Dan lay on his bed, drifting into the embrace of sleep.
It was relaxing…until he felt the world begin to tremble.
'What the freak is happening?!'
Even with his eyelids still closed, he was stunned by a bright light–its source unknown.
Dan didn't open his eyes because it was so bright he believed he could be blinded.
Then suddenly, the tremors and the light disappeared.
Opening his eyes, Dan was stunned. His senses, which were in disarray, recovered slowly.
He lay on a bed with fancy sheets. Above him, wooden ceiling beams stretched across the room, enclosed by white plastered walls.
To his right was a nightstand that had a faintly glowing crystal and to his left had a table that sat by the window with books, scrolls and an ink pot placed on it.
Looking down at his body, he wore a light shirt, the sleeves barely covering his hands, which had hints of calluses.
"Where am I?" He let out in a low tone.
As if triggered by his question, a pang of pain hit his head causing him to grunt and hold his head down as his legs twitched slightly.
The pain lingered, but with the images flashing through his mind, his attention was diverted.
A few heartbeats later, the images flashing ended and the pain subsided, realization seeping in as the memories of who he had possessed settled.
"No, no, no." Jumping off his bed, he began pacing around, hands trembling at his sides. "This can't be happening. My life was just getting better! I finally got a job!"
Thinking about his life, Dan momentarily went silent, memories of his past overlapping with the foreign memories.
In truth, his past life…there was nothing tethering him to it. Leaving it behind wasn't going to be hard.
But still, where he was going to be spending this life got him tensed.
"Who the hell brought me here? I want out! It's that novel! I don't want to be in it!"
Dan had been dragged into a novel he read titled, "The Aftermath of Destroyed Worlds."
Seeing he was talking to no one, his shoulders drooped as he stared down with defeated luck.
Then, he let out a dejected chuckle.
"I am now the character, Jules Evanava, and I freaking have no time to test if this is real or not!
"Damn you! Damn whoever brought me here! You better hope we don't encounter each other!
"If I had to get dragged into this world, why today of all days?!
"No other options?!"
Sighing, he recollected himself. He believed snapping was unnecessary if it became too much.
He walked to the table beside the window, glanced at the magic books and notes the body's previous owner had with a look of empathy crossing his face for a moment.
Turning his concentration to the small mirror on the table, he picked it up and looked at his new body's features.
A flowing white hair paired with dull golden eyes. His face shape fitting that of a male about to cross into adulthood.
'My former face could be called a slug compared to this,' He said self-deprecatingly.
His body itself, though, wasn't as charming as the face. It lacked body mass and barely looked healthy.
Due to the original Jules's traumatized, weak, and introverted nature, he had neglected his body until recent years.
Dropping the mirror down and staring aimlessly through the window, he mumbled.
"Trauma too, huh? Maybe I entered this body because we're not so different."
Putting that aside, Dan, now Jules, thought seriously about the situation he was in. He didn't have time to gradually assimilate with this world.
Like the novel title said, he was in a world that had been built on the remnants of destroyed worlds.
Based on the former Jules's memories and the knowledge he recalled from reading, this world was reaching the peak of its first era, where different kinds of chaos were about to unfold.
'If I'm not careful, I'll be swept into the chaos. Jules is one of those who met his end eventually.
'The fortunate part is that I read it all, and Jules' fate–and a rough backstory–was available up to where the novel stopped.
'But the unfortunate part is that the released novel wasn't near its completion before I transmigrated.'
Jules pulled the chair in front of his table and sat down, seeking comfort as he processed his thoughts more clearly.
'Jules's end is meant to be later on and his clans end is even before that but now that I'm here that might change.'
Jules was the heir of the Noctharis Clan, but childhood trauma kept him from battle, making him perceived as unfit for the position.
Some people in the clan took advantage, biding their time to replace him eventually–until two years ago, when he picked up magic again, showing talent and threatening their plans.
Instead of waiting for Jules to let go of his status naturally, they decided to outright remove him from the picture.
'Normally, today, there's a mission he's meant to partake in as clan duty, one that is meant to end in his death but eventually survives, kicking his life to bizarre action.
'But I'm not that Jules, and I can't count on hoping whatever luck helped the novel's Jules to help me survive.
'I can't also drop this mission and even avoiding the framing after I survive will be hard, so I have only one other option.
'To run.
'The mission ground holds a strong artifact that Jules stumbled upon in the novel so that can be helpful after my survival.'
Jules relaxed his back on the chair, understanding how stressful this was going to be.
"The original Jules's fate after the mission is not something I want to inherit!
"If what happened during the mission was explained in the novel, it would have made things easier…but it wasn't.
"I have to escape death, locate that Artifact before someone else does and avoid being framed…
"Damn, this is so simple!" Jules hissed.
Trying to imagine how his abilities could affect the mission, Jules muttered bitterly:
"And where is my transmigration perk? The main character had that when he awakened, so I should have it too!"
Lingering for a bit, Jules hesitated before saying, "System."
The silence stretched–
Jules laughed.
"Of course, I didn't get—"
Then, the sound shattered the quiet, and his breath hitched.
A black-and-white screen flickered into existence before his eyes.
[Loading…]
'No way… Did I shed some of my luck after transmigrating?'
Jules was so stunned that he stood up swiftly, letting his chair fall with a loud thud.
Just before he could celebrate, Jules heard a knock, and the voice that followed sent shivers down his spine.
"Darling, are you alright?"