Chapter 1: The Page That Shouldn't Exist
I died quietly.
No truck.
No screaming.
No dramatic last words.
Just the dull glow of my phone screen burning into my retinas at three in the morning, the weight of exhaustion crushing my chest, and a strange thought repeating in my head:
This novel is stupid… but addictive.
My heart stopped somewhere between chapter four hundred and eighty-two and four hundred and eighty-three of "The Sword of Eternal Dawn."
I remember that clearly.
The protagonist had just unlocked another blessing.
Another miracle.
Another convenient escape from death.
And I remember scoffing.
"Trash plot armor," I muttered.
Then everything went black.
When I opened my eyes again, the first thing I noticed was silence.
Not the peaceful kind.
The oppressive kind.
As if the world itself was holding its breath.
The second thing I noticed was the ceiling.
High. Ornate. Painted with golden sigils and constellations that pulsed faintly, as if alive. A crystal chandelier hung above me, glowing softly with mana instead of fire.
My body felt… wrong.
Too light.
Too strong.
Too young.
I lifted my hand.
Pale skin. Long fingers. No calluses.
This wasn't my body.
A chill crawled up my spine.
I slowly sat up, silk sheets sliding off my chest. My movements were unnaturally smooth, precise—as if my body obeyed thoughts before I fully formed them.
My heart began to race.
Calm down.
I swung my legs off the bed. The floor was cold marble, engraved with a crest—two black ravens facing a crown split by a sword.
I knew that symbol.
My breath hitched.
"No way…"
I staggered toward the tall mirror near the window.
The boy staring back at me had silver-white hair, sharp aristocratic features, and eyes so blue they bordered on unnatural. There was an aloofness carved into his face, a quiet arrogance born not of confidence—but of lineage.
I recognized him instantly.
A character I barely remembered while reading.
A side character.
A disposable one.
"Aether… von Ravencourt."
My voice came out calm.
Too calm.
House Ravencourt.
One of the three grand ducal families of the Empire.
Feared. Powerful. Politically untouchable.
And Aether von Ravencourt?
The failure of the family.
A noble son born without talent, mocked by his siblings, destined to die during the academy arc—used as nothing more than a stepping stone to showcase the protagonist's brilliance.
I took a step back.
"That's not possible…"
Memories slammed into my head like a tidal wave.
Sword drills.
Cold hallways.
A father's indifferent gaze.
Servants whispering behind closed doors.
And beneath it all—resentment.
Not mine.
His.
I clenched my fists.
"This is insane."
And yet…
The scent of mana in the air was real.
The weight of this body was real.
The ache behind my eyes—real.
Then—
[SYSTEM INITIALIZING…]
A translucent blue screen materialized before my eyes.
I froze.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
The letters rearranged themselves with mechanical precision.
[STATUS INTERFACE CONNECTED]
My heart pounded so hard I could hear it in my ears.
A breath.
Then the screen expanded.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Name: Aether von Ravencourt
Title: Duke's Heir | Transmigrated Soul
Race: Human
Age: 17
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[ Stats ]
Strength: 21
Agility: 24
Vitality: 28
Charm: 35
Luck: ???
[ Abilities ]
• Dormant Spatial Authority
• Sealed Demonic Core
• Incomplete Astral Manifestation
[ Skills ]
• Basic Swordsmanship
• Noble Etiquette
• Mana Sensitivity (Low)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
I stared.
Hard.
"…Luck question marks?"
That wasn't normal.
Even in the novel, no one had undefined stats.
Before I could think further, a sharp pain stabbed behind my eyes.
I gasped, clutching my head.
Another message appeared.
[ERROR: FOREIGN SOUL DETECTED]
[RECALIBRATING SYSTEM…]
The room darkened.
Mana surged violently, pressing against my skin like an invisible ocean. The chandelier flickered. Cracks spider-webbed across the window glass.
I dropped to one knee.
My vision blurred—and then sharpened to an impossible degree.
I could see everything.
Dust motes suspended in the air.
Mana threads weaving through the walls.
The heartbeat of servants outside the room.
It was overwhelming.
"No—stop—!"
[Sixfold Perception: AWAKENED]
The pain vanished instantly.
Silence returned.
I looked up slowly.
The world felt… distant.
As if I stood several steps removed from reality itself.
I raised my hand again.
The air in front of my palm warped.
Not visibly.
But I felt it.
An infinite stretch between my skin and the space beyond.
I blinked.
"…You're telling me," I whispered, "that I got this ability?"
A laugh bubbled up from my throat—soft, disbelieving.
Then something else stirred.
Something dark.
A presence coiled deep within my chest, heavy and oppressive, like a sleeping beast chained behind my ribs.
My reflection in the mirror changed for a brief second.
A grin—not mine—twisted across my lips.
[Demonic Sovereign Core: STIRRING]
My smile vanished.
"…That's not good."
Another surge of mana erupted.
This time, it manifested behind me.
A colossal shadow rose from the floor, skeletal at first—an outline of a towering warrior formed from pure mana and will.
Its empty eyes burned with faint blue light.
The pressure was suffocating.
I forced myself to breathe.
"Disappear."
The shadow obeyed.
The room fell quiet again.
I stared at my trembling hands.
I knew this world.
I knew what would happen.
The academy.
The wars.
The heroes and villains.
And I knew one more thing.
If I followed the original story—
I would die.
Slowly, deliberately, I stood up.
The system screen updated one final time.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Title Updated: Anomaly Beyond Fate
Luck: 999 (Locked)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A cold smile spread across my face.
"So…"
I turned toward the window, gazing at the capital city sprawling beneath the morning sun.
"…let's see what happens when the story breaks."