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)

Lucien sat hunched over a massive wooden desk in the academy's vast library, the enormous "Basic Magic Theory" tome spread open in front of him like some ancient, forbidden grimoire. His eyes darted across the densely packed text, struggling to absorb the avalanche of information.

"Okay… okay… so the foundation of elemental conversion depends on the mana cycle's resonance with the caster's core affinity, which—wait, what?!"

[Hey, I thought you were some kind of study nerd in your past life. What happened, Einstein?]

Lucien groaned, rubbing his temples. "This… this is harder than quantum physics!"

[Oh? The great Lucien von Zephyr, defeated by a textbook? How tragic. Truly, I never saw this coming.]

"Shut up!" he hissed, earning a suspicious glance from the librarian. Lowering his voice, he muttered, "I was a study nerd, not a masochist!"

[Could've fooled me with how you're treating your body in training.]

Lucien ignored the jab and forced himself to focus. Page after page, diagram after diagram — his mind felt like it was being wrung out like a sponge. And yet… slowly, steadily, something started to click. The complex principles of mana manipulation, the intricate theories behind spell formation — it began to make sense.

[New Skill Acquired: Basic Magic Theory: Level 1]

[Look at that! You did it! Only took you… what, your entire will to live?]

Lucien slumped forward onto the book with a groan. "I hate you."

Checking his stats, Lucien saw the results of his relentless efforts:

Intelligence: 102 (+2)

Strength: 13 (+1)

Agility: 19 (+1)

Endurance: 21 (+1)

Charm: 7 (No change… tragic.)

Luck: 2 (Still cursed.)

Advanced Magic Theory: Level 5 (+1)

Basic Magic Theory: Level 1 (New!)

Elemental Control (Fire): Level 3 (+1)

Swordsmanship: Level 2 (+1)

Persuasion: Level 1 (…Well, you tried.)

[See? You're making progress! Slowly. Painfully. But progress!]

"Progress doesn't help when I've only covered 30% of the syllabus," Lucien grumbled, staring despairingly at the massive stack of unread chapters.

[You've got three days! And hey, you survived sparring with Aeris. Compared to that, this should be easy.]

"Speaking of which… no sparring until the test is over."

[Finally! A break from being used as a human punching bag.]

Lucien sighed and stretched, feeling his muscles ache from the day's training. Between his daily sessions with Professor Aldric and his relentless studying, his body and mind were both reaching their limit. And yet he couldn't stop.

Failing meant expulsion. And expulsion meant death.

By the time the moon hung high in the night sky, Lucien's vision blurred as he tried to read one more line — and promptly passed out face-first into his book.

The last thing he heard was the system's smug voice:

— To Be Continued.

The Study Nerd’s Nightmare