Chapter Text
Premise:
When Isagi Yoichi wakes up in a world of magic, monsters, dungeons, and imperial politics, he doesn’t panic.
He should.
Because he has transmigrated into a fantasy webnovel.
There’s just one small problem.
He has never read it.
He doesn’t know the protagonist.
He doesn’t know the female lead.
He doesn’t know the villains.
He doesn’t even know what genre it was supposed to be.
Worse—he’s not a side character.
He’s not an extra.
He’s not even listed in the story at all.
He is a narrative error.
The only advantage he has is a mysterious book written in Japanese—a language that does not exist in this world. The book claims to be the very novel he is currently living inside. But aside from a short premise and summary, every other page is blank.
To unlock the story, he must complete side missions.
Each mission reveals a new chapter.
Each chapter reveals the world he is now a part of.
And if the story reaches its proper ending, he will be rewarded with one thing:
A way back home.
Determined to clear this world like a game, Isagi dives headfirst into magic training, dungeon crawling, potion crafting, politics, and academy enrollment—planning to power up quietly before the “real plot” begins.
Unfortunately for him, his version of “staying low profile” involves triggering hidden achievements, stacking abnormal buffs, and unintentionally rewriting the narrative itself.
Because the more he interferes…
The more the story begins to revolve around him.
The original female lead is forgotten.
The empire’s brightest heirs turn their attention toward him.
And the genre itself begins to shift.
What was once a fantasy romance becomes something else entirely.
Now, as the academy arc begins and the empire whispers his name, Isagi must decide:
Clear the story and leave…
Or accept that he may have become its new protagonist.
The Transmigration
Isagi Yoichi awakens in a medieval empire governed by magic systems, dungeon economics, noble hierarchies, and divine prophecy. Registration of magical ability is mandatory, and all awakened citizens must attend the Imperial Magic Academy.
He quickly discovers something deeply unsettling:
He has no past.
No family.
No records.
No childhood memories in this world.
He exists only from the moment he “arrived.”
Before panic can set in, he discovers a book in his possession—one written entirely in Japanese. The book identifies itself as the novel of this world. However, nearly every page is empty.
A system message appears:
“Complete side missions to unlock the next chapter.”
* I would recommend him transmigrating at a pre-teen age around 10-12 so he can have a few years to build up his character and lore. This also gives him the chance to meet a few characters before the OG timeline of the story without him realizing and also build connections and a name /reputation for himself by accident. This is also the perfect time for him to also gain character development himself with him struggling to live inside a webnovel with no one to help him and him having to learn to live alone (well aside from the magic book and the system that is) which means he’s going to have to learn to make a living so how since technically he would be homeless, jobless, and also a orphan with nothing to his name (which technical he also doesn’t have).
* This would make for a fun set up for different types of side quests (some ordered by the system, others ones that he needs to make in order to survive in such a world/make a living). A few things that can come from this can be as follows: information broker (can somehow end up working with the underworld), selling dungeon items/ingredients (legal and also illegally; you can make it so that you can only sale through legal ways if you have an “ID” of some kind and also be old enough. Which means if he wanted to sell anything he would have to somehow get an ID somehow or make a fake ID while also faking his age and identity through magic transformation which he would need to do when selling both legal and illegally [black market/underworld])
* You can also have him making items like potions and/or engraved magical items but in order to do so he would need to work on his magic (my boy would have to be a genuine and understand magic theory and have a decent mana as well). Same thing as above he would have to sell them through the same means as above.
* You can also have him steal the OG FL or even ML credit/business idea accidentally or not (for example buying out something he read the OG cast made a lot of money selling or even an ingredient/remedy that he can use to get rich etc.)
* You can also have him find certain items that belong to the OG Cast but have him begin unaware due to simply not unlocking the information/ chapter just yet or even finding items that were never meant to be found/mentioned.
* He can even take up odd jobs as well like working as an errand boy or even a personal maid/aid/playdate for children his age (serving the nobles). Which also means he would have to travel a lot and move around throughout different empires (I think it would be fun to have 4 empires in total with the fifth “empire” being considered a free land aka no royalty and the place where the school is located and where everyone who has mana has to attend dispute which empire they belong to!) of course nobles are still a thing even in a royal-less empire.
The System and the Blank Pages
The book functions as both narrative guide and limited system interface. Every mission he completes unlocks:
- A new chapter of the novel.
- Lore and worldbuilding.
- Character introductions.
- Political tensions.
- Foreshadowing of disasters.
- Dungeon locations and threats.
However, the system’s knowledge is restricted to what Isagi has unlocked.
He is not given the full script.
He must earn it.
Occasionally, during moments of extreme danger, the system breaks its rules to provide small spoilers or warnings—but these are rare and unpredictable.
* I would also like to mention that Isagi would be the only one with a system which would also add to the comedy since he will have to talk to “himself” very often as well as always looking up at nothing and “spacing out” and playing and clicking away at the air/space in front of him. Even though he tries his best to play it cool, people still end up noticing his strange behavior he thinks he’s keeping under wraps.
The Two Revelations
As he progresses, Isagi realizes two critical truths:
- He is not part of the original story.
He is an anomaly inserted into the timeline. - If the novel reaches its canonical ending, he will be allowed to return to his original world.
This becomes his objective.
Complete missions.
Unlock chapters.
Reach the ending.
Go home.
And while he’s here?
Enjoy living inside a fantasy world.
5 to 9 Before He’s 9 to 5
The official “beginning” of the novel occurs when the main characters enroll in the Imperial Magic Academy.
Isagi decides to exploit the time before that.
He:
- Learns magic theory.
- Studies swordsmanship.
- Crafts potions and enchanted items.
- Studies monster biology.
- Understands politics and etiquette.
- Clears early dungeons.
- Completes hidden and non hidden side quests.
But due to his analytical nature and gamer-like mentality, he unintentionally exploits the system.
By overlapping beginner missions and completing tasks in optimized sequences, he:
- Triggers rare achievements.
- Unlocks hidden stats.
- Gains stacking buffs.
- Discovers secret traits.
- Earns titles the system wasn’t prepared to grant.
The system begins treating him as a variable outside intended parameters.
* It would be fun to have that for every quest he completes he ends up earning system points/coins that he can use to level up even more (aka just like a video game!) In terms of what he can buy with his system coins/points well I guess it can be any kind of skill such as cooking, cleaning, different swordsmanship techniques, mana xp, learning multiple magic attributes, learning more magic theories (like getting to buy cool magic books that only exist thanks/through the system which would mean Isagi as the one and only copy of said book), etiquette, monster books (which could including taming magical beats), potions books (healing, mana recovery etc), politics, math, science, english, history etc, pretty anything that can give him a helping hand while he’s in said world.
Narrative Distortion
At first, the chapters he unlocks match reality.
Then they don’t.
- Events happen earlier than expected.
- Certain tragedies never occur.
- Villains change motivations.
- Key introductions are skipped.
- Relationships shift.
Isagi slowly realizes that his interference—especially interacting with important figures before unlocking their chapters—has destabilized the plot.
The novel is rewriting itself in response to him in real time.
The Academy Arc
When Isagi finally enrolls in the Imperial Magic Academy (as required by law for mana users), the official story is supposed to begin.
Despite believing he’s acting like your average nobody extra, he has:
- Dungeon clear records.
- Political awareness beyond his status.
- Combat skill far beyond beginners.
- Unusual magical adaptability.
- Knowledge of future events (incomplete but dangerous).
Rumors spread.
Professors take notice.
Nobles investigate him.
Students whisper about him.
He becomes the empire’s newest anomaly.
* In terms of a few points made above you can have that people start to look into him and his background and they start to find things/connect the dots (this is where his fake Identity/s comes in!)
The Male Leads Shift
Originally, the novel centered around a female lead surrounded by powerful male heirs—each with their own political arcs and romantic routes.
But because of Isagi’s unpredictable presence:
- Destiny meetings are interrupted.
- Emotional turning points are redirected.
- Bonds form incorrectly.
- Flags reroute.
The male leads—geniuses, heirs, prodigies, and dungeon elites—begin orbiting him instead.
They:
- Compete with him.
- Rival him.
- Protect him.
- Obsess over him.
- Investigate him.
Unknowingly, the genre shifts.
From fantasy romance.
To fantasy action BL harem.
The female lead fades into narrative irrelevance.
And Isagi remains blissfully unaware.
* Perfect setting to have them living in dorms since a lot of them are from different empires and they need somewhere to stay while their studying
Rising Stakes
As deviations grow more extreme:
- The book’s blank pages begin glitching. (not loading correctly or even smudged or even ripped out)
- The system starts responding differently. (glitching or even disappearing)
- The “original ending” becomes uncertain.
A terrifying possibility emerges:
If the story no longer follows its original course…
Will the promised reward still activate?
Or has Isagi permanently rewritten his own escape route?
Core Conflict
Isagi wants to:
- Complete the story.
- Return home.
But the more he interacts with the world—
The more the world changes because of him.
And the more the male leads center their lives around him.
Eventually, he will have to confront the question:
Can he even go back home now that there’s no intended ending?