Waking Up in a Novel I Barely Remembered
The ceiling was unfamiliar.
If it had been my bedroom ceiling, the yellowed wallpaper would normally be riddled with mold patches, like a map of some ancient battlefield. But the ceiling in front of me was pristine white and perfectly smooth.
"......Eh?"
The moment I sat up, my head felt like it was splitting open.
Together with a pounding headache, memories flooded in. Not mine. An entire lifetime’s worth.
Lee Siheon.
First-year F-rank cadet at Cheongram Academy.
"......Wait. Just wait a second."
I knew the name Lee Siheon.
*Those Who Chase the Stars.*
One of the academy-themed web novels I’d devoured at 3 a.m. while job-hunting, worn out and exhausted.
In the story, he was no more than a background extra who slid across the page like a one-line footnote behind the protagonists during a training match. All he ever said was, ‘F-rank cadet Lee Siheon staggered back weakly.’
That was it. No lines. He never appeared again.
I, Kim Doyun, had become that single-line extra.
I staggered out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Gripping the sink, I stared into the mirror.
Mussed-up black hair. A thin, scrawny frame. An unremarkable face that would vanish from memory the second you met it anywhere.
It wasn’t my face, yet the memories insisted this was who I was now.
And right then, a semi-transparent window floated above the mirror.
[Lee Siheon]
[Mana Rank: F]
[HP 11 / STR 10 / AGI 11 / MP 8 / LUC 9]
[Jealousy Points: 0]
[Unique Trait: Envy]
F.
The single word for my mana rank glowed a deep, angry red, like a failing grade on a transcript.
"Ha......"
A laugh escaped me. It was the most inappropriate moment imaginable.
So transmigration really existed. Yeah, it made sense. I’d read enough novels to accept it.
But why me? Why the hell am I the F-rank extra who shows up for one line and vanishes?
Where did the main character’s transmigration go? The regression genius or the S-rank talent awakening?
Instead of me I got baseline human stats and a screaming red F-rank?
I pressed my forehead against the sink and desperately dug through the memories.
*Those Who Chase the Stars.* I hadn’t read the entire thing. I only remembered the early parts and the major plot twists the community had spoiled.
One of those spoilers suddenly resurfaced.
The Deep Abyss Gate Great Collapse.
The final disaster that would swallow the entire academy whole when the protagonists reached their third year.
Just looking at the spoiler title told me how massive it was.
‘This chapter: death count (spoiler warning)’
In a catastrophe that wiped out most named supporting characters, the survival odds for a nameless F-rank extra who only existed for one line.
"......"
No math was needed.
The face in the mirror stared back at me. A terrified, ordinary face that looked straight into mine.
Fine. One goal. No complications.
Two years from now, on that day, I would survive.
I didn’t need to become the protagonist. I didn’t need to save the world.
I just needed not to die. That was enough.
Ordinary people had their own ordinary survival strategies, after all.