A sharp pain in my ribs woke me up, it seems I rolled in my sleep and that puts pressure on my broken ribs. While whining I sat straight in my bed and looked at the clock.

It was 4:43am and with the situation of my ribs I was sure I couldn’t sleep anymore so I got up, gasped from the sudden pain and coughed after that. I really need to visit a doc today.

After that I go to kitchen and drank some milk, which I throws up all of it because of pain but then I remembered something much more painful, today was the day that I will become a sophomore.

You may think I would be glad at the start of high school, I mean high school is fun. You meet your friends, play around, chasing skirt and …

But I’m not, at least not in this world. My name is Tony Herman, 28 years old and graduated from a computer science university, or at least I was.

One day I suddenly find myself in a novel’s world, I was shrunken, like before I was 6 feet 2 (188cm) but then I was 5 feet 5 (168cm) arrested by police, and sign up for second year in middle school.

Now you may wonder why I’m said it is a novel world or why I sign up for middle school? The answer is cause this world doesn’t makes any sense.

My guess is that a very shitty author writes it up; I mean there are monsters in this world, which are strong, very strong and should completely eliminate humans by now.

But humans are living peacefully inside cities that are surrender by high walls; they have advance technology but have battle high schools and middle schools and on top of that, they fight with sword and magic.

And after spending 2 years in this world, while depressedly looking for a way to goes back, I became a high school student, which didn’t end up really well and now I’m in second year.

While I wore my school uniform, which is a brown pants and light brown jacket with necktie. I looked at the clock on the wall and it was 6am, I was really glad that uniform wasn’t some kind of armor which was easier to wear and didn’t puts much pressure on my ribs but at the same time I was angry because if it was an armor I never would get this kind of injuries.

I go out of dorm and started walking to school, or limped to school. Main building was around 1.5 miles (2.4 km) away from dorms and I normally reach there in 30 min but with how my ribs are, if I reach main building by 8:30 I would call myself lucky.

While I was limping I reached woods near my dorm, after thinking a little I reached a conclusion that if I go in the woods I can take a detour and fortunately reach the school half hour sooner.

Normally I never go from there because of my shitty luck but depress times need depress measures.

There was a route created from students using the wood to goes back and forth to school so I started going from there. From what I know if I go straight I will reach a lake, after that I need walk around it and then I can see another route in middle of woods.

After reaching the lake I was surprised by how blue it’s water was and why a naked girl was bathing in there. But it was none of my business so I limped around it and when I almost reached the other side a shriek made me jump in the air, turn around and get into fighting stance.

It was a reaction I developed from numerous battlefields and saved my life a few times but this time it puts a lot of pressure on my ribs which made me cover my chest and sat down while trying my best to breath.

“Grrrrrr…”

A low growl exit my throat but I did my best to ignore the pain and focus on what going on.

I looked left and right but except the naked girl, which pointed at me there was no living being in sight so it really makes me confuse why she screamed like that.

“Yu… you you you… WHY YOU ARE HIDING AND PEEKING AT ME?”

This girl is really loud.I covered my ears and looked at the girl, squeezed my eyes so I can see her visage but all I managed to see was that she had red hair.

I looked around to see if she was talking about someone else but my hope crushed when I saw nobody else behind me.

“Can you shut the fuck off… please?”

As a gentleman I was proud to always mind my manner. The naked girl started foaming and it really confused the hell out of me how she was doing that.

“YOU… YOU… YOU YOU YOU.”

While it was amusing to see how she was repeating the same thing over and over like a broken tape but I didn’t want to be late for first day of my second year and spend my whole day listening to that teacher which likes to wear short skirt and I completely forgot her name.

So I make a U turn and continue my way to main building but then I sense gathering of a lot of mana. I didn’t even bother to looks back and just ducked.

A composed fireball passed where my head was and hit a tree around 10 feet (3m) away from me. It exploded with a loud bang and destroyed a chunk of the tree’s trunk and it started falling down, I rolled to right and dodged the falling tree.

When the tree dropped on the ground I sensed another gathering of mana.

“I WILL MAKE YOU FORGOT WHAT YOU SAW.”

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Loud, I picked up a rock and turned around, ignored the pain in my chest and aim for the fireball she was making and throws my rock at it.

It seems the girl didn’t expect something like this because even from where I was, I could see how wide her eyes get.

The rock hits the fireball and it exploded, throws away the girl and created some big waves in lake.

I got up and looked under my shirt to look at how bad my injuries was, it got worse from the sudden movements I done and right side of my chest became black.

“Damn, why when I’m in a freaking novel world I don’t get any of those fucking cheats main characters get?”

While cursing under my breath like a gentleman, I started going toward the main building and make an oath to never take the woods route, EVER. 

----------------------------------------

I finally reached the main building and saw Mrs. I-forgot-her-name waiting at the gates. She had a feral smile on her face and looks like she is enjoying my suffering to the best of her ability.

She pointed above with her index finger and when I looked up I saw the clock shows 8:35.

Shit.

Her grin wider and with the smuggest face I ever seen she points at billboard in corner of school’s yard.

“Go and see which class you’re in and goes to your class, after your classes end come to my office.”

All I could do was looking down and curse her entire family and the red hair girl which made me late, then I walked to billboard, with a cursory look I find my name in class 2-1 which if they didn’t changed school policy, the strongest kids from each year should be in class 1.

I entered the main building and limped straight to second floor, the staircase was the hardest part to go because after each step I would feel a sharp pain from my chest.

I was sweating from pain when I reached in front of my class door and when I tried to open the door; it opened on its own.

A smiley girl was behind it and when she saws me she screamed and goes back three steps before dropping on her butt.

I was dumbfounded and looking in class while people in class looked back at me. It was a really awkward situation but at that time I suddenly noticed something, it was like I come to wrong class so I looked up and saw in a plate above the door written ‘Class 2-1’

So… why all of them wearing a really nice looking blue uniform while I’m the only one with this ugly brown uniform?

An old guy with long beard and messy hair comes from behind of everyone in class, glanced at me and with a cold voice said:

“What with that uniform Mr. Herman? And why you’re late?”

“Isn’t this is the second year uniform sir? I mean they give this to me two weeks ago. And I’m injured, that’s why I couldn’t come here that fast.”

From previous experiences, I learned that the less you go on a teacher nerves, the less you will find yourself in life and death situations.

“Is this how you’re talking to your teacher kid? Got a problem with me?”

He comes forward and his nose was almost in my left eye, there were four-hair strands on top of his nose. But at least I tried to be nice. I looked up straight to his eyes and tried my best to answer with the nicest sound I could.

“Got a problem with that old fart?”

At least I tried.The teacher glared at me and then suddenly starts laughing.

“HAHAHAHA, this is the Tony I know.”

Suddenly something clicked in my mind and an impossible thought crossed my mind.

“Danny?”

“HAHAHA finally recognize me?”

I looked at him from head to toe and I don’t see even a single thing resemblance the Danny I know.

“Well you changed a lot man.”

“Come on, don’t break my heart. Its not like I changed that much.”

“Well if you call changing from a baldy with a head shinier than a mirror to a hairy gorilla not much, then sure. Whatever you say man.”

Danny’s face became stiff and students behind him starts laughing their ass off but with a glare from him they quiet down.

“Anyway lets go to conference hall, principal speech should starts soon.”

After saying that he pats my right shoulder but from the sudden pain I dropped on my knees.

“Fuck you Danny, cant your fucking eyes see I’m injured man?”

Danny looked at me with concerned and helps me to get up again.

“What happens to you Tony? And you didn’t tell me why you wore that old uniform?”

“Old uniform?”

“Where the hell you’ve been that you didn’t know that they changed the uniforms?”

“I was in expansionand come back last night. That’s where I get this injury.”

“Oh… so how it goes this time?”

I dropped my face and start walking toward the conference hall.

“Nothing man, there was a lot of new guys this time. So when encounter with a horde of Blikhes and shits goes down, they left the rank and flees. A third of us died, the rest were either heavily injured or at least have a few broken bones. That’s where I broke my ribs.”

“I see, so how you feels right now?”

“I feel like a Blikhes rammed straight to me. Stop asking stupid question and go ahead. I’m fine on my own.”

While we were chatting the rest of my classmates goes ahead of us because I walk really slow and Danny was walking beside me slowly and I don’t want him to be late.

He takes a look at me and with a nod he goes ahead of me, the face he made when he gone makes it really hard to read him but he most be worry about me, at least that’s what I want to believe.

----------------------------------------

Finally I reached the conference hall; silently I go in and saw students divided by gender, boys on the left row while girls on the right row. From the straps on uniform shoulder I noticed that third years are in front, second years are after them and the last are first years.

The door of conference hall was at it’s back so I was behind the first years but I was in too much pain and didn’t want to walk that much till I reach second year area so I dropped down on first empty seat I find and completely ignored the first years that point at me and whisper with each others.

Principal was talking something about how to do our best in getting stronger, which I didn’t pay any attention to it but I start looking at students.

This world is a shitty novel’s world so there should be a main character, if I find him or her I may be able to find a clue about how I can go home. At least it is my last hope.

While I was looking for main character students started to become noisy, they were looking at me, point at me, whispering and giggling about something they find funny.

“Look at him, did he think he would looks cool if he come to school with that old uniform?”

“He is trying so hard to look aloof, wonder what he thinks to sit with first years.”

“Maybe he think doing that makes him popular with girls.”

I didn’t mind any of them and focus on trying to find my mc. It seems principal speech was about to end and he was about to announced the class representatives.

In here the one that is strongest in the class, have the best grade and have good behavior would become the class rep.

“For first years, you would have a writing exam and a field exam in two weeks to determine your class representation so like always, we start from second years.”

“First for class 2-1, we had a lot of trouble to decide the class representation for this class but we decide even thought Mr. Herman is the strongest in class, he is not qualified for this role so we decide Mr. Frank Cotton would be the class representation. Please come here and get your badge.”

A young man get up and walks toward principal, he was blond and from female reactions he most be quite handsome, he goes and get the blue badge then bows and comes down.

Everyone where cheering for him but when he was midway to reach his sit, five girls get up and hugs him.

“Congrats Frank.”

“I’m so happy for you.”

…

I didn’t hear the rest but saw the love-struck look on their face and the dense boy that didn’t noticed any of this.

The boy that sits to my right side starts shivering but I didn’t care about that either.

“Finally find him.”

Unconsciously, that came out of my mouth and when I come to myself I noticed I was grinning like a madman.