I woke up feeling like crap.
The city outside my apartment was already alive. Car horns. Vendors yelling. Someone was arguing before eight in the morning.
'Typical capital city.'
My alarm started ringing.
Hang on... That's not my alarm.
My eyes shot open, and I nearly had a heart attack.
'This isn't my room!' My stomach dropped.
I looked around frantically. Wrong ceiling, a bigger room. Very weird furniture.
'This room seemed oddly familiar.'
My eyes landed on a particular poster...
"Esper Lee Taehyun?!"
I slapped a hand over my mouth. I ran to the bathroom.
'It's just a dream.'
Warm brown eyes stared back at me.
Not mine.
My breath caught in my throat.
The guy in the mirror looked younger than me. Pale skin. Messy bleached hair and wide eyes that screamed utter innocence.
I stumbled backwards. My back slammed against the bathroom wall.
'No, no, no, no.'
My fingers pressed against my face, feeling the warm skin.
"T-this is impossible," I muttered.
A buzz sparked in my head.
[INITIALIZING SYSTEM]
"What the fuck?" A pale blue screen materialized in front of my eyes.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZED]
[Hello, Host.]
"Who the fuck are you?"
[I am your Guide Navigation Assistant System, G.N.A.S for short.]
"You're my what?"
[PROCESSING FORMER HOST'S MEMORY]
"Hey! I'm talking here."
[3...2...1...]
Pain.
Then my head exploded. At least, that's what it felt like. I hit the floor before I even realized I'd screamed. Foreign, yet familiar, memories flooded my head.
[Memory Transfer complete.]
I slumped hard against the cold tile floor.
There was no way. I was reborn as delulu Jung Hanseong?
[Very correct, Host.]
"Wait, how?"
[Host died after reading the cringey manhwa—My Lovely Esper.]
My eye twitched. "You've got to be kidding me."
[I'm dead serious.]
Before I could curse out the system, a heavy, sharp knock startled me.
"Open up, Jung Hanseong." The command was calm and cold I felt my blood freeze.
I'd know that voice anywhere.
*gulp*
L-Lee Taehyun?!
[Host is cooked.]
"Shut up."
He knocked again, a little harder.
"Don't make me break this door down." It didn't sound like a threat... it sounded more like a warning.
[If Host doesn't answer the door in 5 seconds, Host will be toast.]
I rolled my eyes.
"Very funny."
"Jung Hanseong, open this door right—"
I rushed out of the bathroom and threw the front door open.
Dark violet-blue eyes stared back at me.
My heart skipped three beats.
[Host, that's a medical exaggeration.]
'I said shut up!'
He walked in, closing the door without touching it.
"I need guiding. Now," he growled. His dark jet hair fell over his eyes as he closed the distance between us in a single stride. Before I could take a step back, his large, calloused hand clamped firmly around my waist.
[DING!]
[Quest Initiated: Host is to guide Esper Lee Taehyun to sanity, failure to do so will result in a penalty]
'Hell no'