NXT_MARVEL

Our MC was an extreme introvert in his past life — a bookworm who avoided people like the plague, focused only on his studies, and had zero interest in anime, games, or romance. The only time he ever touched anime was when his one and only friend forced him to watch a single episode of some fantasy academy drama — and he hated every second of it.
So when he wakes up in an unfamiliar, lavish room and finds himself in the body of Lucien von Zephyr— a rich, handsome academy student — things seem… pretty okay. That is, until memory floods in and he realizes who  Lucien is: the pervy, obsessive side character doomed to die in Episode 7 for going too far with the main heroine!

Survive the Death Flag! (Or Die a Simp)

The training ground was completely empty — just the sound of the wind and Lucien's slow footsteps echoing across the space.

[Wow. It's so empty… just like your chances of winning today.]

"Thank you, System. Very motivating."

[Hey, I'm just here for emotional support. And by emotional support, I mean pointing out your inevitable pain and failure.]

Lucien sighed. He didn't even have the energy to argue. He was too busy mentally preparing for his daily beating—uh, "sparring session" — with Aeris. Speaking of…

"Late, as always," Aeris said, stepping onto the field. "Are you even taking this seriously?"

"I take my survival very seriously, thank you," Lucien replied.

[Oh sure. Survival. Very serious. That's why you keep showing up for these sessions like a lamb to the slaughter.]

"Shut up," Lucien hissed under his breath.

Aeris raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Not you! I mean… let's just start."

The fight began like it always did — with Lucien on the defensive and Aeris coming at him like a hurricane with a sword. He dodged, he parried, and occasionally, he managed a counterattack that didn't completely embarrass him.

[Wow! You lasted a whole one minute this time! Personal best!]

"I swear, when I figure out how to mute you—" Lucien's words cut off as Aeris's sword came way too close to his face. He yelped and stumbled backward.

"Focus, Lucien!" Aeris snapped. "You're distracted!"

[Maybe if you spent less time daydreaming about magical books and mysterious symbols, you wouldn't be getting your butt handed to you by a girl half your size.]

"She's terrifying," Lucien muttered. "Size doesn't matter."

"LUCIEN!" Aeris's next strike knocked his sword clean out of his hand. He hit the ground with a thud, groaning.

"Are you even trying?" she asked, exasperated.

"I'm trying to stay alive! It's harder than it looks!"

[Mission failed. We'll get 'em next time.]

Lucien lay there, defeated, while Aeris stared down at him, unimpressed. "Get up. We're going again."

"Can't we—just once—try a training session where I don't end up on the ground?"

After what felt like an eternity of pain, Lucien finally dragged his battered body back to his room. He collapsed into his chair, opening the grimoire again.

"Alright… back to the mystery," he muttered.

The thorned symbols were scattered through the book — too deliberate to be random. He'd collected every hint he could find: mentions of forbidden magic, notes on summoning rituals that didn't exist anywhere else.

[This feels like the plot of a very poorly thought-out adventure novel.]

"Poorly thought out? You mean like my life?" Lucien rubbed his temples. "I'm missing something. I know I am."

[Yeah, like a functioning survival instinct.]

Lucien sighed, flipping another page. But no matter how much he read, the pieces just wouldn't fit together. Eventually, his eyes grew heavy, and before he knew it, the book slipped from his hands as sleep pulled him under.

The mystery would have to wait for another day.

The Daily Beating and the Thorny Mystery