When Marek opened his eyes, he found himself in a strange place. The first thing he saw was a dark ceiling with a chandelier in the center.
'Huh…?'
He slowly sat up, noticing that he was on a massive bed. That only confused him even more.
When he looked around, he realized he was in a luxurious room, and apparently it was… his?
The last thing he remembered was… "The system!" he shouted, but immediately covered his mouth with his hand, hoping no one had heard him.
First, he needed to make sure he was somewhere safe.
"That system really sent me inside the novel…" he muttered, still not fully believing it, as he slowly got out of bed and walked toward one of the room's windows.
When he looked outside, he was left stunned. He was on the second floor, and the view was incredible…
There was a plaza in the center, surrounded by trees, students —which he deduced from their clothing— and the enormous academy he had read about hundreds of times in the novel: Strelkavan Magic Academy.
"No, no, no! Am I seriously inside?" he said, completely thrilled as he turned around to look for a mirror to see his new appearance.
When he saw himself in the reflection, the excitement vanished completely…
It was the same. He hadn't changed at all.
Same face, height, weight, and hair… His hopes of getting a girlfriend disappeared instantly.
✶ ✶ ✶
Right now, he was sitting on the bed, hugging his legs while gently rocking back and forth.
"I'm screwed…"
He thought that if he managed to get a powerful woman —a heroine or some milf professor— he would be safe from the novel's events. As long as he wasn't at a point in the story where everything had already concluded.
That's when he remembered the system, so he quickly got up from the bed, putting on the most serious expression he could.
"System!" he ordered out loud, hoping he could summon it that way.
And it worked. The transparent golden screen appeared before him.
[Sorry for the delay… I was doing something.]
'Doing something?' he thought, confused. What was a system supposed to be doing?
[What I do is personal, so don't pry. Anyway…]
[You are in the royal capital, attending the magic academy as a first-year student.]
He ignored the extra comment the system threw at him and focused on the information it had just given him.
"Yes, but… at what—"
[Classes started a week ago, so you didn't miss anything.]
"I see…" he muttered, bringing a hand to his chin thoughtfully.
'That's good and bad at the same time… it means the school attack, the monsters, and the betrayal haven't happened yet.'
Then he looked at the screen again, with a question that had been bothering him for quite a while.
"Why do I still have my same body? Aren't you supposed to get a new one?"
[You were transmigrated into the body of a secondary character who didn't appear even once in the novel, so his appearance didn't exist. To avoid too much work, we gave him your previous appearance. Is that fine?]
Marek went blank at the stupidity he had just read. 'To avoid working…?'
"Are you kidding me?! Have you seen my face? I'll be lucky if a woman even talks to me, and she'll probably run away the moment she sees me."
[…]
"Are you going to stay silent?" he asked, irritated, stepping closer to the screen and grabbing it from the sides —which, to his surprise, he didn't pass through—.
'Huh?' He had thought that, being transparent, it would be intangible…
But he quickly ignored that and began shaking it from side to side, desperate for an answer.
[First and last warning to let me go.]
"What's wrong? Don't like it? WELL, I DON'T GIVE A SHIT!" he shouted with a huge grin as he burst into laughter and shook the screen even harder.
[…]
FHASSS
"AHHHHH!" he screamed as he felt himself being completely electrocuted.
His body gave out on its own, he let go of the screen and collapsed to the floor, smoke rising from him in every direction.
✶ ✶ ✶
"Sorry…" he muttered sheepishly, sitting cross-legged on the bed, seeing that the screen wasn't responding to him.
[…]
[Ah… god…]
[Let that be the last time you do something like that.]
[Is that clear?]
"YES!" he replied instantly.
[Good… What do you want to know?]
Marek brightened at the response and straightened his posture to begin asking questions.
"First. Why did you send me to this specific novel?"
[That information is classified… Ask something else.]
"…fine," he muttered. "Uh… why wasn't I transmigrated into the body of some relevant character? Like the protagonist or one of his friends."
That way he would've had more chances to become strong and get a sexy girlfriend.
[Because no.]
[The body you have now is perfect.]
He fell silent at the shitty answer. Perfect? His body?
He barely stood at 5'8 (1.74 m) and he wasn't exactly handsome either.
"But… I wanted to get a girlfriend…" he muttered more and more quietly.
[And you can't get one with that body?]
"No! Look at me, I'm uglier than kicking a pregnant woman."
[…]
[Loading…]
'Damn it, just what I needed…' he thought irritably, watching as the screen kept loading. Without another word, he let himself fall back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
He raised his right arm and clenched his fist tightly. 'At least I'll be able to see them up close… that'll help me imagine them better when I jerk off.'
That thought cheered him up a little, remembering that the author had described several times how the heroines and villainesses of that world were hot as hell, with asses so big that, god… you'd eat it all week.
Suddenly, the screen appeared out of nowhere in front of his eyes, but with the gloom weighing on him, he didn't even flinch.
[I have updated my system to better understand the user…]
[Now I can clearly say that you are… horrible.]
At that comment, Marek could only squeeze his eyes shut while laughing at himself.
He had been told that several times in his past life, to the point where he no longer cared.
It was true…
THIIN
He immediately opened his eyes upon hearing a bell inside his head. When he focused on the screen, he couldn't help but get excited.
[Customize your character.]
[Do you wish to do so?]
[Yes / No]
He sat up on the bed again, reading the message several times to be sure, before thinking: YES.
[Good! First, let's start with height.]
[Then we'll move on to the other sections.]
[Warning: once you finish choosing the changes, they can never be undone.]
At that warning, Marek couldn't help but swallow hard; he had to choose wisely and not screw it up.
'One chance only, don't mess it up, Marek…'
[Current height: 5'8 (1.74 m)]
[ – 5'8 (1.74 m) + ]
[You can increase or decrease your height as you wish.]