Art.
It was an important part of my life.
It had its highs and lows but i still loved it.
I remembered the first time I was recognized for drawing well.
It was a nice feeling, i felt unstoppable
But as I scrolled through my phone, I could only feel disappointment in myself as I watched what others posted.
Others who were much younger than me, drawing beautiful pieces of art that i couldn't even think of making.
I hated myself for my lack of talent, and as I glanced at Soraya, i noticed she also seemed to feel a bit jealous.
I decided to quickly scroll to change what we were watching, and after scrolling randomly for a few seconds, i managed to get a relatable video on my screen.
Thankfully, the short haired soul calmed down from jealousy as she watched the video.
Ah right.
I forgot how addicted to the internet i was at the time.
Thats what happens when someone only feels free online, away from reality.
I really needed to get rid of this addiction..
Yawn....
"Ngh....Hm? You two are already awake?"
Sora suddenly woke up as she looked at us, Soraya was still watching the phone screen while i quickly glanced at Sora.
"I've been awake already..Sora just woke up recently like 10 minutes before you"
I spoke calmly, though I was a bit annoyed since Sora wasn't exactly pleasing to hang out with.
As expected of a dumb teenager.
She quickly got pulled towards my shoulder as usual and quickly watched the phone screen with Soraya.
..Thinking about it, i've gotten a bit too used to this life.
I hated this habit of forgetting things easily.
I almost forgot who i even was in my past life..
Although, i did forget how my own face looked like even in my past life so i'm not that surprised.
Soraya Charoki....Soraya Charoki....Soraya Charoki...
Profesional writer...or unemployed-
Actually no i did manage to pay my bills with the last 2 webnovels i wrote..so I guess i could be called a professional writer.
Dead mother and alive father, only child, college drop-out, had a few friends that tried staying in contact with me even after i stayed stuck inside my house for 5 years.
Cut off contact with most of my family. I can't even remember why..
My hobbies were...singing, drawing, writing and talking shit about people's backs online.
..Wait, the fact I woke up in my own novel reminds me of a trope i liked reading a lot in the past.
Geez, i am not fit to be a heroic protagonist..I can't even take care of myself back in my past life.
How could i try being a hero that saves others in this one?
Or maybe this was just a common occurrence and i just realized it now.
Sigh....
How bothersome.
Anyways..How should i act at school?
Should I just act like my usual weird geek self or should i just be a social butterfly..
Both of these choices are so bothersome, either way i'm going to suffer.
Worst case scenario, i'll just act indifferent or something like that.
Seeing as i'm E+ rank, i don't think i'll be the weakest in the class.
I remember the school being judged on what rank you are, having its own separate grading system called "Rating".
The students are going to first be separated into 2 halves, one is the stronger, higher rated half while the other includes more weaker rated students.
This system was to ensure no higher ratings would bully the lower ratings during class.
Each half would then be mixed into different classes to ensure equality between the classes, and make sure no class has an lower average rating than the other classes in their own halves.
The only issue would be if you were one of the students whose rating was perfectly in the middle.
If that was the case, you were allowed to chose what half you wanted to be part of, since you were neither a higher rating nor a lower one.
That was what i was planning to do, every year there was a middle rated student for the years so its not like this is something abnormal or new.
Since the school only accepts 5000 students per year, and I already got accepted into Kanita, i just hope i could get just enough to be rate 2500 exactly.
It's going to be a bit hard since i didnt exactly specify what the questions were in my novel.
It's fine though.
I glanced at Sora, who was trying to scroll on my phone to watch the next video.
Though she couldn't since she's a soul and doesn't have a physical body yet.
'...I can always use my free info dumper to pass the exam to get the rating i wanted.'
"Oi, why are you looking at me like you're going to use me?"
Surprised, i looked at her confused.
"Hm? Why are you saying that? I'm looking at you like i always do-"
"You're smirking like a psychopath planning to use me for their own gain."
...Ouch.
That hurt.
I put my fingers up to my lips and i was indeed smirking.
No wonder other novel protagonists enjoyed manipulating others, it's so fun!
I have a free info dumper here with me at all times that can't escape my side.
It's perfect!!
'Thank you whoever put me in this world!! Love ya~!'
"Ew....Get that shit-eating grin off your face, it doesn't suit you at all."
"Awhh Stop making fun of me, i'm a victim of bullying!! Soraya help me!!"
I acted pathetically to get Soraya's sympathy, obviously joking.
"Uh...mgh....Sora's right though.."
..
...
...Hah?
"...What do you mean Sora's right?"
"S....uhm...You look better with a straight and indifferent face....Smiling doesn't suit you at all..."
...How can the past version of me just say something this brutal?
"You hurt my feelings...sniff..."
"Yeah we don't care."
I glared at Sora at her reply.
"Oi, i'm older than you. Haven't you heard of the term "treat your elders with respect"?"
"Yeah I did...I don't care?"
Soraya just looked at both of us awkwardly, but she was clearly on Soraya's side.
"I'm disapointed in the both of you...."
I looked down pitifully.
"I'm disapointed of the fact you out of everyone had to possess my body"
...Did this arrogant 14 year old teenager just insult me again?
"....If you weren't a soul I would have beat your ass."
"Yeah womp womp i don't care!!"
Sigh..
I truly didn't know what to do with these kids...
"Alright...So uh...Is there anything i should know when going to Kanita High? Like, is there an exam or something in the beginning of the year?"
"Thinking about it....Yeah, the school accepts us based on our intelligence, and on the first day, the school would rate us based on our fighting capabilities."
I nodded before speaking again.
"So i don't have to do a writing exam?"
"Nope! I already did it so thats why i was already accepted into the school, but you need to train for the physical exams on the first day."
"Ok...mhm..."
Crossing my arms, i thought deeply about my physical abilities.
I could only distract, which isn't exactly usef-
"Before you say anything, yes, the school will make different exams based on what role we are, this is to make sure each student has an equal chance of actually passing the physical exams."
"Really? Well atleast thats one good thing.."
It just means I didn't have to force myself to fight, as this bodies role was being a distraction.
So i just have to train my swordarts and Mana control to pass the exam.
"S.."
"Hm- Yeah? Whats up?"
"..What rate do you want to have?"
"Uh, i want to be the middle rate, not too much attention if you know what i mean, why are you asking?"
Sora quickly rested her cheek on the palm of her hand for a few seconds, seemingly in deep thought as she closed her eyes.
She suddenly spoke up, keeping her eyes closed.
"Alright....You better try to be somewhat average in the physical exam then, you'll have a higher chance of being in the perfect middle rate then."
"Huh? Ok...."
I answered awkwardly, i really didn't expect her to just give me this advice this easily.
Was she secretly a genius or something?
This felt weird.
"...I'm still not ready to go to school....And this just means i have to train even harder for the role of a distraction..."
To be honest, i was a very lazy person, I didn't like exercising that much, which was why I didnt like training in this world.
But what was I supposed to do?
I would die if i didn't get somewhat strong.
Demons do sometimes enter human society to kill some mortals in advance before the huge demon attacks that would happen every few years.
Better be safe than sorry.
Quickly stretching my arms, i decided to go train for the second time today.
"Sora, is it possible to only practice being the distraction in the training room without having to fight?"
The only reasons i was even asking these questions was to refresh my memory about this world.
"I often used the training room to train my swordarts and nothing else, so i guess yeah it is possible."
I felt a bit happy at this new information as i wouldn't have to worry about getting hurt...
..Right?
***
"GOD FUCKING DAMN IT-"
I was trying to absorb the light mana in the air to use "Shining Starlight", I purposefully put a few mirrors in the room so i could see how I looked when using it.
But...This damn hologram kept swinging its sword at me.
I quickly avoided its attacks as I tried slowly absorbing the light particles around me to use my swordart.
Shling-
Their sword and my knife were now touching as I tried to defend myself, I couldn't stop myself from looking at the holograms eyes.
Though it looked like me physically wise, the way they were looking at me...
..It reminded me of one of my old ocs i created when i was younger.
It was cold and calculating, as if it was reading me like a book, like it knew my every move.
It was quite...
..Terrifying.
Thankfully, after a few minutes of defending myself and slowly absorbing the necessary mana, i managed to be able to activate it.
Swordart "Shining Starlight". Grade 3
First move: Light of Sunshine.
As soon as I activated the skill and saw light coming from my body, i immediately looked at the mirrors i put around the training room.
The sight...was terrifying to see.
My hair turned red, almost like fire, as it flowed around the air even though there wasn't any wind.
My entire body was a bright yellow-ish white color, almost like the sun...except my eyes.
The color of my eyes were shining even more brightly, it looked like a monster that was forever burning but was still alive.
Though, for some odd reason, i didnt find the light that bright to me.
My eyes didnt seem to burn at the sight, unlike the hologram who looked like they were looking directly into the sun, unable to look away.
Their eyes turned a bit red as they kept looking at me, a sign of sunburned eyes.
Was i really that bright to look at?
I did notice them looking at my eyes specifically, though it wasn't very clear, they looked almost scared as they looked deep into my eyes.
..That was so uncomfortable.
I quickly deactivated "Shining Starlight" to cut off the holograms head off.
...The staring was uncomfortable..
,----------------------------------,
`Swordart "Shining Starlight", grade 3, has leveled up!
`Level 1 -> 2.
Congratulations!
---
Reminder: Max Level : 36
`--------------------------------'
"Huh?"
"Oh yeah S....I forgot to tell you 2 things about swordarts.."
Why did she look so smug about forgetting to tell me 2 pieces of, probably important, information?
"What is it?"
She quickly took a deep breath before speaking.
"Welp...Most swordarts are actually earned from experience, if you keep a certain routine up for quite some time, you might accidentally earn a new swordart. They aren't exactly leaned by reading a swordart manual.."
"For example, to get "Shining Starlight", I often made it a habit to practice my mana control when i was outside in the sun, as there was more Mana available..I did this for around 3 years before accidentally getting this swordart."
Ah.
Understandable.
It made some sense if i thought about it well.
"And what is the 2nd piece of information you just-so-happened to forget?"
I made sure to make my voice sound annoyed so she would say it quicker.
"Ah- Well...Swordarts, unlike skills, can be leveled up, but only until level 36. And it takes an extremely long time to upgrade your level. Simply going from level 1 to level 2 took me my entire life to try getting, that's how hard it is."
Oh yeah-
I do remember putting a few small details to make my novel different from others.
I really was obsessed with the number 36 back then for some weird reason...
I can't even seem to remember why the number 36 seemed that important to me...
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Authors note: please remember to give me criticism if you deem it necessary, I don't have any experience writing anything but i still want to know what i can improve on, whether it'll be grammar, character development or even possible plot holes I may have forgotten about.
Hope you enjoyed reading!! :D