--
'God...or whatever entity you are that's responsible for bringing my ass in this world...it's still not too late for you to return me or just remove me permanently, you know? '
'This is kidnapping, I tell you! I didn't want to be here, so please! Take me back! Get me away from this place! '
Amidst the sea of young men and women standing in a large courtyard with most of them wearing excited but nervous faces, nobody would ever think that someone from this crowd was thinking about these outrageous thoughts.
Well, considering his line of thought, nobody would really guess it right, especially considering today's event. They'd probably just think that this person, like everybody else around him, was excited and nervous for the same reason.
The young man, whom the previous inner commentary comes from, stood amidst the crowd of people around the same age as him. Like them, his expression looked a little unnatural...as if he were constipated or something. Not really that much different from the rest. But he knew better...
Unlike others, he wasn't excited or nervous. He was scared. He didn't want to be here. He didn't expect to wake up here. Hell, he never once imagined that he'd be in this position.
This young man harbors a phenomenal secret, one that would very well shake the very foundation of this era and of this world. And that is, his soul...was not of this world.
No, he didn't steal someone's identity. He reincarnated here, and it wasn't until just last night that he finally remembered his past life. And to his shock, the world around him was something he recognized.
It was from a story he read once upon a time. One of those light novels of the martial arts genre with a trashy plot and trashy characters, but it had a unique charm that made it somewhat popular and somehow got his attention.
It's called the 'Tales of the Martial God.'
(AN: Any similarities from any work of the same name and title are purely coincidental. This isn't a fanfiction.)
He read it a couple of times, not because he loved it, but because he had nothing else to read, and doom scrolling was just too good of a way to pass time. The work was free. No paywalls, decent grammar, and somewhat popular, so why not, right?
Typically, others in his shoes would feel excited. They'd probably begin thinking about great things like cutting off opportunities they knew were destined for the main character, intercepting beauties, changing the world, becoming famous, and, since this world revolves around martial arts, becoming so overpowered that they become the next 'God' in it.
But this one? This young man with an old soul who knew exactly what kind of mess he was thrown in? Yeah, no. Not excited at all. In fact, he dreaded this new reality of his.
Being thrown in a trashy romance novel would be ten times better than being here; that much is true.
"Ahem!!"
Every nervous and excited teenager froze upon hearing that deep and rumbling voice that seemed to echo across the entire courtyard. All the chattering paused, every head turned his way, and everybody had to listen.
"Good day to you, children."
The man on the platform was six feet tall and an incredible unit of a man with a bulky physique and a heavy presence. His eyes were so sharp that it seemed that he was constantly giving everybody a death glare. He was old, obvious by his gray hairs and beard, but far from being weak. His back was ramrod straight, giving everybody an impression that he could prop up the sky if it ever falls.
"Today is your auspicious day. The time has come for your initiation ceremony."
"You've entered the preparatory school the moment you turned six. You began your education at such a tender age, and all of us, the school's staff, have watched you grow into the fine seedlings that you are now."
"You spent a decade—ten years—studying everything you need to learn about this vast and incredibly complicated world that we live in."
"You were taught how to read and write. You were taught how to express good manners. You were taught how our world works to prepare you before we eventually sent you there, and most importantly, you were prepared and primed for training."
"You learned introductory knowledge about martial arts and how it runs our whole world."
"All of that is for this very moment, the moment when you finally enter the world of martial arts for real. And it all starts here, with the Initiation Ceremony."
Ten years of prep school, starting at six years old and ending at sixteen years old. And it had to be emphasized that this was just the 'preparatory' level. Everything they learned in this school? It's only to give them an idea of what they'd see the moment they step out into the real world.
This 'initiation ceremony,' whatever this means for all the young men and women in this courtyard, is just a rite of passage, one that would become a key factor in how the world would start reacting to them.
"I know you've learned what will take place here, and all of you have probably grown tired of hearing it. Honestly, I really don't blame you. I'm tired of it too, and I have to do this every damn year." The man chuckled in an attempt to ease the feelings of the students.
"But, hopefully for the last time, I'd still have to give you the rundown of how the Initiation Ceremony works."
"The initiation ceremony is a ritual that awakens your martial physique."
"Martial Physiques are your constitution, the very foundation where your road of martial arts will be built upon. Martial Physiques are ranked from Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Mythic, Sacred, and Divine."
"The common grade martial physique is graded from grade 5 (lowest) to grade 1 (highest)."
"Rare grade martial physiques and above aren't graded the same way anymore since, from this rank onwards, they start showing unique signs that couldn't be ranked or compared easily against other martial physiques."
"This initiation ceremony happens every year, and today, it's your turn. One by one, we will call upon your names, and we will awaken your martial physique."
"Do note that, regardless of whether you awaken a good martial physique or not, the doors of martial arts will never close their doors to you. So long as you persevere, you will succeed. Do not lose hope."
"With all that being said, I announce that this year's Initiation Cermony officially begins! I wish you all luck. May humanity's martial arts prosper forever!"
After saying his piece, the preparatory school's principal (yes, he was the principal) went down from the podium and was replaced by another school staff member who started calling out names.
He called out five people at once to awaken their martial physique; the equipment and the operators were already in position, so the ceremony began in earnest.
As for the young man who had been panicking and dreading this new reality he found himself in? He has 'cooled down' by now. No longer as twitchy or as anxious as he was about 10 minutes ago.
No, the principal's speech didn't comfort him. Hell, he didn't even listen to it. Frankly, he doesn't need to. He already memorized the man's speech because he delivers it the same way he does every damn year. He doesn't even bother tweaking it, which directly shows how much he didn't give a damn about it.
This young man had read about the same speech and had heard it delivered the same way with the same exact words every damn year before the memories of his past life were awoken. So, yes, he also didn't give a damn about the man's speech.
Besides, as flowery and as friendly that man's speech was, only idiots would fall for it.
As an avid reader of this world's story, how can he not know the damn truth?
Martial physiques are one's foundation of martial arts, yes, but saying that talent doesn't mean anything takes away the whole purpose of this ceremony.
If it were so meaningless, why make it a spectacle that happens each year? Can't it be a private matter since it doesn't matter what one awakens anyway?
So yes, that man was lying, but for a good reason. He doesn't want students to make a scene during this ceremony, and giving them false hopes was a good reason to prevent that from happening.
The reason why he 'cooled down' was because he already realized that there's no escaping this situation of his.
Regardless of how much he panicked, or how much he dreaded being here, or how much he hoped that this were all just a cruel nightmare that he'd just awaken to a couple of hours later, nothing would change a damn thing.
He was here now, that much was true. He already confirmed it in multiple ways he could think of, and everything led to the same conclusion.
The line went on quite quickly, especially since so far, nobody has awakened a decent martial physique just yet.
But it's also because of this that, soon, his turn came.
"Soren Marek Vire!"
'Yep. That's me. In this world, I start as an AI-generated side character.'