3

'It's obvious. It's the novel I read before going to bed last night.'

'But first, how did I die?'

Seungeun barely recalled that as he was reading a novel on my laptop, the laptop's battery exploded and burned his arm. In a panic, he fell backward and stepped on an empty can, causing him to lose his footing. As if fate had conspired against him, his head struck a hard surface, knocking him unconscious.

'The fall shouldn't be all that horrible.' he tried to convince himself, but the truth was that when he woke up, he had already entered a novel.

'I was the only resident in that unit, and the explosion was not a loud one. I might have died from burns from a fire that broke out, or I might have suffered a head injury.'

'Nevertheless, I still passed away!'

Seungeun was having internal conflicts, and Jake standing next to the bed flinched as he gasped, "No way, did you really become stupid?"

Seungeun retorted, "No, it's not like that. I think I have amnesia."

"Amnesia?"

"Uh, yeah, basically, I can't remember anything."

Jake cast a pitying look at him. "So I guess I was right..."

"Right about what?"

"You did hit your head hard," Jake commented. 

'It's not like I really had amnesia. But it's that I had transmigrated into someone else. I remember that the people in the dungeon said that I was the son of a marquess.'

Seungeun looked at the bedside table, which only had the clothing he had worn previously and the cracked armor. 

Belatedly, he realized something important.

'I was fucking robbed!'

Seeing the change in Seungeun's face, Jake looked at him warily as he inched away. "What's wrong with you now?"

Seungeun's hands were trembling as he replied. "It's nothing."

'First and foremost, I had to figure out my identity. The identity of my body sounds like he was famous for being useless.' 

He opened my mouth and asked the boy in hesitation, "Since you know me, can you tell who I am?" 

Seungeun was worried that he had transmigrated into a nobody and nameless background character. 'If I'm going to be reborn, it better be someone cool--a powerful character--or else my reincarnation will be pointless!'

Sure enough, when the boy started explaining... 

"Your name is Seth. I don't know your full name. You are the weakest member of the hero's party. I heard that the other members always complained about you being useless." Jake explained with a bright face.

"That's it…?"

"Well, that's what the gossipy uncles said!"

It was the same thing that Seungeun had heard multiple times in the dungeon.

He remembered the name Seth. In his full name, he was called Seth Whitlock, a trash cannon fodder who died early in the novel The Summoned Hero.

The Summoned Hero was a novel about a young man summoned into another world as a hero to defeat the Demon King. It was a generic Isekai story about a weak modern guy becoming stronger, forming alliances, overcoming side villains, and then destroying the demon king—or so he thought.

Seungeun had no idea how the novel ended because he had not finished it before he died. Still, he believed the finale should be something along the lines of a generic happy ending in which they killed the demon king, the world became peaceful, and everyone lived happily ever after.

In the novel, the main character forms a team with a knight named Agnes Whitlock. She was Marquess' first child and had been raised since she was a young girl to be his heir. Agnes had two younger siblings, one of whom was Seth Whitlock. 

Seth Whitlock was so weak, stupid, and cruel that he made enemies wherever he went. So it was unsurprising that he went missing early in the novel. The problem was that this weak cannon fodder, who was killed in the beginning, later showed up as a demon. And to make matters worse, he'd be killed by his own sister.

Seungeun couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh. 

'It was not mentioned how Seth 'died' in the novel. But I knew one thing: the dungeon was the exact place as stated in the novel where Seth should have disappeared.'

'But somehow, I transmigrated into his body.'

Seungeun looked at the boy and asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Jake. I'm 12 years old, and I'm a future dragon slayer!" Jake proudly claimed.

The title was vicious. 

'Seriously… Where did this kid even learn it from?'

"Dragon slayer…?"

"Yep! Well, although there are no pure-blood dragons nowadays, the smaller ones are called dragons too. Since you are an adventurer, then you must have seen a dragon, right?" As he asked, his eyes sparkled in anticipation of Seungeun's answer.

Seungeun stared back at him quietly.

"Oh, yeah, you don't remember anything." Jake looked pityingly at him.

Seungeun borrowed a copper mirror from Jake. As he held it up and peered into the glass, he saw blonde hair cascading down to his shoulders and a pair of striking golden orbs staring back at him—Seth's face. 

He thought inwardly, 'Or should I say now it's my own face? At first glance, it looked like a feminine face, but if you look closely, it's actually a male. To say the least, the face was pretty okay. If the face was bad, I would have shed tears. It's hard to accept it but from now on, my name is Seth.' 

"Anyway. Grandma cooked porridge and asked me to give it to you when you wake up." Jake walked out of the room glumly, his shoulders sagging.

'Does he even know how strong a dragon is?'

People with remarkable magic in this world have advantages over those without it, such as the ability to use magic in battle, healing, and crafting. Magic users can also go on adventures and hunt monsters.

Seth Whitlock had no aptitude for magic, and after becoming weary of taunts and jeers from others around him who thought he was weak, he resolved to become an adventurer, trained alone, and attempted to prove his worth by killing monsters. Since he was unable to use magic, there was, regrettably, no remarkable development. 

"Still, if I am really reincarnated, then..."

His heart was racing, and he clenched his fists with excitement. 

'If you ever got Isekai-ed, there was one important thing you had to do, and that is...'

"System!"

Silence.

"Eh, did I do it wrong? One more time."

"System, show me my status!"

Silence... The crows perched outside the window and cawed as though mocking his only hope.

Seungeun, now Seth, felt his lips trembling.

"Really nothing?"

His legs gave out, and he collapsed on the floor in despair.

'I knew this body was weak, but there was no status window or system to help me level up or anything?'

'The main character in the Isekai novels I read was always overpowered and reincarnated with a cheat-like skill. Not only did I become a useless trash cannon fodder, but I also had no cheat package?!'

"At this point, isn't it better to be dead?"

When Jake returned to the room, he saw that the weak adventurer was banging his head on the wall.

"You crazy…! What are you doing?!" Jake almost dropped the bowl on the floor as he hesitated to approach the crazy person. 

"Useles… reincarnation… Why am I even alive?" Seth mumbled as he felt despair. 'There's no way I can survive in this world.'

"Is it because I said you were useless just now? I didn't mean it! Why are you taking it seriously?"

"Really…?" Seth sighed sadly as he wiped the blood from the walls.

"Yeah…" 

He turned to face Jake, who was holding a confused expression while standing in the center of the room. 

'Since I've already been reincarnated, I should plan out my life. It's not like I have the courage to commit suicide…'

"What is it?"

"Let me stay in your house for a few days. I need to gather my thoughts."

"Okay, fine. But only for a few days. I'm tired after looking after you for three days straight." Jake put the bowl of porridge on the table.

"Wasn't it your grandmother who took care of me? And I passed out for three days? Did anyone search for me while I was unconscious?"

"Nope! No one."

'I knew that the original Seth was bad at socializing, but I thought his family should be searching for him.' Seth felt more despair consume him. 

"What about the person who saved me? At least I want to... thank him." His mouth was twitching as he said the last two words.

"He's going to kill the other monsters in the mountains," Jake grumbled. "The hero and you people only arrived to clear the dungeon; the mountain's monsters were left behind." 

Seth thought back about the dungeon with a bunch of statues. Since the hero had left early, it meant that the dungeon and the other party members cleared were different from the ones where he was left to fend for himself. 

'Was I dragged by those thieves into another dungeon?' He wanted to ask Jake, but he thought asking the person who saved him would be better.

"Anyway. Here is the porridge. I couldn't go out because grandma asked me to stay with you, but now that you are awake, I'm going out to go out and train myself! Bye!"

"Huh, wait-"

Bam!

Jake closed the door and left Seth in the room alone without hesitation.

The morning sun shed a beautiful shine on the world, the bright hues of the sky produced a breathtaking scene, and a gentle breeze whispered through the leaves. 

Although the original Seth couldn't use magic, he remembered using it when he was being chased by the statues in the dungeon. He assumed it was related to his soul and his transmigration. So he was curious how much he could make use of it. 

He closed his eyes in concentration and felt the mana in his body slowly move to his palm. 

When he opened his eyes, he saw a ball of light in his hand. "Oh magic! It's really magic! Amazing."

The light was only there for thirty seconds before dimming and dissipating, and his palm felt searing and terrible. It was unusual to feel pain after using magic, especially because the magic he had just used was so small. He assumed that was due to his body's unfamiliarity with it. 

While thinking, his stomach growled in hunger.

Seth ate Jake's grandmother's porridge, which was simply rice cooked with a lot of water and a pinch of salt. 'The porridge tasted good.' 

As he was eating, he could hear the door opening and closing, then footsteps and discussions outside the room. The door was soon opened and revealed two unfamiliar people. 

The elderly woman had silver hair curled on top of her head, deep creases around her eyes, and a pleasant smile with a slumped back. 

The taller woman next to her appeared to be in her twenties. She had fair skin, bright eyes, and long, flowing brown hair that fell in waves over her shoulders. Additionally, she wore a smile. She was wearing white and green robes and was holding a thick book.

'She reminded me of someone described in the novel The Summoned Hero.'

"You're awake!" The taller woman approached him. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine."

"Hm, really? No pain at all?" 

"I think so..." 

He didn't want to trouble or interact a lot with strangers because Seth made enemies wherever he went.

She seemed unconvinced. Without warning, the woman abruptly pinched his side, forcing him to gasp in pain and surprise. 

"You are lying. Even after healing you every day, you still haven't recovered completely." She sighed.

'How was that my fault?' Seth lampooned as he rubbed his aching side. 

"Do we know each other?" After he asked that, the woman blinked her eyes in realization. 

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet." She straightened her back and smiled. "My name is Celia and I am a healer."

'I knew it.' 

In The Summoned Hero, Celia Wood was the healer who joined the hero's team and accompanied the hero to fight the demon king.

'How did I meet an important character so soon?'