This world was one that was assaulted by the Dhairgi alien race that appeared out of nowhere one day many years ago. Their motive was unknown, and there was no way to communicate with them, though the way the government put it was that they refused to communicate and reason with them. It was believed so since they were able to communicate the name of their race but feigned ignorance in terms of any thing else. Maybe they wanted to let their foe know who hit them? It was never stated in the original story.
There wasn't much humanity could do than fend off the invading aliens. Every man and woman above 18 and below 50 was called to fight and defend their race and planet. Naturally, Ren grew up in an orphanage because of that, as his parents must have died during the battles, he never even knew what they looked like or even remembered their names.
This was a similar case for the main character of the novel, Ray Stone, the only difference was that, Ren didn't have any memory of his parents being legends in the war... anyway, he wasn't too saddened by the fact that he had entered the body of a character who was only mentioned in about three chapters of the entire novel, no, in fact, he was a bit satisfied with it.
While he wasn't any of the major side characters who contributed 'so much' to the story and did so many 'good things', for the two chapters that Ren appeared in the original story, he was described as someone who had a lot of potential but wasted it because he wallowed in chronic depression after his girlfriend died.
'Of course, I am not the original Ren, I have no feelings for whoever had died, it's none of my business.'
Anyway, in this novel, as usual, everything revolved around the main character and the fact that he had a special bloodline, that ultimately gave him the sole responsibility of making some important decisions for the entirety of the human race, decisions that later led to the tragic end of the original story where the entire human race was deleted off the face of the earth and the universe.
In fact, Ren couldn't pin the blame solely on the main character Ray Stone, if he wanted to point fingers, then most of the side characters like his friends also played a role in it all. Setting aside that they were all mostly yes men, they also had their own terrible decisions that led to the ultimate downfall of humanity.
'If I just live my life in this world without care of what is to come, I will surely die at the end before even reaching my mid-ages... I can't let that happen.' He made a bold decision in his mind.
In the original story, Ren was what one would call a failure and a loser in life, kind of what this now Ren was in his former world, only that the story's Ren was raised to the power of ten.
'I at least worked hard... to some degree, and didn't let all the negativity put me down. This guy didn't even try...'
"It doesn't matter, if the novel is to be believed, then I still have a chance. After my awakening, I will know then if I can even play a part in this story or not." Ren decided. The future was more than dangerous, so if he wasn't strong enough, then there was no need to try.
'Heh, such a handsome face with excellent physique, and I only appeared in two chapters of some filler moment of solving some bullshit mystery that didn't even do shit to the main story... Heh, being an extra is so tough on the mind...'
"I guess it doesn't matter if I awaken a mediocre class and power, I could just rob the main character of all his future treasures and opportunities, after all, it's all a waste on him... actually, that's not a bad idea, I might go ahead and do that regardless of what the results are after I awaken."
Now that Ren knew his identity, he remembered that the Ren in the original story had electrifying white hair and brilliant silver coloured eyes. 'I wonder if me being here has changed that? But I didn't have blonde hair either...'
Suddenly, his phone began ringing loudly as though an alarm had gone off, and a violent one at that. Ren walked over to turn it off, but the words written on the screen of his phone as a reminder threw him off.
-Reminder: Pack your things for school tomorrow, hey!-
-12:00 am-
Seeing the reminder on the screen of his phone, Ren remembered that his dead girlfriend Kyla, was the one who set it for him a day prior. "That's right, the academy, I have to leave tomorrow and the bus would be coming to pick me."
The thing now was whether he would be in the same year as the main character. It was never mentioned in the novel if they were in the same year, so he had no idea.
'Well, I guess I'll find out tomorrow,' he said in his mind as he dropped the phone back on the couch. He couldn't fall asleep now, so he got to work with putting together his things for the trip later in the morning.
There wasn't much to take. He didn't exactly have so much clothes, and since his parents didn't leave him with any sort of inheritance after they died, he had nothing but the menial funds provided by the government. If only for that alone, he was happy to be leaving for school the next day so he himself wouldn't have to suffer any such thing, after all, the funding had stopped after the last deposit the previous month. It was expected that once he got into school, he would be able to earn money there by himself to fend for himself, if he wasn't lazy that is.
After he was done arranging everything he needed and cleaning the blood off he floor, he went to bed promptly. It was already late and he would need energy for the antiques that would play out later in the day.
. . .
Once morning came proper, Ren woke up late around past 9am. He hastily prepared for departure by grooming himself well and placing his things close to the door, ready to leave at any time. One look at the space saving studio apartment, Ren was glad he didn't have to live there in his life.
A few minutes later, he heard the sound of the bus and rushed outside. Before him was a huge double-decker bus with enough space at the back that Ren's worry of where the luggage of so many people would fit disappeared. Before he walked to the bus himself, the door opened and from it a burly man stepped out. He had short brown beard that seemed to give him an extra level of superiority.
"Student Ren Ashburn, correct?" He asked. Ren's eyes fell on the name tag above his chest before his eyes met with Sergeant Suge Benjamins.
"Good morning, sir," Ren greeted. In this world, the military system was a bit different, so he didn't need to salute.
"Good lad. Since you are already set, head in and place your luggage at the back and find a place to sit," Sgt. Suge said.
Ren made his way to the bus with his entire luggage which fit all into just one single box that wasn't even that big.
Once he got inside, he found that there were already so many other students inside. He could recognise a few off the bat as their identities just popped into his head. Even then he couldn't recognise half the students in the bus, well, he didn't get a good look at everyone, especially those at the top, since he found a place to sit below.
Once he was properly seated, Sgt. Suge closed the door of the bus before it started moving again.
'Seems like I was the last one to be picked up.'
The bus was just as described in the novel when he was reading it. There were soldiers at the end of the bus and in front where Sgt. Suge stood at that moment, there were also two above.
"Alright, everyone settle-down and eliminate the noise. We are on our way to Grand-Phoenix Academy," Sgt. Suge said before heading to sit in front.
Ren didn't even bother talking with the girl by his side, even with his handsomeness, she behaved as though he had already asked her out and she rejected him, it was confusing to see.
The ride to the academy was smooth, and no student bothered to even make any noise by talking amongst themselves. If they so much as tried, the glare they would receive from the soldiers guarding them would immediately shut them up.
Ren who wasn't feeling fully rested even after oversleeping decided it would be a good opportunity to take a nap, after all, they wouldn't be at the academy until several hours later.