First Day of School

The intense flash that had swallowed my vision gradually faded away.

"Ugh……."

I forced my heavy eyelids open, and sunlight so bright it made my eyes sting poured in.

The room that had been pitch-dark was now bathed in morning light, every corner glowing.

At first I felt no sense of wrongness.

The studio I used to live in had been a barren tin can of a room with barely any furniture either.

But after blinking a couple of times, a strange dissonance crawled up my spine.

Huh?

The gaming laptop I had been staring holes into just moments ago, the empty soju bottles scattered across the floor—everything had vanished without a trace.

Even the mattress was different.

"O-ohing……? Why am I…… here……?"

The alcohol still circulating through my veins evaporated as if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over me.

While frantically scanning my surroundings, I caught my reflection in the window.

"……What the hell."

The face in the glass and the pitifully thin, stick-insect body were exactly the same as my real self.

There was just one thing that was completely different: the clothes I was wearing.

A clean, elegant school uniform embroidered with luxurious patterns I had never seen in my life.

"Did I…… regress or something?"

No. Impossible.

My actual school days had never included a comfortable single dorm room like this.

I had grown up in an orphanage, crammed in with the other kids.

The moment that thought struck, goosebumps rose all over my skin and a chill ran down my back.

I hurriedly snatched up the unfamiliar phone lying by the pillow.

I turned on the screen and opened the contacts app first.

"……"

With trembling hands I opened the internet browser.

A single news article plastered across the portal site’s main page seized my gaze.

"Awakened……?"

As if possessed, I tapped the article and scrolled down. A cascade of comments appeared.

The strength drained from my hands as I stared blankly at the phone screen.

Unless every journalist and netizen had simultaneously gone insane, there was only one explanation for this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠situation.

Yeah. I had been possessed.

Into that damn game I had been tweaking with a perverted character build last night.

I knew absolutely nothing about the story or the detailed settings.

All my knowledge came from zoning out while watching streamers play it on internet broadcasts when I had nothing better to do.

Ah…… I should’ve paid attention to the story instead of multitasking while watching those streams…….

Clawing at my hair and regretting it now was useless; the milk was already spilled.

But I quickly shook my head and steeled myself.

If this was a possession story, there was a mandatory ritual every protagonist had to go through.

I still had the broken skills I had packed in last night.

I carefully moved my lips, then spoke toward empty air.

"Sta- Status Wind……."

Ah, I was so nervous I mangled the pronunciation.

But not even the most common blue translucent hologram window appeared in the air.

I cleared my throat once and said it properly.

"Status Window."

Silence. Only my ragged breathing filled the room.

"There is…… no Status Window……?"

A hollow voice slipped out.

The fact that I had dropped in completely naked, without even a Status Window, was enough to freeze my brain.

In every web novel I had ever read, even protagonists who possessed dung flies or mosquitoes got a Status Window as a basic option.

So how the hell could they not give me even that common Status Window?!

Without a Status Window there was no way to check whether the skills I had set up had applied properly!

"You crazy author bastard……!"

Ah, right.

This wasn’t a novel. It was a game.

"You crazy developer bastard……!!"

I wanted to tear my hair out and wail right then and there, but sadly I wasn’t even given time to be angry.

Buzz—

A notification popped up on the phone screen still gripped in my hand.

Checking the text and the date sent a different kind of despair crashing over me like a wave.

T-today?! I have to start living through those hellish school days again starting today!?

The word “school” was nothing less than a trauma switch for me.

Memories of being crammed into a corner seat in a noisy cafeteria, watching the bullies’ every move while shoveling food in without even knowing if it went through my nose or mouth.

The misery of crouching in the corner every PE class, blankly watching the other kids play.

The thought of having to crawl back into that hellish pack of classmates made my stomach acid surge and my vision go dark.

But a glance at the clock in the corner of the phone told me I didn’t even have time to sit and despair.

What if I was late on the very first day and drew everyone’s stares?

Just imagining it, my timid mental state would shatter into dust.

In the end, without even a moment to test whether the abilities I had set up actually worked, I hastily straightened my uniform and bolted out of the studio.

As I stepped outside the building I opened the map on my phone.

Seeing my current location on the screen, I sucked in a sharp breath.

The satellite map showed nothing but the endless blue of the Pacific Ocean.

I was really on an island.

And a ridiculously huge one at that.

I started walking toward the address marked on the map.

The streets were lined with ordinary buildings that had nothing to do with an academy—shops and residential areas sprawling out massively, as expected of an academy city.

And every person walking those streets had an exotic appearance.

People of every nationality from every corner of the world filled the place.

Cold sweat suddenly slicked my palms.

I was the kind of loser who stuttered even when making eye contact with fellow Koreans, and now I was surrounded by foreigners.

I… I can’t speak English…… Does that mean classes inside the Academy are also in English……?

Just as my heart was clenching tight, I spotted them.

Up ahead, two male students wearing the exact same uniform as mine were walking side by side, chatting.

One looked Western, the other Asian.

From my perspective as a fellow Asian, he didn’t seem Korean.

What reached my ears next was completely unexpected.

"Hey, when’s the entrance ceremony supposed to end today?"

"Dunno, probably gonna drag on pretty long?"

It was Korean.

And fluent enough that it sounded far more natural than my own speech, which usually stumbled over itself.

A question rose in my mind.

What the…? Did setting the game language to Korean make everyone speak Korean?

But when I edged a little closer and sneaked a look, I realized the source of that strange dissonance.

The clear Korean reaching my ears didn’t match their mouth movements at all.

It was like watching a well-made dubbed movie with the lip-sync completely off.

What the hell, why are their mouths like that? It’s like a real-time automatic translator is running… ah.

I stared blankly for a moment, then gave a small nod.

Come to think of it, this wasn’t ordinary reality—it was the world of a modern fantasy game.

An international academy where Awakened from all over the globe gathered. If people couldn’t communicate, classes and everything else would be impossible. So some magic or artifact that erased ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠language barriers was probably constantly active across the entire island.

Well. On the day I got possessed into a game with nothing but my bare body, a little translation magic is hardly surprising.

Everything I could understand with common sense had already ended the moment I opened my eyes here today.

Digging deeper would only give me a headache, so I just shrugged it off as “game convenience settings” and moved on.

Anyway, not getting lost came first.

I carefully began tailing those social butterflies who were already making friends and strolling affectionately on the very first day of school.

Thanks to that I managed to reach the main building without getting lost, and with time to spare.

"Whoa…… holy shit."

The main building I arrived at was absurdly massive.

I wondered if I had ever seen a building this stupidly huge with my own two eyes.

Overwhelmed by the sheer scale, I stood there with my mouth hanging open. Ahead of me the two guys tapped their student IDs on the entrance gate and walked inside.

I hurriedly fumbled through my pants pockets.

Luckily I found the student ID that had been in the uniform’s inner pocket, tapped it on the gate with a beep, and hurried after them.

Soon the entrance to the grand auditorium came into view.

A hall so vast it could easily hold thousands, with endless rows of chairs filling every inch.

The auditorium was already packed with the heat and chatter of uniformed students; just standing there was enough to drain my energy and make my head spin.

"……Ugh."

I huddled in a corner and checked the text again.

After confirming my seat number, I carefully picked my way through the crowd, making sure not to brush anyone’s shoulder.

After wandering for quite a while I finally found my seat and carefully lowered myself into it.

All around me students were gathered in little groups, building friendships.

But I never had the capacity to casually insert myself into a group like that and strike up conversation.

Especially not with foreigners whose cultures were all different.

I had no idea what to say or how to start.

Unable to find a place to put my eyes, my pupils trembling with anxiety, I pulled out the eternal refuge of every loser—my smartphone.

Since I didn’t know anyone anyway, I figured I’d kill time browsing communities and gathering information about this new world I’d dropped into.

I had my head bowed, blankly scrolling down the screen, when—

"Hey."

A cold voice dropped right onto the crown of my head.

At that short, sharp call, trauma from my school days flared up. My shoulders reflexively hunched as I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠carefully lifted my head.

Standing in front of me was someone looking down at me with a thoroughly displeased expression.

"Get lost, you bastard."