I Became the Squinty-Eyed Character

It was a godforsakenly long line.

Both the people waiting in it and the ones working to shorten it wore expressions that practically screamed "damn it."

This was the checkpoint at the gates of the city of Arien, where inspections were currently in full swing.

"Next."

At the guard's command, the line nudged forward ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ever so slightly, and the next man stepped up to the counter.

The guard's face was etched with deep, soul-crushing boredom.

He found the task incredibly tedious, yet he still approached the inspection with a sense of duty.

The daily annoyance of the job was manageable, but the headache of being held responsible if someone he let in caused trouble in Arien was too much to bear.

To avoid hearing his superiors yell, "What idiot let in a guy who clearly looked like a troublemaker?!" he had to filter out anyone who looked like they would cause a ruckus.

"Huh?"

The guard blinked, taking in the face of the man standing before him.

The man had a goofy, squinty-eyed smile that exuded an incredibly lightweight, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠carefree vibe.

It was impossible to imagine someone like this causing a major scene in the city.

At worst, he'd be a pickpocket or a petty thief.

This was... well, a breeze.

There was barely any need to inspect him.

To get him through quickly, the guard jumped straight into the routine questions.

"What is your business in Arien?"

"Ah~ I'm actually here to take the upcoming Academy entrance exam. That's why I've visited Arien!"

His voice was as light as his appearance.

It sounded almost like someone trying to speak while being tickled.

"The Academy entrance exam? You?"

The guard scanned the man from head to toe.

"Hahaha, indeed! You could say I'm dreaming of turning my life around."

The Ein Academy of Arien was a place where the most prominent talents from all over the continent gathered.

And a ditz like this was going to take the entrance exam?

At this point, the guard couldn't even bring himself to laugh.

He spoke to him like he would to an immature nephew who refused to get a job and just loafed around.

"It seems you were lured in by the fact that anyone can take the entrance exam. Well, don't get your hopes up. There's a reason Ein Academy opened the exam to everyone. The moment you see the test, you'll probably laugh like a madman, give up, and head straight to the nearest tavern. Just like everyone else. So, you'd better treat this as a casual sightseeing trip. It'll be better for your mental health."

"Oh? My, such kind and warm words of concern upon our very first meeting! My heart is already feeling so warm just arriving in Arien. I shall take your advice to heart!"

Seeing him chuckle so mindlessly, the guard let out a dry laugh and shook his head.

"Anyway, well. Good luck. You're going to need a massive amount of it."

With that, the guard let the squinty-eyed man into Arien without even conducting a basic search of his belongings.

He could guarantee it.

There was no way this guy would cause trouble in Arien.

And, unfortunately for him, there was also no way he would pass the Academy exam.

Or so the guard thought.

'So this is Arien...'

Arien.

One of the largest cities on the continent.

And one of the main stages where the story of Another World takes place.

Arriving in Arien and taking in the cityscape, the views I remembered from the game overlapped with reality, making it sink in.

Ah.

I really transmigrated into Another World.

I really became the Squinty-Eyed Character I created.

I tried to encapsulate those complex, subtle emotions into a single magic word.

That classic Korean swear word that perfectly expresses whatever emotion you're feeling.

"My, my. Thinking about it again, what a bizarre turn of events, isn't it?"

But instead of that magic word, my mouth spouted a monologue that was quintessentially squinty-eyed.

It wasn't because my latent talent for method acting had reached its ultimate peak due to transmigrating into a Squinty-Eyed Character.

It was simply a side effect of transmigrating into this body.

The countless traits I had assigned when creating this Squinty-Eyed Character.

Their combined effect had completely patched my speech and behavior to match the archetype.

I could act like my original self if I really forced it, but—

—doing so felt awkward and uncomfortable, like wearing clothes that didn't fit.

At first, I felt like I was being controlled by something else, so I stubbornly tried to stick to my original way of speaking and acting. But eventually, I realized how pointless that was and decided to just accept it.

This body.

This situation.

And that was how I arrived here, in Arien.

"Ha..."

I had made this character because I was overdosing on the squinty-eyed trope and wanted some vicarious satisfaction in a game.

But now, I had transmigrated into the game and somehow became the Squinty-Eyed Character itself.

How on earth was I supposed to process this?

"Well, what can you do?"

After some thought, I decided to take it as a "hell yeah, jackpot" situation.

It was better for my mental health, and it would help me adapt to my current circumstances.

Once I resolved to adapt, I fell into deep thought about what to do next.

I had never actually cleared Another World.

All I knew about it was a bit of information from when I briefly dipped my toes into the early game.

The rest was just fragmentary knowledge gathered from videos and online posts.

Based on that limited knowledge, I mapped out a plan.

I reached the conclusion that I needed to enter the Academy first.

Just as the quest sitting in the corner of my vision indicated.

The early stage of this game began with entering the Academy.

And even after that, the Academy remained one of the main stages of the game.

Since I was transmigrated into a game, wasn't it best to go with the flow of the game?

In that sense, the Academy was the perfect place to kick off my new life.

Above all.

In this world, Academy graduates were treated better than most nobles.

For a transmigrator like me, who could best be described as having zero background, there were few better ways to establish myself than graduating from the Academy.

For that reason.

The black-haired alien from another world who had just arrived in Arien was on his way to take the Academy entrance exam, harboring dreams of upward social mobility.

'It was there and there, if I recall correctly.'

According to my memory, there were two registration offices for the entrance exam in Arien.

One in the 1st District, the wealthiest area of the city.

And the other in District 5, where the commoners mostly lived.

In the game, these were Option 1 and Option 2, respectively.

'Let's go with Option 1 this time.'

Remembering how I had gotten dragged into a fight at the registration office when choosing District 5 in the game, I decided to go with the 1st District registration office this time.

"It was probably around here, right?"

Right now, I was an outsider who had just entered the city.

But there was no hesitation in my steps.

Getting lost in a place I had visited multiple times in the game?

Unthinkable.

"Huh?"

Uh.

"...Huh?"

Uh-oh.

"Hmm..."

Well, well, well.

Or maybe not.

Maybe it was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thinkable.

By now, I should have reached the vicinity of the 1st District, the wealthiest part of the city.

As proof, the cleanliness and sophistication of the surrounding streets should have skyrocketed.

"Mice..."

Instead, I was currently walking down a dingy, sunless alleyway.

Far from going up, the cleanliness and sophistication stats had plummeted.

Meanwhile, the dirtiness and decay stats had surged.

There was a simple way to describe this situation.

A lost squinty-eyed character.

'Dammit, am I really lost? Me, a transmigrator?'

A belated realization of an obvious truth.

Reality and games were, of course, different.

Bringing the muscle memory of playing a game directly into reality was bound to cause problems.

As some wise man once said, "Reality is a bitch."

Life was the real deal. And having forgotten that, I was the idiot.

After a brief moment of contemplation, I decided to do what was difficult but necessary.

Humbly admitting my own inadequacy as a transmigrator who couldn't even find his way around.

And retracing my steps to thoroughly waste some precious time.

'This is tough.'

With heavy steps, I began to walk back the way I came.

Praying that no matter how inadequate I was, I wasn't so hopeless that I'd forget a path I had just walked.

'By the way, just how deep did I wander in? I can't see a single soul.'

Directions.

Someone, please give me directions.

Somebody guide me.

How long had I been walking in search of a road and a person?

"Oh."

Finally, I encountered my first passerby since entering these back alleys.

The passerby, clad in a dark robe, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠emerged from an alley and hurriedly scanned his surroundings.

"...!"

In the process, our eyes met.

"Oh—..."

Nice weather today, isn't it? So, could you tell me the way?

The mouth I opened to deliver a structurally perfect greeting closed immediately upon seeing the man's face.

Heavy breathing.

A face dripping with sweat.

And eyes filled with intense tension.

The man's vibe was highly unusual.

With his dark robe, he fit perfectly into this dark, filthy back alley.

He didn't look like the type to kindly give directions, and getting involved with him seemed like a bad idea.

"—lovely weather we're having today, isn't it? Hmmm~"

I tried to pass by him as naturally as possible.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

And just as I was about to take the fourth step.

"Oops!"

I intentionally tripped forward.

*Whoosh!*

A dagger aimed at my head missed its target by a hair's breadth, tracing a sharp arc through the air before embedding itself in the wall.

'Holy crap, how did that blade sink into the wall like it was tofu? Was that bastard trying to kill me?'

I noticed the dagger in the wall a beat too late.

"Oh my, what's with this road—huh...? ...H-Hieeeek!"

I quickly spun around and scrambled backward, facing the guy who had thrown the dagger at me.

"W-What was that for?!"

Finally, I demanded an explanation, looking utterly terrified and panicked.

It was a series of actions performed reflexively and naturally due to my traits.

What I wanted to do was notice the ambush, dodge it perfectly, and boldly curse him out. Instead, I tripped forward, luckily dodged the ambush, and ended up looking terrified.

"You dodged that...?"

Because of that, the expression of the guy who had looked down on me and tried to kill me became extremely strange.

He seemed to be struggling with how to interpret my actions.

I decided to help him make up his mind.

I tried to exercise my right to curse out the guy who had just tried to murder me.

"O-Of course I had to dodge! Throwing something like that out of nowhere, were you trying to kill me?!"

But sure enough, a completely dorky reaction came out instead.

Perhaps that helped, because the guy stopped hesitating and walked toward me without a second thought.