Chapter 1: At dawn in another world

"Fuuuuhh, maybe I'm just seeing things.... Dammit, my precious sleep....."

In the vournmouth viscounty, a certain youth was feeling disgruntled as he muttered while quietly staring into the mirror adjacent to his bed. His own reflection could be seen in it, staring back at him. He had just woken up due to the sound of thunder coming from the far distance.

He was Noir Vournmouth. Currently 15 years old, he was the heir to the Vournmouth Viscounty which was situated in the far east side of the Varn kingdom.

It was currently 11:34 pm, as displayed on a small alarm-clock like device at the side of his bed. Sitting up on his bed, he scratched his head as he removed his gaze from the mirror and surveyed the room. The bedsheets felt as smooth as silk to touch, the blanket was just the right thickness to let air pass through while keeping him warm, and the pillow his head was lying on a moment ago had the softness of a cloud.

Hell, even his pajamas had a weird sheen when the pale moonlight was shone upon it, but most of all, it's fabric felt just as smooth as the bedsheet's.

Everything was made of such high quality material that it could be sensed in just a touch how expensive they were.

(....But why am I here? This isn't my apartment...?)

Looking around once more, even the room itself was lined with glass vases, huge shelves filled with books, and even a huge grandfather clock. None of these were items he knew he owned.

(What is that... vintage...?)

Faced with such wonderful luxuries one could spend their entire life to save up for, Noir's face distorted in confusion.

[...H-Ha! Maybe I'm hallucinating...? Yeah, that's definitely it. Better just sleep it off then.]

He seemed to have lost himself as he plunged his head back into the soft pillow and tried to doze off.

1 sheep, 2 sheep, 3 sheep, 4 shee-

"What am I, a kid?!"

The situation was so confusing that it reverted his state of mind to that of a toddler for just a second there.

Raising his upper body to sit up once more, he wiped the sweat off of his forehead as he got up from the side of the bed and immediately went to the bathroom since if he was correct, there should be a bigger mirror there.

And indeed, there was an extremely extravagant mirror on top of the just as fancy sink. He peered into it once and immediately turned his face to the side at lightning speed.

His neck ached for a moment from the force of his head suddenly turning,but he ignored the pain and returned his gaze back to the mirror.

"Black hair that touches the shoulders, red eyes, and if I'm not wrong...Noir... Vournmouth...?"

(Huh, I-I guess that's me....)

He muttered under his breath while staring wide-eyed at himself in the mirror, then took a step back as his hands made their way to his hair, grasping it, making his messy bedhead even messier.

(No no no no no, hold on a moment there. First of all, what the hell is the meaning of this? Why am I even here...?)

With such questions in his mind, one of his hands dropped down and slowly pulled at the collar on his pajama shirt.

(A crow....)

A tattoo in the shape of a crow could be seen on where his left collar bone was. As if this was some sort final form of confirmation, after confirming it, he could only drop his shoulders in resignation.

He knew it, Noir, no, Noel Mara was transferred into a novel.

He thought back to the night prior to his transfer.

(Wait, it's still night right? Then it's still the same day isn't it? No, that doesn't matter right now.)

He felt calm, tranquil even, after his shock had disappeared. His mind was filled to the brim with various questions, from which he thinks about the most important ones.

Who was he?

He was Noir von Vournemouth. Son of Martin von Vournmouth, lord of the Vournmouth Viscounty on the eastern side of the Varn Kingdom which was located on the western side of the Madura Continent.

Where the hell was he right now?

He was in [A Hero's Second Life], a novel of which he was currently reading the seventh volume in the bedroom of his apartment before getting transferred.

Why was he here?

....He didn't know.

(Damn it, just what is happening right now...)

He thought calmly for a moment before letting out a sigh in resignation at the dire lack of information of his sudden change of circumstance.

[A Hero's Second Life]

A novel that was about how a regular sophomore in highschool got forcefully transported out of Earth and into the world of Gaya. It was entitled that way with him being revered as a war god and hero after vanquishing the evil demon king of the demon empire situated far north of the Varn kingdom.

Essentially, it was a catalogue of the numerous heroes that appeared all over the continent and how a golden age had graced the world with him at the epicenter. All the tests and trials the heroes overcame, all the sorrows they'd expreienced, and all the places they hailed from or were affiliated with were written as well.

The novel was written to be very detailed and descriptive, especially with the characters. That's why he knew that he was Noir when he looked into the mirror.

It also contained detailed information on the events that transpired in the background as the characters interacted with one another. But naturally, there was no information of anyone else besides the main character who was transferred as well. Nothing at all.

He had just woken up suddenly as Noir. It was one hell of an oddity.

Noir von Vournemouth. The reputed disappointment of an heir of the Vournemouth Viscounty..... and also the guy that gets beaten half to death by the protagonist after messing with him a bit during his stay in his territory.

(How will it go, I wonder....)

He didn't like to think about it. After all, he didn't enjoy pain, no one did. Even in his past life, his body was riddled with scars from numerous experiences. Simply looking at them caused him to remember the excruciating pain he felt when he first was inflicted with them.

But now it was different. His body had no scars. No remembrance of the pain.

This time, he was going to live as he pleased. So he needed to know how long he had to prepare.

Rushing back out of the bathroom and grabbing a small black box on the nightstand beside his bed, he started fiddling with it. Luckily, the novel also described in detail all the different kinds of gadgets depicted in it and how to use them, so Noir, who was an avid reader, knew very well what to press to get it working.

And after a moment of pressing some buttons on its sides, a small magic pattern flickered to life on its top, before twisting into numbers and letters, and finally, a time and date.

[11:40 pm --- ■11/05/1534■]

After looking at the date for a moment, he entered into deep thought to dig through his memories for all the important dates mentioned in the novel.

(If I remember correctly, Noir was born on the year of 1519....), he thought as he revealed a small relieved smile.

He wasn't going to be beaten black and blue yet. Luckily, it seemed there was still some time. In the first volume of the novel, Noir was 16 years old. Therefore, he had at least 1 whole year, plenty of time to prepare for going against the events in the first volume. Avoiding getting beaten up was the most important part.

"But still.... I really was just picked up and dropped into this thing, huh..."

His life as Noel Mara couldn't have been said to be a good one. Even before the monsters ravaged the lands of Earth, he didn't have much of an attachment to anything. His parents died in a car accident when he was a child, so after being orphaned, he also never really had much interaction with family.

He only lived just because. A stagnant way of life where the only object of excitement was his fear of pain and death.

(....This won't be boring.)

If it was some kind of hand from God, then that would have explained many things., but he turned atheistic to the core the moment his previous world was invaded by monsters. Prayer never drove them back to wherever they came from, and prayer won't help him now either.

"It's just me against the world from here on, huh..."

Bring it all on. He would overcome all obstacles to pursue a peaceful life as Noir. He will snap all death flags that come his way into two and burn them to ashes, till nothing would cause him pain ever again.

"Haaahh.... well, I guess I'll just do my best not to die so that I can be a slacker!"

Noir declared in triumph, although he hadn't done anything noteworthy yet.

Indeed, whether it be hell or high water, he will survive it all and live a long and lazy life in his own territory. He will work hard for 5 years starting now, so that he can lie around doing nothing and still live the high life 15 years later.

He's sure to be chided by his parents up in heaven, but....

(....Though I don't really believe in God, I still believe that there's a "heaven" out there, huh...)

Well, anyway, it was worth a shot.

Noir's situation in the story suited him way better than when he was Noel Mara. Luckily, he was a countryside noble whose territory was situated at the very edge of the east side of the Madura Continent. In other words, it wouldn't even be hard to abstain from war if it ever occured, so he at least had some room to breathe!

"Okay, for the first order of business...."

And so he got to work immediately. First order of business, he needed information, and fast.

So although it was going to be dawn in a few hours and he was still quite drowsy, he dragged his feet through his bedroom floor and into the dark and empty hallway. There was somewhere he needed to go.

In the novel, it was written that in the Vournemouth residence, there was a gigantic library. This was his destination.

●●●

Shelves packed with thick books, new and old, lined the tall marble walls under marble ceilings. The estate itself was actually packed chock-full of expensive marble.

The whole library by itself contained the most information about the continent he could find at the moment since he could not head out to the town's library at this late time. Major events, wars, tragedies, disasters... All sorts of knowledge cultivated from the several kingdoms bundled up together in one archive.

Stepping foot into it, he pressed a switch to turn on all the magic lamps in the library, and let out a gasp in awe at the sheer number of books.

It was the first time he had been in a room this large.

(I could probably spend a year in here and still not be bored of it...)

He liked reading books, specifically web novels. But he also usually indulged himself with thick literature books back on Earth when he was Noel. His job as a hunter took up a lot of the time in his schedule, so it was only on weekends and days off, but he would spend days upon days reading books before returning back to the work days.

(...Just how big is this place?), he thought.

As he quietly made his way in between the huge bookshelves, something caught his eyes.

There was a single recliner chair in the clearing in the middle of the library. Perhaps it was for anyone who ever visited so that they could spend time alone reading. He sat down on it, to find that it was extremely comfortable. So much so that he nearly dozed off as is, but was able to jolt himself back awake before doing so.

He immediately got up and started looking for the card catalog...

(Hmm? What's this?)

It was a box shaped like an ATM with a small keyboard-ish panel which extended in front of it.

Unknown letters, characters, and numbers all diplayed themselves on it, but he was somehow able to read them. He felt a bit uncomfortable at this unknown setting of being able to read this other world's language he never once studied.

After punching in some letters, a pale light appeared on the floor and started moving in a direction as if guiding him.

"Hooh... the wonders of magic."

Following it, he arrived at a specific bookshelf, from which he reached into and took out a thick hardcover book.

[Encyclopedia of the Ancient Times]

He was looking for something specific, an "Ancient Power". From his memories of the novel, he remembered something about there being different entities that existed long ago during a period people now called the "Ancient Times".

A time period when the world was still in its stage of infancy and different monsters called "Legendary Beasts" prowled about. It was also written that the "heroes" of such times founded the different kingdoms that exist today.

He searched through the book's table of contents for the section about said "Legendary Beasts" and after reaching it, he started reading.

"....So that's how it is... This information is much appreciated."

--In the beginning, there was only Order. Singularity. Then came Chaos brought by the battle between the God of Darkness and the God of Light.

Their battle ended itself in a stalemate, however, the collateral damage during it had broken up the very essence of the world and mended it back together time and time again.

Distortions to reality appeared and gave birth to phenomena all known singularly as the "Elenation."

The world, Gaya, appreciated such marvelous changes, so to accomodate to them, she gave birth to the [Elements].

Earth spread out into the horizon to serve as a habitat to all living things.

Water filled the emptiness that the earth's will couldn't reach and stretched even farther.

Fire bloomed althroughout the world to bring warmth and light to its inhabitants.

Wind roamed wild and free in the skies above to give guidance to those living below.--

"The four major elements, huh...."

With his hand on his chin, Noir continues reading as he takes it all in.

--These four elements, combined together, sculpted the world in all its everlasting beauty.

Through earth's will, gems and minerals littered the deep underground and mountains erected themselves tall and proud as they reached for the heavens.

Through water's will, waves plowed along the ocean, bringing along with it the birth of marine life, providing man's will to voyage into the great unknown.

Through fire's will, the old foliage in forests burned to make way for new life as the world's core engulfed itself in flames, bringing even more warmth to the both he insides and outsides of the world.

Through wind's will-

*Plop*

He closed the book just a split second shy of the next paragraph.

"It's not here...."

The reason why he wanted information was because, although he had his knowledge of the events and other important stuff in the novel, he still wanted to see with his own eyes if the things he knew matched the things shown in real life. In real time.

But no matter how much he skimmed through the pages in the book, there was no such knowledge to be found.

*Creak...*

"Who is in the library at this hour....?"

Just as he was pondering what to do, he could here someone's voice coming from the entrance of the library. He wanted to obtain information as quick as possible that he had forgotten to close the door after entering.

Moreover, the voice sounded like that of an old man.

Noir turned his head to a space between the bookshelves where the threshold of the entrance was visible to catch a glimpse whoever it was that just entered.

*Step... step... step...*

(What is this, a horror movie...?)

The eerie feeling he got as the footsteps only got closer and closer made him gulp his breath as he started sweating profusely. Noir recalled a certain character from the novel.

He knew who these footsteps belonged to.

"Oh? What a pleasant surprise this is, young master Noir!"

Thereupon, a good-looking old man made his appearance with a gentle smile as he leaned sideways behind the bookshelf adjacent to Noir. He looked like the boogeyman in his eyes.

His name was Frank, he was the family's chamberlain. He had short, sleaked-back, black hair that was starting to gray in some areas and donned a butler outfit with a monacle over his left eye.

He sported the appearance of a good chamberlain, but something felt incredibly wrong about him at a glance.

Trying his best to hide his fear, Noir forced out as calm a look on his face as possible.

"...Good evening, Frank...?"

"...Yes? That is indeed my name... Also, it is already early morning, young master."

"A-Ah right. I forgot..."

At Noir's greeting and weak reply, Frank's face expresses mild surprise, but soon returns back to its gentle smile.

"An odd hour for.... reading, isn't it? This is the master's personal library, but please do exercise moderation and put some time into your sleep."

Noir couldn't deal with him at all. His expression was practically the epitome of compassion, but although faint, he could also detect ice-cold apathy.

Shooting a glance at Frank's face, he digs through his memory of who he was in the novel. He was depicted as the chamberlain of the Vournemouth family, but his true identity was a bloodthirsty warrior hailing from all the way in the Arikos Continent, west of the Madura Continent. Although he didn't know the reason why he was all the way here in a completely different continent, moreover as a chamberlain of his house, he knew one thing...

"Ehm... Are you listening, young master?"

He didn't care for him, much less the amount of sleep he gets. Not one bit. It was simply part of his duty to advise his master's son.

"...Okay..."

That was all he could answer.

"Good. Now, I ask that you return to your bedroom, young master. We wouldn't want you to catch a "sickness" when you wake up later in the morning now would we?"

(....Please help me, someone.....)

Ominous. Definitely ominous. Without a doubt.

With his mind exhausted from simply interacting with such a character, he left the library with his palms drenched in cold sweat.