A Week in Another's Body
It has been a week since I woke up in this body! Strange thoughts toy with my mind, and I feel on the verge of madness. Why haven't I returned home yet?
I need to wake up! My exams are in two weeks, and here I am, stuck in this bizarre reality.
I've tried everything to escape this dream—slapping myself, splashing cold water on my face, even trying to sleep again in the hopes of waking up back in my own bed. But nothing worked. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't wake up.
At this point, I felt like I was losing my grip on reality. My thoughts wandered to absurd ideas, like the notion that I might have been transported to another world. You know, like those strange novels where the protagonist dies in their world and reincarnates in another to fight demon lords or something equally dramatic.
But there's a small, very tiny problem—I am not a protagonist!
I was pretty sure I hadn't died either. Sure, the owner of this body might have been stabbed and killed, but I hadn't! No truck hit me, nor did I suffer some tragic death to justify my arrival in a new world.
So, I convinced myself that this must be nothing more than a dream. Yes, just a dream. A vivid, oddly coherent dream from which I would eventually wake up and return to my mundane life.
Still, everything here felt too real. I felt hunger when I didn't eat, pain when I slapped myself, cold when I splashed water on my face—and above all, boredom. A week of isolation in this small apartment without any form of entertainment was pure torture.
Now, you might wonder why I didn't simply leave the apartment. The answer is simple. Ridiculously simple: a threat.
The first message I received in this world was a threatening letter:
[You bastard! Do you think you can run from us? You owe us money! If you don't pay up within two weeks, I swear I'll hunt you down, tear you apart, and sell your organs on the black market!]
At first, I thought it was just some angry thug venting nonsense. I ignored it, prioritizing my more pressing concern—figuring out how to return to my world.
But then I discovered how much "I" owed this lunatic.
10 million!
I don't know the exact value of money in this world, but in my previous life, 10 million of anything was an outrageous amount! And this body's previous owner—a mere kid who doesn't even look 16—owed that sum?
"And now, because I've taken over this body, I'm supposed to deal with his mess?!"
I was furious, but also scared. Receiving dozens of threatening messages convinced me to barricade myself inside. I locked all doors and windows, especially after realizing this lunatic knew where I lived.
What's worse, I still don't know how this body's owner died or who stabbed him. There was no murder weapon to be found, leading me to believe it was a homicide, not a suicide.
So, I decided to play it safe. After all, even if this is a dream, who says survival instincts don't kick in during dreams?
"Better safe than sorry."
---
Ding.
"...!!"
A sudden, transparent, three-dimensional screen popped up before me, startling me enough to leap back.
"Argh! I hate this stupid watch!"
The voice that escaped my lips was a mix of frustration and annoyance.
This "watch" was something I found while exploring the apartment, desperate to alleviate my boredom. There was no smartphone in sight, but this watch was apparently just as good. It could send and receive messages, make calls, and probably do a lot more that I couldn't figure out.
Whenever I got a message, a holographic screen like something out of a sci-fi movie would appear. And now, another one had just popped up.
I braced myself for another threat from the "angry thug" but was surprised to see a different sender this time.
---
**[WARNING:
Student: "Casper Allen"
Rank: 2000
Class: E/13
85 points have been deducted due to continued unexcused absences.
You have 15 points remaining. If you fail to attend classes by tomorrow or provide a valid excuse, you may face severe consequences, including expulsion from the Academy.]**
---
My eyes widened in disbelief as I stared at a single word: "Expulsion."
"Wait... expelled from what?! The Academy? What does that even mean?"
Confusion swirled in my head. An academy? I had no idea what they were talking about. But reading the words "final expulsion" triggered a foreboding sense of doom.
"Tch. Do I actually need to start taking this seriously now?"
---
Morning came on the eighth day of my time here. I finally admitted to myself what I had been denying all along—I wasn't in a dream. I had been transported to another world.
But that didn't mean I was giving up on returning home. Oh no, not at all. I was simply adapting, doing what humans do best, while plotting my way back.
Today, I was finally going to leave the apartment—for the first time in this new world. My destination? The Academy.
"Wow, saying it like that makes it sound like I'm heading to war," I muttered with a wry smile.
---
As for how I planned to find the Academy? Easy. I had already learned its name: Elias Academy. Asking for directions wouldn't be difficult.
I glanced back at the messy apartment one last time before stepping out.
"It's a disaster," I murmured, eyeing the empty food containers scattered around, the pillows tossed haphazardly on the floor, and the blood-stained blanket I had thrown out of the window days ago.
Yes, I had been too lazy to clean it. I mean, who would trace a bloody blanket back to me, right?
"Let's stop overthinking. Time to go before I lose my nerve."
Taking a deep breath, I gripped the door handle and twisted it open.
This was it. My first step into the world outside.