"Huh...?"
I muttered under my breath as I slowly pried my eyes open. My vision was blurry at first, struggling to focus on the surroundings, but as it cleared, I was met with the sight of a ceiling I had never seen before.
It was painted in a dull, muted tone, with wooden beams that didn’t look anything like the ceiling of my own bedroom back home.
’What the hell...? Where am I?’
My heart gave a sudden, sharp jolt. Questions began to surge through my mind.
I scrambled to piece together the fragments of my memory, reaching for the last thing I could recall. I remembered walking home from school, the cool evening air brushing against my skin, the sound of distant chatter, and then—the sudden, deafening roar of an engine.
A truck. It had appeared out of the shadows, a towering mass of metal that didn’t give me even a single second to jump out of the way!
It slammed into me with enough force to blot out reality itself.
That was it. That was the last thing I can remember. My consciousness had simply snapped like a frayed wire after that.
"Am I in a hospital?"
I asked, my voice sounding thin and foreign in the quiet room.
I sat up quickly, expecting to feel the sharp, agonizing sting of broken bones or the heavy dullness of internal injuries. But to my absolute shock, I felt perfectly fine. Better than fine, actually.
I felt revitalized, as if I had just experienced the most refreshing, deep, and uninterrupted sleep of my entire life. There was no pain, no discomfort, and not even a hint of the trauma I should have been suffering.
"...?"
I brought my hands up to my line of sight, rotating them back and forth in a state of utter confusion. I gripped my arms, then ran my hands over my chest and down my legs.
’No wound... no blood... nothing.’
Everything was perfectly intact. There was no sign of the catastrophic accident that should have either killed me or left me a mangled mess on a hospital bed.
Furthermore, as I inspected my own frame, I couldn’t help but notice something profoundly wrong. My muscles felt dense and toned, far more defined and powerful than the relatively scrawny, average build that I have before the accident.
"...?"
I shifted my gaze, scouring the room for context clues.
And in doing so, I quickly realized something: I was absolutely not in a hospital. There were no clinical white walls, no rhythmic beeping of heart monitors, and certainly no medical equipment of any kind.
The room was untidy, cluttered with personal belongings, random books, and various trinkets that littered the shelves and desk. It was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, just an ordinary, slightly messy bedroom.
I looked down at my clothes. I wasn’t draped in a flimsy, uncomfortable hospital gown too. Instead, I was dressed in casual, soft clothing—the kind of thing I would throw on to lounge around the house on a weekend.
’What the hell happened? Where am I?’
I repeated the questions, my agitation rising. My mind began to race toward increasingly desperate theories. Had I been kidnapped? Was I in a coma, and this was some weird, vivid dream?
"Maybe I was in a coma for a while... that’s why there was no sign of the accident in my body now."
I whispered, trying to force a sense of logic onto a situation that defied it. Yet, even that theory crumbled under scrutiny. If I had been in a coma, I would have withered away, not gained this strange physique that felt like it belonged to an athlete.
"Ugh, whatever."
I shook my head, deciding that sitting here spiraling into panic wouldn’t solve the mystery. I needed to move. I needed to investigate.
I turned my head toward the bedroom door, keeping my eyes locked on it. There didn’t appear to be any locks or guards. The path seemed completely unobstructed.
"..."
I stood up, moving with a cautious.
I crept toward the door, trying to step as lightly as I could. Every floorboard felt like a potential source of noise, and my heart hammered against my ribs with the intensity of a trapped bird. I was terrified, yet curiosity propelled me forward, step by nervous step.
Tap—
Finally, I arrived at the door.
I reached out, my fingers trembling slightly as they hovered just inches from the door knob. I paused, taking one last look around the room, desperately hunting for any clue about where I had been brought.
"Huh...?"
Then... my eyes drifted to the left, catching the reflection in a full-length mirror standing against the wall.
My entire body froze instantly. The air seemed to vanish from my lungs. My hand, which had been seconds away from twisting the knob, hung in mid-air, paralyzed. A deep, perplexed frown appeared on my forehead.
I turned fully toward the mirror, my heart thumping wildly.
And there—I saw... me...?
"What’s going on?"
The question slipped out, breathless and shaky. I was looking at my reflection, but the person staring back was a complete stranger.
It was a young man with striking, fairly long white hair that has some blue strands in it, and sharp, intelligent-looking crystal blue eyes. He was undeniably handsome, with facial features so well-balanced that he looked like he had been sculpted by an artist. His body was broad-shouldered and firm, like it had been trained for a long time.
"..."
I reached up, tentatively touching my own face. The reflection mirrored the action perfectly. My fingers traced the line of my jaw, feeling skin that I didn’t recognize.
CREAK—
Suddenly, the silence was shattered. As I stood there, caught in the grip of my own discovery, the door swung inward.
"Ah!"
I recoiled, stumbling backward to avoid being hit by the door. As the door settled against the wall, I found myself standing face-to-face with the person on the other side.
"..."
It was a woman dressed in a simple, homey apron. She possessed striking black eyes and matching dark hair. She looked young, yet there was a dignified, mature weight to her presence.
"..."
We locked eyes. The silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I had absolutely no idea who she was, and the sheer absurdity of the situation—the body, the room, and now this woman—made my head spin.
"Umm..."
I managed to choke out, struggling to keep my expression neutral. I desperately wanted to ask who she was, to ask where I was, to demand answers. But before I could even say a word—
"Good morning, Vael. Did you sleep well last night?"
The woman offered me a gentle, warm smile and asked that first.
Vael.
That wasn’t my name. It had never been my name. But she said it with such absolute, unshakable certainty that it felt like an anchor. She knew me—or, more accurately, she knew the body I was in.
"Ah, good morning. I rested well."
I forced a smile, choosing to play along. I had to be careful; I knew nothing about this situation, and acting like a confused stranger might be dangerous.
"That’s good. Anyway, I came to check on you and tell you that breakfast is ready."
The woman continued, her smile never faltering, radiating a kindness that made my guilt bloom in my chest.
"I’ll leave you alone now, I know you’re tired from the long journey yesterday. Just go downstairs to eat later."
"I’ll do that, thanks."
I replied, keeping my voice as steady as I could.
She offered a small, knowing nod, patted me once on the shoulder, and turned to walk away.
CLICK—
The moment the door latched shut behind her, I practically sprinted back to the bed and collapsed onto the mattress. I needed a moment to breathe, to stabilize, and to process this situation before I do anything else.
*****
"Vael..."
I whispered the name into the quiet room as I sat on the edge of the bed.
It sounds a bit familliar for some reason.
"Hmm?"
My eyes then landed on a phone resting on the nightstand. I grabbed it, hoping it belonged to the owner of this body.
When I pressed the power button, the screen lit up, demanding a password. I hesitated, but then I pressed my thumb against the fingerprint scanner. And confirming my assumption, the device unlocked instantly.
I opened the camera app, turning it toward myself to get a better look at the face of the body I was in. Now that I was looking at the screen, the face felt more familiar than before, but the connection still refused to click.
I navigated to the photo gallery, but there were no recent photos. The gallery was filled with pictures of a child—the same white-haired, blue-eyed child—with a man and a woman. The man shared my current features, and the woman had dark hair and eyes. They were both incredibly attractive, looking like people out of a high-end magazine.
’The father’s genes are strong, this body got its eyes and hair.’
I sighed, still no closer to understanding why I was here. I navigated back to the home screen--
"...?"
And that was when a notification badge on the messaging app caught my eye.
I tapped it, and opened the top message.
=====
To: Vael Frostguard
From: The Star Academy
[Congratulations on being one of the 100 SCHOLARS!!!]
The academy will start in two months, so for the time being—please wait for further announcements.
Once again, congratulations, and welcome to the [Star Academy]!
=====
I read the message twice, my eyes widening.
"!!!"
Vael Frostguard.
The name finally settled into place. And the moment I saw the words [Star Academy], a jolt of realization hit me.
Everything clicked together.
"What...?"
I felt a cold sweat break out across my neck. It was completely insane, impossible, and utterly terrifying. But as the pieces of the puzzle aligned, I couldn’t deny the truth.
It seems like I had not just woken up in a new body.
I had transmigrated into the world of a dating simulation game I used to play!
To be exact; I became Vael Frostguard—the best friend of the main protagonist of the game [The Star Academy]!