I opened my eyes—eyes capable of perceiving millions of colors, not a blurry view or mere black and white like an animal's eyes.
I saw a white ceiling adorned with bright light bulbs.
My eyes blinked a few times.
I could feel that my eyelids were wet and my eyelashes were touching each other.
"This…?!"
I was sitting on a narrow bed. The mattress beneath my buttocks felt thin and slightly deflated.
Next to my bed was another bed. Snoring could be heard from the person sleeping on it.
A metal cabinet in the corner of the room, a small desk with a stack of books nearly toppling over—this place looked like a school dormitory.
But that wasn't what made my heart race.
I clenched both my hands, then let them go. I stared at my palms. There were lines, fingerprints, and tiny pores.
After all this time... do I finally have a normal human body?!
I picked up the small mirror lying on the table next to my bed.
A young man with messy black hair stared back at me from the glass reflection.
A few pimples on my face, large bags under my eyes, chapped lips—but I didn't think my face was ugly.
Despite those flaws, there were two eyes that could see, a nose that could smell the wood and dust in this room, and a mouth that could open and close.
'Is this who I am now?!'
The corners of my lips turned up.
I got out of bed. My feet touched the floor, and the cold from the wooden tiles spread across the soles of my feet.
I lifted my left foot, then my right, then took a small hop.
Two legs that can run. Two hands that can strike. No wheelchair. No paralyzed body that can only surrender.
'Everything is normal. No disability.'
I almost laughed out loud. But the laughter got stuck in my throat.
Questions arose in my mind. Not about my body. But about the place. About identity. About who I am in this world.
Before I could search for answers, a notification panel appeared before my eyes.
[Restrictions have been lifted.]
[You can use all the skills you have acquired.]
I furrowed my brow. Was it because I had become human again? Or because the game's timeline had begun?
But that didn't matter now. What mattered was that I had access to the skills I possessed, including the most useful ones right now: Compound Eye to view status, and Blood Memory to access memories.
I shook my head to keep from recalling the terrible experience of acquiring those skills back then.
I didn't receive a full explanation for every skill I acquired. But I could instinctively grasp the purpose of each one, just like how I use my own hands and feet.
[Compound Eye - Activated.]
Information about myself appeared before me.
[Name: Scorn Rothfield
Age: 18
-Stats-
Strength: E
Intelligence: E
Speed: E
Mana: E
-Skills-
Swordsmanship (Lv. 1).]
'Nothing special. Nothing out of the ordinary.'
I deactivated the Compound Eye, and my vision returned to normal.
Just as I was about to use Blood Memory, a pillow flew toward my head. But I managed to catch it.
"Uh... Scorn? Are you awake?"
The attack came from my roommate. The person who had been snoring was now sitting up with half-open eyes.
"Why are you making so much noise?" He yawned. "Ah, right. Breakfast. As usual, buy me some."
He grabbed a small wallet from under his pillow and tossed it toward me. The wallet landed right next to my feet.
"What if I don't want to?"
"Pfft~ do you even have the money to buy your own food?"
I rummaged under my pillow, in my shirt pocket, and inside the closet. Nothing. Am I… poor?
"Don't forget the mission you were given. We'll meet at the usual spot. There's going to be a surprise today."
He gave a faint smile, squinting his eyes.
Then he lay back down, his back to me, and within seconds, his snoring filled the room.
I picked up his wallet. It was heavy. It was quite full.
"Mission? Usual spot? Surprise?"
I didn't understand what my roommate meant. But one thing I was certain of: Scorn was a lapdog. And a lapdog had no right to refuse orders.
I slipped the wallet into my pocket.
"At least I can go out and look around. Find out where I am."
I stepped out of the room.
***
After walking for quite a while, I finally made it out of the dormitory.
I stopped at the door.
Outside, floating islands hung in the sky like giant fruits that never fall. Some were small, only the size of a field; others were large, with towering buildings atop them, glass and steel glistening in the morning sunlight.
I opened my mouth slightly.
"Seeing it in person really is different."
Back then, all of this was just an image on a 6-inch phone screen. Now I'm standing right in the middle of it. I can feel the wind, smell the air, and hear the sound of wings as creatures fly overhead.
A creature resembling a giant lizard passed by, its shadow sweeping across the ground. A robed human sat on its back.
"This isn't a dream, huh."
Without me realizing it, several students had already passed by. They were wearing the same uniform—a brush emblem neatly pinned to their pockets.
As a player of *The Bad Ending is The Only Route*, I was, of course, familiar with that uniform.
It was the uniform of the students at Inkstone Academy.
"Oh, look at that."
Two students walked past me, not bothering to lower the volume of their whispers.
"Scorn, right? That's his name?"
"Yeah. A poor noble who's willing to suck up to anyone just to survive."
"Poor guy. But whatever, he chose to be a dog himself."
Their soft laughter faded around the corner.
I wasn't angry. After thousands of years as various creatures, human taunts felt like a passing breeze.
Scorn Rothfield.
I bit the tip of my finger until a drop of blood appeared. Then I sucked it in.
[Blood Memory - Activated.]
Memories from this body's owner flowed like a reel of film.
Scorn, a young noble from the Baron family, who only owned a small flying island territory on the outskirts of the Solaria Kingdom.
He ran away from home because he didn't want to be forced into a marriage with an ugly widow. Once he reached the capital, he ended up as a vagrant, scavenging for scraps at the market.
Luckily, he awakened and gained a Level 1 Swordsmanship skill, allowing him to be accepted into Inkstone Academy.
But at this academy, he found no peace. He was just a lapdog. His roommate, the upperclassmen, and even some janitors who knew his weak position—they all felt entitled to boss him around.
Fetching food, carrying things, and being the target of anger when something went wrong. All of that had become a daily routine.
"Ugh!"
I clutched my head. The world spun for a moment. I almost fell, but I managed to put my hands on my knees.
'So, I'm the nameless character, huh.'
Unlike the main characters, who possess rare skills or are descendants of heroes, Scorn is just a minor character.
But I remember it.
Scorn Rothfield is said to die at the beginning of the story—during the main character's resurrection event.
His death isn't even considered a significant event. Just a small image in the background showing his body lying there.
'And now I'm inside the body of that unlucky character.'
I sighed.
"I won't let that happen."
I've died too many times already. If I die again, I don't know when I'll be reincarnated as a human.
"Should I run as far away from the main characters as possible?"
No. In every bad ending I've encountered, it all ends with the destruction of this world.
There's no safe place to run to.
Since running away is impossible, there's only one answer left. To become stronger. I can't rely on the main characters because they're only headed for a bad ending.
"I have to create my own happy ending."
I clenched my fists tightly.
But in the distance, in front of the cafeteria door that was starting to get crowded, I saw a woman standing. Long black hair, thick bangs covering part of her face. Her body stood out in the crowd because of her chest—her unique presence.
And even from this distance, I could feel her eyes fixed on me.
'Isn't that…'