---
Cold.
That was the first thing Ed von Livingston felt.
Not the sharp cold of winter, but the kind that settled into the bones—quiet, persistent, as if it had always been there.
His eyelids fluttered open.
A ceiling of white stone greeted him, engraved with ancient magic circles that pulsed faintly with mana. Crystal lamps embedded into the walls emitted a soft blue glow, refined and gentle.
This isn't Earth.
The realization came without panic.
Too calm.
He tried to move.
His body felt… wrong.
Smaller. Lighter. Weak, like it hadn't been used in a very long time.
"…Young… master?"
A trembling voice—or rather, the shape of one—entered his vision.
Brown hair tied neatly behind her head, maid uniform immaculate despite shaking hands.
Kiara.
Her eyes widened.
Her lips parted.
No sound came out.
Right.
She couldn't find right words.
"Kiara…" Ed whispered, his throat dry.
The moment his voice reached her ears, her restraint shattered.
She rushed forward and grabbed his hand with both of hers, pressing it tightly against her forehead. Silent tears spilled down her cheeks, dripping onto the sheets as her shoulders shook violently.
Ed didn't pull away.
Something in his chest tightened.
Not fear.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
She stayed.
Two years.
While he slept.
Footsteps echoed outside the room.
Measured.
Heavy.
The door opened.
A tall man stepped inside.
Silver hair tied neatly behind his back. Sharp blue eyes that looked like they had stared down battlefields and kings alike. His presence alone carried pressure.
Duke Lucian von Livingston.
Ed recognized him immediately.
His father.
The duke stopped the moment his eyes landed on Ed.
"…You're awake."
His voice was calm.
Even.
Cold.
But Ed noticed the slight stiffness in his posture. The way his gaze lingered a fraction longer than necessary.
"Yes," Ed replied quietly.
Lucian stared at him for several seconds.
Then turned slightly away.
"…Good," he said. "The physicians were not lying."
A pause.
"You have been unconscious for two years."
"I know," Ed said.
Lucian's eyes flickered.
"…I see."
He said nothing more.
But when Kiara's grip trembled, Lucian didn't scold her.
"Send word to the duchess," he ordered instead.
---
She arrived that night.
Golden hair flowing freely, eyes the color of polished amethyst filled with exhaustion and relief.
Elena von Livingston, née Le Heaster.
A noble of the Holy Empire.
The moment she saw Ed, her composure broke.
She crossed the room in hurried steps and pulled him into her arms, holding him tightly—too tightly, as if afraid he might vanish again.
"My Ed…" she whispered, voice shaking. "You're awake… you're really awake…"
Her body trembled.
"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I should have been here. I should have protected you…"
Her amethyst eyes shimmered with tears.
Ed froze.
Her arms were warm.
Too warm.
On Earth—
He hadn't felt something like this in years.
Luke Robinson had lost his parents as a teenager.
A drunk driver.
A twisted guardrail.
A single phone call that split his life cleanly into before and after.
After that, there had been no one to worry about him.
No one to wait up for him.
No one whose arms felt like home.
He had learned to live alone.
To succeed alone.
To die alone.
Yet now—
A woman who was his mother in this world held him like she would never let go.
His fingers trembled slightly before curling into the fabric of her dress.
…I forgot what this felt like.
For the first time since waking up here, his chest tightened—not from fear, not from confusion—
But from warmth.
Lucian watched silently from the side, arms crossed, expression unreadable.
---
Later.
The room grew quiet.
"Elena will return to the Holy Empire soon," Lucian said, standing near the window. "Political matters do not wait."
"I know," Ed replied.
Lucian turned slightly. "You seem… composed."
"I had time to think," Ed answered truthfully.
Lucian studied him for a long moment.
"…There are things you remember," he said. "About your collapse."
"Yes."
Silence followed.
Then—
"Your brothers were involved."
Ed closed his eyes.
The memories surfaced.
Not Luke's.
Ed's.
And layered over them was knowledge that didn't belong to either life.
This was the world of—
Rise of SSS Rank God Hunter.
A dungeon-and-eldritch fantasy novel with academy arcs, romance subplots, and an embarrassingly cringe title.
The protagonist was Sean.
Not him.
Ed von Livingston was supposed to be a minor noble.
A side character who never woke up.
---
Adrain von Livingston.
Eight years older.
Firstborn.
Sword prodigy.
Cold. Calculating.
And—
Vamir von Livingston.
Two years older.
Talented.
Cruel.
Always smiling.
They hadn't tried to kill him.
Only to break him.
A sparring "accident."
A corrupted mana stone.
A forcibly disrupted magic circuit.
Ed's soul destabilized.
His body survived.
His mind vanished.
"They retain succession rights," Lucian said calmly.
"Because their mother is royalty," Ed replied.
Lucian met his gaze. "Yes."
Politics outweighed justice.
Always.
---
The door burst open.
"ED—!"
A woman rushed inside, silver hair slightly disheveled, academy robes still on her body, mana fluctuating wildly.
Eleanor von Livingston.
21 years old.
Silver hair.
Amethyst eyes.
First-year magic instructor at Sienna Academy.
She stopped short.
Stared.
Then grabbed him.
"You idiot!" she cried. "You slept for two years! Do you know how insane that was?!"
She laughed.
Then cried.
Then hugged him fiercely.
"I came the moment I heard," she said. "I didn't even wait for permission."
Lucian turned away.
Pretending not to see.
A smaller figure peeked from behind Eleanor.
Blonde hair.
Blue eyes.
She stepped forward hesitantly.
"…Big brother?"
Aria von Livingston.
Ten years old.
Ed smiled softly.
"I'm back, Aria."
Her face crumpled.
She rushed forward and hugged him tightly, burying her face against his chest.
"You promised," she sobbed. "You promised you'd wake up…"
Ed gently rested a hand on her head.
"It's okay," he said softly. "I'm here."
The words weren't just for her.
They were for the teenage boy he once was.
The one who had stood alone at a funeral, too young to understand how final loss could be.
This time…
I won't lose them.
Kiara watched silently, tears falling without sound.
---
That night.
When everyone finally left.
When the room was quiet.
Ed lay back against the pillows, staring at the ceiling.
On Earth, he had chased success because there was nothing else left.
Here—
There was a father who watched from the shadows.
A mother who blamed herself.
A sister who broke rules to reach him.
A younger sister who trusted him without doubt.
A maid who stayed for two years, even without a voice.
A pressure formed behind his eyes.
A translucent blue screen appeared.
---
STATUS WINDOW
Name: Ed von Livingston
Age: 16
Magic Talent: A- Rank
Martial Talent: S+ Rank
Trait: Calm and Unwavering Mind
Status: Recovered
Reason for Coma: Soul Fragment Instability (Resolved)
---
Luke Robinson was dead.
Ed von Livingston was never meant to wake up.
Yet here he was.
Alive.
Surrounded.
Warm.
Ed closed his eyes.
Sean…
So I have to survive the story
Let's see how to unfolds
---