The possession

"Who are you?"

I asked a simple question to the person standing in front of me.

Icy blue-and-white mixed hair, with red, blood-like eyes that seemed out of place. A delicate body that looked like it had never been trained in its entire life.

A pale face—not overly handsome, but anyone could tell it was good-looking.

Yet, despite a face like that, the person looked aloof and gave off a cold-blooded vibe that people tended to avoid.

Even after my question, there was no answer in return.

The person only stared at me in confusion.

"No… who am I?"

This time my question changed, but I received the same answer as before.

Silence.

But I knew the answer better than anyone else—that the person standing in front of me was none other than myself.

Or should I say… someone whom I possessed one week ago.

Looking at my new face in the mirror, I gave my cheek a light pinch. Pain rushed through me the moment I did.

'I still can’t believe it.'

It felt like a dream—that something that only happened in novels had happened to me.

But deep down, I knew this was my new reality. That I could no longer deny it, because I knew what kind of world I had fallen into.

"The Last Moment."

In short, TLM. It was a novel I used to read in my free time.

It was a fantasy novel where the main character’s journey started in an academy. People from all around the world gathered there to study and fight a common enemy: the Demon King and his army.

A cliché, overused theme that many authors used to give readers a sense of familiarity, each adding their own twist.

At first, I thought it was a waste of time to read. But I continued anyway, unable to shake the feeling that something was out of place.

And my intuition was spot on. When the first twist came, the entire genre suddenly shifted into dark fantasy.

At first It was interesting to read. I knew the main characters wouldn’t die anyway.

But as time passed and I read the newer chapters, my own thoughts betrayed me.

Because it was one of those authors who knew how to write peak moments but didn’t know what a happy ending was.

As I watched my favorite characters die one by one, I felt furious. I even wanted to hire a hitman to kidnap the author and threaten him into changing the plot.

Setting aside my foolish thoughts, I kept reading. At that point, it had become a habit—no, an obsession—to finish it.

And I still regretted doing that.

When my absolute favorite died due to some foolish sacrifice for the sake of plot continuation, I threw my phone onto the bed and shouted a single word:

"WHY? WHY?? WHYYYYYY???"

Regretting my life choices, I headed to bed to sleep.

The next day, when I opened my eyes, I found myself in an unknown room. Many questions emerged—dreaming, kidnapping, losing my mind, dying, and more.

But after seeing my face in the mirror, I began to believe that the most cliché thing had happened to me.

"Possession."

The first week went by as I adjusted to my new body, accepted the unavoidable truth, and sorted through my memories.

I tried calling out to any system.

But alas, it seemed I could only rely on myself.

There was plenty of food in the room, and there was an attached bathroom as well.

I even went outside to figure out where I was. I discovered that I could understand the people's language. It was different from my own, yet still understandable.

Maybe it was a perk of being possessed.

After talking with many people, I learned that I was currently in a city called Valoria, the capital of the Everlasting Kingdom of Valenor.

It was a familiar name.

As I became more certain of where I was, I found an acceptance letter while searching through my bag under the bed.

13th December, Imperial Year 1345

THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF VALENOR

Dear —

We are pleased to inform you that you have been chosen as one of the many students who have successfully passed the written and physical examinations. The—

…

There were many things written on that red envelope afterward, but my only focus was on my name, the academy, and the date.

With my hunch confirmed that I was inside "The Last Moment," I found myself feeling fear, excitement, happiness, and emotions I couldn't even name.

There wasn't any noticeable attachment to my previous world.

I didn’t have much attachment to my former life anyway, since I was an orphan.

Still, I really missed the internet—and the comforting feeling of holding a phone.

When those emotions finally subsided, and after learning my name, I realized that I was a noble. The last name I carried was one that only nobles were allowed to use.

However, the name itself was unheard of. Perhaps it belonged to a rural baron family. I couldn't find anything related to my family even after searching through my belongings.

'At least I have some gold coins.'

Seeing the gold coins somehow made me feel relieved that I wouldn't have to do labor work for now.

But I didn't have the luxury to relax.

Because—

'I don’t have much time left.'

The ceremonial day was only two weeks away.

Right now, what I needed to do most urgently was assess my own abilities.

'I should at least have some decent ability.'

Being a noble didn't guarantee admission into the academy. It narrowed the competition a bit, but one still needed more than decent abilities to earn a position there.

But the real question was—

'What was my ability again?'

I didn't know my own abilities, I mean the abilities of the body I possessed. I hadn't inherited any memories in the first place.

"Damn it."

I couldn't help but curse.

'Wait a second…'

Then suddenly, I remembered something—more precisely, a certain artifact.

"I can use that to access my own ability. No… I can even raise it. But—"

Taking that artifact would hinder the progression of a certain main character. The future would change completely as well.

'It doesn't matter anyway.'

As a seasoned novel reader, I knew better than anyone that my very existence alone would alter the future, no matter how hard I tried to avoid it.

And I had read until the last arc of the novel. Though I didn't finish it, the direction it was heading in was certainly not toward a happy ending.

'So I need to do anything that will make me strong enough to survive—and somehow change the ending.

I will also save the characters—I mean the people—I don't want to see die.'

For that reason, there was only one thing I absolutely needed to do.

'I will try—no, I have to become stronger than anyone.'

After making my resolve and setting my ultimate goal, I began to think about the place I needed to go for my first step: the southwest territory of Valoria, known as the "Dead Forest."

The reason it had that name was simple: this forest was a playground for monsters. Even veteran mercenaries tended to avoid it.

People only entered the forest when a quest was posted at the Adventurer’s Guild or to hunt rampaging monsters.

So going there without any protection was basically suicide.

And right now, without any abilities or skills, I would definitely die if I went there.

"But I know a way—a secret passage that will take me there safely."

In the second arc of the novel, one of the main characters went there searching for his younger brother. While hiding from his pursuers, he accidentally found a secret passage that led directly to the place I was heading.

'I should start preparing today and begin heading there tomorrow morning.'

After deciding that, I made some preparations for the journey: buying food, low-level fire, ice, and light magic spell scrolls, a dagger, a normal sword, and other basic supplies.

The next day, after gathering everything I needed, I went to the nearest transportation area where people could ride wagons to their destinations.

There was also a magical portal for transportation, but I avoided it—mainly to save money. Portals were usually used for long-distance travel, like from one city to another.

I hired a wagon and a group of mercenaries.

Even though monsters usually didn't wander near the roads, I didn't want to take any risks, so I hired an E-rank group.

Three days later, we reached a small village near my destination.

Luckily, we didn't encounter any monsters along the way.

From this point, I needed to make the journey alone. So, I paid the fees and saw off the mercenaries and the wagon driver.

After only an hour of walking, I was already dying of exhaustion.

'The stamina of this body is fucking terrible.'

I was thinking how the hell did I passed the physical test in the academy.

'Maybe my magic is top-notch…'

Thinking that, I began to regret bringing so many items with me.

My body simply wouldn’t move.

It took me a while to find the secret passage.