I threw my phone onto the bed harder than I meant to. It bounced once against the mattress and landed near my pillow. I ran a hand through my hair and let out a long, irritated breath.
"Damn it," I muttered, staring at the ceiling. "Why the hell are heroines always shown so brainless in these fanfictions?"
I had just finished another chapter where the female lead completely lost her personality the moment the overpowered transmigrator smiled at her. It was always the same. The so-called "hero" arrives from Earth with cheat abilities, knowledge of the plot, and suddenly every important character becomes a side decoration for him. It was frustrating to read.
I rolled onto my side, still annoyed. Maybe I was taking this too seriously. Maybe I needed sleep.
That thought had barely formed when the world disappeared.
There was no transition. No dizziness. No dramatic flash of light.
One second I was in my room.
The next, I was standing in a white space so bright it hurt my eyes.
I froze.
The floor beneath me was smooth and pale, stretching endlessly in every direction. The walls—if they were walls—were also white. The air felt empty and cold. My heart began to race as panic slowly crawled up my spine.
"What… what is this?" I whispered.
Then I saw it.
Standing several meters in front of me was a humanoid creature twice my size. Its body was long and thin, almost skeletal, but its face—its face was an actual skull. Hollow eye sockets stared directly at me. There was no flesh, no skin, just bone and shadow.
I screamed before I could stop myself. My legs weakened, and I stumbled backward, my mind refusing to process what I was seeing.
"Hey, this boy passes bare minimum."
The voice was female, calm and oddly casual.
I snapped my head toward the source of the sound, and what I saw only made everything worse.
There was a woman floating slightly above the ground. She was incredibly short, barely reaching half my height. Her silver hair framed a sharp, expressionless face, and her golden eyes studied me like I was a product on display.
My brain felt like it was short-circuiting. A skeletal giant. A floating tiny woman. A white void.
Was I dreaming? Had I finally read too many fantasy novels?
The skeletal creature spoke next, its voice deep and echoing, like it came from inside a cave.
"The one above him failed. So why not invest in him? We can call others like him anytime."
My throat felt dry. Others like him?
Invest?
The small woman gave a slight nod, as if she agreed with a business proposal.
I swallowed and forced myself to speak. "Can I know what the hell is happening?"
The woman tilted her head slightly and floated a little higher. "Ah. We did not give you the information, right."
Before I could react, a golden ball of light formed in her palm. It glowed softly, radiating warmth that felt strangely unnatural in this cold white space.
"Wait—" I started.
The ball shot toward me and entered my forehead before I could move.
It didn't hurt physically. Instead, it felt like my mind was being forcefully opened. Information poured into me at an overwhelming speed. Images, concepts, memories that weren't mine—transmigrators summoned from Earth, heroes who turned tyrants, worlds destabilized by outsiders who treated them like games.
An organization formed to stop them.
An Anti-Transmigrator Unit.
My knees trembled as I stepped back, clutching my head. The knowledge settled slowly, painfully, like a heavy weight inside my brain.
I looked up at them in disbelief. "Is this really happening to me?" My voice shook. "Am I… not only going to transmigrate but also get a job?"
The skeleton nodded once.
"But the failure rate is one hundred percent," it said calmly. "If you become like the other transmigrators and betray the organization, you will be killed."
There was no threat in its tone. Just certainty.
I felt a chill run through me. I thought about the stories I used to read—the overpowered protagonists who reshaped worlds for their own satisfaction. Was that what I would become? Would power corrupt me the same way?
I didn't know.
But strangely, I felt a small spark of determination inside my chest.
"I understand," I said quietly.
A dark portal opened beside them, swirling and unstable. I hesitated only for a moment before stepping forward and entering it.
The next thing I knew, I was standing inside a massive hall.
The ceiling was high and covered with glowing symbols. The atmosphere felt heavy, almost sacred. My eyes widened as I looked around.
There were beings everywhere.
Some looked human, but their eyes glowed unnaturally. Some had horns, wings, or animal ears. A tall armored figure stood in one corner, its face completely hidden behind a helmet. Not far from it, a translucent slime wobbled gently on the floor. I even saw a humanoid figure with scales along its arms.
My heartbeat quickened. I had never felt so ordinary in my life.
The short woman appeared beside me again and pointed toward an empty seat. "Sit."
I obeyed without arguing.
Once I sat down, I noticed that every being in the hall had a sheet of paper in front of them. They were reading carefully. Some frowned. Some raised eyebrows. A few glanced at me before looking back at the paper.
I realized with growing dread that they were reading about me.
Judging me.
Evaluating me.
The short woman and the skeletal creature suddenly disappeared, leaving me alone in that overwhelming hall.
I straightened my back and forced myself to breathe slowly. My palms were sweating. Several pairs of eyes turned toward me, filled with doubt and curiosity.
I swallowed my fear and tried to sound confident, even though my voice felt small in the vast room.
"Hello, everyone."