Brrrrrrrriiiiiing!

The alarm rang, piercing his ears and invading his mind, still trapped in a dream.

The disturbance shattered his deep sleep, forcing him to grope around with his hand.

But he grasped nothing.

Frustrated, he threw his pillow toward the source of the noise.

Unfortunately, it missed the alarm, which continued blaring from the table.

"Ugh… ten more minutes…"

Ignoring the alarm, he stubbornly tried to fall back asleep, even though deep down, he knew he had to wake up.

The result was his defeat. The alarm had successfully ruined his sleep, and made his head dizzy.

Reluctantly, he got out of bed to turn off the alarm.

After that, he lay back down.

"This is better."

But then, his eyes snapped open as he realized something.

"Wait… wasn't I dead? Why am I waking up?"

*********************

It happened on his way home from school.

At that time, his favorite web novel, Zeus's Abandoned Descendant, who is already in the last arc, had just released a new chapter.

It was the most exciting moment for readers.

As a devoted reader, he couldn't wait to dive into it.

That's why he walked home while reading Zeus's Abandoned Descendant.

But it was a mistake.

Too engrossed in reading, he lost focus on where he was walking and unknowingly stepped off the sidewalk and onto the street.

Then, a truck's horn blared.

The next moment, his body was struck and sent flying.

An unbearable pain spread throughout his body. But it was only for a moment.

Because right after that, his consciousness faded—along with his life.

****************

"I was definitely dead back then. Even if I somehow survived, I should've woken up in a hospital. But this place…"

Looking around, he realized he was in a luxurious bedroom.

The floor was made of marble, a chandelier hung from the ceiling, a large mirror stood in the corner, and paintings decorated the walls.

"No matter how I look at it, this isn't a hospital."

He walked around the room, trying to understand his current location.

But when he looked in the mirror, he couldn't help but be shocked.

"Who is this guy?!"

His previous appearance was that of a short and scrawny body, dull brown skin, messy black hair like a doormat, and brown eyes like seventy percent of the human population.

But the reflection in the mirror showed a young man with a tall and slender figure, flawless snow-white skin, gleaming black hair, and mysterious violet eyes.

"Eh… heh… what is this…?"

Confused, he couldn't comprehend what was happening.

His body staggered until he bumped into a table.

On the table lay an identification card.

Seeing it, he read the name: Alpha Extraion.

Next to the name was a photo—showing the same face as his reflection.

"Alpha Extraion…?" he muttered, digging through his memories. "Isn't he a side character in Zeus's Abandoned Descendant?"

Alpha was a minor character who appeared early in the story.

Specifically, when the protagonist first entered Eden Academy.

There was an exam requiring students to duel.

Alpha was the protagonist's opponent.

It was pure coincidence—they had no prior connection before that event.

But in that duel, Alpha died.

The protagonist, unable to control his powers properly at the time, accidentally killed him.

From then on, the protagonist swore to be more careful in using his powers.

In other words, Alpha Extraion was nothing more than a disposable character used for the protagonist's development.

"There's no way I'll accept that fate," he shouted in anger. "No one wants to die just for character development!"

The most efficient way to avoid that fate was to leave Eden Academy.

But—

"I don't want to leave this elite academy."

He was still a teenager with dreams of graduating and securing a bright future.

In that case, he had to take a different approach, even if it was troublesome.

He had to become strong.

"I need to obtain the Ethereal Bloodline."

In this world, status and power were determined by Bloodlines.

A Bloodline was a power inherited through the blood of a particular family or race.

The origin of Bloodlines came from ancient entities—Gods, Progenitors, Mystical Beasts, and Legends.

Because of these four origins, Bloodlines were classified into four classes.

The weakest and most common was the Progenitor Class, originating from the first beings who established a race.

Every person in this world had a Bloodline from the Progenitor Class, making it the most ordinary and widespread.

Alpha's Bloodline also came from this class, inherited from the Progenitor Adam, the first human.

"Adam's Bloodline is the weakest… this is awful… Why do I have to be a side character? I want to be the protagonist."

He was frustrated with his fate.

After all, this world was one of violence.

The weak could only die.

In fact, those with Adam's Bloodline had the highest death rate in this world.

"But I'm a reader," he grinned to comfort himself. "I know all the secrets of this world. I'll use that knowledge to obtain the strongest Bloodline—Ethereal."

In the novel itself, Ethereal was the Bloodline the protagonist acquired in the last arc.

It was introduced as the strongest Bloodline.

But ironically, obtaining it wasn't that difficult.

That was actually a plot twist in the novel.

For Alpha, obtaining it was as easy as flipping a hand.