When the truck hit me...
I didn’t feel any pain.
Maybe it was simply too much for my brain to process. Instead, all I felt was warmth. A gentle, comforting warmth that wrapped around my entire body.
It was peaceful.
I closed my eyes and let myself sink into it.
Ten seconds.
One minute.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes...
"...Huh?"
A thought suddenly crossed my mind.
’Why am I still conscious?’
I slowly opened my eyes.
The truck was gone.
"...Where did it go?"
Did the driver really hit me and run away? Seriously? Humanity really had reached rock bottom.
"He couldn’t even bother taking me to a hospital? Great. Now I’ll have to pay my own medical bills."
Grumbling to myself, I quickly checked my body.
My head.
My arms.
My legs.
"...Huh?"
There wasn’t a single scratch. Not even a bruise. I blinked in disbelief.
"Did I... somehow get away without any injuries?"
Thank goodness.
At least I wouldn’t have to spend money on treatment. I stretched my stiff body and let out a long sigh.
"I guess I’m not going back to work today. I’ll head home and finally get some proper rest after all these years."
As I looked around, however, my smile froze.
"...Where am I?"
This wasn’t the street where I’d been hit. I was standing beneath an old stone bridge, with a quiet river flowing beside it.
There hadn’t been any rivers anywhere near the accident.
"Did the truck launch me across the city or something?"
"...No. That’s impossible."
Frowning, I walked toward the river and looked into the water.
A blurry reflection stared back at me.
It wasn’t my face.
It belonged to someone else.
"What! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY FACE?!" Kevin said with a shocked expression.
The moment I saw the reflection, a wave of unfamiliar memories crashed into my mind.
"Agh...!"
A splitting headache assaulted me. I clutched my head with both hands and collapsed to my knees.
"What... what is this?!"
Images flashed before my eyes one after another.
A boy.
A broken home.
An empty stomach.
Years of begging just to survive.
Several minutes later, the pain finally subsided.
I stared at my reflection in the river, my throat dry.
"...Did I get Transmigrated?"
The face staring back at me wasn’t mine.
It belonged to Aster Vale.
And somehow...
I had become him.
It took me hours to sort through the memories.
This world was called Elythera. The owner of this body was an eighteen-year-old orphan.
His mother had died giving birth to him because of severe malnutrition. His father had worked himself to death when Aster was only ten.
Since then, he’d survived as a beggar. Some days he managed to eat. Some days he simply slept through his hunger.
I let out a bitter laugh.
In my previous life, I worked myself to exhaustion.
I sacrificed my childhood, my youth, and ten years of my career...
Only to have my project stolen, lose my job, and die under a truck.
I looked up at the sky and smiled.
A genuine smile.
"This time..."
"I swear I’ll never work hard again."
After calming down, I accepted one simple fact.
I was no longer Kevin Miller.
I was "Aster Vale".
Sitting beneath the bridge, I sorted through Aster’s memories.
This world was called "Elythera".
Its nations were simply named after the letters of the alphabet, and I was currently in "Country B".
It was a world straight out of a fantasy novel.
Monsters roamed the land, and when people turned eighteen, they awakened a "Class", granting them unique abilities to fight those monsters.
""Grrr...""
My stomach growled.
Right...
This body hadn’t eaten since yesterday.
I could endure hunger, but Aster’s body was already skin and bones. If I didn’t find food soon, I might starve to death.
Unfortunately, I had neither money nor food.
Aster used to survive by begging...
But I had spent my entire life studying to become an educated man.
There was no way I was going to beg.
As I wandered through the streets, searching for any opportunity, I overheard two women talking.
"Did your son apply to the military academy? Isn’t it dangerous? I heard they send students on monster missions."
The other woman laughed.
"Only the awakened students go on missions. If someone fails to awaken a Class, the academy offers them a staff job instead. They get free meals and a place to stay."
My eyes lit up.
"Free food. Free housing. And no dangerous missions?"
This sounded like paradise.
With Aster’s miserable condition, there was no way I’d awaken a Class.
Getting a staff position would let me eat, sleep, and avoid working hard.
Perfect.
I immediately headed to the military academy.
The entrance exam was surprisingly simple.
Mostly mathematics. Fortunately these match are same as my world, I’m a top university student so these were nothing to me.
An hour later, the results were announced.
"First place."
"...Well, that was easy."
The successful applicants were led to the awakening hall. A giant black crystal stood at the center of the stage. If someone awakened a Class, the crystal would shine.
The stronger the Class...
The brighter the light.
One by one, students stepped forward. The first three failed to awaken. The crystal remained dark, and military officers escorted them away.
At the front of the hall stood a stern middle-aged general and a beautiful young female captain, silently observing every student.
Soon, my name was called.
As I walked onto the stage, whispers spread through the crowd.
"Isn’t that a beggar?"
"Look at his clothes..."
"How did someone like him even pass the exam?"
"Silence!"
The general spoke a single word.
A terrifying pressure swept across the hall, instantly shutting everyone up.
"So this is the aura of a high-level awakener..."
Impressive.
The old me would have dreamed of possessing that kind of power.
But not anymore.
I wanted free meals, a bed, and a peaceful life.
Awakeners had to train, fight monsters, and risk their lives. Staff members didn’t.
Smiling confidently, I placed my hand on the crystal.
Nothing happened.
Yes!
Exactly as planned.
The students burst into laughter.
"Haha! Just as expected!"
"A beggar thinking he could awaken?"
Even the general sighed.
"Another failure..."
But just as he turned away
"BOOM!"
The black crystal exploded with blinding white light.
A massive pillar of radiance shot into the sky, illuminating the entire military academy.