After the memories receded and the merging finally came to an end, the darkness surrounding me faded away, and my physical senses slowly returned, bringing with them a storm of conflicting emotions.
I regained consciousness and opened my silver eyes, staring at the bathroom ceiling for a long time.
Confusion. Hesitation. Disbelief.
But more importantly than any of that... I was no longer only Jin, nor merely Raven.
I was the fusion of two completely different people.
I began trying to organize my thoughts. At times, I felt as though I were Jin, with Raven being nothing more than memories. Then moments later, I felt like Raven, while Jin became the memory instead.
And somehow, amidst all of that chaos... I was both of them.
At first, I thought it was possession of a body. But it wasn't.
It felt more like a complete merging.
No... more than that. It felt as if I had somehow regained my true self.
A strange feeling, considering the contradiction surrounding my existence.
"I never thought something like this would happen to me... just like in novels."
After what felt like a long silence, I finally spoke.
My voice was slightly hoarse, cold, and rough.
"To put it simply... even if I am a contradictory being now, I am Raven. And I will live as him."
Raven Klainte.
The son of the beautiful woman, Celisia.
The moment I remembered her smile, I smiled faintly myself.
But it vanished just as quickly, replaced by pain, anger, and the freezing hatred twisting my expression.
After my mother died, a rescue team found me.
Some time later, they placed me in an orphanage.
But the cold personality I had become never suited such a place, so I ran away.
Perhaps thanks to my mother's blessing, I managed to survive after that.
A faint smile returned to my lips as the hatred eased for a moment.
After escaping, I lived like a beggar, taking whatever work I could just to survive.
"If I had been smarter, I would have stayed there... but my stubbornness won."
I mocked myself quietly.
Right now... I felt more like Raven than Jin.
Still, after years of scraping by, I eventually managed to gather enough money to take care of myself.
"But this is surprising..."
At that time, my only focus had been training so I could enter Erthina Academy.
Yet something else bothered me.
This all felt familiar.
Like a key unlocking a sealed chest, something shifted inside me again.
My thoughts changed. My emotions were replaced with tension as I began realizing certain truths.
I moved my body slightly, then rose to my feet.
Now that the pain had vanished, standing was easy.
I looked into the mirror once more .. in This time, the feeling was different.
Messy black hair. Pale skin. Silver eyes ...Well None of it felt strange anymore.
I washed my face again.
"Hoo..."
I took a deep breath and returned to my room.
My bedroom... inside this small apartment.
I opened the door and walked straight toward the computer placed near my bed.
It didn't look too old.
I plugged it in, powered it on, and quickly connected to the internet.
Then I began typing search after search.
With every page that appeared before me, my expression slowly changed.
Shock,Tension and Confusion.
Then calmness... No... not calmness.
Despair.
I had discovered something, though I wasn't sure whether it was fortunate or not.
Ranked monsters.
The continent of Erthina.
Erthina Academy.
And most importantly...
"Hahaha... I'm dead."
I was inside a novel.
A novel abandoned by its author and left unfinished.
A story where no one knew where the plot would go.
Villains everywhere.
Monsters humanity could barely survive against.
Foreign beings from outside the world.
Demons.
"No... I'm not merely unlucky. I'm the most unlucky bastard alive."
I was inside a novel.
A novel I had read more than once back on Earth.
"World Record."
"Unfinished."
"Tell me this is a joke."
I slowly gripped my hair as my thoughts spiraled.
The first thing that unsettled me most was my death in my previous life.
It had been... peaceful.
Far calmer than I ever expected.
Minutes passed as I remained seated, staring at the ceiling.
"Alright... let's at least be happy that I gained a new life instead of dying for good."
Despite everything, I couldn't erase the happiness rising inside me.
The joy of being alive.
A second chance.
"If it belongs to Jin or Raven... no. It's a second chance for me."
"For the me who is both of them."
The moment I reached that conclusion, adrenaline surged through my mind.
"I don't need fear. I don't need anxiety. I don't need anything else."
"I'll accept this blessing, no matter why it was given to me."
A silver light ignited in my eyes as I clenched my fist with resolve.
The confusion and fear disappeared.
Only cold determination remained in my depths.
And amidst all of that, there was one thing I needed.
"Status."
My usual cold voice echoed through the silent room.
Like in fantasy novels, a system-like screen with limited functions appeared before me.
A blue panel with black letters.
Simple. Clean.
[Name: Raven Klainte]
[Condition: Vitality Consumption]
[Vitality: E (-E)]
[Endurance: +E]
[Strength: E]
[Speed: +E]
[Mana: -D]
[Ability (1): Locked]
[Ability (2): Locked]
[Element: Inactive]
[Skills: Combat (2), Cold Rationality (1), Mana Control (3), Swordsmanship (2), Firearms (1)]
[Rank: E]
"Average, huh..."
I looked at my panel and sighed after a while.
Even though my stats were good enough to place me among the top twenty in the academy, compared to the main characters... I was weak.
"But not by the time the academy begins."
A wide smile spread across my face.
I was Raven—a person born in this world.
But I was also Jin—the reader of the novel.
And what is one thing readers know well?
Yes, my dear world... theft.
I would steal treasures.
Steal skills.
And if I still remained weak after that—
"fuck."
Pain suddenly shot through my face.
I wasn't used to smiling so much.
Now I had three goals.
First: become stronger and steal whatever useful skills and treasures I could.
Second: live a good life.
As I remembered my mother's words, the light in my eyes dimmed slightly... before determination returned once more.
But that wasn't all.
A freezing aura burst from me like snow, and purple mana erupted around my body.
"Revenge."
I had not forgotten who killed my mother.
The monsters.
And above those monsters were sages and rulers who commanded them.
Monsters. aliens. Demons.
All of them were my enemies.
Hatred blazed inside me, and the mana around me trembled violently.
"Perhaps if I weren't Raven, I would have ignored everything and never entered the academy..."
"But I am Raven."
"My hatred has not faded."
"Even if my soul now belongs to two different people, even if that brought contradiction into me..."
"I have matured."
"I understand many things now."
"But that hatred never disappeared."
Since the academy and the main characters stand against the monsters...
I will interfere with the storyline.
I don't care about preserving an unfinished plot.
So I will step into it.
And begin