Tave's eyes snapped open as he gasped for air, his chest rising and falling in uneven bursts. His surroundings blurred into focus. And none of it was familiar.
He was lying in a bed.
But this… this wasn't his room.
The walls, the furniture, the entire atmosphere. It was all unfamiliar, strangely foreign, almost unsettling.
His hands trembled as he raised them in front of his face.
The blanket slipped from his chest. And he froze. These weren't his hands.
He tried stretching his fingers, expecting them to move sluggishly like his usual hands… but they responded with a precision he wasn't used to.
A pounding ache throbbed in his skull, forcing him to clutch his head as an overwhelming flood of memories and emotions that weren't his. All of them crashed into him.
It was like something foreign was being forcibly shoved into his consciousness.
Tavian… Tave…
What kind of twisted joke was this?
Because inside his mind… There were memories of someone named Tave.
He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, preparing to stand.
Until, he stopped.
Dead still.
Something was wrong.
His legs… didn't feel right.
His breath hitched as he yanked off the blanket, eyes widening in pure, undiluted shock.
What?!
This… this isn't my dick!
Wait! These aren't even my legs!
His thighs. His calves.
They were muscular, far more defined than his own.
Sure, he had some muscle before, but there had always been a soft layer of fat over it.
But this body… This wasn't his.
Tave stumbled out of bed, the blanket pooling onto the floor, leaving him completely naked.
His feet carried him to a mirror on the wall. And when he looked… A stranger stared back at him.
A young man.
Late teens, maybe eighteen.
Black, messy hair that fell over his face.
A sharp jawline. High cheekbones.
Tave lifted a trembling hand and touched his reflection, his chin, his cheeks.
Nothing about this felt right. None of this felt even remotely familiar. Yet… somehow… it was.
Slowly, he moved away and sank into a nearby chair, forcing himself to breathe.
In. Out.
He needed to process this.
Yes.
This body's owner was named Tave. An eighteen-year-old young man. And he lived in… Deadbay City.
His stomach twisted.
Damn it.
He had really been brought to Yunatea, the world he had written in his own novel.
And Deadbay City? That was a port town near the coast, located in the Dissidia Kingdom.
He inhaled deeply, steadying himself.
Tavian. Tave.
At the very least, the guy's name wasn't too far off from his own pen name.
Let's just call myself Tave from now on. That would make blending into his new life a little easier.
Tave remained still, his mind racing to process everything.
This is just too… He didn't even know anymore.
When he wrote about transmigration, reincarnation, and all that fantasy nonsense in his novel, it had been nothing more than a thrilling concept.
And now?
Now he was the victim?!
Sure, most people dreamed of experiencing something like this.
But…
Not in the world he created.
He took a deep, sharp breath, trying to steady himself.
Because, yes! This world was anything but safe. Wars erupted constantly. Death loomed at every corner.
And worst of all… The MC was completely insane.
Right.
The MC.
Theron Ardent.
Theo.
That lunatic.
A relentless force driven by a singular goal, willing to massacre anyone who stood in his way. He would crush his enemies without hesitation, even if it meant innocent people got caught in the crossfire.
And Theo was the one who brought him here.
What a mess. What a fucking twist.
Was this revenge?
Did Theo hate him for everything he had done to this world?
Especially for… The female lead.
The one Tave had killed off for the sake of… the plot.
Damn it.
Was this really happening?
People dreamed of getting isekai'd into their own stories or the stories they read. But that was only fun if you were the main character.
And him? Tave?
Let's see what I'm dealing with. Time to inspect his current status.
[ Name: Tave ]
[ Level - Stage: 11 - Gaia Apprentice ]
[ Elements: None ]
[ Sigils: None ]
[ Relics: None ]
[ Echoes: None ]
[ Pacts: None ]
Tave narrowed his eyes, swallowing hard. His heartbeat stopped. Or at least, that's what it felt like.
His body suddenly felt weak, drained of all energy.
What kind of shit is this…?
For a fleeting moment, he considered suicide, just to see if he'd get a reset and wake up in a better body.
Because this? This was pathetic.
He was 18 years old, and still only at Level 11?!
Not only that. He was still in the 2nd stage of Gaia Apprentice?!
In this world, people awakened to a special energy force called Gaia Force. It was a power that allowed them to use magic, elemental abilities, and more.
And every 10 levels, they needed to advance to the next stage of power.
Right now, Tave was still in Gaia Apprentice, which meant he had only just recently moved up from Gaia Novice.
An 18-year-old still stuck in Gaia Apprentice?
Fucking disgraceful.
By this age, average people had already reached the 3rd stage, Gaia Guardian.
Hell, prodigies could even reach Gaia Guardian at the age of 10!
But this guy…?
He was a complete failure.
Tave let out another long, exhausted sigh.
There was no point in even checking his elemental affinity, sigils, relics, or whatever else the system panel had to offer.
Because honestly? His level alone was already pathetic.
Tave sat there, silent for a moment.
But then… Why didn't this body feel weak?
Curious, he pushed himself back onto his feet and turned to the mirror again.
The reflection staring back at him…
For an 18-year-old, he was tall, about 185 cm (6'1").
His build? Surprisingly well-developed.
Muscles lined his arms and abdomen, not overly bulky but clearly defined.
His hands… rough, calloused.
They told the story of hard work, of years of physical training, of someone who had put in effort even at a young age.
Maybe he just wasn't talented when it came to using Gaia Force?
Tave let out a slow breath, settling back into the chair.
There was no use sulking about it now. He needed a plan. If this was his new reality, he had to figure out how to survive in it.
This was his story. In it, the MC, Theo, was reincarnated into this world as a newborn. However, in the novel, his childhood was largely skipped over in the early chapters, quickly jumping ahead to his teenage years, the true beginning of his journey.
But now that Theo had requested regression…
Would he be sent back to his birth?
Or back to the point where the story actually started?
Tave needed to research this.
But there was one crucial detail he had to keep in mind.
Deadbay City. More precisely, the Dissidia Kingdom.
It was about to be thrown into war. And war was never a good thing.
So what were his options?
He could either develop himself, using the knowledge he had as the author of this world. Or… Find a way to escape. Like, get the hell out of here.
Maybe even return to his old life, where he could just sit behind a screen, safe and sound, and write slice-of-life novels instead.
Though, he had to admit, something still felt off.
Was this world truly the exact same as the one he wrote?
He couldn't shake his suspicions about that robed figure, the one who granted Theo's wishes.
Who was she? And more importantly… What did she want?
Before he had been pulled into this world, he remembered her voice.
[ I have a gift for you… ]
And at that very moment, a notification appeared before his eyes.
His breath hitched. His eyes widened. Because this… This was something he never expected.
Whatever it was… It was going to change everything.