Tales of an Extra: The Hero No One Expected

Chapter 10: Another world I

Malik's mind drifted between dreams and consciousness, the line between the two blurring as he struggled to make sense of the heavy fog clouding his thoughts. Slowly, his eyes fluttered open to a soft, unfamiliar light seeping through a narrow window across the room. Everything felt strange—the bed beneath him, the soft cotton sheets that smelled faintly of herbs and wood. His limbs ached, as if they had grown overnight, and his muscles were stiff.

His gaze shifted to his hands—hands that didn't feel entirely his. They were slightly longer, leaner, with calluses along the palms, the kind that came from years of physical labor or training. Confusion swirled in his mind as he ran one hand across his chest. Faint but visible scars lined his skin, like stories of battles and hardships he had no memory of. A mirror across the room caught his eye, and for the first time, he saw his reflection. He froze.

The face staring back was different from the one he had seen growing up. "How is this possible?" His features were sharper, more angular. His eyes, still the same deep black he had always known, now gleamed with a foreign intensity. His hair, which had always been curly, was now straighter, neater. His skin was lighter, paler, as if he had lived in this body for years.

"What... what is this?" Malik whispered, his voice slightly deeper, tinged with an accent he didn't recognize.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood, unsteady at first but quickly adapting to the new proportions of his body. The room itself was simple—clean white walls, a wooden dresser, and a modern desk with a strange device resting on top. An old-fashioned rotary phone sat on one side of the room. It was a bizarre setting, a mixture of items from different eras—modern technology contrasted with furniture that looked centuries old. The world looked like the industrial revolution had never fully taken place.

Malik moved to the window and peered outside, his breath catching in his throat. The world stretched out in a surreal blend of eras—stone-paved streets filled with people in robes, tunics, and armor. Some buildings had glowing neon signs, and strange mechanical carriages rattled past. It was like a scene out of an old futuristic movie where time periods collided.

"Where... am I?" Malik murmured, a growing unease settling in his chest.

Suddenly, a realization clicked into place. 'This is the world of the novel: *The Tale of the Hero and the Doomed World. *' The world he had once read about was now his reality. The strange mix of modern and ancient was the very setting of the story, centuries after the Demon Emperor's invasion and defeat. This was the central continent. The way people dressed, the faintly familiar streets, and—his eyes landed on a massive dome-like structure in the distance—the Academy's defense system. He could also make out towering magic spires, each representing a different branch of magic dedicated to the study of mana.

Still reeling from shock, Malik forced himself to focus. His mind raced. 'This isn't my body. This belongs to someone else.' As soon as he thought that a sudden flood of information overwhelmed him. The name 'Darius' surfaced. This body belonged to a boy named Darius, an orphan.

Darius had grown up in an orphanage, living a quiet, hard-working life. He didn't have many friends but always dreamed of becoming a hunter—a term for those who could wield mana and fight the monsters left behind by the malevolent forces on the Dark Continent, as well as the Abyss cult that sided with demons. This world had many professions, nearly all connected to harnessing mana. The hunter profession was a profession every child once dreamed of, but not all could become one. It took incredible hard work and the ability to control mana, especially without the resources of the ruling elite.

Suddenly, a strange sensation rippled through Malik's entire body, like a cold shiver creeping up his spine. His heartbeat quickened, and his vision blurred for a moment before sharpening with unnatural clarity. His eyes, now glowing with an eerie light, seemed to pierce through reality itself. It was as if time had stopped for a brief second, the air around him thick with tension. Then, the world around him shifted, and he found himself no longer in the quiet room, but standing in the middle of a bustling street, the noise of distant chatter and the clatter of wooden carts filling his ears.