[Kim Suho] 17 – 27 years old 

A righteous, honest, and hard-working man from a commoner background. He possesses extraordinary character and talent and is a well-known genius from the military academy. He carries a strong sense of justice befitting a hero, but harbors a special secret.

[Shin Jonghak] 17 – 27 years old 

The fourth generation heir to Jinsung Corp, a chaebol that contends for the number one spot. [1] He is narcissistic and elitist as the spoiled child of a chaebol family and later becomes a villain because of his inferiority complex towards Kim Suho. I have to be the best. I can’t tolerate anyone above me. He confronts Kim Suho with such stubbornness.

Those two were the main characters of my novel. The novel had many more characters, but writing them all down was impossible. It contained billions of characters, and unless they had important roles like the heroine or sidekick, giving them a name was unnecessary. Why was I saying all this?

“Hero Association’s Military Agent Academy, Seoul Branch, Class of 2024, Rank 1 Cadet, Kim Suho.”

The story in my novel was happening in front of my eyes. Kim Suho nervously walked up as he was called to the stage. We were in a huge auditorium filled with 3000 cadets and thousands of more spectators. Their gazes all focused on Kim Suho.

“He’s Kim Suho? Wow.”

“He’s so handsome!”

Several girls swooned at the sight of him.

“This is why they say your gift is the only thing that matters. Who cares if you work hard? People like him always take first place.”

“That guy completely lucked out with his gift.”

Naturally, every young teenager envied him.

“They say he’s got the best grades in the last 10 years.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard of him. They announced his gift too, right? What was it again… Sword Saint?”

Guild associates eagerly watched the best cadet in recent history from the highest seats. They had to be at least a kilometer away, but I could clearly hear them as long as I looked in their direction. Not only their words, but I could even see their faces, almost as if I was right in front of them. Perhaps this was my gift.

“Yeah, they said he receives the world’s protection in regards to swords.”

“That’s pretty vague, but information from the academy is always like that.”

“We called dibs on that kid, so don’t touch him.”

I recognized one of the whisperers. Yun Seung-Ah, an important assistant to the main character and one of the heroines who almost becomes his lover. Just when the two of them were hitting it off — actually, the main character was hitting it off with multiple heroines — I suspended my novel. Thus, the two never became lovers.

“Dibs? What dibs. There’s no such thing when it comes to cadets.”

Yun Seung-Ah smiled and rebutted another guild associate’s provocation.

“Is that why Essence of the Strait can’t escape second place?”

I knew Yun Seung-Ah’s face. Surprisingly, she looked like my first love from college. Probably because I imagined her when I created Yun Seung-Ah.

“Can I take that as a challenge?”

“I’m kidding, of course. We still have 3 years before we can scout any of them.”

“Two years.”

“You know scouting them before they graduate is illegal, right?”

“That’s only if you get caught.”

Yun Seung-Ah and the man glared at each other. The VIP section began to heat up from their staring contest. And so, the fight for Kim Suho began.

“Class of 2024, Rank 2 Cadet, Shin Jonghak.”

Meanwhile, the other main character stood up too. The heir to the Jinsung clan commanded the audience’s attention just like Kim Suho. But unlike Kim Suho, there was no envy towards him, only admiration and adoration. With Kim Suho they thought, How is he better than me?, but with Shin Jonghak it was, He was better than me from birth. Like a true noble, Shin Jonghak confidently ascended the stage.

Kim Suho and Shin Jonghak stood side by side and glared at each other. Electricity seemed to crackle between them.

Without a doubt, they were characters from my novel.

Then where was I?

I wasn’t on stage, but in the farthest back seat of the auditorium. I wasn’t anyone special out of the 3000 cadets, but merely one of the many thousands. No guild associates would bother to look my way.

“Chundong, what rank are you? I’m 2900.”

A chubby boy next to me asked. His nametag read, Kim Ho Sup. This meant he would eventually play a role. Although he couldn’t be a hero because of his nonexistent physical abilities, his gift was outstanding for gathering information.

“Chundong?”

“… I don’t know.”

I didn’t know who I was. I didn’t even know my name was Chundong. Shouldn’t I have been one of the two on stage?

“Hey c'mon, if you don’t know that…”

“I don’t know.”

Once again, I didn’t know. This world was the novel I wrote, but I was in the body of a character I had never written. Other than being a cadet in the Military Agent Academy, I was the most ordinary and connectionless character whose name didn’t even exist in the novel. In other words… I was an extra. [2]

… No, I was a speck of dust.