3rd POV
"Where… am I?"
No answer came.
His voice—if it could still be called that—echoed into the void, swallowed instantly by the silence. It was like the darkness itself refused to acknowledge him.
"I see... I'm dead."
There was no sky.
No ground beneath his feet.
Only a vast, suffocating black that stretched in every direction. A world where light had never existed, and sound died before it could travel.
And at the center of it all, a single soul drifted—forgotten, weightless, alone.
"How long has it been?"
There was no way to tell. No ticking clock, no sun to rise or set. No breath. No heartbeat. Just stillness and an endless, numbing quiet.
He floated, disconnected from everything—abandoned by Heaven, ignored by Hell.
Until something changed.
A spark.
So faint he thought it might've been a trick of his fading consciousness. But no—it was real. A flicker of light far in the distance. Like a single star struggling to exist in the nothingness.
"Is that… the way out?"
He didn't know. Heaven? Hell? A dream?
But anything—anything—was better than this void.
So he moved toward it.
Or maybe… the light moved toward him.
And then—everything changed.
A blinding warmth engulfed him, like sunlight bursting through a crack in a long-sealed coffin.
His next breath wasn't in the void.
It was in a world filled with light.
---
"Waaahhhhh!"
"I didn't know anyone could actually beat Leo Taylor!"
"Idiot! Can't you see? That guy's about to collapse! I'd call this a draw."
"No, no. Leo got pushed out of the safety line. Technically, that's a loss. Sure, he might've won if it had kept going, but rules are rules."
Amid the loud chatter and cheering, something barely conscious stirred.
The soul, now just a wisp of thought, floated above the scene—half-aware, caught in a haze.
He couldn't process their words. They sounded distant, like voices underwater. But what he could do was see.
He was hovering above an open arena, surrounded by hundreds of spectators—most looked like teenagers, probably 17 to 20 years old.
On the far side of the field, one young man knelt on a single knee, panting heavily.
Across from him, another barely stood—swaying, on the brink of collapse.
The soul glanced downward and realized something unsettling.
He was hovering above a boy.
A pale, sickly-looking teen, staring intently at the duel, lips pressed into a firm line.
That gaze… why does it feel so familiar?
Then the announcer's voice echoed loud and clear through the arena speakers.
[We have our winner! That was an incredibly close match—either one could have fallen. But the one still standing is… Ryen Miller!]
The crowd exploded in cheers and applause.
"...What's going on?" the soul murmured, more to himself than anyone else.
He tried to move away—tried to resist the pull—but something was dragging him in.
"Wait—wait! No!"
His cries went unheard.
The pull was relentless—like being sucked into a black hole. He twisted, panicked, tried to resist. But the light from earlier had turned into gravity, and it had chosen him.
[With this second last final due comes to a close.]
[Now it's time for the last bettle of the day, between candidates Rin Evans and Lucas Voss.]
[The last match would be stating next twenty minutes. Please be sure to be on time—]
The rest of the announcement faded as the soul was drawn downward—into the boy's body.
And the moment it happened…
The boy shuddered.
Just for a second.
Then, a deep breath.
Steady.
Calm.
He slowly stood from the bench and looked toward the that distance arena.
"...Let's go."
He didn't know it yet—but from this moment forward, two souls would walk as one.
And the story was only beginning.
---
[Rin's POV]
Wating Area, 15 minutes till the match begins.
'Ouch…'
My skull felt like it had been cracked open and welded back together by an amateur. The pain was sharp, like a drill boring through my brain, and every throb made me want to curl up and scream. I clutched my head, groaning softly.
What the hell just happened?
I squeezed my eyes shut and focused on my breathing. In through the nose. Out through the mouth.
Again.
Again.
Thirty seconds, maybe more. It wasn't perfect, but the pain dulled into something tolerable—still there, like a faint alarm in the background, but no longer screaming in my ears.
As the pounding headache subsided, I slowly opened my eyes.
And froze.
The room around me was nothing like my cramped apartment back home—or, if the last thing I remembered was accurate, the asphalt street I'd been thrown onto by a ten-ton truck. No sirens. No paramedics. No burning pain in my limbs.
Instead, I found myself sitting in large empty room and there was no else here besides me.
'Where the fuck am I?'
I couldn't help but cursed.
My heart skipped a beat. My brain scrambled for logic, for some rational explanation, but nothing made sense.
The last memory I had was of a blaring horn, the blinding headlights of an oncoming truck, and a terrifying split-second of impact.
I was supposed to be dead.
Or hospitalized at the very least.
Wait minute! I also remember that I was in some dark place and then I moved away from that place...and I was somewhere else.
I didn't remember much no matter how much I tried to do so.
But I know for sure that I was dead.
I should be in heaven, enjoying my peace life as soul.
But instead, I was… here?
Suddenly I stood up and looked around my surroundings in panic.
The …walls were stark white, smooth, and spotless, almost unnaturally clean. No windows. Just a single metal door at the far end and a faint humming sound—like electricity coursing behind the walls.
There was just one mirror.
I walked toward the mirror on instinct, my legs shaky but functional. Every step made my heart pound louder in my ears.
And as soon as my gaze fell on my reflection in the mirror, I couldn't help but gasp in shock.
"Ahh?"
I had pale skin, as white as snow, that brought out my merlot-red eyes. I also have dark hair that reach the nap of my neck.
What shocked me most was that I don't know this face.
Or more like I know but can't seem to remember it.
"....!!!!!!"
And then it suddenly clicked me.
I know this person.
A background character with less than two paragraphs of screentime before they were blown to pieces in the opening scene.
Suddenly, another sharp jolt of pain stabbed into my skull. My knees buckled. I gritted my teeth as new memories surged through me.
Not mine.
His.
The original owner of this body.
The memory wasn't that vast, just few memories I had gotten.
He didn't even make it to page ten.
He was the first student to die when the villain attacked during the entrance exam.
Oh, fuck.
A wave of nausea washed over me. I leaned against the wall to keep myself upright.
I wasn't the hero.
I wasn't the secret reincarnated villain or some hidden genius with a god-tier system.
I was cannon fodder.
A warm-up kill to make the villain look threatening.
And I—was supposed to be the first.
------
I had become a background or Side Character!
Not even the villain,protagonist!
But why?!
Why did I have to be reborn in 'this' novel out of all the gazillion other web novels out there?
I couldn't help but recall the face of that author.
After all, this was his novel…
My friend, this is the novel of my friend.
Does he have something to do with all this?
"What am I even thinking?!"
All the proofs were in front of me. I had no choice but to accept the reality.
"Huuu!" Shaking my head, I took a deep breath to calm myself down.
How could this even be happening to me? This is the most clichè situation I have ever been put into all my life.
Turning back around, I took a few steps and sat at the edge of the seat that I was seating a moment ago..
My knees felt weak and my heart slammed against my chest like crazy, almost as if I was getting high on adrenaline.
My breathing fastened as the gravity of the situation finally started to sink in.
"I don't want such a fate!" I said in denial.
And not to mention my character!
I was in the body of Rin Evans.
He was a first charector to die at the end of entrance examination test that was held by Velcrest Academy.