The Protagonist Already Knows

Under the pitch-black sky, I arrived back at the Sunken Pearl, leaving the train station and stepping onto the empty path.

Arriving back at my dorm room, I immediately took a warm shower and changed into a pair of new clothes.

Seeing the cuts on my legs begin to heal, I took a deep breath and sat down on my bed.

I should just do it, shouldn’t I?

It felt impulsive, going straight from a dungeon into an ordeal to advance letter ranks, but it wasn’t like waiting was going to change anything.

My stats were capped anyway, so training any more wasn’t going to increase them until I advanced letter ranks.

Thus, gazing at the alarm clock, which read [4:00 AM], I slowly lay down and reeled in my thoughts, tapping the "[Breakthrough]" icon on my status menu.

...

...

...

"...Ace...ACE...WAKE UP ACE!"

My eyes snapping open, I found a familiar light-white ceiling above me, multiple small dents on it from my soccer ball.

The fall breeze rushed through my open windows, the morning sunlight leaking into my room and lighting it up.

"ACE!"

Then, I saw her.

The words instinctively came out of my mouth as I slowly looked forward, familiar posters and items all around me.

"Mo-"

Not even letting me finish my sentence, she yanked the blanket off me and practically yelled.

"Go get ready, you’re going to be late."

Suddenly pausing and turning around, she said while exiting my bedroom, a soft smile on her face.

"You don’t wanna miss your first day of junior year, do you? Breakfast will be ready downstairs!"

As the door shut, I instinctively got up and walked toward the mirror in my bedroom, a boy with spiky-black hair and regular black eyes reflecting in it.

He was wearing a pair of normal pajamas, and beyond his figure, I could see an overfilled laundry basket and a pile of diet soda cans.

Ah...it was all a dream?

"..."

I continued gazing at myself, my memories of the past few weeks growing foggier and foggier.

For some reason, I couldn’t even recall what I had done yesterday.

Scratching my head, I turned around and muttered, my throat parched.

"I should sleep earlier..."

Grabbing a bottle of water, I gazed out the open window, seeing a car in our driveway back out and leave as my dad left for work.

The faint, smoky smell of fresh bacon floated up from the kitchen below me, as cars whizzed past our house every few seconds.

Closing the bottle and heading to my bathroom, I sighed.

How absurd was it? Did I really believe I had been transmigrated into the world of a novel?

Of course, it was a dream.

Clicking my tongue, I freshened up, changed into my high school’s uniform, and grabbed my backpack sitting atop my desk.

Suddenly stopping in front of my bedroom door, I turned around and walked toward my desk.

On the shelves lay dozens of various books I had already read before, but my eyes eagerly scanned them, looking for one in particular.

It was the most recent novel I had read.

"The Protagonist Already Knows."

The main character was a regressor who had come back in time after losing to the final boss and knew the future, hence the title.

However, as I continued looking through the shelves full of books on my desk, a shout suddenly sounded from downstairs.

"ACE, THE BUS IS HERE! YOU CAN SKIP BREAKFAST...YOU HAVE TO LEAVE NOW!"

"..."

Whatever, I could just look for the novel when I got home from school, couldn’t I?

Fixing my ruffled hair, I approached the door and extended my right arm to open the doorknob.

However...my right palm clenched into a fist, refusing to move.

"..."

Feeling my nails digging into my right palm, I commanded my hand to open up and grab the doorknob...but it didn’t listen.

...?

What was going on?

Ignoring my commands, my nails continued digging into my palm, drawing blood and sending a surge of pain throughout my body.

My eyes suddenly twitched at the pain.

With blood now dripping from my palm and onto the floor, I grimaced in pain and covered my ears.

Find the book.

Find the book.

The words echoed through my head, as if commanding my body what to do.

I wanted to go downstairs so badly though...I wanted to eat the breakfast my mother had painstakingly woken up an hour earlier to make specifically for me.

I wanted to see her face...I wanted to go to school and see all my friends.

I really...did.

But then, why was my hand doing this?

Why?

As my head pounded with pain, my legs moved backward, taking me in front of my desk.

Then...I saw it.

The words lay on the spine of the book sitting on the desk before me.

"The Protagonist Already Knows."

However...at that moment,

*BANG*

My bedroom door suddenly burst open, my mother walking in and yelling.

"Ace...you missed the bus."

Sighing and looking down with a disappointed expression, my mother said while avoiding my gaze.

"Come on...just eat your breakfast. I’ll drive you to school."

Seeing her frustrated and disappointed expression, I wanted to run to her...go downstairs and eat breakfast with her.

But, no matter how much I commanded my body, my body remained still.

"COME DOWN, NOW, ACE!"

Suddenly, a golden hue appeared below me, attracting my attention.

In the middle of my stomach, a piece of golden silk shone through my skin and clothes, stretching all the way up and through my right arm.

My mother’s yell, now furious, sounded again.

"ACE! COME HERE NOW!"

My golden arm reached toward the novel.

"Ace...I really thought you had changed. Do you think of how hard your father and I worked for you to send you to that boarding school?"

"After you were expelled from lower school, no school wanted you, but we tried everything. We spent thousands on treatments and private schools..."

Her disheartened voice continued, sorrow leaking into her tone as she covered her face with her hands.

"I-I t-thought you had changed."