"Haak! Cough, cough!"
Drip drip
"Huff.."
Isaac gasped for air as his vision swam, his chest rising and falling in uneven bursts.
'What the fuck is going on?'
He wiped at his wet face, blinking through tears he didn't remember shedding.
His entire body ached as if he had been hit by a truck.
The world around him was… wrong.
Sterile white walls, the smell of herbs instead of disinfectant, a window covered by long curtains that let in a faint golden light.
He was lying on a hospital bed, or something like one, with crisp sheets tucked tight under his legs.
His left arm was wrapped in bandages from shoulder to wrist.
'Why am I in a hospital?'
He sat up slowly, the movement making his head spin.
The last thing he remembered was… drinking, coming home, booting up TKS, the game loading on its own… Then nothing.
Thump!
"Ack!"
A sharp pain shot through his skull.
Isaac grabbed his head, tears springing to his eyes.
The instant he tried to think about what happened, the pain doubled, like his brain itself was rejecting the thought.
He sucked in a breath and leaned back against the pillow.
"…Calm down. Just think."
Something brushed his neck.
When he reached up, his fingers caught strands of soft hair.
That wasn't odd by itself; his hair had always been a bit long, but the colour made his stomach drop.
White.
Pure, snow-white hair.
He stared at it in disbelief.
'Did I go insane or something?'
He'd heard of people's hair turning white from trauma or stress, but this…
He trailed off when a faint sound broke the silence.
Swish!
The curtains surrounding his bed were pulled open.
A woman in a nun's outfit stood there.
Her posture was straight, her smile professional, but something about her appearance didn't fit the modern world, the clothes, the armband, the gentle but old-fashioned tone in her eyes.
Isaac blinked.
'Is she cosplaying?'
On her arm was a white and gold symbol, one that sent a shiver of recognition through him.
He couldn't quite place it, but he knew that emblem.
When he tried to remember where it was from…
"Ack! Fuck-!"
The stabbing pain hit again, forcing him to grit his teeth.
The woman flinched slightly.
"Student Soren? Are you alright?"
'What?'
He froze.
"Student Soren?"
She was looking directly at him.
He pointed weakly at himself.
"…Me?"
"Hmm." The woman tilted her head, studying him. "Perhaps you need a little more rest."
"I-I'm fine," he stammered quickly. "Really. I'm fine."
Her smile softened.
"That's good to hear. I came to inform you that your body has recovered enough for discharge. Just take it easy with your left arm for a while. You may return to your dorm whenever you're ready."
She gave a polite bow and turned to leave.
The moment she disappeared behind the curtain, the silence returned.
Isaac stared at the ceiling.
"…What the hell is going on?"
'Soren? Dorm? No, seriously, what on earth is going on?'
None of this made sense.
He pressed a palm to his forehead, trying to stop the throbbing.
"Why does my head hurt every time I think—ah, damn it!"
Then, like a spark, a memory returned.
That armband. That symbol.
He had seen it before.
'No way.'
"That's the crest of Stellaris Academy…" he whispered under his breath.
The realisation hit him like a bucket of ice water.
"That's from… ❰The Knight of Stellaris❱."
'But that doesn't make any sense…'
He gripped his bandaged arm tightly, heart hammering in his chest.
If the nurse was wearing that crest…
"Then this hospital…" he muttered, looking around again. "…is inside the game?"
He laughed quietly, but it came out shaky.
"That's impossible, right?"
The laughter died almost instantly.
No one answered.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
After what felt like an hour of wandering the academy halls in a daze, Isaac finally found the room assigned to him.
Click
The door shut behind him.
And for the first time since waking up, his mask of confusion cracked.
A wide grin broke across his face.
"Hehe.. ehehe…"
He pressed a hand over his mouth, shoulders shaking.
"I actually transmigrated."
It sounded ridiculous even to him, but the excitement bubbling up made it impossible to stop smiling.
At first, it wasn't self-evident since the place he woke up was a hospital room, but the moment he stepped outside, it became clear to him immediately.
'And it wasn't just that.'
If it were just transmigration, Isaac would have been happy yet cautious, not knowing where he was, but…
He had transmigrated into his favourite game, the world of ❰The Knight of Stellaris❱, the game he had poured five years of his life into.
"Hehehe…"
The grin only widened.
He sat down on the bed, still laughing quietly.
Then, after a moment of silence, a new thought hit him.
"But wait, isn't something wrong here?"
Isaac couldn't help but question something after realising his transmigration.
'In novels, don't the main characters usually get status windows or something?'
Isaac bit his thumb, lost in thought, before opening his mouth.
"Status."
Nothing happened.
He frowned.
He sighed and buried his face in his hands.
"Well, that's embarrassing."
He shrugged it off and was about to lie on the bed when…
Ting-♪
.
[Initialisation Complete]
.
"Ow—shit! Not again!"
Thud!
He collapsed onto the floor, clutching his head as it began throbbing once again, not even given a chance to read the words that appeared before his eyes.
His vision blurred and his head continued throbbing in pain… but this time it was different.
Isaac's brain suddenly flooded with memories.
Memories he had forgotten, as well as those he only faintly recalled, flooded his brain.
But now it was different.
He could remember every single detail of those memories perfectly.
When the pain finally subsided, he was drenched in sweat, his breathing ragged.
But despite the exhaustion, his grin returned.
"I knew it… they wouldn't just throw me here empty-handed."
Then a sound rang out.
Ting-♪
.
[Status Window now available.]
.
A translucent silver window appeared before him, floating in mid-air.
He nearly laughed in disbelief.
"Holy shit… it's real."
As an avid web novel reader, the sight alone was enough to make his heart race.
He steadied himself, inhaled deeply, and whispered.
"「Status」"
The screen expanded instantly.
.
.
[Status Window]
Name: Soren Arden (1★)
Age: 18
Race: Human
◈ Titles
- Transmigrator (Year 1)
◈ Unique Skills
- Library of Memories
- ???
◈ Stats
Stamina - 0.2 (F)
Strength - 0.3 (F)
Agility - 0.4 (F)
Mana - 0.3 (F)
Divine Power - 0.0 (F)
Charm - 8.4 (A+)
◈ Skills
- Life Magic
- Basic Magic
└ Aqua (F+)
└ Gaia (F)
.
.
"Ughhh…"
Isaac groaned, dragging a hand down his face.
Five F's. One A+.
A one-star rating.
Even in TKS, that was below the lowest playable tier.
"...You've got to be kidding me."
He scanned the stats again, hoping he had misread something, but he hadn't.
The only bright spot, if it could be called that, was his Charm.
"Eight point four… that's actually higher than most maxed-out characters."
But unlike characters in TKS, it was useless for someone like Soren, who was nothing more than a mob character at best.
Still, he forced himself to look through the rest.
"Wow… Even the skills are awful…"
Life magic was something that pretty much every mage had as a standard, and even some warriors learned it since it's so basic, so it was a given that Soren would have it.
'But these basic magic skill levels are awful…'
Firstly, there are only two spells here.
'I would've been okay with that if they were at a decent level, but…'
'... F+ and F'
It was so bad it was almost impressive.
This meant that the original body never used magic, even [Aqua], being F+, which was probably due to the entrance and placement exams.
And worse, there was no EXP bar. No levelling system.
"How the hell am I supposed to get stronger with this?"
For a moment, disappointment washed over the excitement.
Then his eyes landed on the Unique Skills section.
"Oh? Wait, there is something decent here, actually."
[Library of Memories].
He frowned.
"That's probably what made my head explode earlier…"
At first glance, it sounded simple. But if it worked the way he thought it did…
His heart skipped a beat.
If he had access to all his knowledge from TKS… and remembered everything perfectly…
'Then I have the entire game memorised.'
He grinned again, almost dizzy from the possibilities.
"Okay, that's… actually busted."
Then he noticed the other one.
[???]
No description. No details. Just question marks.
"Guess that's locked for now."
'Well, there's nothing I can do about that.'
He was curious about the hidden skill, but there were far more pressing things to think about at this moment.
He dismissed the screen with a wave, feeling the excitement rise again.
His eyes scanned the room properly for the first time.
'It looks brand new.'
It looked like a dorm that had barely been used.
Two things stood out: a large axe leaning against the wall, and a school bag sitting on the desk.
He walked over to the axe first.
The craftsmanship was flawless — far too expensive for a student.
'There's no way I can lift this with those stats.'
Still, curiosity got the better of him.
He ran his fingers along the edge until he noticed an engraving near the base of the blade.
Then his hand stopped right below an inscription.
'Freya.'
His eyes widened slightly.
That name.
He didn't even have to think long before his [Library of Memories] skill clicked.
Freya Arden.
A name he knew from the game, one that appeared in the lore and early story.
"…Then that means…"
He looked down at his hands, Soren Arden.
In ❰The Knight of Stellaris❱, there was a family called the Arden family, who were a Count in the Fialova Kingdom.
They weren't a particularly important family in the story; in fact, they were only mentioned a total of twice.
The first time they were mentioned was because of a character named 'Freya Arden.'
A prodigy knight, a once-in-a-millennium talent, killed in battle months before the game's events.
A few months before the protagonist of TKS enrols, Freya Arden was on a campaign fighting back monsters and demons that crossed over the demon realm's borders into Fialova territory.
Then tragedy struck.
On the final mission of her campaign, she fell victim to a demon's trap and, unfortunately, passed away.
The second time Arden County was mentioned was in reference to the current Countess and head of the Arden family, Sofia Arden.
She was once a general, the second-highest rank in the Fialova army, which alone spoke volumes of her strength.
In addition to her strength, she was also known for being a shrewd woman when it came to politics and finances.
Her reason for appearing in the game was part of a main quest in which the protagonist needed to secure sponsorships to help with his upcoming adversaries.
'I remember her being a pain in the ass to deal with in that event.'
But that was the extent of his knowledge of the Arden family.
Soren Arden is a character who simply does not exist in the game.
'Honestly, though, that's fine with me.'
Honestly, he didn't mind.
If anything, it was a relief.
'At least I'm not the protagonist.'
Just imagining that level of stress made his stomach churn.
Still, a thought crept in.
Then a terrifying thought crossed his mind.
"Wait… does the protagonist even exist here?"
It was something that he hadn't even considered until just now..
'I'll have to find the protagonist.'
No matter how much Isaac liked the idea of being transmigrated, there was no way he would suddenly like the idea of training all day, every day.
'Wait… why did I even assume that I was even in the same year as the protagonist?'
As he thought about it more, it became more plausible that he could've been transmigrated into a completely different year from when the story takes place.
'How nice that would be…' He thought to himself as he looked at the bag sitting on the desk.
It contained papers, books, and a student ID.
Arcane Studies, class F.
"Rank 96 out of 125…" He groaned. "So I'm weak and failing. Perfect."
The papers also confirmed the current date: the 21st day of the Birch Sun.
In the game's calendar, that meant the school year had only just begun a couple of weeks ago.
'Then… the main story's already started.'
He fell backwards onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
"…I really am in the game."
He could feel his heartbeat quicken.
Even with the exhaustion, even knowing he was starting from the bottom, none of that could drown out the feeling blooming in his chest.
Wonder.
Excitement.
Possibility.
His lips curled into a grin as his eyes fluttered shut.
"Heh… guess I'll figure the rest out tomorrow."
Sleep came almost instantly.
————「❤︎」————