A man in his twenties walked down the street on his way to work. He had tan skin, short black hair, and an expression of pure exhaustion, like someone who had already grown used to the heavy routine of every single day. As he walked, he kept his eyes fixed on a book, completely absorbed in his reading, until he stopped in front of a fruit stand and turned his gaze toward the elderly woman arranging a few apples behind the counter.
"Mrs. Maria, how are you?"
The woman raised her head, and as soon as she realized who it was, she gave him a warm smile accompanied by a motherly look.
"I'm doing well, my son. Thank you for asking."
Saul scratched the back of his neck, feeling a little awkward.
'My son... I'm still not used to that.'
It had already been a few years since he started buying fruit from that stand before going to work. Over time, Mrs. Maria had begun treating him as if he were truly her own son, something that still made him feel a little embarrassed.
"I woke up today wanting to eat an apple before going to work."
The woman smiled and carefully began examining the fruit on display. She picked one up, inspected its skin, put it back, and repeated the process, as if she were choosing the very best one among them all.
"Of course. Today's one will be special, since you worked so hard yesterday."
Hearing that, Saul shuddered slightly. The previous night, one of his coworkers had made a huge mistake, forcing the entire team to stay late cleaning up the mess. By the time he finally got home, he was so exhausted that he hadn't even realized he had left the house that morning without his phone. He frowned.
"Wait... how do you know? I didn't even come by yesterday."
The woman picked up a particularly beautiful apple, carefully placed it in his hand, and answered naturally,
"I saw you passing by last night. It was already very late, so I just put the pieces together."
Saul let out a small laugh as he pulled a few bills from his pocket to pay.
"Ah, that makes sense."
After putting away his change, he quickly glanced at the watch on his wrist. Unfortunately, it was already time to leave.
"I still have thirty minutes, so I need to go. Thank you, Mrs. Maria."
She smiled once again. Then she clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and offered a short prayer.
"May your life be good from now on."
Saul stood still for a few seconds, simply watching the scene. He had never been a very religious person. He respected God and other people's beliefs, but truly believing was another matter entirely.
"Bye."
The woman opened her eyes and waved cheerfully.
"Goodbye, my son. That apple is very special, so enjoy every bite."
Saul waved back and resumed walking down the street. As he continued on his way, he kept reading his book and took a bite of the apple. It was the final volume of a light novel he had been following for years.
"This is the final volume. I'm almost done. It's cliché, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Besides, it's still my favorite."
He turned the corner, passed by a few people, and remained focused on his reading, completely unaware of the movement around him.
"Hey... I'm not liking the direction this ending is taking."
Without him noticing, a shadow began following him once there was no one else nearby. The stranger's footsteps were silent, hidden beneath the distant noise of the city. The moment he took the last bite of the apple, a sharp pain pierced his back. Saul's eyes widened, and he coughed up blood before quickly turning around. Standing before him was a man around the same age, his dark eyes filled with almost tangible hatred, holding a knife still covered in blood.
"Die."
Without thinking, Saul shoved him away with all his strength and tried to run, but he barely managed to take a few steps before another excruciating pain shot through him. A second knife had pierced his leg. Gritting his teeth to endure the pain, he grabbed the handle of the blade, ripped it out of his own flesh, and, taking advantage of the attacker's proximity, struck back and slashed his hand.
"Ah, damn it! Why won't you die?!"
As soon as he saw the man's face clearly, Saul's eyes widened slightly. Surprise crossed his expression for a brief moment.
"What are you doing here? And why?"
The man practically roared, unable to hide the rage he carried.
"To kill you, of course! Because of you, my family was destroyed!"
Holding another knife, he charged once again. Despite his injured leg, Saul barely managed to dodge. As the man passed beside him, he murmured in a low voice,
"You were given a second chance... and even then, you didn't change."
At that very moment, Saul drove the knife into the attacker's throat. Even mortally wounded, the man still found the strength to swing his arm one last time, causing the blade to slash deeply across Saul's throat. Both of them staggered backward almost at the same time. The attacker collapsed to the ground clutching his neck, trembling desperately as he tried to stop the bleeding. Saul stumbled several meters before leaning against a wall. Blood continued pouring from the wound, and both of them were too badly injured to even think about calling for help.
Feeling death slowly drawing near, Saul raised his eyes to the sky for a few seconds. Soon afterward, his gaze fell upon the light novel lying on the ground. Even with trembling hands and his vision beginning to blur, he bent down to pick it up, while the other man merely crawled slowly toward the alley's exit, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
Saul opened the book to the last page and finished reading the final chapter. As soon as he reached the final line, he remained silent for a few seconds. Then he began laughing and crying at the same time.
"Hahaha... what a terrible ending."
Little by little, his eyes began to close. Before completely losing consciousness, he heard a shout coming from the entrance of the alley. It seemed someone had found the man lying on the ground, and soon afterward, other people ran over to see what had happened.
...
Saul slowly opened his eyes and stared at a yellowish ceiling. He blinked a few times before frowning, trying to understand why he could still see.
"Huh? Didn't I die?"
He slowly sat up on the bed and looked at his own hands.
"What? Why do my hands look... fatter?"
Instinctively, he placed one of his hands on his stomach and realized it was much bigger as well, although the rest of his body didn't seem all that different. Confused, he began looking around the room. There was nothing that resembled the modern world. The furniture was entirely made of wood, the walls had an old appearance, and the entire place looked as though it belonged to another era.
"Aaaah... what is this? Where am I? Is this one of those isekais? I'm not even that big of a fan... wait, does that mean...?"
Before he could finish speaking, the bedroom door opened.
"Mr. Enrico, please do not disturb the other students with your shouting."
Saul turned around and saw a maid standing at the entrance. The name she had mentioned awakened a strange sense of familiarity.
"Who?"
Without answering, the maid simply turned her back and slammed the door shut, as if she didn't want to remain in that room for even one more second.
Still confused, Saul slowly walked toward the mirror. The moment he saw his reflection, he froze completely. The boy before him appeared to be around fifteen years old, stood approximately one meter and seventy-nine centimeters tall, weighed around one hundred and twenty kilograms, and had tan skin, golden hair, and eyes of the same color.
"Who did I reincarnate into?"
The strange feeling kept growing stronger. As if guided by instinct, he walked to the window and looked outside. In the distance, he recognized what looked like a massive academy. Lowering his gaze, he saw two people leaving the dormitory: a black-haired boy with blue eyes wearing training clothes, accompanied by a brown-haired girl with eyes of the same color.
At that moment, everything made sense. He looked back at the mirror, completely horrified.
"No way..."
It was the world of the story he had finished reading before he died. And the situation was even worse than he had imagined. He had reincarnated into a character who appeared right at the beginning of the story. To put it simply, he was part of the trio known as the Three Stooges: the short one, the idiot, and the fat one. The three of them constantly followed a young noble who tormented the protagonist and his friend at the beginning of the story, and in return, they ended up being humiliated over and over throughout the entire novel.
Without any strength left, Enrico dropped onto the bed. After spending a few minutes trying to organize his thoughts, he stood up and began pacing back and forth across the dormitory. Suddenly, a screen appeared before his eyes, slowly materializing as though it were loading.
"What is this? One of those systems from these stories? I hope so, because I'm going to need it if I want to survive."
Suddenly, a loud voice echoed throughout the room, making Enrico immediately cover his ears.
[Hello, Host. Ready to begin your adventure on hard mode...?]
Enrico blinked a few times, completely surprised.
"So this is what a system is like?"
He turned his attention back to the screen and began reading the information.
Name: Enrico Solcren Ferreira
Magic: Fire — Circle Zero (25%)
Status in the World: Noble, First-Year Student, Subordinate, and Walking Waste of Air
An irritated expression spread across his face. Even if those words were directed at the original Enrico, they were still irritating.
"I'm feeling offended. Can you explain what's going on?"
[Of course. We are at the beginning of the story, exactly halfway through Arc 1.]
"Halfway through Arc 1? That means we're... let me think..."
He remained silent for a few seconds, trying to remember the events of the story. Then his eyes suddenly widened.
"Wait! If we're halfway through Arc 1, then the duel with the protagonist has already been scheduled!"
At the beginning of the story, the protagonist's friend was constantly harassed by the Three Stooges. When he discovered that Enrico was one of those responsible, the protagonist challenged him to a duel. The student council president accepted the request and scheduled the fight for one month later, giving him enough time to train and improve his chances of winning. While the protagonist spent every day training tirelessly, Enrico wasted his time relaxing and believing he would win with ease. If they really were halfway through the first arc, then that meant there were only two weeks left until the duel.
Enrico slowly began nodding his head up and down, wearing a completely resigned smile.
"I'm screwed."