Allen woke up to a strange sense of displacement.
For a moment, his mind was blank. Then he noticed something was wrong.
The ceiling.
It wasn't his.
It was too plain. Too close.
"…That's not my ceiling."
He stared at it for a few seconds longer, hoping it would suddenly explain itself.
It didn't.
He lifted his hand.
It felt light.
Suspiciously light.
His arm didn't rise the way it should have.
Allen frowned and raised it again.
A small hand entered his field of vision.
Short fingers. Soft skin. Zero signs of adulthood.
His breathing suddenly stopped.
"…Okay," he muttered. "Either I shrank… or the world did."
He sat up quickly.
Bad idea.
His balance was off. His body felt wrong. Light. Too light.
He looked down.
Short arms.Narrow shoulders.Legs that barely reached the edge of the bed.
Allen froze.
"…Nope."
He slid off the bed and nearly fell over. His feet barely touched the floor.
That was the moment reality punched him in the face.
He was a child.
Nine years old.
Maybe ten, if he was being generous.
"…Wow," he said weakly. "I finally get reincarnated and this is the build I roll."
His heart started racing.
This didn't feel like a dream.
Dreams didn't have gravity problems.
Memories rushed back all at once.
Universal War.
He remembered it perfectly.
Late night. Boss fight. Everything under control. The boss's HP already low.
Victory guaranteed.
Then—
Boom...Pain.
Sharp. Sudden. Like someone stabbed his brain with a screwdriver.
No warning.No countdown.
Just pain.
And then nothing.
Allen swallowed.
"…I didn't just die suddenly, right?"
That thought scared him more than the small body.
People didn't just drop dead like that. He wasn't sick. No symptoms. No dramatic foreshadowing.
Dying mid-boss fight would be the worst possible ending.
Before panic could fully spiral, a voice came from outside the room.
"Allen! Why are you still inside?"
The voice was childish. Loud.
"Hurry up! Teacher is already calling everyone! If you're late again, he'll be angry!"
Allen stiffened.
"…Allen?"
Is someone calling for me?
The name felt… distant. Like it belonged to someone else.
He hesitated, then walked to the door and opened it.
A boy stood outside.
About the same again as him. Simple clothes. Bright expression.
The moment he saw Allen, his eyes lit up.
"There you are!" the boy said happily. "I thought you were sleeping again."
He smiled.
"You won't sleep late tonight anymore, right? Come on, let's go. Teacher Ronan is already teaching."
Before Allen could respond, the boy turned around and started walking.
Allen followed automatically.
His brain was still buffering.
Only after a few steps did it finally sink in.
He really had become a child.
"…Great," he thought. "Reincarnated as a minor. Hope there's no homework."
The name echoed again.
Teacher Ronan.
Allen frowned slightly.
"…Why does that sound familiar?"
As they walked, he finally looked around properly.
Stone buildings.
Simple but orderly streets.
Faint magical patterns carved into walls and platforms.
Everything felt familiar.
Too fucking familiar.
His steps slowed.
"…Wait a second."
He looked around again.
"This place…"
A realization hit him.
"This is the Koko Civilization base."
Universal War wasn't just popular.
It was famous.
A multiverse war of hegemony. Civilizations clashing. Races exterminated. Entire planets erased.
That brutality was exactly why people loved it.
The Koko Civilization belonged to the human race.
Small.
Insignificant.
Three planets. That was the limit of what it could control.
In the grand scheme of human civilization, Koko barely mattered.
Koko specialized in the mage system.
And this place—
Allen felt his stomach sink.
This was one of the novice villages.
The starting point for the mage route.
For new players, it was unfamiliar.
For Allen, one of the top players of the game, it felt like home.
That was why he recognized it instantly.
Only—
His gaze landed on the man standing on the raised platform.
Middle-aged. Calm. Explaining basic spell knowledge to a group of children.
Allen's mood shifted.
"…Oh."
He knew that face.
Not because he had met him.
But because he had seen him before.
Teacher Ronan.
The first mage ever shown in Universal War's first promotional video.
Not strong.
Not legendary.
Just… first.
Later, during the war between the Koko Civilization and the Sifo Civilization, Ronan died.
That war lasted four to five years.
For players, it was just a version update.
For the people living here, it was hell.
There was even a joke among players.
Many of Ronan's students later became terrifying bosses, each dominating a region. Ronan as a weak mage of novice village had taught world class bosses.
Allen remembered it clearly.
"…So that's why your name rang a bell."
Then the realization hit him fully.
"If he's still alive…"
Allen exhaled slowly.
"…Then this is before the game even starts."
That meant he had time.
Four years.
Maybe more.
Relief flickered.
But then the bigger fear crushed it.
"…Only a few people survived that war."
He looked down at his small hands.
"…Yeah. I'm not surviving that like this."
And worse—
If he was really living here, then he wasn't a player.
NPCs didn't resurrect.
"…Permanent death," he thought. "Classic."
At that moment, a translucent panel appeared in front of him.
Allen stopped walking.
"…Oh. Thank God."
[Status Panel]
Name: Allen
Race: Human
Occupation: Mage
Level: 1
Strength: 3
Stamina: 4
Spirit: 6
Intelligence: 8
HP: 40
MP: 80
Racial Trait — Human Adaptability
• Learning efficiency +5%
• Environmental tolerance +5%
Abilities:
• Mana Perception (Lv.1): Can perceive the mana in the surroundings slightly.
• Spell Structure Analysis (Lv.1): Can look at the spell structure and do some small analysis.
Allen stared at it.
Then let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
"…Okay."
A panel meant growth.
Growth meant hope.
"At least the tutorial didn't bug out completely."
Then he noticed something else.
[1 / 2]
"…Excuse me?"
He focused on it.
The interface shifted.
A second panel appeared.
Blank.
Completely empty.
[This page has not yet been created.]
Allen stared.
"…That's not supposed to happen."
This wasn't in the game.
Not in any version.
He glanced back at Teacher Ronan, then at the empty panel again.
"…Yeah," he thought. "This world is definitely broken."
And for the first time since waking up—
Allen smiled. A genuine smile.