Capítulo 5: We've swapped places?
"Search for Acacia Grey," the words barely escaped me.
[Affirmative! Initiating search protocol: accessing civil registrations, biometric datas, census records, and legal identifications. Parameters: Designation: (Designation¹), Identifier: (Identifier¹), Credentials: (credentials¹), (credentials²). Processing Information... Please standby.]
Soon, information began to materialize in my augmented field of vision.
Shortcodes danced in my retina.
[Analyzing... Accessing databases and archives. Deploying advanced search algorithms. Cross-referencing information. Processing data... Please standby.]
'What happened to them? My family, alive or dead?'
[Failed. Couldn't find matching identity. The person doesn't exist in Central Union's databan-]
"Search for Hope Reynar," I commanded before Nano could finish its sentence.
[Reinitiating searching protocol. Please standby...]
What is this...
[Search failed. Hope Reynar doesn't exist in central union's database.]
I'm feeling very.. 'derailed'.
Of course, in here, to search for people that I know, in on itself, is very stupid. Afterall, this isn't Earth.
How can anyone that I know exist here?
It is a different world. One I am somewhat familiar with.
After all, I was the one who created.. this world. Word by word. Each sentence, into the pages of my novel.
Traditionally they call this planet γαῖα but officially its named Aktdrna, pronounced as 'Akatrina'.
"Funny."
Born with that damned blood condition, cursed with agony and death lurking around — that, was my life. Always hanging by a thin thread of fate, never certain when it would snap. But at least I had a family. But now.
I've nothing.
This is funny.
My teeth ground together.
They must be alive. They have to be alive somewhere.
Before I realised, my fist clenched.
Who was I even bullshiting?
I don't know what exactly happened during that burst of light, but.. it felt like a nuke.
When I opened my eyes.. I was here.
The Alpha nanite alerted me: [User's emotions are displaying abnormal patterns.]
I heard the familiar monotonous mechanical voice resonate in my head once again.
[As an SAI-nanite, I am incapable of feeling emotions like a living organism] Nano explained.
[However, my purpose is to ensure your survival.. my advice to you.. squander.. at life. Dr. Hope Reynar... Your father, John Grey, have made tremendous efforts-...]
My blank mind didn't properly register Nano's words. Still, I got the gist of it.
And even though I was derailed, I knew Nano was right.
Feeling sorry for myself wasn't going to solve anything.
My family indeed made tremendous sacrifices for me and I.. I cannot.. I should not waste.
I closed my eyes, calming my nerves.
A few moments passed and a soothing calmness washed over my heart, albeit fleetingly. I had to do something.
Giving up was not an option, not without trying, atleast. Just, need some strength.
Some time.
I exhaled and opened my eyes. 'I shall try.'
***
Click!
The bathroom door closed, sounds of the wet footsteps, a reflection enlarged in the bathroom mirror, staring back at me.
This world was different. Automobiles, the sky the atmosphere, pedosphere, monsters, mana.. everything was alien.
It had been sometime now. During this time I have been constantly wondering how I ended up inside my own novel's world?
This was beyond science.
Status window, blue sky.. this world, there was no doubt about it. I looked into the bathroom mirror, my reflection resembled my sixteen-year-old self. Weird.
I also appeared slightly shorter than my usual height.
But height was the least of my worries.
My body was thinner than usual and my face seemed more pale. My hair and eyes remained consistently dark.
Originally I had dark-brown eyes. Now, they were pitch-dark.
I had to figure out more about my situation. I was still unsure of whose apartment this was. I went back to the bed and opened the smartphone. I needed information.
Surfing through the phone's contents, one file in particular caught my attention.
'File ex.Hero program.' The word hero caught my eye.
In this world, it had a meaning. Tapping on it resulted in...
Wham!
Information one after another started appearing before me.
_______________
User Id: Noah Grey
Age:16
Picture:(An ugly image)
Program : Hero program 1st year
School rank :1872/2000
Profession : none
________________
"I'm enlisted in the hero program?" This was not good. Not good at all.
Before I could dig deeper, a searing pain shot through my skull, dropping me from the bed.
A floodgate of memories crashed open, information was injected into my brain.
Vivid images flooded in, memories.. but they weren't mine. They belonged to someone else — someone who had the same name as me, a different Noah Grey.
As the onslaught continued, realization dawned on me, along with the understanding of whose apartment I was in.
"Noah Grey of this world... Guh, this!" I groaned, driven to madness. The pain spiked. Clutching my head, I clawed at my skull, desperate to fend off the assault.
'Ethan Moonshade, Aurelius Grey, Midnight,.. Frostfall province. Sabrina, Seraphina, Aradhya, the lab...'
"Ugh, fugh!" The agony mounted, the memories threatened to kill my sense of self. It felt like the pain would kill me at any moment.
"Not my memories. Not my family. Get... GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" With a primal roar I clenched my fists, nails dug into my palms.
[Monitoring and regulating blood pressure. Deploying Oxytocin to regulate emotional state.]
In an instant, a calmness washed over me, all the pain melted away.
After sometime, my reasoning was back.
...
The world I found myself in was called Aktdrna, pronounced as 'Akatrina'. After a while, a thought took root: this place—it's a parallel Earth.
Why?
I had my reasons for this hypothesis, but the main reason was a particular person. This person had the same name as me—Noah Grey—and even looked identical to me. He was, in essence, my doppelganger. An alternate version of myself. But younger by six years. He was enrolled to the institute of Arcanum Blades Academy. I knew that name. Of course, I did. Because Aktdrna wasn't just any world. It was my world. The world I'd written. The one I created, and somehow, I was inside it.
How could this be?
I remember that burst of light before I got 'transported'. It seemed to have transported me inside my own story.
A paradox. A fracture in logic.
But after some thinking, I developed a second hypothesis that could explain how this happened: It was possible that my body from Earth and the body of the 'original Noah Grey of Aktdrna', had somehow swapped places, along with our lives.
It was a paradox, but it seemed.. plausible.
At this very moment, all I wanted to do, is to go back to my world.
If there's a way in, there has to be a way out.
But then, I caught myself— what am I thinking? Solving this paradox should not be my first priority, especially if it could take ages to figure out.
Instead, I should focus on my current situation.
And what is my current situation? A glance at the status window from earlier gave me the answer. It turns out, I am a Paragon.
In this world, humans capable of wielding magic and surpassing the limits of ordinary people were called Paragons. Each Paragon possessed a status window, which for many might seem like a gift, but to me, it felt more like a curse.
The Central Union, mandates that all paragons must attend a magic institute. Magic institutes were places where heroes were trained. Saying "no" was not an option, if I said no, I will be sent to a regional wall to work as a guard. In either case, my life will no longer belong to me.
It goes without saying that I need to hide my truth about being from another world. For now, I can only blend into the persona of the original Noah Grey of Aktdrna.
My main problem is Arcanum Blades Academy, where the original Noah Grey was enrolled. I now am in his place. The thing is, the MC of the story is also enrolled in the same institute, and in the same year, and I can't begin to describe how fucked up of a situation that is.
A frown etched itself on my face as I let out in deep contemplation: "There is still some time for the academy to start. Currently I'm in Krenada city. That is a good thing. Krenada is not very far from Avalonia village. First, I need to get the mystery of teleportation hidden in there. If I can't, I might as well go and suicide because of how weak I'm I would die soon anyway."
While writing the manuscript of the original novel, I remembered mentioning about eight cheat powers in the world which could bend reality to some degree. These eight powers were called 'mysteries.' Sadly, I never got around to finalizing my work. I was planning to release them in the fourth volume, but that never happened.
***
One day had passed.
Now, it was morning. The sky was pale, quiet, as if it knew something I didn't. During the night, I'd moved forty thousand dens—Noah's parents had left some money behind in the TOD trust account—into my own. A simple transfer, really, but it felt heavier, like a step toward something bigger. Already, my mind was spinning with plans for the future.
Den. That was the currency here, in Tressia. And I was in St. Sebastin, a country that fell in Tressia continent.
Stepping out of the apartment complex, I made my way toward the train station.
Right now, my first priority was to get my hands on mystery of teleportation.
With that mystery, no matter what came after my ass, I would always have an escape.
Then, I could plan on what to do with my life next.
In order to find the mystery of teleportation, I needed to visit Avalonia forest which was in the outskirts of Krenada city.
"Here's my card!"
Passing the card to the lady in the ticket office, I checked the map of the station.
"Where to?" She asked.
"Avalonia." I replied.
"That will be five den." She handed back my card.
Lost in thought, I boarded the train and settled into my seat.
The train chugged along but my gaze suddenly fell on two teens who were heading for the seat before me.
Just that.
In that moment, my brows shot up, my eyes widened in shock. Well, shock was to be expected, considering I knew those two.
Red eyes and black hair: Aurora Lewis, also known as— will be known as the queen of thunder.
And by her side, the other one, bully of the school and rival to Aeravat— Takahasi Aoi.
Two of the main cast was here.
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