The title had drawn him in first. Most NovelBins wore long, descriptive names built to snag a reader at a glance, but Chronicles of a Demon Hunter could have sat on a shelf beside any traditionally published book. Evan had already worked through nearly every popular series, so he gave it a chance and was hooked before long.
The premise was well worn, but the writing was exceptional. Some chapters simply followed the road, while others lingered with Reuel as he sat alone with his thoughts. The story never seemed in a hurry to reach its next plot point.
As the months passed, he became the author’s only regular reader, and the comments beneath each chapter slowly grew into lengthy conversations. They often strayed from the plot to the workings of the magic system, and Evan, fascinated by its mechanics, filled an entire notebook with glyphs and arrays as he tried to make sense of how the magic worked.
Reuel's journey stretched across chapter after chapter, and somewhere along the way, Evan grew attached to him. He watched Reuel rise from an orphaned street urchin who owned nothing to become the world's greatest Demon Hunter, enduring every hardship until he finally slew the Demon King.
But the story did not end with the Demon King's death. The final chapter found an aged, weathered Reuel living alone in a quiet village. He spent his remaining years as an ordinary man, and none of his neighbors knew him as the hero who had once saved the world. When he finally drew his last breath, no grand memorial marked his passing, and no one waited by his bedside.
Except, perhaps, Evan.
When he reached Reuel's final thoughts, tears blurred the words on his screen. He cried harder than he ever had for a fictional character, and it was half an hour before he finally fell asleep. When he woke, he found himself in this strange world.
If the usual transmigration tropes held true, then Reid, the reincarnator bearing the title Legendary Demon Hunter, had to be Reuel. Evan narrowed his eyes at his brother, as though he could see straight through to his soul. There couldn't be another explanation. Or so Evan hoped. Maybe he was only a foolish reader, hopelessly attached to a fictional character and desperate to meet his hero.
"What's wrong? You're staring at me again," Reid asked.
"You have something here," Evan said, pointing at the edge of his mouth.
"I do?" Reid said, swiping at the spot only to find nothing.
"Just kidding," Evan said.
Reid shook his head, an exasperated smile on his face.
Evan helped Reid clean the dishes, and once everything was put away, he returned to his room to learn more about the unfamiliar place he had landed in. The more he read, the more his head throbbed. Every answer birthed more questions. A knock at the door broke his train of thought.
"Better get ready. You'll be late for school," Reid said.
He checked the calendar and the textbooks the original Evan had left behind and worked out which books the day's classes required. He changed into his school uniform: a white dress shirt, a dark blue blazer with the school's crest sewn onto the chest pocket, black trousers, and a navy tie. Shoes on, he followed Reid out, and the two of them rode a motorcycle to school.
The ride was Evan's first good look at the city. High-rises crowded both sides of the road, much like the skylines of his previous life. Yet borrowed pieces of many cultures had been worked into the modern architecture. Curved eaves capped office towers, crimson pillars framed grand entrances, and Gothic arches and stained-glass windows stood beside glass facades.
Then the Tower came into view. It climbed far higher than any building should, a lone white pillar against the horizon whose peak dissolved into the haze. Sunlight fell across its flawless walls and returned as an unearthly glow.
Evan had pieced together its history online, and it read like a legend. Centuries ago, it had risen from the middle of the Pacific Ocean without warning. Humanity had been driven inside to clear its dungeons, yet reaching the summit had not saved them. The apocalypse still came.
Earthquakes split the continents apart. Tsunamis swallowed coastlines. Monsters poured across the land, and the human race teetered at the edge of extinction. The last survivors found shelter in the only place left, behind its white walls. By the time the catastrophe had spent its fury, the old continents lay reshaped beyond recognition. When the survivors walked out, they built their society under a new calendar and named it Nova Terra.
Now the Tower stood serene at the heart of the world they had rebuilt. Its beauty made it hard to believe it had once marked the beginning of the end. The motorcycle rolled to a stop, pulling Evan from his thoughts.
"Here we are," Reid said.
Evan swung off the motorcycle and studied the Secondary Institute, a broad, gray stone building with rows of evenly spaced windows. Arched doorways and fine carvings along the walls softened its modern lines. He followed the carvings up to the roofline, then turned to the courtyard, where students crossed in loose groups toward the other buildings.
"Have fun at school," Reid said as Evan walked off.
"I'll have a horrible time, then." Evan waved over his shoulder.
Reid laughed.
This world's Evan shared a great deal with him, though Evan doubted the boy carried the same gloom. The message history painted someone far more outgoing than him. Evan was confident he could play the bright-eyed, cheerful child for a while, but sooner or later he would slip.
If only the System would do something useful for once and give me the other Evan's memories.
The familiar window flickered into view.
[╭∩╮(￣ヘ￣)╭∩╮]
"This bastard..."
The screen lingered for another second before it vanished.
Evan frowned. Come to think of it, the System itself made no sense. Everything he had read online said Systems belonged exclusively to Awakeners, and he was no Awakener. Could being a Transmigrator have something to do with it? He had plenty of things he wanted to ask, but he doubted the rude little window would answer a single one.
With a sigh, Evan made his way toward the main building. Unlike in his previous life, schools here were divided into Basic, Secondary, and Higher Institutes, and he was enrolled in a Secondary Institute. Alongside regular classes, students were taught how to survive Rifts and respond to emergencies. Despite the centuries that had passed, monsters and Rifts remained a constant threat. Fortunately, his apartment complex stood within the Tower's protective barrier, keeping it far safer than the settlements beyond its reach.
Speaking of Reid... Evan looked back at the street where his brother had vanished.
Just what kind of job does he have to afford living inside the barrier?
***
With Evan delivered to school, Reid arrived at the regional branch of the Rift Control Bureau. The building climbed several stories in rows of windows, and antenna spires crowned its roof. Reid worked as a Rift Support Technician, and most of his days were spent tracking Rift signatures and keeping the field teams' communication systems online. The work could be dangerous for a non-Awakener, but the pay was good, and he considered himself lucky to have the position.
Inside, several coworkers greeted him. Some waved with real enthusiasm, and others gave a nod and went back to their work. Next to his desk he found Lee Hye-jin already going through several reports. She was tall and neatly dressed, her hair pulled into a high ponytail and her glasses perched on her nose as she worked.
"Morning," Hye-jin said.
"Morning," Reid said. "Did anything happen overnight?"
"Nothing unusual. Though I don't think it'll stay that way." A few taps of her keys brought a map onto her monitor. "We're picking up another Rift signature."
"Where?"
"The Outskirts."
Reid's face darkened.
Without the protection of the barrier, the Outskirts had always borne the worst of it. Rifts still opened without warning, and any left uncleared would eventually rupture and spill the monsters trapped inside into the streets.
"Which zone?" Reid asked.
"Western Sector, Zone 19."
Reid leaned closer to the screen. "My brother's class is visiting the Outskirts today."
Hye-jin glanced over. "Isn't their study trip in Zone 3?"
He nodded.
"They'll be fine," Hye-jin said. "Our Rift predictions are over ninety-five percent accurate now. And even if one somehow opens nearby, there's an Outer Zone Security Post practically next door."
He stayed silent. Rifts could appear anywhere, but over the centuries Nova Terra's prediction systems had grown remarkably reliable. The trouble was that "remarkably reliable" still left room for the occasional disaster.
Hye-jin clapped him on the back. "Oh, chill out. You're such an overprotective mama bear. Your brother is going to be all right. I mean, unless a Rift literally opens above him and sucks him in."
Reid knew abandoning his post over a vague feeling would be irrational, and he told himself the school would never send students somewhere it judged dangerous. The odds of anything going wrong were vanishingly small. Evan would be okay.