village on the outskirts of the Clover Kingdom—a kingdom that worships magic.
Asta had no magic his whole life, but he hoped that when he turned 15—the age when everyone goes to the tower to be chosen by a magic book—he would finally get one.
Beyond that, I can't remember much.
Well… except for this tattered, old, filthy black book I somehow have.
Just how long has this thing been sitting in a library without anyone touching it??
And what's with these five leaves? Most grimoires have three or four. No one mentioned anything about a fifth leaf…
The number of leaves reflects a mage's mana and magical power. Three leaves is average. Four leaves is extremely rare.
Only the first Wizard King had a four-leaf grimoire… and Yuno as well.
While I was staring at this old, worn book, suddenly a dark red and black light began to glow from it.
Then the book started floating in front of me, its pages flipping by some unknown force.
From its center, a rusty sword hilt emerged.
Naturally, I pulled it out.
And oh boy, was it worth it.
It was huge, black, rusty, and dirty.
Is that the theme here? Anything connected to this grimoire has to be filthy, rusty, and gross? I sighed. Whatever.
Despite its massive size, I could hold it relatively easily—probably because Asta's body was absurdly strong.
Since he couldn't use magic and had zero mana, he compensated by training his body like a madman.
I should test the limits of this body—or my body now, I guess. My situation was weird enough to make me confused.
Am I Asta? Or do I just have his body and memories?
Even with his memories, there's this undeniable truth inside me:
I am not Asta.
And for some reason, I'm sure of it.
I don't care about becoming Wizard King, and I'm not interested in competing with that Yuno kid.
"…Time will answer these questions." Who am I really? What is this place?
And what is this screen? What does "character template" even mean? Who is Asta? Why do I have his body, memories, and apparently his grimoire?
But I ignored all of that because, for some reason, my instincts screamed at me to grab my sword and counter something heading my way.
BAM!!!
A fireball the size of my head came flying at me.
But I wasn't just going to sit there.
I swung my massive, filthy sword like a baseball bat and smacked the fireball away.
Wait—what's a baseball bat? No time to think about that—another fireball, this one bigger, came my way.
It was the size of a boulder.
Once again, instinct took over—I pushed off the ground and leaped aside.
This body is amazing!! My blood boiled with excitement.
Alright… my turn!! I rested the sword on my shoulder and stared at a skeleton wearing a tattered red robe, its eyes burning with transparent blue flames, walking toward me awkwardly.
Why is everything I meet filthy, and either red or black? I didn't care. I charged, eager to smash it.
"Haahhh!!!" I yelled for no reason as I swung the sword down with all my strength.
CRACK!
Dust exploded everywhere, the ground cracked beneath the blow.
I didn't expect to be this strong! Or maybe Asta was just that strong.
But it was pointless—saliva dripped onto my face.
I looked up—the skeleton was unharmed. Not even a scratch on its tattered robe.
One question came to mind:
"Do—"
The skeleton opened its mouth, heat rising rapidly.
"…skeletons drool??" Before I could finish the thought—
BOOM!!!
Blue flames erupted from its mouth, hitting the ground and blasting everything apart.
A twenty-foot-deep crater appeared, and the blue flames didn't fade—they kept burning everything, even the earth and rock.
"Well… it was nice meeting you," I said, resting the sword lazily on my shoulder.
"But… unfortunately, I have somewhere to be." I bolted at full speed.
What the hell just happened??? I'm sure I hit it with everything I had!!!
And how the hell is the ground burning??? Even stone??? It wasn't melting—it was literally on fire like paper!
If it weren't for this body's speed and instincts, I'd be dead already.
Lesson one: always trust your instincts. Lesson two: don't rush in.
I didn't stop running until I was sure the skeleton wasn't chasing me.
Phew… barely made it. I sat on a rock to rest.
That was my biggest mistake.
Four creatures with ragged black robes and rusty scythes, who'd been sleeping behind the rock, woke up.
They weren't skeletons… but they weren't human either.
Blue, transparent eyes—just like the skeleton's.
They glanced at each other, then slowly approached with disgusting, grating noises.
I decided to test whether I could hurt them—threw my sword at one.
BAM!
It passed through as if the creature were intangible—or an illusion—and got stuck in a rock wall behind them.
Great. I can't hurt them. That's just perfect.
I backed up and ran. They chased, slowly. I reached a dead end—a cliff wall—and smiled.
Gathering my strength, I jumped before they could leap at me.
"Hahaha!!! You fools!!!" At least they weren't smart.
They acted on pure instinct—which meant I could escape… for now.
If I ever got surrounded, I'd die without even a fight.
I pulled my sword from the rock and kept running.
⸻
Time passed. No more scythe-wielding monsters or red-robed skeletons.
I was now walking on hot, sandy terrain—each step making the air hotter.
BAAAGH!!!
I jumped back—an acid bomb splashed where I'd been standing, melting the ground.
I drew my sword from the grimoire's holder at my right hip.
Why did I bother explaining that? No reason. I just like talking a lot.
Looking up, I saw a small, green, winged creature—ripped insect wings, a fly's face, but a childlike head.
It dripped green acid from its mouth, sizzling the ground.
Great… skeletons, scythe monsters, and now acid-drooling fly-children… What's next? Giant worms? Flaming dogs?
I dodged more acid bombs, thinking of a plan.
Got it. I smashed a large red rock with my sword, grabbed a shard, and threw it.
It hit the creature's head—stunning it for a moment.
Then it started… crying?
The noise was unbearable—my ears bled.
Thankfully, it didn't last long—because it exploded.
Green light and crystal shards flew everywhere. No acid, oddly enough.
That should've been my first red flag…
I kept walking, but a bad feeling grew stronger.
The ground shook. Faintly… then harder…
From all directions, orange sandworms burst out of the ground.
One emerged right under me—I was standing in its open jaws!
I leapt, barely escaping being swallowed.
Each time my feet hit the ground, another worm surfaced.
They had no eyes—meaning they tracked me by vibration.
So I started sliding on my sword instead of running.
But then… white-furred tigers with bone armor appeared—standing upright, riding the worms—trying to slash me.
This isn't bullying anymore—this is just unfair!!!
I ducked, barely avoiding one's leap. Their numbers kept growing.
Ahead—a cliff, with a bottomless abyss. And now flaming dogs, skeletons, and scythe monsters were all chasing me.
I ran full speed, sword ready.
Now or never!!! I plunged my sword into the cliff wall, trying to slide down.
The vibration rattled my entire body.
Then…
Pain. Burning. Flesh tearing.
A hellhound had latched onto my back.
The sword slipped—I was too heavy with a three-meter-tall dog attached.
Grinding my teeth, I kicked off the wall, taking the dog with me.
We fell—its jaw still clamped on me—until finally it let go. The pain was unbearable.
At least it fell to its death.
I turned to face the endless darkness below.
Couldn't see the bottom. Didn't matter.
I tried to stab the sword into the wall again. This time…
CRACK!!!
My arm twisted violently—bone snapping. Fingers bending in impossible angles.
"Ghh… endure… endure!!!"
With one working arm, I dragged myself up to the sword's hilt—then bit down on it.
Using my teeth, I stabbed into the wall, leaping from side to side.
Blood filled my mouth, teeth cracking—but I kept going.
Over and over… until my body gave out.
One weak jump—and I missed.
I fell… into the abyss.
CRASH.