Memories that didn't belong to me suddenly surfaced.
'What on earth are these memories?'
'What's happening?'
Just moments before, he had been immersed in a novel, and now he found himself in an unknown location that somehow felt familiar.
'What's going on with these memories?' he muttered, examining what was flooding his mind.
'Lucian Starlight. An orphan with looks that could rival the most attractive man on earth; I think he'd look even better if he were taller,' he thought, surveying his small, malnourished frame.
'But where am I, and why am I in this body with his memories?'
'And why can't I recall my own name?' he asked in a panic.
'Did I reincarnate like in those stories?' he wondered as he was a novel addict he also read reincarnation and transmagtion.
'If that's the case, do I get a system too?' he said happily, as he was also an orphan and hadn't really cared about his past life.
Lost in thought, he called out, 'System,' but nothing happened.
'Wait, no starter pack for reincarnators?' he lamented.
Then he recalled from his memories that in a month, he would be heading to an academy to take an entrance exam, as everyone aged sixteen is permitted to test their worthiness to join.
'What's the name of that academy again?' he asked himself, suddenly remembering.
'Astro Academy,' he murmured, then panicked as he realized, 'Isn't that the same academy from the novel I just read?'
Indeed, he had just finished a new novel with only twenty chapters, but now the academy's name stood out vividly in his mind.
'Astro Academy…I just read "Rise of Extra."'
"Oh no, I have no idea how to survive here without any cheats!" he muttered, recalling how he had originally planned to leverage the protagonist's powerful abilities if he found himself reincarnated in a different story, but now he was stuck in a new world altogether.
"Oh right, everyone in this novel has a status," he said. Just then, a status screen appeared before him.
**Status:**
- Name: Lucian Starlight
- Race: Human/Starborn
- Class: Starlight Swordsman
- RANK: G
- STR: G-
- AGI: G
- MANA: C-
- Affinity: Stars, Moon, Light
- Talent: 12 Stars
"Why is his strength and agility rated as G, while mana is C-? This doesn't make any sense, and what on earth does 'Starborn' mean?" he questioned as he examined his stats. But when his gaze fell on his affinities and talent, he was left speechless. "Three affinities and a twelve-star talent?" His mind went blank.
"In the novel, the main character and the protagonist from the story he just read were the only ones with a twelve-star talent. And now I possess it too!" he realized, shocked. In "Rise of Extra," only the protagonists had such immense potential.
"Why is every extra so gifted?" he wondered, noting how the protagonist of the story had also reincarnated as an ordinary person, just like him.
"Well, since I've been given this incredible body, I won't waste it," he declared, feeling gratitude towards whoever had reincarnated him.
"In my past life, I was a loner, but this time I'll strive to reach the top," he promised himself, unaware that his emotions and personality were already shifting for the better.
"Ha! The protagonist chose to hide his talents, but I won't keep mine a secret," he said, remembering the protagonist had a system while he did not.
"My stats may not look great—only mana is decent—but with my talent, I think I can manage to reach E rank, which is the average for the academy in a month," he noted as he took stock of his funds.
"Twenty-four silvers," he stated. "That's enough for two months."
"Let's head to a dungeon," he said, considering that in this world, exploring dungeons wasn't illegal; you just needed to pay, and the government wouldn't care if he died because he was just an orphan