Chapter 1: Death, Transmigration, System
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"It’s too big, Alex. I’m not sure it’ll fit in my mouth."
The television played as Harry’s body felt numb.
The beeping machines, the white walls, the faint sll of antiseptic—he had gotten used to it. For three months, that hospital room had been his whole world. Twenty-one years old, and cancer had already won.
A nurse walked in, offered a small smile, adjusted his IV, and walked out. He didn’t care. She was just doing her job. He barely even turned his head to watch her leave.
Instead, his eyes were locked on the screen beside his bed, where episode 22 of Elite Academy: Rise of the Genius played.
It was the usual. The main character, a guy nad Kyousuke, outsmarted another class with minimal effort. Class A celebrated, Class D fell further behind, and every girl sohow got flustered around him.
Harry scoffed.
"These guys are all idiots," he muttered under his breath.
He hated how the background characters had zero depth. Always simping, always losing, always existing to make the genius look cool. None of them ever asked questions. None of them ever fought back.
He paused the video. His hand trembled slightly, not from anger, but from weakness.
This was it.
He had maybe a few hours left, and he was watching a show that annoyed him more than it entertained him.
But what else was there?
No family, no friends—just a soon-to-be-dead guy with a list of regrets and a show he hated just a little less than everything else.
His vision blurred.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Then nothing.
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It should’ve been black. Empty. Peaceful.
But it wasn’t.
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[Ding! Welco to the Elite Academy.]
Harry’s eyes shot open.
Bright lights stung his vision. The sharp scrape of chairs on tiled floor filled his ears. There was no beeping, no IV drip, no scent of antiseptic. Just the low buzz of conversation and the faint sll of paper and air conditioning.
He sat upright—his back was straight, and he wasn’t in a bed.
What the hell...?
He looked down. His hands were thinner, younger. No needle marks. His arms were covered by a crisp school uniform—white shirt, black tie, deep blue blazer with a golden emblem on the chest.
Then he heard it.
"—and that brings us to the foundation of how the Elite Academy operates."
Harry—no, not Harry anymore—turned his head toward the front of the classroom.
A tall man stood by the board, sleeves rolled up and tie loosened just enough to look casual but sharp. He looked like soone who didn’t tolerate nonsense. His na tag read: Mr. Calborne.
The board behind him displayed a list:
Class A – Reserved for the elite. Top 1%.
Class B – Rising potential. Good behavior, steady performance.
Class C – Average. Replaceable.
Class D – Bottom tier. No expectations.
Mr. Calborne tapped the board with a tal pointer.
"Your worth at this academy is asured in points. Points determine your privileges, your food quality, your dorm access, even your toilet paper brand."
So of the students chuckled. He didn’t.
"You start with 1,000 points. Every month, your behavior, performance, and contribution to the class determines if that number goes up or down."
He looked over the classroom. "Let make this very clear: this school does not care about your feelings. Only results."
Harry blinked.
This... was the exact sa structure from the ani.
The sa speech. The sa teacher. The sa Class D.
No way...
He turned his head slowly, scanning the room.
Every seat was filled with the sa faces he’d seen in the background of the show. That guy with the square glasses and stutter. The quiet girl by the window. The tall athletic one who failed almost every exam but had fans because of his looks.
This wasn’t just a dream.
It was the ani.
He was in the show.
And not as the genius, or even a rival.
He was one of the extras.
[Ding! Class Bonding System Detected.]
[Scanning host mory... complete.]
[Assigning new user ID: Arios Pureheart.]
[Current Role: Background Student – Class D]
[Initializing tutorial...]
A sleek, translucent screen hovered before him. No one else seed to notice it.
He stared in disbelief as lines of text appeared.
[You have transmigrated into a fictional world you are familiar with.]
[Your goal: Escape diocrity. Rise to Class A. Outshine the original protagonist.]
[System: Class Bonding – Grow stronger by forming real emotional bonds.]
So I’m in the world of a show I couldn’t stand, he thought. And now I’ve got so weird... dating sim stat system?
[To clarify: This is not a dating simulator. Bonds must be genuine. Emotional, ntal, physical, or romantic. Superficial contact will not trigger growth.]
[First Quest Unlocked: Observe and Adapt.]
[Objective: Attend all classes for the next five days without penalty. Learn about your classmates. Identify potential bond candidates.]
[Reward: Bonding Unlock Tier I, Stat Window Access.]
[Failure: System Lockout.]
Arios exhaled slowly.
So that was it. No stat boost. No sudden overpowered cheat. Not yet.
He actually had to play the ga.
Fair enough.
He sat up straighter in his seat, just as Mr. Calborne clapped his hands once.
"Now that you all understand how this school operates, let tell you where you stand," the teacher said. "You’re in Class D. That ans the school expects you to fail. You were placed here for a reason—bad grades, bad behavior, or no potential."
Soone in the back laughed. "So we’re the trash class, huh?"
Mr. Calborne didn’t react. "Call yourselves whatever you want. Just know that Class D has never made it to Class A in the history of this institution."
He let that sink in for a mont, then added, "You’ll have to work harder than anyone else. And you’ll have to work together."
A few students scoffed. So exchanged glances. One girl rolled her eyes.
These people weren’t special. Not yet. But he knew how this story played out. The genius—Kyousuke—was in this very class, biding his ti, already laying his traps.
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After class ended, the students filed out slowly. A few chatted. So hung back. Arios stayed in his seat, scanning the room.
There he was—Kyousuke. Sa calm expression. Sa disinterest in everyone else. He didn’t speak unless spoken to. Just sat quietly near the back, already thinking ten steps ahead.
Arios looked away.
Picking a fight now would be pointless. He was just a background character, and the system hadn’t even fully activated yet.
He glanced down at his uniform. The na "Arios Pureheart" was stitched above his blazer pocket.
Harry’s dead. This is now.
And if he was going to climb the ladder, he had to play this world better than the one who was built to win it.
[Quest Reminder: Attend all classes this week. Build a profile on your classmates. No bonds will be initiated until completion.]
[Ti Remaining: 5 Days]
Arios closed the screen with a sigh.
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