White walls reflected the soft glow of the overhead lights. The air carried the faint scent of medicine and medicinal herbs, mixed with a subtle metallic tang.
A large window stretched across one side of the room, raindrops tapping gently against the glass while the blurred city skyline lay beyond.
A single hospital bed stood at the center, its sheets tucked with practiced precision. Polished silver railings framed the bed, their cold surface gleaming beneath the lights. Beside it, a sleek monitoring unit hummed quietly, its display pulsing with a soft blue glow instead of the usual green.
Lying on the bed was a young man.
His snow-white hair was soft and slightly messy. His eyebrows and eyelashes shared the same silvery-white color.
He possessed an exceptionally handsome face. Bandages were wrapped around the parts of his body that had been injured.
His chest rose and fell steadily with each calm breath. He had not been unconscious for very long.
Suddenly, a strange sound echoed inside his mind. It was a sound that no one else could hear.
It grew louder and more persistent with every passing second.
The young man's brows furrowed.
He shook his head slightly. His eyelids twitched before slowly fluttering open. Confused blue eyes stared upward.
However, it was not the white ceiling that greeted his vision.
Instead, a translucent blue screen floated directly before him.
'What is that...? A status window? A system? Am I in another world or something?'
As someone who had spent countless hours playing games and reading novels, his mind instinctively reached that conclusion.
Then everything suddenly clicked.
he remembered the forest and the monster.
The magic he had somehow been able to use.
'What world am I in?' he wondered grimly.
The blue screen flickered as loud mechanical sounds continued to ring inside his head.
[Error!]
[Error!]
[Trying to synchronize with user... 0%! 0%! 0%!]
[Failed!]
[Synchronization failed.]
[Failed.]
[Merging Noah Eldritch's memories with user.]
The moment he read those words, a searing pain exploded through his mind.
"Aaaargh!"
He groaned, clutching his head with both hands as unfamiliar memories flooded into his consciousness.
Fortunately, the agony lasted only a few moments before gradually fading away.
The mechanical voice continued to echo.
His vision remained blurry as he stared at the floating screen. He blinked several times until everything came into focus. Veins bulged across his forehead from the pain he had just endured.
[Success! Memory merge completed.]
[User will gradually receive Noah Eldritch's memories to reduce the burden on the brain.]
[Synchronizing system with user.]
[Error!]
[System cannot synchronize with user!]
[Soul compatibility failed.]
[Ding!]
[User possesses no knowledge of the future.]
[Estimated survival chance until the end... 0%.]
[Ding!~]
[System initialization failed.]
[However, we pity this unfortunate user who has no future.]
[Although the system cannot function with you, we will grant you one final benefit.]
[For every major event you survive, you will receive rewards based on your contribution to that scenario.]
[That is all we can do for you.]
Aron—who was now Noah—widened his eyes.
'Wait... does that mean you won't talk to me? Or help me?' he asked anxiously.
[...]
[Affirmative.]
[We cannot communicate with you.]
[Rewards will be granted automatically if you participate in the main storyline.]
[Each scenario offers rewards based on your contribution.]
[If you do not participate, you will receive nothing.]
[Best of luck, use—no... Best of luck, Extra.]
[Goodbye.]
[---]
Just like that, everything fell silent.
For the first time since waking up, peace returned to his mind.
Noah quietly stared at the white ceiling of the hospital room.
His head still throbbed faintly.
'I am Noah Eldritch... from Odyssey of Eternal Gods' War*.'*
A bitter chuckle escaped his lips.
How could something like this even happen?
This had to be the worst possible outcome.
Just last night, he had downloaded the game and browsed through the character list. Among them was a minor character named Noah Eldritch.
An extra.
'Was that why he was included in the character list despite being nothing more than an extra? But... why me? I haven't even played the game. I know nothing about the future. Why was I the one who transmigrated?'
"Hah..."
He let out a weary sigh and rubbed his temples.
Thankfully, his body did not ache much anymore. Moving wasn't particularly difficult.
It was probably because people in this world possessed magic.
Still, no answer came to him.
What significance could he possibly have in a world whose future he knew nothing about? Without future knowledge... Without an overpowered system...
What exactly was he supposed to do?
Sigh...
He decided to stop thinking for the moment. There was no point pushing himself while he was still recovering.
'Did the original Noah die in that forest... and then I transmigrated into his body?'
No matter how hard he tried to push those thoughts aside, they refused to leave.
"Damn..."
His voice came out as a whisper.
"What about the real me? What about my family? Am I dead...?"
He closed his eyes. The thought of never seeing them again. Of not even knowing whether they were alive...
Made his chest tighten.
His mother's gentle voice echoed faintly in his memories. The way she always called him for dinner. The way she scolded him for working too much and staying up too late.
Then came the image of his father.
A quiet man who rarely expressed his feelings with words, yet always left a plate of freshly cut fruit beside Noah whenever he stayed up late studying or working.
Noah had worked hard in his previous life.
Yes, he stayed up countless nights playing games and binge-watching shows.
But whenever it mattered, he studied just as hard, often sacrificing his sleep.
Not because he was overly ambitious...
But because he simply wanted a peaceful and comfortable life.
More than that...
He wanted to give his parents that same comfortable life.
'Everything disappeared... just like that... in a single night.'
'Now I don't even know if I'll ever see them again.'
His fist clenched tightly beneath the blanket.
'I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye before ending up here.'
He had always thought transmigration stories were exciting.
But he had never wished to experience one himself. He had been happy with his life. He wasn't a loner. He didn't have a tragic past. He wasn't tired of living.
Then why... Why had he been transmigrated?
As those thoughts swirled endlessly through his mind, the door to the room slid open.
Noah turned toward the sound.
Standing in the doorway was the same man who had saved him earlier.
"Oh! You're awake."
The man exclaimed with a relieved smile.