Ugh, it's kind of weird and embarrassing to say this, but I have been reincarnated. Surprise, surprise, who could have guessed another innocent author has fallen victim to the whims of a greater existence, just for some shit and giggles.
Anyway. Yeah, I have been reincarnated in my own shitty novel. Let me guess what you're thinking? I am some random extra, right? Background character #7, the guy who gets eaten in chapter three, to establish how dangerous dungeons are? Nope.
Okay, maybe some minor villain then? With the goal of changing their fate and avoiding death? The classic "I'm the villain who gets engagement broken, then pays back by sleeping with her mother" route? Wrong again.
Then definitely the protagonist, right? Who else could it be but the overpowering main character who gets all the cool moments and the world revolves around him like he's the sun and with planets as his harem?
Very, very wrong.
I bite my nail, still staring at the mirror like it would change something, or maybe I was having difficulty accepting this reality. Cause in the mirror, what stared back at me wasn't a random NPC, minor villain, or the protagonist.
But the genius, prodigy among prodigies, the cool, cold, kuudere with the emotional range of a glacier, the main heroine of my shitty novel, and romantic interest of the main character—Aria, the Ice Princess.
Short silver hair cut in a bob, a few loose strands softening otherwise sharp features. My eyes were a muted shade of purple and fairy-like fair skin, with a doll-like appearance that excluded a cold, unapproachable aura.
"What the fuck."
This had to be a joke, right? I mean, come on. The god of reincarnation wouldn't be this cruel, right? Surely, they had some line they wouldn't cross.
"Oh! Hello! Anyone listening up there?" I yelled at the ceiling. "Are you really that desperate for entertainment? Did you look at my life and go, 'You know what would be hilarious? Sticking this guy in his own emotionally dead waifu!' Is that what happened? Did you get bored?"
"Sigh, it seems like I have finally lost it." This reality was so hard to accept that my brain had developed a scenario as an escape mechanism where a stupid author was writing my suffering as a means for measly views and ad revenue. Probably getting like three cents per chapter. Living their best life while I'm stuck as a kuudere ice maiden who probably has to say emotionless shit like "How tiresome" and "You're in my way" for the rest of my life.
But, well, that couldn't be possible; this was reality, and there was nothing else to it.
Right?
I looked down at my own hands, which were smaller, pale, and delicate, like I'd never seen the sun or touched grass in my entire life. But I'm pretty sure I could pack quite a punch. Since Aria has been trained since she was six years old in some insane montage I wrote where she fought bears or had to be trained till she collapsed. I don't remember; I was probably drunk when I wrote that part.
Remembering the setting I gave her made me kind of feel depressed.
Her mother died during childbirth. Her father went cold after that. He stopped being a father and became an instructor instead, with one singular goal: turn her into an S-rank hunter and push their clan into the Council of Ten Seats.
For the nth time, I sighed. "What the hell am I supposed to do?"
It wasn't as if I was particularly motivated to just rush ahead and help the protagonist complete the story. Even if I did, would that send me back to my old world? Probably not.
"I guess I just need to exist, huh? Pretty tall task if you ask me."
If I could, I would have smashed my head against the wall, that's how much I was dying from the embarrassment. Fortunately, I hate pain.
I fell down on the bed and just stared at the ceiling. I wasn't thinking about anything in particular; it was just hard to think about anything when you're suddenly thrust into another body, another world, another gender.
Bzzt. Bzzt.
There was a sound of something.
I ignored it.
Bzzt. Bzzt.
Still ignored it.
Bzzt. Bzzt.
It kept buzzing, being an annoyance,
"...Fine."
Too lazy to stand up, I just rolled around the bed like a depressed burrito until the phone was within my reach. When I powered it on, there was a lock on the screen.
A groan left my mouth. "Seriously?"
Fortunately, it wasn't the pin lock but the pattern, or I would never be able to guess it in my life. The first ones I tried were obvious, like A, S, D, and others like that, but they all turned out to be wrong.
I frowned. Okay, it's not a word. Then maybe just simple ones like a line or something?
The phone buzzed as it went red. Wrong Password.
"Dammit, what's up with this? Why is it so tough to crack a tee—"
"UGH!"
A sudden, sharp pain stabbed through my head. I felt the room spin, then my vision went dark. A flash of images ran behind my eyes as information I didn't have about Aria entered my mind.
I opened my eyes and began to trace my finger from top left to bottom right, then back up to top right, then down to bottom left, then the middle column; top, center, and bottom; which made an hourglass-like pattern.
The screen blinked open.
"Was she hiding nuclear code or something?"
What's up with this anyway? I blacked out for a second, then I remembered the password as if I knew it already. Is it like a memory thing? Like, usually happens in novels where a reincarnated person gets the memories of the person they inhabited?
But just the password? Why not all the memories? Why not something useful like "how to fight" or "where did I put my savings"?
Whatever. I'll see to it later. Not like I'm finding anything by thinking about it. My brain is already operating at 2% capacity.
The phone was unlocked, and there were notifications on the screen. One of them was the Academy group. I clicked it open.
[Hunter Academy - Class 1 Announcement]
From: Professor Murdock
Hello, aspiring hunters! As you all know, from today all your classes will officially begin! But before that, I request all first-year students to attend the Opening Orientation at 10:00 AM sharp in the Central Hall. Attendance is mandatory.
I checked the time.
9:30 AM.
Hmm… should I go?
I know it's mandatory and everything, but come on. Does it really matter when I'm facing an existential crisis? Like, if there's a fire in the house, is it really that mandatory to attend classes? I know math teachers would argue otherwise, but still.
Besides, what are they going to do? Expel the Ice Princess? The main heroine? The girl who's supposed to fall in love with MC and save the world, or whatever?
Actually... wait. What chapter of the story is this?
I scrolled through the phone, looking for a calendar, a date, anything.
April 3rd.
April. APRIL?!
Oh no.
This is the beginning of chapter 1, where Aria first meets with MC. When he tries to introduce himself enthusiastically, she just walks away, saying, "I didn't ask." This would first time our MC meets Aria and develops an interest in her.
"Absolutely not. Not happening."
I am not living that cringe scene.
I tossed the phone aside and pulled the blanket over my head like it was a shield against responsibility.
I didn't care if this was my second chance at life or something. I am way too confused, lost, and emotionally unprepared to try anything right now. I'm pretty sure the story could move on without the Ice Princess for one day anyway.
I closed my eyes.
Thirty seconds passed.
I opened them again.
"Sigh, fuck me sideways."
DIng!
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
QUEST
Quest: Attend Orientation
Objective: Attend the Opening Orientation at Central Hall (10:00 AM). Stop the plot from collapsing
Reward: Calculated upon completion
Failure Penalty: Destruction of the world
Time Remaining: 00:28:47
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━