This was insane.
No, seriously.
This was completely insane because this building shouldn’t exist.
It wasn’t supposed to be real.
He knew exactly where he had seen all of this before.
Right at the beginning of the novel, there had been a description of towering crystal castles that looked ancient enough to have existed since the dawn of time.
And the statues.
Oh sweet Jesus...
The statues.
Five gigantic figures stood proudly at the center of the academy, overlooking everything beneath them.
The Five Heroes.
At least, that’s what the legends called them.
The heroes who supposedly saved the people of the Quintorian Empire from extinction.
Their valor.
Their sacrifices.
Their achievements.
The novel repeated them over and over again.
Every child knew their names.
Every adult worshipped them.
And the craziest part?
The empire had spent generations trying to produce another set of heroes worthy of standing beside them.
Meaning...
Judging by everything around him...
He was standing inside a school.
A freaking school.
Right then, he noticed students walking past in groups.
Some were chatting.
Some were laughing.
Unfortunately...
Most of them were pointing at him.
Ashton—
No.
Noah.
He didn’t understand what was happening.
Actually...
Scratch that.
He had a terrifying feeling that he did.
And somehow...
That was even worse.
"I didn’t enter this mother-fucking book, did I?"
His voice rose.
"Not this book."
"Not this damn book."
Several students turned to stare.
Noah didn’t care.
"Out of every good novel..."
"Why this one?!"
Without another thought, he hurried forward, desperately searching for a mirror.
Any mirror.
A pocket mirror.
A broken mirror.
Hell...
Even a shiny spoon would do at this point.
Unfortunately, he had absolutely no idea where he was going.
So what happened?
He continued wandering around like a confused kangaroo with no destination.
"Where’s a damn mirror?!"
His voice echoed through the lobby.
"Why isn’t there one anywhere?!"
Logically...
There wasn’t supposed to be one.
Especially not inside a lobby this enormous.
But logic wasn’t helping Noah right now.
One woman walking past gave him an odd look.
Then another.
Then another.
Soon enough almost everyone in the lobby had stopped to stare at him.
His behavior had attracted attention.
A lot of attention.
And right now...
He looked exactly like a lunatic.
"Classic move, Noah."
He sighed heavily.
"Just great."
Before he could continue his mental breakdown, two familiar figures caught up with him from behind.
Rose.
And Harold.
Well...
The cow doctor.
Noah still wasn’t entirely convinced Harold wasn’t secretly part cow.
"Harold told me you lost your memories," Rose said gently.
"So you probably won’t remember any of this."
Of course he wasn’t supposed to.
Because he had somehow entered a damn novel.
But if that was really true...
His face slowly turned pale.
His real body.
Back on Earth.
It couldn’t have died...
Right?
Right?
"Oh fuck."
The words escaped before he could stop them.
If this was life’s twisted way of punishing him...
Then it was definitely succeeding.
Because there was absolutely no way he could stay inside this novel.
No way.
Not when his current identity was Ashton Lane.
The same Ashton Lane who somehow managed to offend half the empire.
The same Ashton Lane whose existence generated enough hatred to start a small war.
And worst of all...
Marcus.
Noah suddenly froze.
His entire body stiffened.
His face became even paler.
Because he remembered exactly what he had done just a few minutes ago.
The balls.
He attacked Marcus’s balls.
Oh sweet Jesus.
The realization slammed into him like another truck.
Marcus wasn’t some random student.
He was one of the heirs of the Four Alphas.
One of the most powerful bloodlines in the entire Quintorian Empire.
Noah should have recognized him immediately.
The golden hair.
The arrogant smile.
Those golden eyes beautiful enough to hypnotize someone before dragging them straight into hell.
And what had Noah done?
He insulted him.
Threatened him.
Then grabbed the family jewels.
"Oh fuck."
He looked ready to faint.
"I am dead."
Completely dead.
Gone.
Finished.
Buried.
"Okay..."
He grabbed his head.
"Do either of you know a fucking way to make me remember things faster?"
His brain felt like it was cooking itself.
Noah was smart.
Actually...
Probably too smart for his own good.
His friends used to tell him that all the time.
It wasn’t just academic intelligence either.
Whenever disaster appeared, Noah usually found a way out.
But transmigration?
Those ridiculous clichés he laughed at while reading?
The same ones he mocked online?
Now he was living one.
The irony was downright offensive.
The only reason he had started reading transmigration novels in the first place was to laugh at the characters.
Somewhere along the line...
The genre had grown on him.
But enjoying it as fiction...
And living inside one...
Were two completely different nightmares.
"You people don’t understand."
His voice dropped.
"Something is seriously wrong."
Then...
He froze.
Two figures were approaching.
One of them was Marcus.
Standing beside him was another young man Noah had never seen before.
Immediately, Noah frowned.
The guy was pale.
Ridiculously pale.
Possibly even paler than Rose.
His silver hair shimmered beneath the sunlight while his icy expression made him seem less like a human being and more like a sculpture carved from frozen marble.
If Marcus felt toxic...
This one felt terrifyingly cold.
Like winter itself had learned how to walk.
"Okay, Noah."
He immediately started talking to himself.
"What do people do in novels like this?"
He thought hard.
"Pretend."
Good idea.
"Blend in."
Even better.
"Don’t attract attention."
Perfect.
Absolutely perfect.
Unfortunately...
It was already too late.
The moment the two Alphas stepped forward...
The entire area became silent.
Every.
Single.
Person.
Students stopped talking.
Teachers stopped walking.
Even the air itself seemed to grow heavier.
Everyone was staring.
Some looked shocked.
Others looked curious.
Because according to everything they knew...
Ashton Lane was always the one chasing after the Four Alphas.
Not the other way around.
Even Noah couldn’t understand why they were approaching him.
According to the novel...
They hated Ashton.
Absolutely hated him.
There were multiple scenes where they openly discussed throwing him out of the academy.
But killing him?
That had never happened.
The part where Ashton was thrown off a building?
That wasn’t in the novel.
So what exactly had changed?
And more importantly...
Where was his guide?
Where was the system?
Where was the mysterious old grandpa?
Where was literally anything useful?
"Oh..."
He sighed.
"I’m screwed."
"Is that Ashton?"
Someone suddenly whispered.
More students turned toward him.
Their expressions became increasingly strange.
Fortunately...
Rose finally explained.
"Your appearance changed."
She lowered her voice.
"You’re... much more beautiful than before."
Noah blinked.
Then blinked again.
Wait.
Was she saying he used to be ugly?
That felt unnecessarily personal.
Then again...
She wasn’t wrong.
Ashton Lane in the novel had been painfully average.
Nothing special.
Nothing memorable.
In an academy filled with gifted students possessing legendary bloodlines and rare affinities...
Ashton had absolutely nothing.
Zero.
A big fat zero.
"Oh shit."
Noah looked devastated.
"I am fucked."
Completely.
"Ashton Lane."
A cold voice interrupted him.
"We meet again."
The moment those words were spoken...
Noah felt something wash over him.
The voice itself carried authority.
Power.
Danger.
The silver-haired Alpha’s blue eyes resembled frozen crystals beneath the sunlight.
Meanwhile Marcus stood beside him, glaring as though he wanted Noah dead.
Noah instinctively swallowed.
"Hmm..."
He slowly turned toward Rose.
"Take me away from here."
Rose nearly looked horrified.
She shook her head rapidly.
"When one of the Four Alphas stands before you..."
"It’s against academy rules to walk away."
Harold had already lowered his head.
Rose dropped onto one knee.
Everyone around them bowed.
Everyone...
Except Noah.
Rose desperately tugged at his sleeve, trying to force him down.
Nothing happened.
Noah remained standing.
The strange pressure affecting everyone else didn’t seem to influence him in the slightest.
Eventually...
He shrugged.
"Was something supposed to happen?"
The silence that followed was deafening.
Every student stared.
Every teacher stared.
Even the two Alphas looked surprised.
They hid it well.
Very well.
But Noah still caught it.
Those perfectly carved expressions couldn’t fool him.
For the first time...
Ashton Lane wasn’t bowing.
Wasn’t trembling.
Wasn’t desperately chasing after them.
Then...
Noah remembered something infinitely more terrifying.
His eyes widened.
His soul almost left his body.
"Oh shit..."
The words escaped slowly.
Then louder.
"OH SHIT!"
Everyone jumped.
Noah dramatically collapsed onto his knees.
"No, no, no, no, no!"
The crowd looked completely confused.
"I can’t be poor!"
He looked utterly heartbroken.
"I refuse!"
Several students exchanged bewildered glances.
"This nigga is broke!"
Noah cried toward the heavens.
"I CAN’T BE BROKE!"
The two Alphas exchanged faint smirks.
Clearly...
They believed his breakdown was caused by their overwhelming aura.
If only they knew.
If only they knew Noah wasn’t terrified of them.
He was terrified of something far more horrifying.
Poverty.