I was in the body of Rin Evans.
He was a first charector to die at the end of entrance examination test that was held by Velcrest Academy.
"Tsk," Clicking my tongue, I closed my eyes to calm my mind.
"No, no, no! I need to do something and I need to do it fast!"
My worry was reasonable.
According to plot he will die in next hour or so.
’Ah, f*ck. This is exactly why I hated this clichéd novel.’
How many readers would actually enjoy a story where people started dropping dead in the prologue of an academy novel? No exciting school life, no gradual character growth—just a bloodbath right out of the gate. It was no wonder his novel never took off. Even I, as his friend, had roasted him over it.
And now?
I was inside it.
I exhaled shakily, my mind racing through the description of the first deaths in this scene.
"...It happened very suddenly. No one was expecting that something tragic happened at the Velcrest Academy. Following after cadet named Rin Evans, half the first year cadet died in this incident."
My stomach twisted into knots. My heartbeat pounded in my ears. So this is it, huh? My grand new life, ending before it even begins.
I clenched my fists, trying to steady my breathing.
Why me?
It wasn’t fair.
I didn’t even get to be some badass protagonist with plot armor. No golden finger, no overpowered cheat. I was stuck inside a cannon fodder whose only purpose was to set the tone of the novel’s cruel worldbuilding.
I don’t want to die.
My mental countdown to doom had officially begun.
—Main Quest begins in 12 minutes.—
I swallowed hard. My chest tightened. That voice again—calm, cold, and final. It wasn’t a hallucination. I knew what it meant.
[Rin’s POV – 12 Minutes to Death]
—Main Quest begins in 12 minutes.—
The words hung in my mind like a guillotine. Cold. Unforgiving.
"What kind of system is this?" I muttered through clenched teeth, dragging my hands down my face. "No status window, no tutorial, not even a damn welcome screen? You just throw me into a death flag and wish me luck?"
No answer.
Of course not.
I could almost hear the author snickering in the background, wherever he was. Probably sipping coffee and laughing at how clever his twisty, grimdark setup was.
"Damn you, Leo," I hissed, biting my lip.
But now wasn’t the time to curse at imaginary gods or failed novelists. I had twelve minutes—eleven now—to get my act together and figure out how the hell I was going to survive.
First step: information.
I sat up straighter, gripping the bench beneath me so hard my knuckles went white. "Okay... Rin Evans dies during the exam. The villain attacks early. It’s a massacre. But how?"
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to recall the scene from the novel.
"...Explosion," I whispered. "There was an explosion in the outer arena. Right in the middle of the sparring evaluation."
Everyone thought it was just part of the next trial. A magic-based illusion or surprise twist. But it wasn’t. It was real. The villain’s appearance was unscripted, bloody, and devastating.
"He used some kind of black fire. Burned through barriers like paper. Targeted the weakest first..."
My breath caught.
That’s why Rin Evans was the first to go. He was isolated—off to the side, away from the instructors, waiting his turn to spar.
He didn’t even fight back.
Because he didn’t get the chance.
"Shit."
I pushed off the bench and stood, pacing the length of the white room. I had to move. Think. Survive.
What could I do differently?
I didn’t know the villain’s identity. His name wasn’t revealed until much later in the novel. But I knew his MO. Sneaky. Brutal. Fast. He’d appear disguised as an instructor, or maybe a staff member, and then detonate half the field.
"...So I can’t stay isolated," I muttered. "I need to be with a group. Near a strong cadet. Someone who can fight."
Names flashed through my mind like old forum posts.
Lucas Voss. Evelyn. Isabella. The top of the food chain.
Lucas especially. He wasn’t the protagonist, but he might as well have been—talented, If I could stick near him—
"Wait," I whispered. "He’s fighting right now, isn’t he?"
The last match of the day... Lucas Voss vs Rin Evans.
I blinked, realization dawning like a slap across the face.
"I’m not just some cannon fodder—I’m today’s final opponent."
Which meant the attack would happen during my fight.
My legs nearly gave out.
I was the center of the stage.
The fuse.
The trap.
And that meant I couldn’t avoid it. Couldn’t run. Couldn’t hide.
I had to face it—and somehow survive.
"F*ck," I whispered again, voice trembling.
No.
No, no, no.
F*ck that.
F*ck this novel.
I refused to die here.
I would live—no matter what it took.
***
[World’s Greatest Hero]
The latest novel published by my friend—after dropping so many unfinished ones.
Honestly, it started off decent. A solid premise, an interesting academy setting, and even some well-written characters. But as time went on, it turned into another cliché-ridden mess like every other web novel out there.
The plot felt forced.
Heroines were dying left and right—for no good reason. Just meaningless deaths thrown in for cheap drama. The protagonist barely had any motivation—one moment, he was avenging a fallen comrade, and the next, he was flirting with another love interest like nothing had happened.
Character arcs were abandoned, world-building was all over the place, and don’t even get me started on the pacing.
I had torn this story apart, mocked it, ridiculed it.
And yet, somehow, I was now inside it.
Inside a trash novel.
And I was about to die.
My mind raced, trying to process everything at once.
—10 minutes 30 seconds until the main quest begins.—
I had to think. Fast.
Dying wasn’t an option. If this world followed the novel’s logic, then this explosion—yeah, the one that was about to go off—wasn’t random. It was scripted. A way to establish the dangers lurking within the academy.
I needed to avoid this.
I needed a plan.
Fast.