We've swapped places?

"Search for Acacia Grey," the words barely escaped me.

[Affirmative. Initiating searching protocol. Designation: Neuroscience expert. Wife of late John Grey. Processing information...please standby.]

Soon, information began to materialize in my augmented field of vision.

Messages danced in my retina.

[Analyzing... Accessing databases and archives. Deploying advanced search algorithms. Cross-referencing information. Processing data...please standby.]

'What happened to them? My family, alive or dead?'

[Failed. Couldn't find matching identity. The person doesn't exist in Central Union's databan-]

"Search for Hope Reynar," I commanded before Nano could finish its sentence. Desperation oozed through my voice.

[Reinitiating searching protocol. Please standby...]

What do I do...where do I go, whom should I ask for help?

[Search failed. Hope Reynar doesn't exist in central union's database.]

My vision blurred, until tears traced down my temple.

What the hell was I even doing...searching for my family is pointless. How can they exist here?

This wasn't Earth.

This world wasn't my Earth, my family cannot exist here.

It was a different world.

One I was somewhat familiar with...after all, I was the one who created this world.

Word by word, each sentence, into the pages of my novel.

But none of it mattered. I was lost and I didn't care.

Born with that damned blood condition, cursed with agony and the threat of death lurking around. That was my life, always hanging by the thinnest thread of fate, never certain when it would snap. But at least I had a family.

But now...I had nothing.

My teeth ground together, jaw throbbed with the force of frustration.

'They must be alive. They have to be alive somewhere. Nothing happened to them. Yeah, that's right, nothing happened to... to...'

Before I realised, my fist clenched.

Who was I even bullshiting?

I don't know what exactly happened during that burst of light...but...it felt like a nuke.

When I opened my eyes...I was here.

The Alpha nanite alerted me:

[User's emotions are displaying abnormal patterns.]

I heard the familiar monotonous mechanical voice resonate in my head once again.

[As an SAI-nanite, I am incapable of feeling emotions like a living organism] Nano explained.

[However, my purpose is to ensure your survival... my advice to you... squander... at life. Dr. Hope Reynar... Your father, John Grey, have made tremendous efforts-...]

My blank mind didn't properly register Nano's words.

Still, I understood what it wanted to tell me.

And even though I was feeling hopeless, I knew Nano was right.

Feeling sorry for myself wasn't going to solve anything.

My family had made tremendous sacrifices for me and I...I cannot...I should not waste...

I closed my eyes, calming my nerves. A few moments passed and a soothing calmness washed over my heart, albeit fleetingly.

I had to do something, but I was helpless.

But, giving up was not an option, not without trying atleast. Just, need some strength.

Some time.

I exhaled and opened my eyes. 'I s-shall try.'

I.

Right...

"I will not waste this opportunity at life."

***

Click! The bathroom door closed, sounds of the wet footsteps, a reflection enlarged in the bathroom mirror, staring back at me.

This world was different. Automobiles, the sky the atmosphere, pedosphere, monsters, mana...everything was alien.

It had been sometime now. During this time I have been constantly wondering how I ended up inside my novel?

Status window, blue sky...this world, there was no doubt about it.

I looked into the bathroom mirror, my reflection resembled my sixteen-year-old self. Weird.

I also appeared slightly shorter than my usual height.

But height was the least of my worries.

My body was thinner than usual and my face seemed more pale. My hair and eyes remained consistently dark.

Originally I had dark-brown eyes. Now, black.

I had to figure out more about my situation. I was still unsure of whose apartment this was.

I went back to the bed and opened the smartphone. I needed information.

Surfing through the phone's contents, one file in particular, caught my attention.

'File ex.Hero program.' The word hero caught my eye.

In this world, it had a meaning. Tapping on it resulted in...

Wham!

Information one after another started appearing before me.

_______________

User Id: Noah Grey

Age:16

Picture:(An ugly image)

Program : Hero program 1st year

School rank :1872/2000

Profession : none

________________

"How can I be enlisted in the hero program? I just arrived in this world."

But before I could dig deeper, a searing pain shot through my skull, dropping me from the bed.

A floodgate of memories crashed open, information was injected into my brain.

Vivid recollections flooded in, but they weren't mine. They belonged to someone else—someone who had the same name as me, a different Noah Grey.

As the onslaught continued, realization dawned on me, along with the understanding of whose apartment I was in.

"Noah Grey of this world... uughghh!" I groaned, driven to madness, the pain spiked. Clutching my head, I clawed at my skull, desperate to fend off the assault.

"Uncle Ethan, Aurelius, Midnight, Frostfall province, Sabrina, Seraphina, Aradhya, the lab... ughh, fughh!" The agony mounted, threatened to kill my sense of self.

"Not my memories. Not my family. Get... GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" With a primal roar I clenched my fists, nails dug into my palms.

[Monitoring and regulating blood pressure. Deploying Oxytocin to regulate emotional state.]

In an instant, a calmness washed over me, all the pain melted away.

After sometime, my reasoning was back.

***

A Noah Grey of this world. Same name. But an alternate variant of me. This was a parallel Earth.

He was six years younger than me.

The institution where this Noah enrolled was Arcanum Blades academy.

An institute I was familiar with.

This parallel earth was the same one I created in the pages of my novel. How?

That burst of light, somehow sent me inside my own novel it seemed.

What a paradox...

After some thinking, I came up with an explanation that could explain my situation.

It was possible that my body and the body of original Noah Grey had swapped places, and our lives went with them.

Paradox, but possible.

And this was a world filled with magic and monsters—monsters in the form of creatures, and monsters in the form of humans. Kaiju invasions aka large scale monster attacks and demon invasions was also one thing.

If I wanted to live, then I had to be strong. But, I was weak.

Weak as fuck.

Finding the solution to the paradox shouldn't be my priority as it might even take me many years.

One thing was obvious though.

I have to hide my truth.

How will people of this world react if they so much as get a hint that their world is nothing, but a novel?

While I didn't like my life right now, I am not very fond of death either. Central Union, Elite League, Demon king, Dragoth king...

If my truth somehow got leaked, and considering the maniacs in this world...my brain will be dissected open to test the truth. Like a lab rat.

I didn't know anyone in this world.

It was obvious, for now I must live the life of this alternate Noah Grey. Not inviting unnecessary attention.

When I have answers—and I will, then I can try to find a way back home. But...

The problem was the current academy I was supposed to attend is Arcanum Blades Academy, where the main protagonist of the novel, Aeravat is supposed to attend.

That academy was important for the plot of the novel, so attending it was

a good way to keep an eye on every important event.

But...Aeravat Indrath. He was the main character.

With the guy around, I can be sure as hell to die someday.

I needed to figure out a way to gaurantee my survival... but what?Strength?

Mana arts, skills, sword arts, family arts... they were the usual paths to strength.

But they cost a lot of money.

And as I was now, dirt poor.

Memories of this Noah hinted that his family's blank account wasn't exactly overflowing with money.

So, what should I do?

'Survival... strength... there might be one...'

Yes, a way? Maybe. There was one way...

It wasn't strength exactly, but yes, there was a way to guarantee my survival.

The ultimate life saving move: escape.

I remembered mentioning eight mysteries in this world while writing the manuscript. The concept of a 'mystery' could be thought of as a cheat code which can bend reality to a certain degree. Each mystery in the form or a certain item granting certain abilities.

And the world wasn't aware of their existence.

While writing the novel, I originally planned to add nine mysteries, but I never got around to finalizing my work.

They were secret hax abilities I was planning to release in the fourth volume of the novel.

Fourth volume...yea, that never saw the light of day.

Among those eight mysteries, one allowed teleportation.

"Then it's decided. I'll go after the mystery of teleportation."

Of all the mysteries available, I chose this one for a specific reason.

It was located on the outskirts of Krenada city, the same city I'm in.

***

One day had already past. It was morning now.

Setting my foot outside the apartment complex, I headed for the train station.

Right now, my first priority was to get my hands on mystery of teleportation.

With that mystery, no matter what came after my ass, I would always have an escape.

Then, I could plan on what to do with my life next.

In order to find the mystery of teleportation, I needed to visit Avalonia forest which was in the outskirts of Krenada city.

"Here's my card!"

Passing the card to the lady in the ticket office, I checked the map of the station.

"Where to?" She asked.

"Avalonia." I replied.

"That will be five den." She handed back my card.

And this, 'den'—the currency of Tressia.

Lost in thought, I boarded the train and settled into my seat.

The train chugged along but my gaze suddenly fell on two teenagers who were heading for the seat before me.

Just that.

In that moment, my brows shot up, my eyes widened in shock.

Well, shock was to be expected, considering... I knew those two.

Red eyes and black hair: Aurora Lewis, also known as—will be known as the queen of thunder.

And by her side, the other one, bully of the school and rival to Aeravat— Takahasi Aoi

Two of the main cast was here.