"What's going on? Where am I?" Aaron muttered, confusion etched on his face as he stood on a podium, the air crackling with faint mana.
Just hours ago, he was a regular otaku, binging peak anime after a grueling day at work. Not the stereotypical shut-in otaku surviving on cup noodles and anime marathons—nah, Aaron had standards. He'd bet his Blu-ray collection those noodle-slurping otakus existed, though.
Back on Earth, Aaron lived a solid life. A successful businessman with looks that turned heads, he had his pick of women but never settled down. That evening, he'd been grinding his favorite game, tweaking its plug-in lucky spin system to dish out cheat-tier rewards daily.
Then, Truck-kun struck. One second, he was gaming in bed; the next, his house wall caved in, and that infamous isekai truck barreled straight for him. "Seriously? I knew I shouldn't have binged that isekai marathon!" he thought, his otaku brain reeling.
"Aaron! Stop wasting my time! Place your hand on the awakening stone!" The head teacher's sharp voice snapped Aaron out of his thoughts.
Still clueless about this new world—Blue Star, was it?—Aaron obeyed, placing his hand on the round, oval-shaped awakening stone. It glowed faintly for a split second before fading. A strange chime echoed in his mind, too quiet to notice yet.
"Aaron, no talent!" the teacher declared, irritation flashing across his face.
"Did I piss this guy off?" Aaron wondered, descending the podium stairs, still lost in this supernatural chaos.
"Aaron's talentless, huh? That's what he gets for being so prideful."
"Thought he was hot stuff with his demigod parents."
"Keke, with Aaron as talentless trash, you think Lily will ditch the engagement? She swore she'd dump him if he didn't get a decent talent."
The students' whispers were hushed but loud enough for Aaron to catch. He didn't care—he barely understood the situation.
"Yo, Aaron, how you so chill, bro? You've got no talent," a student said, approaching. Aaron didn't know why, but the guy's vibe felt like an old gaming buddy.
"It's cool. I've got a C-rank strengthening talent. I'll protect you," Leo said, flexing with a grin.
Suddenly, a blinding orange light erupted from the awakening stone, stealing everyone's attention, including Aaron's.
"Oooh! That's an A-rank talent! The highest in our country since the last one a decade ago!" a student shouted.
"Lily Lionheart, A-rank talent!" the teacher announced, a pleased smile breaking through his usual scowl.
Lily nodded curtly, tossing her hair as she stepped down from the podium.
"Uh, Aaron, she's headed this way—toward you," Leo muttered, nudging him.
"This body's also named Aaron?" Aaron mumbled, too quiet for Leo to hear.
Lily stopped in front of him, her indifferent mask slipping slightly when Aaron didn't swoon like he usually did.
"Hmph, he's already given up," she thought.
"I'm breaking off the engagement. You couldn't awaken an A-rank talent like I demanded," Lily said coldly, her words sucking the air out of the crowd.
"You can't just break it off! It was set by Aaron's parents and yours. This is too far!" Leo snapped, defending his friend.
"Shut it!" Dan, one of Lily's admirers, cut in. With a B-rank talent and a longtime grudge against Aaron, he saw his chance to humiliate him and cozy up to Lily. "Stay out of this!"
"You don't have the right to—" Leo started, but Aaron's sigh stopped him.
"Can I ask you something?" Aaron said to Lily, his voice calm, unshaken, a faint smirk tugging at his lips.
"Go ahead," she replied, eyes narrowing.
"Are you the most beautiful girl in the world?"
"How dare you—" Dan began, but Lily cut him off with a sharp glance.
"No," she said, curious where this was going.
"Are you in the top ten most beautiful women in the world?" Aaron pressed, his words starting to grate on her.
Restraining her anger, Lily answered, "No, I'm not."
She knew her beauty was striking but paled compared to the royal families and powerful clans' goddesses.
"She's not even top ten on the continent," Leo whispered to Aaron, pushing Lily's buttons further. She stayed silent to save face, her jaw tightening.
"Then it's fine. Break the engagement. I don't settle for less," Aaron said coolly, shrugging as if he'd just passed on a mediocre loot drop. His words dropped jaws across the room.
"Yo, being talentless fried his brain," one student whispered.
"Think? Bro, I *know*," another replied.
Even the teacher's eyes widened at Aaron's audacity.
"How dare you talk to Lily like that! Apologize!" Dan roared, but Aaron ignored him.
"We done here, Leo? Can we go home?" Aaron asked, his only thought being to figure out who the hell he was in this world.
"Yeah, just the support gifts for new awakeners left, but this corrupt school probably won't give us squat," Leo said.
"Good. Take me home," Aaron said, slinging his bag over his shoulder and standing.
"How dare you snub me, talentless trash!" Dan seethed, barely holding back from swinging. He knew Aaron's dead demigod parents still held clout in the county—attacking him would be suicide.
Aaron didn't spare Dan a glance, strolling out coolly, leaving a stunned Lily behind.
"Oh, and my advice, king simp? Give up on her. She's out of your league too," Aaron tossed over his shoulder at Dan before exiting, his words making Dan's knuckles clench in rage.
"Damn you, Aaron. I'll get my revenge," Dan muttered, fuming.