"Growl."
The cold aura leaking from my body and the dark thoughts in my mind came to an abrupt halt when my stomach let out a loud complaint.
My face reddened slightly as I glanced at the clock to see how long I had been unconscious.
"Fucking hell."
A horrified voice escaped my lips. My stomach's protest suddenly made perfect sense.
I had been in a coma for two whole days.
I immediately stood up and rushed to the kitchen. There was no way I was going to die of hunger before facing monsters or whatever future enemies awaited me.
If Mother were here, she would definitely mock me for this, I thought with a faint smile as I began preparing lunch.
Well, what I did?
do you expect from a bachelor living alone?
With full confidence, I would rate my cooking five stars.
Jin had lived alone. Raven had lived alone.
And despite that miserable similarity, both of us had learned how to cook well.
Rice slowly steamed over low heat. Soup simmered beside it with meat and vegetables.
"Ahem."
I quickly finished preparing the meal, then returned to my room once more. Sitting down in the chair, I pulled out a small notebook.
Now I needed to write down everything I remembered from the plot.
Enemies. Characters. Skills. Hidden locations.
Anything that might help me.
Because this world was no longer simple.
This place was a future version of Earth. That was why languages such as Arabic, Chinese, and many others still existed naturally.
English, however, had become the dominant language—probably because it was the easiest and most widespread.
As for why the continent was now called Erthina...
No one knew.
Everyone born in this era simply accepted the name as natural.
It had been one of the mysteries the author intended readers to solve.
Too bad he abandoned the novel before giving an answer.
Anyway...
Let me start with the human ranking system.
The standard classification used letters, beginning from -F as the lowest rank and rising all the way to +A, the highest level achievable within normal human limits.
That was basic knowledge to Raven.
But Jin's perspective broadened my understanding of just how dangerous this world truly was.
I wrote notes in Arabic, one of the languages I was best at besides English.
Then there was the mysterious rank of S and above.
Those levels were entirely different.
No matter how many +A ranked individuals gathered together, defeating an S-rank existence was nearly impossible unless some special circumstance occurred.
I wrote more notes, but this time I focused on information Jin knew better.
Every hostile race in this world had rulers.
Beings almost like gods.
They were called Sovereigns.
Demons, monsters, and alien entities from beyond the planet...
Each faction possessed at least three Sovereigns.
Humanity, on the other hand, only had two.
And they were weaker than the others.
That balance would begin to collapse in the coming years.
Especially within the next five.
My eyes gleamed when I thought of the reason.
"The main characters."
"And the protagonist of the novel."
"That filthy bastard."
A slight smile appeared on my face before I returned to writing again, this time recording the locations of useful skills and important places.
Two hours later, I finally finished everything.
I stood up.
Crack.
My bones popped as I stretched my body.
"Now then."
I walked to my closet, put on a black coat and dark gloves, then returned to my bed.
From its side, I pulled out a black katana and an ordinary pistol.
These were my weapons.
They looked impressive enough, but in truth they were nothing special ...made from common materials.
"But not for long."
With that thought, I finished preparing and headed outside.
This was my first step in this world ...Well, let us not count the fainting or the hunger incident.
Actually, maybe this was my third step.
Either way, this step involved theft.
I smiled to myself as I left the apartment, walked through the empty hallway, and entered the elevator.
Soon after, I exited the residential building and headed toward the subway.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Standing before an abandoned palace surrounded by forest in every direction, I began my move.
The author had been a bastard in his own way.
Instead of placing the treasures somewhere dangerous or guarded by monsters...
He had hidden them in a tiny hut near a cave inside the forest.
I clicked my tongue and began searching.
Minutes passed.
Then an hour.
Eventually, I found myself standing before an old wooden hut that looked as if it might collapse at any moment.
I shook my head and cursed that man once again before stepping inside.
The old wooden door creaked loudly as I opened it.
I scanned the room for what I wanted.
There it was a small silver box The thing I had come for was inside it.
Smiling faintly, I searched the hut further and found the second item as well.
Then I opened the silver box.
A brilliant silver light burst out and blinded me instantly.
The next thing I knew, my body hit the ground.
For the third time since my soul had merged... I lost consciousness.