I Got Reincarnated, But I Became an Extra
I stared blankly at the unfamiliar ceiling.
“This can’t be real.”
Those were the first words out of my mouth the moment I grasped the situation.
Just last night I had fallen asleep in my own bed, in my own room.
So why, when I opened my eyes, was I looking at a strange ceiling and furniture I had never seen before?
The smartphone I always kept by my pillow was nowhere to be found.
Did I… die in my sleep from sleep apnea?
But that explanation felt wrong. Every sensation was far too vivid.
The chirping of sparrows and the lowing of cattle drifting through the open window…
“Cattle?”
That was when my mind finally snapped awake.
“Where the hell am I?”
Sensing that something was very wrong, I scanned the room. I needed to figure out where I was, at the very least.
My eyes landed on a mirror hanging on the wall. I hurried over and looked at my reflection—then nearly fainted from shock.
The ordinary Korean job-seeker named Shin Hyunwoo was gone.
The person staring back at me was a boy who looked about ten years old. He had jet-black hair and golden eyes—a combination you’d rarely see back in Korea.
If he grows up like this, he might become incredibly handsome.
Even at this young age, his features were striking. It was easy to imagine how good he’d look later.
…Wait. This was hardly the time for such frivolous thoughts.
Since I was already out of bed, I decided to examine the room properly. I needed clues about where I was and whose body this belonged to.
Right after I made that resolution, someone threw the door open with a bang.
“You little rascal!”
What the—who was this bear of a man?
I blinked in confusion. Before I could react, the man strode over and planted his massive hands on my shoulders.
“Are you finally better?”
“Huh?”
“Has the fever gone down? Hmm?”
I stood there, completely dumbfounded.
Suddenly the man spun me around roughly. As if that wasn’t enough, he shoved his hands under my armpits and lifted me clean off the ground.
Caught off guard by the rough treatment, the only thing I could manage was a pathetic—
“U-um, excuse me… sir…”
Finally, the man set me back down on the floor.
“You rascal! What do you mean, ‘sir’? I’m your father! Got it?”
Father? This mountain of a man?
While I was still reeling, a neatly dressed maid entered the room. She bowed respectfully to both me and the large man.
“I will check on Young Master Luke’s condition, Baron Nedville.”
I was a noble’s son?
And not only was this man my father—he held the title of baron?
One thing was immediately clear.
This was a medieval-style fantasy world.
My father practically carried me back to the bed and laid me down. The maid quickly approached and placed her hand on my forehead.
“The fever has completely subsided.”
“Hmm. That’s a relief.”
Both of them looked visibly relieved, but I was still utterly lost. In that moment of confusion, I made the single most idiotic choice possible.
“Um… where am I, exactly?”
Because of that one stupid question, my father, the entire family, and the whole household descended into chaos over whether I had amnesia. I ended up getting scolded right along with them.
Honestly, this mouth of mine really knows how to cause trouble.
* * * *
To cut straight to the point—I had reincarnated into a novel.
And not just any novel. It was one of those old, generic fantasy books I had read back in elementary school.
Arsenia World.
The title alone reeked of outdated tropes. Even when it was first published, it never received much attention.
But as a kid, I had loved it. The protagonist Russell and his companions traveled across the Arsenia Continent, encountering all sorts of exciting events. I could never wait to see what would happen next.
I even pestered my parents until they bought me the entire series.
Reading it again at my current age, though… it was complete garbage.
The pacing was slow, the characters kept making frustratingly stupid decisions…
“Why on earth did I think this was fun back then?”
I tossed the book aside before I even reached the halfway point of volume one.
And the very next day, I woke up inside Arsenia World.
As an extra who had never once appeared in the original story!
Maybe this was karma for calling it garbage.
All sorts of thoughts swirled through my head, but they quickly faded.
The important thing was that I had reincarnated into this damn novel—and as an extra, no less.
Since returning to my original world seemed impossible, I had no choice but to survive here somehow.
So… what should I do?
Should I train in swordsmanship like my father or older brother Hans and become a knight?
That idea died the moment I sparred with my brother using wooden swords. This body had absolutely zero natural athletic talent.
Nor could I live a carefree life like my younger sister Cyril, the third child and the only daughter of the Nedville family. The typical path for noble daughters was to marry into a suitable family once they came of age and live as a wife.
As the second son stuck in that awkward position, I needed to carve out my own path. So I chose to devour every single book in the family library.
Since I was hopeless with physical training, I figured I might as well cram as much knowledge into my head as possible. It was a rather crude strategy.
Fortunately, it worked surprisingly well.
Thanks to having read this cursed novel multiple times, I still remembered most of the setting and plot.
I also had the general knowledge I’d built up while living in modern Korea.
On top of that, I absorbed all the knowledge that existed in this fictional world.
As a result, I became known as the smartest person in the Nedville barony.
“Luke, I’ll leave today’s work to you!”
My father began entrusting me with more and more of the territory’s administrative duties.
Watching him hum cheerfully as he left the office, I could only let out a deep sigh.
Don’t tell me I reincarnated just to be my dad’s secretary in this tiny backwater territory?
* * * *
That said, if you asked whether my father was incompetent as the lord of Nedville, the answer would be no.
Although it was a small territory with only about three hundred residents, he genuinely cared for the people. He regularly inspected important public facilities like ovens and wells, and he meticulously checked the year’s crop yields.
The problem was that he had an incredibly restless personality. Organizing all the data and reports about the territory’s current state always fell to me.
I also ended up handling the budget planning, accounting, and expenditure records for running the estate.
Wait… at this point, doesn’t it sound like I’m the one actually running the territory?
And it wasn’t just my imagination. The villagers often praised me, saying I was more like a lord than my own father.
Let me repeat: my father is not an incompetent lord. Absolutely not.
It’s just that he loves meeting people so much that he’s on friendly terms with the lords of neighboring territories and the common folk alike.
Hmm…
The more I explain, the more it sounds like I’m badmouthing him.
Still, did I have any complaints about this life?
Not at all.
Before reincarnating as Luke, I had been a completely ordinary, talentless job-seeker in Korea. Here, both my father and the villagers acknowledged my abilities. I was living a life of recognition.
My mother always looked at me with pride.
My older brother Hans would occasionally say things like,
“It seems like you should be the one to inherit the Nedville lands.”
He would casually abandon his duties as the eldest son, only to get smacked on the back by our mother.
The fact that he kept saying it anyway showed how strong-willed he was.
Even my younger sister Cyril—who usually dismissed Hans as an idiot—treated me with proper respect as her older brother.
“You really know everything, Brother. It’s amazing.”
“It’s all thanks to reading, of course.”
If I rubbed my nose and acted smug, Cyril’s eyes would sparkle and she would declare that she too would cultivate her mind.
Of course, she only ever said it and never actually followed through.
* * *
Today, for once, my father said he would handle the office work himself.
Did that mean I finally had some free time?
Not exactly.
On days like this, I needed to walk around the village, listen to the residents, and inspect the crops and facilities. Because if I didn’t, my father would sometimes abandon those duties entirely, wander off to another territory, or spend the day drinking beer with the villagers at the pub.
At this rate, I really might as well be the lord of Nedville.
I had just turned eighteen and completed my coming-of-age ceremony, so there were no issues with my age either.
Well, I suppose this is the perfectly extra-like life I was destined for.
Even so, living this way wouldn’t be so bad. There was a certain satisfaction to it.
I strolled leisurely through the village, returning greetings to those who recognized me and spoke first.
Then I spotted Emma walking along with a basket and called out to her.
“Emma!”
“Oh my, Young Master Luke.”
A bright smile bloomed on her face.
Emma and I had been friends since childhood. Back then we called each other by name without hesitation, but as we grew older she began addressing me as “Young Master.”
“Did you bake bread?”
As I drew closer, the savory aroma of fresh bread mingled with the pleasant scent of her hair.
“That’s right.”
“You can speak comfortably when it’s just the two of us.”
The moment I saw that smile, my heart fluttered slightly.
Emma was the cutest and prettiest girl I had ever seen. She had rich brown hair that flowed all the way down to her waist and sapphire-blue eyes that sparkled like finely cut gems.
But that wasn’t all there was to her charm.
“Hehe. Thanks to Young Master’s kindness, I’ll try to muster the courage to speak casually.”
She covered her mouth with one hand, tilting her eyebrows in an adorable smile. The motion drew my eyes straight to her enormous chest, which was so large it seemed to swallow half her arm.
…No. Pure thoughts. Pure thoughts only.
Thankfully, I managed to suppress my lecherous impulses.
“What’s wrong?”
Unfortunately, my innocent childhood friend had no idea what kind of internal struggle I was going through.
“N-nothing. Just… haha.”
My awkward laugh made Emma tilt her head in confusion. I quickly changed the subject to everyday topics. We were chatting pleasantly when—
“Young Master Luke!”
The butler’s voice called from behind me.
“What? Did Father run off again in the middle of work?”
“No, it’s not that. The master urgently requests your presence.”
What could it be?
In this peaceful, laid-back territory, what could possibly be important enough to summon me so urgently?
I was still tilting my head in confusion when the butler urged me to hurry. I wanted to talk with Emma a little longer, but it couldn’t be helped.
“Emma, I have to go now.”
“Alright. See you later.”
I waved to her and followed the butler back to the Nedville manor. When I entered the office, I found my father sitting behind the desk with a unusually serious expression.
It was a sight I hadn’t seen in a while, so it took me a moment to adjust.
“Luke.”
“Yes. What did you call me for?”
“Next week, you must pack your things and head for the imperial palace.”
“The imperial palace?”
Why all of a sudden?
While I stood there blinking in confusion, my father offered a further explanation.
“From now on, you will serve under Her Majesty the Empress of Eckhart. Isn’t this a truly honorable thing? Hmm?”
“Her Majesty the Empress of Eckhart?”
The moment I heard that name, one figure flashed through my mind.
Cecilia Campbell Eckhart.
One of the characters in Arsenia World, the first Empress of the Eckhart Empire.
And the very person whose tyranny would eventually bring the entire empire to ruin!
Shit. Why did it have to be right now…
It looked like the real trials of my life were only just beginning.