"Where am I?"
"Wasn't I about to clear the boss?"
Ethan woke up in a strange bed that wasn't his own. The ceiling above him was completely unfamiliar, made of pale gray material he didn't recognize.
A dull pain throbbed inside his head like someone was hammering nails into his skull. He sat up slowly, moving carefully as the pain intensified. His hands came up to clutch his temples as a sudden flood of memories rushed into his mind all at once.
The sensation was overwhelming. It felt like his skull would split apart from the pressure building inside.
Strange images flashed behind his eyes, scenes he had never experienced before but somehow remembered. Faces of people he'd never met. Names he'd never heard. Events that belonged to someone else entirely.
He gasped for air, his breathing becoming ragged and uneven. His fingers gripped the sheets tightly, knuckles turning white from the pressure.
The fabric bunched up in his fists as wave after wave of foreign memories crashed through his consciousness.
Faces, names, and events that weren't his own continued to flash before his eyes in rapid succession. Each new memory brought another spike of pain that made him want to cry out.
When the pain finally eased after what felt like an eternity, he sat there in complete shock. His breathing slowly returned to normal.
The throbbing in his head faded to a manageable ache. But the memories remained, now settled into his mind as if they had always belonged there.
The truth became clear a moment later as the pieces fell into place. He had transmigrated.
This wasn't his world anymore. He wasn't in his own body. Everything had changed in an instant.
But that wasn't the most shocking part. The world he now found himself in was the Supernatural Game, Rise of the Strongest Esper. It was the same game he had spent hundreds of hours playing back in his original life.
He had even cleared it multiple times, mastering every route and knowing every secret the game had to offer.
But this time, the world wasn't made of pixels or lines of code displayed on a screen. It was real.
Completely and terrifyingly real. The faint heartbeat he could feel pulsing within his chest, the cool air that touched his skin and filled his lungs, and the solid ground beneath his feet that supported his weight—all of it told him this was no longer a game.
This was reality now.
Ethan's breath caught in his throat when the last piece of memory clicked into place like a puzzle completing itself.
The body he now inhabited belonged to a background student, an F-Rank trash character who was barely mentioned in the original story.
The student was similarly named Ethan, which made the situation feel even more surreal.
Ethan Hunt. That was the full name of this body's original owner.
In the original story that Ethan knew by heart, this student was destined to die in two days.
It would happen during the Hunters Academy's first live combat exercise, a brutal event designed to weed out the weak.
This background character would be killed by monsters in the opening sequence, serving as nothing more than cannon fodder to show how dangerous the world was.
His stomach dropped as the realization fully hit him. Two days. He had only two days to live unless he could change his fate.
"Damn it," he muttered under his breath. His voice sounded different, younger than his original voice had been.
He needed to check something. He raised his hand slightly, holding it out in front of him.
"System, open menu," he called out, hoping the game interface would appear.
Nothing happened. The air remained empty. No glowing screens materialized before his eyes.
He tried again, desperation creeping into his voice.
"Inventory."
Still nothing.
His heart sank as only silence answered him. No cheerful chime. No system notifications. No helpful menus to guide him.
'So this isn't a game anymore,' he thought bitterly.
The realization settled over him like a heavy weight.
All the convenient features he had relied on were gone.
No save points to reload from.
No inventory to store unlimited items.
No quick travel between locations.
He was truly stuck here with nothing but his knowledge of how the story was supposed to unfold.
*Bam!*
The door suddenly burst open without warning.
Three boys entered the room, each wearing academy uniforms that marked them as students.
They carried themselves with casual arrogance, the kind that came from never being challenged.
Their eyes swept over the room before landing on Ethan with obvious disdain.
The tallest one, who seemed to be their leader, sneered down at him.
His expression was full of contempt and superiority.
"F-Rank trash," he said in a mocking tone. "Go iron our uniforms for tomorrow. Make sure they're perfect, or you'll regret it."
Ethan froze for a moment, his body going rigid. Anger flickered in his eyes at being spoken to like a servant.
His first instinct was to tell them exactly where they could shove their uniforms.
Back in his old world, he never would have tolerated being treated this way.
But he quickly lowered his gaze and forced himself to stay calm.
Getting angry now would be stupid. These weren't just random bullies.
In this world, power determined everything.
These three were all higher-ranked Espers with abilities that could easily overwhelm him.
Fighting back would only paint a target on his back and make his already desperate situation even worse.
He needed to survive the next two days. That meant swallowing his pride.
"Fine," he said quietly, keeping his voice neutral and submissive.
His hands remained at his sides, not showing any sign of resistance.
The three boys laughed at his easy submission.
The sound was harsh and grating. They found his weakness entertaining.
The leader tossed several wrinkled uniforms onto the chair near Ethan's bed. The clothes landed in a crumpled heap. His companions added their own uniforms to the pile with careless throws.
"Have them ready by morning," one of them said as they turned to leave.
The door slammed shut behind them. The sound echoed in the small room. Their laughter could still be heard fading down the hallway outside.
Ethan remained sitting on his bed for several long moments. He stared at the pile of uniforms, his hands slowly clenching into fists.
His nails dug into his palms. Inside, his mind raced with thoughts of revenge and frustration. The humiliation burned, but he pushed it down deep.
Two days. He had two days left before that fatal combat exercise.
Two days before the event that was supposed to kill him.
Two days to prepare and find a way to survive what should be his death.
He looked toward the window. Outside, the sky was beginning to darken as evening approached.
The academy grounds stretched out below, filled with students who had no idea what was coming.
Determination hardened his gaze as he made a silent promise to himself.
'Two days left to die?' he thought.
'Not if I can help it. I know this world. I know what's coming. And I'm going to use every piece of knowledge I have to survive.'