Karel stared blankly ahead, his eyes intensely fixed on the young male teacher standing at the front of the class.
The teacher had a handsome face with a strong jawline, neatly combed black hair, and a pair of glasses that only added to his charm.
With broad shoulders and a tall, solid build, Karel couldn't help but think the man looked more suited to being a soldier than a teacher.
There was one thing Karel hid from everyone: he wasn't interested in women. In other words, he was gay. However, in his previous life, he lived in a conservative environment, which made it impossible for him to get a boyfriend. On top of that, he was always busy working.
And the man in front who was explaining the math material was his type.
After indulging himself in admiring the handsome figure scribbling formulas on the board, Karel shifted his attention to the classroom and stopped glancing sideways.
His peripheral vision caught the student sitting next to him, a young man diligently taking notes, completely the opposite of the other students who seemed lazy but were too scared to sleep in class because the teacher was known to be strict.
Daniel, the protagonist of this story, appeared perfect in his role except for the fact that he was poor. Yet, by the end of the story, the protagonist would possess enough wealth to buy an entire country.
"Main characters really are different" Karel muttered with a sigh.
The protagonist, who had been intensely watched by Karel, glanced at him briefly with a furrowed brow before resuming his note-taking.
After observing the protagonist, Karel shifted his focus to his empty notebook.
He let out a frustrated sigh. Even though he was already in his twenties, here he was, back in high school and dealing with math again.
Yeah, Karel was actually a grown man in his twenties who, because of a car accident, didn't die but instead ended up trapped in the novel he had been reading to unwind after work.
His current role in the book was that of an 18-year-old villain. Fortunately, he had taken over a wealthy character, which gave him some relief. At least he didn't have to work and could enjoy life however he wanted.
The teacher, who was writing on the board, unintentionally glanced toward the back row where Karel was sitting. His eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed Karel's odd smile.
Realizing the teacher was looking at him, Karel frowned and returned the gaze with an arrogant grin.
As if nothing had happened, the teacher calmly continued his lesson.
Shrugging indifferently, Karel smirked to himself, thinking that maybe the teacher was too scared to scold him because of his wealthy family background.
"Being rich is really nice"
After class, Karel returned to his massive house. Even though he had been living here for a week, he still couldn't get used to it.
After a quick stretch, he turned on his computer to monitor the stock market. Despite being wealthy, he preferred to stay cautious. Because in this story, his role as a villain would eventually meet a tragic end.
His hand moved the mouse, and his sharp eyes focused on the computer screen. Before he knew it, time had flown by, and it was already eight in the evening.
A knock at the door interrupted his concentration. "Come in" he said lazily.
A maid in uniform entered cautiously and bowed respectfully, clearly afraid of offending her temperamental master. "The master has returned and requests you join him for dinner" the maid said.
Karel was momentarily stunned. "The master?" he thought. The father of this body's original owner? What should he do? Would the man notice something different about his son?
Seeing the panicked look on her young master's face, the maid glanced at him with a hint of sympathy before bowing again and leaving the room.
After dressing appropriately, Karel made his way down to the dining room. There, he saw an imposing man in a black suit sitting silently at the far end of the table.
The man's cold expression or rather, his father's made Karel's knees tremble, reminding him of his former boss in his previous life, a man who could explode in anger at any moment.
Karel's eyes darted to the numerous chairs surrounding the table, confused about where he was supposed to sit.
The man lifted his head when he noticed Karel standing frozen at the door."What are you doing standing there?" The man's cold voice pierced Karel's ears, prompting him to quickly sit down in the nearest chair.
"Thirty minutes late. Do you think you're worth waiting for?" the man continued, his tone sharp and scolding.
Karel could only lower his head, intimidated by the man's authoritative demeanor, far different from what he had imagined.
Hars studied his son with a piercing gaze. Then, without warning, he picked up a stack of papers from the table and flung them toward Karel.
The papers flew through the air before scattering around Karel, some hitting him in the face, leaving him stunned.
Swallowing nervously, Karel's trembling hand picked up one of the papers. His eyes landed on the bold red score of 40 written on the answer sheet.
No wonder the old man was angry. But wait, wasn't it written in the novel that Karel was a cunning and smart villain who could even compete with the male lead in class?
Why was the villain's score so bad now?
Before he could understand the situation, his father stood up with a decisive movement and walked toward Karel with a cold stare. Without any further warning, his father gripped his arm roughly and pulled him up from his seat.
Karel could feel the strong, cold grip on his arm, making him wince. With all his might, he tried to break free from the hold.
"Father, wait."
But his words were ignored, and his father continued to drag him.
His brow furrowed. Why was this happening to him now?
He knew his grades were terrible, but did it deserve this kind of treatment?
Was the plot of the novel changing? But he had only been here for a week.
These thoughts kept swirling in his mind.
They walked through the large house's hallways, the sound of his father's footsteps echoing down the corridors. Some of the servants merely looked on with pity, but none dared to intervene.
When they entered what seemed to be his father's study, Karel was thrown to the floor.
"Damn, this body I've inhabited is so weak" he muttered, grinding his jaw.
His father walked to the corner of the room and took a whip from the wall. Karel heard the sound of the whip being gripped tightly, a noise that made him feel even more terrified.
Damn, he hated feeling so powerless.
The whip flew through the air for a moment before it struck his back with a sharp crack. The sound of impact filled the room, followed by an intense pain that shot through his back.
"These grades? Forty? Do you think this is acceptable for the son of this family? You used to get perfect scores. What happened to you?"
After saying that, the whip struck Karel's back again. With all his strength, Karel tried to hold back the pain, knowing that he couldn't do anything in this foreign world.
"If this happens again, do you know the consequences?" The harsh voice rang in his ears once again, followed by another lash.
"Stop embarrassing the family."
After hearing those words, the whip struck him once more, and this time, he couldn't hold on any longer. His head started to spin.
"You useless child."
"Your family's education clearly wasn't enough for a child like you."
"That slut of a woman gave birth to such a useless child."
Those voices kept spinning in his mind, making his head feel like it would explode. And from his hypothesis, it seemed like these were the original Karel's memories.
After that, various memories flooded his mind, making his head feel heavy.
One of his hands instinctively rose, clutching his head as if trying to stop the barrage of memories. His head throbbed painfully, along with the burning pain spreading from his back.
His vision began to blur, and the world around him spun faster, pulling him into darkness.
o0o