Kael found himself standing inside a dorm room, holding a pair of neatly folded black uniforms in his arms.
The material was thick, durable and stitched with silver thread around the collar and cuffs, with a subtle crest pressed over the left chest. The emblem was a fang piercing through a shield, surrounded by arcane runes he couldn't yet read.
On the back of the collar, the word CADET was embroidered in crisp block letters.
The room itself was... underwhelming.
Two beds, two trunks.
One shared desk.
Stone walls, and no window.
The air felt heavy, like it had been trapped for years.
The lighting rune above the door flickered faintly, like it couldn't decide whether to stay on or quit trying.
There were signs that someone else had already moved in, one trunk was open, half-packed with gear.
Kael sighed.
He didn't even bother picking a side. He just dragged himself to the nearest bed and dropped onto it face-first.
The uniform slid to the floor, but he didn't care.
"…"
'What the actual fuck?'
Transmigration.
It was a popular trope back on Earth to anyone who had ever read a novel before.
That included me.
So even though I understood the situation I was currently in, new world, new body, strange system watching my every move, I still couldn't wrap my head around it.
I mean… I just wanted to die in peace.
If there was one word to describe him before all this, it was lazy.
But not in the cool, charming, anime-protagonist way.
He was just… genuinely tired.
All the time.
Some doctor once said it might've been chronic fatigue.
Another said it was just his metabolism.
One therapist suggested it was a "low-grade neurochemical imbalance."
Kael called it "my excuse to sleep through life."
He'd always been like that since birth.
While other kids were climbing things, breaking bones, running wild, he was the toddler napping under the table during recess.
While his classmates were applying to college, he was figuring out how many days in a row he could avoid human contact.
The answer, by the way, was twelve.
He wasn't unhappy, just... unmotivated.
No big dreams.
No grand ambitions.
He lived slow, moved slower, and took pride in not caring about much.
So waking up in a magic world, with swords and systems and expectations?
Yeah, definitely not as excited as those protagonist from those novels.
And to make matters worse:
[Main Task updated: Entrance Trial - 3 Stages Pending.]
[Penalty for Failure: Loss of Function - left Arm.]
[Subtask: Smile at three strangers.]
[Status: 0/3.]
[Penalty: Induced nausea for 6 hours.]
'God I hope they have coffee here.'
✦✦✦✦✦✦
Yawn.
Kael woke to the sound of his stomach growling in protest.
He hadn't eaten anything since arriving in this damn world.
[Daily Task Timer: 3hrs remaining]
'Oh, right, forgot about that.'
Sitting up, he blinked around the room and realized he wasn't alone.
Across the space, a boy in a neatly pressed blue uniform sat at the desk.
He wore rectangular glasses, and he was silently polishing a set of crystalline lenses with precise, almost surgical movements.
"You sleep quite a lot for someone on the Knight path" the boy said, still facing forward.
Kael blinked. "Huh?"
The boy turned slightly, placed the lenses in a case, and stood. His expression was unreadable, calm, focused.
"Theo," he said. "Your roommate."
He gave a short, professional bow.
"Ohh."
Kael raised a hand in a lazy half-wave. "Kael. Uhm… nice to meet you, I guess."
He then remembered the system's ridiculous task and managed to force a painful, robotic smile.
[Subtask Progress: 1/3]
Theo studied him for a second, then returned to his desk without comment.
A brief silence passed.
"So, uh…" Kael scratched his neck. "Know where I can get some food?"
"You missed the evening meal. The dining hall opens again at dawn." Theo glanced at the time-rune etched into his wrist bracer. "Approximately twelve hours."
Kael's face twisted. "Twelve hours?"
He fell back into the bed like he'd been stabbed. "Nooooo…"
From behind him, Theo's voice was steady. "I assumed this might happen, based on how long you were asleep."
Kael lifted his head.
Theo turned, holding a folded cloth. Inside was a lightly wrapped bundle, a mana-seared bread wrap filled with roasted meat and glowing redroot, still faintly warm.
"I brought you a spare serving from the canteen. It's high in mana retention and digestibility. Eat it before it cools."
Kael stared at the food, then at Theo, then back at the food.
"...Theo, I think we might end up being best friends."
Theo paused. "That would be statistically unlikely."
Kael blinked. "...Right."
Theo adjusted his glasses. "Put your uniform on, you don't want to be seen out of dress code. You haven't passed the exams yet."