That day was just another ordinary day for Tara, an unemployed man.
His routine never changed: wake up, eat whatever he could find, search for job listings, and curse the government.
"Where's that promise of nineteen million jobs, you damn liars," Tara muttered as he wandered through a JobFest event.
He had been looking for work for over a year, yet every attempt ended in failure. His life felt cursed. On more than one occasion, he had nearly been scammed and trafficked to foreign countries infamous for gambling rings and fraud.
Even so, Tara tried to stay optimistic—especially after the Vice President's grand promise of creating nineteen million jobs. In the end, it was nothing more than empty words.
He grew up in a poor family, with parents who were cold and largely indifferent to him. The only way Tara could escape reality was through video games. It was the only thing keeping him sane.
His favorite game was Hopeful Academy: Nova Fantasy, a fantasy RPG about Bernard Andrew—a commoner who enrolled in a magic academy and was destined to become a hero and defeat the Demon King.
After circling the JobFest for hours, Tara finally decided to head home.
"Man… I just want to go home and play games," he muttered while walking along the sidewalk toward the bus terminal.
Then—
BANG!!
A massive cargo truck slammed into him from the right.
Tara's body was sent flying, crashing into a roadside ditch.
Blood streamed from his head. Every inch of his body screamed in pain. Half-conscious, he could faintly hear voices around him.
"Hey! Are you okay?" "Someone got hit—call an ambulance!" "Yo, I'm recording this. This'll go viral, hahaha."
His body was soaked in filthy ditch water mixed with a foul stench. As his consciousness faded, Tara felt nothing but exhaustion toward life itself.
Why was he always unlucky?
Why did he always fail?
Why was he always a loser?
"Damn truck driver… this isn't some isekai anime, you bastard…"
After those words left his mouth, Tara closed his eyes.
The surrounding noise slowly disappeared, swallowed by complete darkness.
Then—
A small light appeared.
Dim at first, but gradually growing brighter until it blinded him.
---
Tara awoke inside a room styled after medieval Europe.
"Huh… where am I? Didn't I just get hit by a truck?"
The room was silent, filled with antique decorations. A large window allowed sunlight to pour in, illuminating the bed he lay on.
As he tried to sit up, something felt wrong.
His body was different.
Once overweight with tanned skin, it was now thin, pale, and frail. But what shocked him the most was the outfit he was wearing.
On his chest was an emblem.
An emblem he knew all too well.
The symbol of Hopeful Academy.
"Did I… reincarnate into Hopeful Academy: Nova Fantasy?" "Did God give me a second chance?"
Tara burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Thank you, God! You really are the best! I must be Bernard Andrew—the handsome hero destined to defeat the Demon King and be surrounded by beautiful women!"
Filled with excitement, Tara jumped out of bed and rushed to the wardrobe, searching for a mirror.
The moment he saw his reflection—
His smile vanished.
"You damn God… you're a real piece of shit. I seriously hate you."
The face staring back at him wasn't Bernard Andrew.
It was Zack Stride.
A weak side character.
A stalker.
A pervert.
The enemy of every woman in the academy.
And in the original story—
He would eventually become a demon cultist and die by Bernard's hand, consumed by jealousy and hatred.