Solo Leveling: Digispirit.

"Everyone, I’d like you to meet Takuya Kambara. He’s a student from Japan who recently moved here with his family. Please, Takuya, introduce yourself to the rest of the class."

...

However, no response came.

The boy they were referring to simply stood there, his eyes drifting from one side of the classroom to the other with an unmistakably lost expression. His gaze eventually settled on the teacher, his face carrying a faint look of confusion, as though he couldn’t understand why everyone was staring at him, much less realize they were speaking to him.

After waiting for another moment, the teacher called his name once more.

"Takuya?"

At the sound of it, the boy instinctively looked over his shoulder. Seeing that no one was standing behind him, he slowly turned back toward the teacher, finally realizing he was the one being addressed.

"I’m sorry," he said after a brief pause. "I just... felt a little dizzy."

The teacher studied him for a second. Between the student’s bewildered expression and his hesitant answer, it was obvious something wasn’t quite right.

"Would you like to go to the bathroom for a moment?"

"Yes, please," the boy replied almost immediately. "It’s just... I don’t know where it is."

"Oh, right." The teacher gave a small nod before turning toward another student. "Jin-ah, could you show him where the bathroom is? And if he still isn’t feeling well, please take him to the infirmary."

A girl with brown hair that carried a faint purple tint stood up from her seat.

"Yes, teacher."

She walked over to Takuya and spoke in a calm, gentle voice.

"Follow me, Takuya. It’s this way. If you’d like, we can go straight to the infirmary instead."

"Thank you, but the bathroom will be fine."

The two of them quietly made their way through the hallways. Neither of them said much as they walked, and after a short while they arrived at the men’s restroom. Jin-ah pointed toward the entrance before letting him know she would wait outside in case he needed anything.

Once he stepped inside, Takuya quickly looked around to make sure he was alone. Satisfied that the restroom was empty, he immediately walked over to the mirror.

His breathing had become slightly uneven.

Almost without thinking, he raised both hands to his face. His fingers slowly traced his cheeks, jaw, nose, and forehead, as if he expected his sense of touch to tell him something his eyes couldn’t. Yet every feature beneath his fingertips felt unfamiliar.

What stared back at him wasn’t his face.

Not the one he had lived with his entire life.

"Just who the fuck is Takuya? Where the fuck am I? And why the fuck do I understand Korean?"

There were far too many questions and not a single answer.

He understood that everyone had been referring to him, but that only made the situation even more absurd.

His mind drifted back to the last thing he remembered.

He had been sitting with a couple of friends, casually eating a burger. There hadn’t been any warning, no strange light, no accident, nothing that could explain what had happened.

Then, somehow...

He had suddenly found himself standing in front of an entire classroom while a teacher introduced him as a transfer student. Not only that, he had called him by a Japanese name—Takuya. It had even taken him several seconds to realize the teacher was referring to him.

"...I’m in Korea?"

His eyes slowly lifted to the mirror once again.

The reflection looking back at him wasn’t his own.

He used to have black hair and slightly tanned skin. Living in Miami had guaranteed that much. The face staring back at him now, however, was noticeably paler, with smooth skin that barely seemed to have a blemish. His hair was now brown, matching his eyes, and his features had become subtly more East Asian. The difference wasn’t dramatic, but it was obvious enough that he noticed it immediately.

There was no mistaking it.

This wasn’t his fucking face.

It was a good-looking face, sure.

But it wasn’t his.

"What the fuck... Did I die? Or is this a dream?"

He couldn’t make sense of it.

The first thing he did was pinch the back of his hand. If this was a dream, then the pain should wake him up.

It didn’t.

His skin quickly turned red, and a small cut even appeared where his fingernails dug into his hand. The sting was real, yet nothing changed.

He didn’t wake up.

"This... isn’t a dream? Are you kidding me?"

He looked back at the face reflected in the mirror.

It was slightly younger than the one he remembered. Before this, he had been in his final year of university. He had been twenty-three years old. The boy staring back at him now looked no older than sixteen or seventeen.

That wasn’t the real issue, though.

The real issue was that this wasn’t him.

"...Did I reincarnate?"

The thought itself was absurd.

Sure, he had read a few fanfics and novels with that exact premise. It was a popular trope, an easy way to throw a protagonist into an unfamiliar world and tell a compelling story.

But stories were stories.

Reality was supposed to be different.

More importantly, he hadn’t even disliked his previous life. He wasn’t rich or particularly popular, but he had been happy enough. It had been a simple, ordinary life, and he had never wanted anything more than that.

And now...

Now he had been thrown into someone else’s body.

Without warning, his breathing became ragged. His chest tightened as though an invisible weight had been placed on top of it, making every breath harder than the last.

"Oh, fuck... just what I needed. A panic attack."

He had never experienced one himself, but he had seen friends go through them during exam season and other stressful situations.

Now, it seemed, it was finally his turn.

For a moment, it genuinely felt like he was going to die.

Trying to calm himself, he crouched down against the wall and forced himself to breathe more slowly. At least, he tried to.

At the same time, he desperately attempted to organize his thoughts.

He was in another body.

He was apparently a student.

And he didn’t have much time before he had to return to class. A girl was still waiting for him outside.

He searched his memories for anything useful.

There wasn’t much.

He somehow understood both Japanese and Korean, two languages he had never known before.

He also knew that he lived with his uncle, Ikki Kambara, who had legal custody of him. His uncle had moved to Korea because of work and was a doctor.

At least money probably wouldn’t be an issue.

But that was all.

There were no childhood memories, no meaningful experiences, nothing beyond a few basic facts. Everything else belonged to his previous life.

There was another problem.

He couldn’t even remember his own old name.

"...Fuck."

A bitter laugh escaped his lips.

"I guess I’m really Takuya now."

He took another slow breath, trying to steady himself. Panicking wouldn’t solve anything.

"No... I need more information. Where am I? Is this my old world, just... in Korea? Or is it a completely different one?"

His expression stiffened.

"I just hope I wasn’t thrown into some fantasy world. Reading about them is one thing... actually living in one is something else entirely."

For now, the decision was obvious.

Gather information.

The easiest place to start was the girl waiting outside. If this really was the same world, maybe he could even find a way to contact his family back in Miami.

Holding onto that small hope, he walked back to the sink and splashed cold water across his face. Once he felt calm enough to act normally, he dried his hands and stepped outside.

Jin-ah was still waiting for him.

She looked genuinely worried.

Feeling slightly guilty, Takuya decided to speak first.

"Sorry about that. I just... blanked out for a moment. Honestly, I was pretty nervous, and... well, it’s a little embarrassing to admit it, but my anxiety got the better of me. I’m okay now." He offered an awkward smile before adding, "I’m Kambara Takuya. Nice to meet you, and thank you for bringing me here. I think we can head back now."

The girl let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"That’s good. I was starting to get worried." She smiled warmly. "I’m Sung Jin-ah. Um... Kanbara? I’m not very familiar with Japanese names."

"Then just call me Takuya." He chuckled lightly. "I like it more than my surname, anyway. Nice to meet you too, Sung-san."

"In that case," she replied with another smile, "Jin-ah is fine."

Together, they started walking back toward the classroom.

Now that his breathing had finally settled, Takuya found himself glancing at Jin-ah every so often.

Not because she was cute—although she certainly was.

It was because both her name and her face felt strangely familiar.

The feeling lingered in the back of his mind, bringing with it an odd sense of unease.

He shouldn’t recognize anyone.

This was a new place.

Possibly even a new world.

So why did she seem so familiar?

...No.

He pushed the thought aside before it could go any further. There wasn’t enough information to jump to conclusions.

When they returned to the classroom, Takuya briefly introduced himself before taking his seat.

His new desk had been placed near the middle of the room, right beside Jin-ah.

After what had happened earlier, the teacher thought it would be best if he sat next to someone he had already spoken to. Considering how kind and dependable Jin-ah seemed, it felt like the most reasonable decision.

Takuya glanced around the classroom once more, carefully studying the faces of his new classmates.

None of them seemed familiar.

Well... almost none.

There was another girl who caught his attention. She was wearing a hoodie, and although he didn’t know her name, something about her looked strangely familiar.

"Just what is happening...?"

At the same time, he continued copying the notes the teacher was writing on the board. To his surprise, he had no trouble following the lesson. He could read Korean.

He could write it, too.

For a brief moment, he felt an odd sense of accomplishment, but he quickly pushed the thought aside. That wasn’t what mattered right now.

Instead, he quietly muttered to himself.

"Sung Jin-ah... Sung Jin-ah..."

It was strange.

The name sounded incredibly familiar, yet he couldn’t remember where he had heard it before.

Unfortunately, he had spoken just loudly enough for the girl in question to hear him.

She turned toward him with a curious expression.

"Yes? Did you need something?"

Caught completely off guard, Takuya quickly searched for an excuse.

Since class was almost over anyway, he took the opportunity.

"Actually... once the bell rings, could you show me around the school? I still don’t know where everything is." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly before adding, "I’ll buy you something from the school store as a thank-you."

Jin-ah blinked for a moment before smiling.

"Sure. I don’t mind."

When the bell finally rang, the two of them left the classroom together. Jin-ah patiently showed him around the campus, from the gymnasium to the different classroom buildings, eventually ending at the school store.

As promised, Takuya bought her a sandwich and a juice.

"Thank you." Jin-ah laughed softly. "I honestly didn’t think you were actually going to buy me something."

"Well, it was the least I could do," Takuya replied with a small smile. "I took up your entire break, after all."

After a brief pause, he casually asked,

"So... is there any famous place around the city? Somewhere people usually go?"

It wasn’t just small talk.

He genuinely wanted to know where he was.

Jin-ah thought about it for a moment before shaking her head.

"Not really. I don’t go out very often. My brother is a Hunter, so I spend most of my time taking care of things at home."

...

Something clicked inside Takuya’s mind.

Sung Jin-ah.

Her brother.

A Hunter.

Those words came together almost instantly, awakening a distant memory from years ago.

A story.

One he had read a long time ago.

Trying to keep his expression as calm as possible, he asked the question that suddenly felt far more important than anything else.

"...What’s your brother’s name?"

Please... let it be anything else.

Anything.

The chances of ending up in that world had to be practically impossible.

There was no way.

"Oh, his name is Sung Jinwoo." Jin-ah tilted her head curiously. "Why? Do you know him?"

...

Oh, fuck.

That was the only thought that crossed Takuya’s mind.

There’s no way...

I can’t actually be in Solo Leveling... right?