An orphan who has been running all his life, I always thought about how my life would turn out if I had someone to support me.

  However, this world is too cruel for such people.

  When I thought I had found someone to whom I could entrust my soul, it turned out not to be so.

  When I thought that hard work could surpass everyone, it turned out not to be so.

  Finally, I seem to have understood that in a world already set up by others, following the rules they establish always leaves you at a disadvantage.

  The only thing that could allow you to bypass all the rules is to be so good at something that it is blindingly obvious.

  Which, as expected, I didn't have.

  These were my last thoughts as I closed my eyes on the ground.

  =============================

  Something happened which was unreal for me, but I woke up in another world and in another body.

  In the body of a 16-year-old boy, with average looks but with peculiar silver hair.

  What was even more astonishing was that the world seemed not to be ordinary. Here, one could see many superhumans.

  Although the names of the cities were not the same as on Earth, there were many intersections in terms of architecture, technology using magic, and languages.

  What was even more important was that some legends were very similar to those on Earth. One of the most recognizable legends, for example, is the one about the sword in the stone.

  In this world, magical technology flourished; various capitals of cities were connected by magical portals.

  But, even if there is magic in this world, it is much more cruel than Earth. Here, the main priority is power, not money.

  "I seem to have ended up in the body of 16-year-old Nero, who had no good talent."

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  The room where I woke up was simple, small, with just one bed and a wardrobe, with no luxury.

  From the memories, Nero is a member of a certain powerful family, but because of his poor talent, he is mostly ignored.

  However, he could still get into the academy with the help of a teacher who was a friend of his late mother. Otherwise, he would have needed to show very good talent.

  This so-called talent is not like on Earth; it's more about certain abilities of the beings living here.

  Everything is based on an energy called mana.

  With the help of a special stone, one can see the reaction of mana. The stone changes color depending on the quality of the mana.

  This is the first step to becoming a superbeing in the future.

  For the best results, talent is assessed at 15-16 years old, when they can finally know their talent level.

  Although there are no specific names for these talent levels, there are commonly recognized four levels: low, corresponding to green; medium, blue; high, red; and legendary, purple.

  Those like Nero are called talentless because they don't even have a low level of talent. Initially, the stone was white, and when Nero touched it, it barely changed color.

  As soon as Nero's talent level was checked and his position was determined, he was mercilessly expelled from his family.

  Nero fell into despair because of this and decided to dissipate his magical energy, which is extremely dangerous; essentially, a being loses mana only in case of death.

  "After that, I woke up in this body..."

  I sat on the bed, numb with thought:

  Now I am in the academy's dormitory. The Empire, where the academy is located, resembles European countries on Earth in architectural style and was very powerful.

  "And what should I do now? After so many years of work, I couldn't achieve anything; now, in another world, what should I do?"

  Although the situation was absurd for me, in some way, I was happy. Because my main hobby was games, mainly in the fantasy genre.

  "Oh, by the way, I was playing that tough game... Because of the difficulty, I had to cheat and use third-party software. But that's not important now."

  The more I thought, the more fatigue accumulated in my mind; finally, I lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

  However, I soon woke up to a sound.

  Subconsciously lifting my hand, I saw a square device attached to it.

  If compared, this device is very similar to a smartphone.

  I was curious about the sound; according to the memories, it was a message. But Nero had no friends, and his family mostly ignored him. This step made me feel relief; there was no need to pretend for anyone's protection or anything else; loneliness had become something very familiar to me.

  Like a smartphone, using my hand, a floating holographic screen appeared before me. Following my blinks, I soon opened the messages.

  It was long, but reading through, it was a kind of notification for the start-of-the-school-year ceremony.

  "Very similar to Earth customs..."

  Remembering that I had to be in hall number 7 tomorrow morning for the ceremony, I switched the screen.

  Soon I was surprised because the basic functions from a smartphone were still present in this device.

  You could even play games, order magical items, and sign up as an adventurer. Watch videos, and so on.

  Everything was like in a game.

  Scrolling further and further, I didn't notice when I fell asleep again.