Race to become the strongest in another world with my friends from past life

Volume 1 (Chapter 1)

A long-faced handsome male with medium-sized long black hair and scarlet red eyes. He is wearing a black and red three-piece shirt with a long collared jacket which has a golden chain connecting two sides of the jacket with a red ribbon strapped on both ends of the chain. As for his height, He is about 6'1.

'DAYUM! I look super hot, and my outfit looks stunning! I am also taller than I was in my past life! YIPEEEEEEEEE'

Khaled, or Graham, was super excited and happy to see his appearance. However, He would quickly compose himself after he heard a faint laugh coming from Ross's Room, and it was at the left of Graham. He then approached the door of Ross's room and opened it slightly. What Graham saw surprised him. He saw that Ross was using the 'Message Box' on his table which would typically be used for study purposes but is now being used for another purpose. Graham then realizes Ross's real identity but to confirm his suspicions, He enters the room without making a sound.

After Graham does so, He slowly creeps up behind Ross without him noticing. He sees that Ross is chatting in the 'Random Group Chat' with Velzoyr and Voixer, chatting about how his life here in another world is. Graham then puts a hand on Ross's shoulder and speaks up in a calm tone.

Graham: "Yo, Veldora."

Ross looks back at Graham with an extremely shocked face.

Ross: "How... How do you know... who I am..."

He asks in a nervous tone, but Graham's reassuring smile puts Ross at ease. Graham then speaks up in a calm tone.

Graham: "I know it because I am also another person like you who got reincarnated into this world after I died in my past life. As for my identity, I am Khaled."

Ross gets even more shocked after Graham reveals that information. He then tries to speak but no words would come out of his mouth. The person whom he had considered one of his closest friends in his past life was standing right in front of him. Graham then pulls Ross into a hug, rubbing his back.

Graham: "I don't know if you died alone in your past life or not, but I am going to promise you something. This time, I will not let you die alone. We were best friends in our past lives, but now, I am your older brother. And as an older, I will be there for you. To support you, and to stop you if you ever decide to walk down the path of evil."

Graham spoke in a calm and reassuring tone, making Ross feel protected and loved. He hugged back Graham tightly, not wanting to let him go. Graham, on the other hand, was thinking something.

'In my past life, I couldn't have said the words I have said just now. I didn't even have the mental strength to live my life properly, let alone assure someone like this. I guess, dying does change a person completely. It's like I am a new person. A person whose personality and mental strength are far higher than the person I used to be. I had a lot of things in my past life that I wanted to do. But before I could do any of them, I died. This time, I will live a life free from any regrets. I promise this to myself! The life of a main character!'

All of these thoughts may sound ordinary but to Graham, it was a big deal to him. Ross, on the other hand, looked up to Graham. He spoke out in a low tone.

Ross: "S-So... How did you die, Khaled?"

Graham looked at Ross, answering his question in a calm tone.

Graham: "I honestly don't know that myself. I don't know the exact cause. But I died in my sleep. It sounds kind of insane, but it is the truth."

Ross was quite surprised by Graham's revelation. He was wondering how someone could die in their sleep, but after he remembered that he and all of his other friends had died some unusual deaths, except for Star, his surprise quickly subsided. The reason why Star's death wasn't unusual was because he died in a school shootout, something fairly common in the United States of America. Graham then adds in a calm tone.

Graham: "Also, call me Graham from now on, instead of Khaled. People will get suspicious if you accidentally call me Khaled in public."

Ross nods his head in understanding. Graham then asks a question to Ross in a calm tone.

Graham: "How did you die, Ross? I know that you died due to severe food poisoning, but what I am asking here is, how did that happen?"

Ross then stops hugging Graham. He then offers a seat to Graham and he takes a seat in front of Graham. Ross then starts explaining how his death had happened in his past life. Ross drank a chocolate milkshake he had bought from a local grocery store while he was returning from his classes. After he drank the chocolate milkshake, his vision started to get blurry and his stomach was hurting a lot. Before anything could be done, He was dead on the spot. It took Ross 15 minutes to explain all of it, and after the explanation, Graham pats Ross's shoulder. Graham then comforts him with some words.

2 hours later. Both Ross and Graham are the library of their house. The library was huge and had a lot of bookshelves, each bookshelf containing at least a hundred books. Within the entire mansion, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the library of the mansion was the second biggest room. Of course, the biggest room in the mansion was the Banquet Hall, being large enough to fit at least two thousand people in there. Not to mention, it was also quite extravagant as well. Anyways, in the library, Ross and Graham are both reading books about different topics. Ross is reading about the nobility system of this world while Graham is reading about the culture of this world. While reading, Graham comes across an interesting thing.

Graham: "Polygamy is a popular practice in this world. Most nobles prefer to have at least 2 wives. The reason why it is so popular among nobles is because the male and female ratio of nobles is 1:3. Meaning, for 1 male, there are 3 females. The same case goes for the general population as well."

Ross, who was intently reading the book about the nobility system, looks up at Graham with a smirk.

Ross: "Dark would be so much happy if he got to know this information"

Ross snickers under his breath after he says that. Graham also does the same.

A fair-skinned young man with black hair along with a reddish tip at the bottom and ruby-red eyes. He is wearing full black clothes with a black coat hovering over his shoulder. That is what Ross looks like.

Graham then asks Ross about what he had learned from the book he was reading. Ross then answers in an excited tone.

Ross: "There are 10 ranks in the nobility system. The ranks are Esquire, Knight, Baron, Viscount, Earl/Count, Margrave, Marquess, Duke, ArchDuke, and lastly, the Emperor. The Esquire Rank is the lowest among nobility while the Emperor holds the highest rank when it comes to nobility. As for the ranking, it goes like this: Esquire < Knight < Baron < Viscount < Earl/Count < Margrave < Marquess < Duke < ArchDuke < Emperor."

After Ross finished speaking, he could see that Graham was looking at him with a deadpan expression. Graham then speaks in a blank tone.

Graham: "You had to say 'lower than' every time after each rank to explain the ranking to me... You still haven't changed at all..."

Ross laughs at Graham's statement.

Ross: "Hahaha! I am still me after all!"

He enthusiastically adds. It was great to see Veldora, now Ross being himself like he used to be in his past life. Graham's expression then changes to a normal one.

Graham: "We should also research the Magic of this world and the Cosmology of this world as well. Mostly, Magic, because it is an everyday thing."

Ross then nods his head in agreement. Both Ross and Graham get up from their respective seats and head to the section that has books related to Magic. Both of them gather 2 books about the basics of Magic and return to their respective seats...