Chapter 2: A Foreign World
"Hello? Pizza delivery for Lucas?"
"Over here. Thanks..."
I opened the door to grab my dinner, my body feeling heavy with dark bags under my eyes.
Swiping my Magitech phone onto her watch, or rather the smart device of the man whose body I had inhabited, I paid for the meal, trying not to take notice of the delivery girl judging my unkempt appearance.
I didn't blame her of course, I had been comatose in my room for 3 days straight, hoping that at some point I'd wake up in my room and this would all turn out to be a dream. Of course, nothing like that happened, and I could only accept my predicament.
I had officially transmigrated into the world of "New Dawn Academy", A dark world where no one was safe from death.
At least I could find solace in the fact that NDA has a relatively modern setting, right? But being able to order delivery food was the only positive I could think of.
Did I at least become one of the main characters? Maybe a powerful villain? No, the person I had possessed was named Lucas Retier, someone I had never heard of within the world of NDA. It didn't take long for me to find out why I'd never heard of him.
Going through his phone I discovered that he hadn't even had plans to take admission tests for the Academy. Various job listings were bookmarked on his phone, he fully intended to find work immediately once he finished his secondary education.
He was an orphan living by himself, his only remaining family was his little sister who had been adopted after their parent's deaths. Not even an extra, an off-screen character who had no presence in the game at all. That was who I was now.
'sigh...'
Closing the door and walking into Lucas' one-room apartment, I stared at the black-haired youth reflected in the mirror, bowing my head.
"I'm sorry..."
It felt like I had killed him. I'd always read various possession novels, but never thought of what happened to the person who was possessed. Where was Lucas Retier now? Was he gone forever? Maybe he never existed and was created for me to possess, after all, he had the same name as me, and even his last name was similar to my forum username 'RetiredFFfan".
There were many things my transmigration had me ruminating about, such as if my original body had dropped dead back on Earth and how my family would respond to my sudden death. I didn't care much about my Parents' reactions, I had long cut them off, but I did worry for my sister now that she was alone with those people without me there to help her.
But! First and foremost, I needed to act. The setting of NDA was unforgiving, even more so for a powerless extra in the background of the world. Enrolling into the academy should be my utmost priority, I needed to interact with the main cast and ensure the story would smoothly sail towards one of the few "good' endings.
Well, while I call them good endings there are still insanely bitter-sweet, but those endings were better than the others, which mostly concluded with the death of millions, or even the end of the world.
I sat on the sofa as I munched on the fried egg pizza I'd purchased. Cringing at what I was about to do.
"...S-status screen!"
Ugh...
I felt like I'd returned to 8th grade.
But the self-inflicted damage was not in vain, soon a light pink screen with the same aesthetic found in "New Dawn Academy" appeared before my eyes, along with a beautified piece of art depicting Lucas.
"Thank god... Wait, are you serious?"
The floating screen in front of me matched the same UI I was familiar with. The problem though was that Lucas Retier could be described as an absolute trash character.
[Name: Lucas Retier]
[Summary: Once just an average man living on earth, but he was suddenly transmigrated into his favourite game?! Can he use his knowledge of the game and his wits to survive and perhaps even win the heart of the main character? One of the new love interests introduced in the new DLC.]
[Stats:
Body
Strength: 1
Stamina: 2
Dexterity: 2
Mind
Intelligence: 4
Wisdom: 3
Instinct: 1
Soul
Charisma: 3
Faith: 5
Luck: 0 ]
[Class: Peon]
[Skills: None]
[Traits:
No-lifer: Able to spend 90% of his day on his hobbies, foregoing sleep and food.
Keyboard Warrior: Has a 200% boost in Charisma if he is involved in an anonymous argument.
Last-minute crammer: Has a boost in intelligence when he saves his work until the last minute. The buff increases depending on how much time is left for his work.]
[Masteries:
Cooking: LVL 1]
...
Ignoring the character summary that was pissing me off, what the hell was with my stats?!
Even side characters started with their highest stat being at least 10, with the main character getting 60 free stat points that could be freely allocated at the start of the game.
And 0 points in luck? Was it even possible to have 0 points in a stat? Having stat points in the game meant embodying the essence of one of the gods, with each stat representing one of the 9 gods of the pantheon. Did that mean that I was hated by Aurum, the God of luck? I just got here, what did I do to you?!
Peon class? What kind of class gave no skills whatsoever? Natta! Zilch.
At least, while the traits seemed like they were made solely to infuriate me, looking at the bonuses I got from them, it looked like I wasn't completely screwed.
Scratching my nape in frustration, I shook my head. Wasn't I meant to be a new love interest according to the summary? Shouldn't I get at least one broken stat or trait?
But I steeled my heart, Stats could be gained and classes unlocked. I knew every nook and cranny of the game, so buffing myself shouldn't be a problem. There were tonnes of easter eggs and secrets I could exploit.
As I made plans according to the knowledge I knew about the game, as well as the few stats I'd been given, in the corner of my eye I noticed a new tab that hadn't been in the game labelled DLC.
[DLC: Here is the information tab given to the user to track the changes brought by the DLC! As new changes appear they will be recorded here, so be sure to keep a mindful eye!]
I had forgotten about the DLC.
Clicking on the tab I gulped, I had an eery feeling I wouldn't be happy with what I saw.
[NEW ROUTE: After the death of her loved ones and the betrayal of her closest companion, Wendy Heartseeker was executed by the holy kingdom. She closed her eyes expecting the embrace of death only to find herself back home in her 18-year-old body. She had regressed back to before her enrollment in New Dawn Academy.]
...
Oh no.
---
A steel collar was tightly fixed around her neck, pressing down on her windpipe. The clattering of chains harmonised with the yells and damnations of the crowd before her.
Wendy was loosely covered in dirty garb, the pain of her growling stomach was dulled by the sharp stones thrown by the spectators. Her once beautiful skin was marked by purple bruises and sharp red scarres.
"Murderer!"
"Kill her!"
"How dare you!!!"
'I didn't do it, I only wanted to help...'
She wanted to shout out her case and give her reasonings. But knew they would only fall on deaf ears, she was nothing but a scapegoat, one to quell the anger of the people after the war.
A scapegoat chosen by who she once believed to be her closest friend. Wendy still vividly remembers that day, when in front of a royal audience, her friend pointed towards her and stated that she was responsible for the death of the princes.
They stripped away the honours she'd won from the war, her badges and title. But that wasn't what hurt the most for Wendy.
'How could she?'
She had lost Damian to an assassin, William to an enemy general, and Benson to a group of orcs. All she had left was her, but she betrayed her, shoved a knife into her back and twisted it with a smile.
As she heard the lifting of iron, she promised herself that if given the chance, never again would she try to form any bonds. In this world, relationships were more fragile than a castle of sand. They would only leave, die or betray her.
And as the axe met her skin, she made her vow, closed her eyes and prepared for darkness.
But in the next moment, she instead found herself staring at a familiar ceiling.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone