Chapter 1:The Boy Who Fell Into the Comic
Shin Kaiser was quietly lost in his own world.
In his hands was an old comic book.
Not an anime.
Not a famous manga.
Not even something people still talked about.
It was based on a strange dating simulation game — but printed as a comic. A relic from an older era. Almost no one in this generation even remembered it.
Recently, someone had revived the game.
Not officially.
A heavily modified version had appeared online.
His cousin had excitedly told him to try it.
Shin refused.
Dating sims bored him. Predictable characters, artificial romance, shallow choices. He had no interest in it.
That night, exhaustion dragged him into sleep.
And that was when everything ended.
Or perhaps — that was when everything began.
Darkness swallowed his senses.
No pain.
No warning.
No transition.
When Shin opened his eyes again, the ceiling above him was unfamiliar.
Wooden beams. Stone walls. Sunlight leaking through a small window.
"This isn't my room…"
His voice sounded younger.
He sat up — and froze.
His hands were smaller. His body lighter. His reflection in a metal mirror revealed a boy's face, barely ten years old.
Panic rushed through him.
Did I die? Was I summoned? Reincarnated?
Memories flooded his mind — but not his own.
A noble household. A quiet childhood. Tutors. Etiquette lessons. A name whispered repeatedly.
Shin Kaiser.
The same name.
He had entered another body.
Another world.
Worse…
This world felt familiar.
Too familiar.
He searched the house, the town, the language, the culture.
Every detail matched the setting of that forgotten comic.
The modified dating sim.
"I'm inside the game…?"
But something was wrong.
The atmosphere was heavier. The people were colder. The colors of reality weren't soft and romantic like the comic panels.
This world felt alive.
Dangerously alive.
Years passed.
Shin learned to survive quietly.
He avoided attention. Avoided unnecessary connections. He observed everything — politics, noble families, rumors, power structures.
The main story hadn't started yet.
The protagonist would appear at age fourteen.
The charming hero. Handsome. Popular. Loved by countless girls. A natural-born winner in the original story.
Shin waited.
And waited.
When the day finally came, Shin saw him.
The protagonist stood in the academy courtyard — tall, confident, surrounded by admiration.
Students whispered. Girls blushed.
Teachers smiled approvingly.
Everything matched the comic.
Everything… except one detail.
The hero didn't speak warmly to anyone.
His smile was shallow. His eyes were empty. His movements calculated.
He wasn't forming bonds.
He was playing a role.
Shin watched carefully for weeks.
The hero followed the original plot almost perfectly — choosing the same routes, triggering the same events, collecting the same allies.
Too perfectly.
That's when realization struck Shin like lightning.
"This guy…"
"He's like me."
A chill crawled up his spine.
"A transmigrator."
Another soul trapped inside the game world.
And if one existed…
How many more were hiding in this reality?
Shin's calm expression slowly twisted into a faint smile.
The game was no longer predictable.
And that made it interesting.
Shin continued observing the protagonist from a distance.
Every choice.
Every dialogue pattern.
Every timing.
Too accurate.
Too deliberate.
Not something a native of this world could reproduce.
During a quiet break between classes, the protagonist stood alone beneath a tree, scrolling through a small magic interface only he could see.
That was the confirmation Shin needed.
Shin approached him calmly.
The moment their eyes met, a flicker of caution flashed through the hero's gaze.
Shin spoke softly, testing the waters.
"…You've played this game before, haven't you?"
The hero stiffened for half a second — barely noticeable, but Shin caught it.
Shin stepped closer and suddenly grabbed his wrist.
The touch wasn't aggressive.
It was urgent.
Low. Sharp. Dangerous.
"Tell me," Shin whispered.
"Are you from my world?"
The hero's pupils trembled.
"…You too?" he muttered under his breath.
"You're a transmigrator?"
Silence hung between them like a loaded weapon.
Two outsiders.
Two players inside a living world.
Two unpredictable variables standing face to face.
Shin slowly smiled.
The board had just gained another pi