1 The Death Of John Avery And The Death Of The Strongest God.

The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.

-Thucydides

When I read and admired these words, I never expected to live by them.

Life was never a clear cut thing, it was unfair from its start to its end.

Some are born tall, rich, and handsome.

They're 'lucky'.

Some are born short, poor, and hideous.

They're 'unlucky'

Genetics, birthplace, talent and a thousand other things that decide how you would live your life are completely outside of your control.

'I wish I was born rich!'

'I wish I was born tall!'

'I wish I was born beautiful!'

These wishes are common because human are masters at finding and focusing on flaws. I was a human just like any other, I had worse than most and better than many, yet not a single time did I wish for something I didn't have.

'You must have been born with everything then!' An annoying voice would argue, yet they couldn't be more wrong.

At some point I came to terms with life-not life in general but specifically mine. I wasn't just surviving, I wasn't just living, I was just going from suffering to suffering repeatedly, and enjoying every second of it.

….

Earth, Somewhere.

October 2nd, 2025.

03:59 AM.

In a large building, a single desk lamp split the darkness.

At that desk, I sat, a man with forgettable features.

My stature was short, my presence non-existent, and my existence a waste.

Not exaclty preferable features in the human world. I knew this well, yet every time I thought of 'logging out', I couldn't.

I had something special about me, one thung others in my low-paying engineering job didn't tend to have, hard work.

Too much of it in fact.

"Pheew~ After days of overtime barely staying up while consuming an ungodly amount of coffee, I finally finished all of the files for this week!" I shouted in the empty office's darkness.

"I can head to the bar and have some fun no-"

Suddenly, my chest tightened, and a pain spread through my body.

"Ughh!! w-what is t-this?!" I exclaimed.

The tightening deepened further and further, and I could barely breathe as I felt my organs ceasing to function.

"Uhgh! I…I'm having a heart attack?!"

I fell over on my desk as I tried to stand up and I could feel the breath slowly leaving me as my heartbeat slowed down by the moment.

"Agh! A-AGH!" I gasped for dear life.

I grabbed my phone to call for help, but I found no one in my contacts, I had no friends or family to call and I could not think of the emergency number no matter how hard I tried. Three simple digits yet they alluded me.

Slowly, death was taking over me and the darkness beckoned. Just as I began to accept it, a sudden notification from the site I read my favorite novel on popped up and my finger accidentally tapped it as I scrambled to find the emergency number.

"Khaaaghhh! t-t-there i-is a new ch-cha-chapter!" I exclaimed in short gasps.

I scrambled once again and suddenly found myself on a page titled 'Chapter 897´

A screen of text appeared in front of me, but I could read none of it as my vision slowly turned to darkness.

"Nghhooooo!!" I shouted in rage.

I suddenly felt bewildered by my own actions. I didn't fear my death, likely because I had nothing and no one to live for, but Instead felt regret for not managing to read the contents of the screen.

Truly, those words were everything to me.

I was born an orphan thrown on the street with no one to care for me, I didn't have looks, height, talent, friends, or money and after working harder than any other, I barely got a low-paying job in a small engineering company. Even them as an adult I still had no friends nor acquaintances.

I managed to not unceremoniously take my own life however by living vicariously through my favorite novel.

Without it my life would be revealed as the 1st circle of hell.

"This is it….I didn't even see the ending of the novel..." I thought as the darkness took over.

Soon, my 23 years of struggling came to an end.

...…..

.....

….

..

Finally, I reached the light I was moving towards, but the moment I did so, a pair of hands grabbed my head and pulled me through the light.

"What's going on? Didn't I die?" I asked myself.

The sounds of a baby crying were all I could hear and the world around me was too bright to distinguish.

'What is this? I'm not dead? Is this heaven? These hands..are they mine..?' I asked as the bright light slowly decreased.

Suddenly, as I was contemplating what had occurred, I was finally able to see the world around me.

'Is this a medieval play? Who is this old lady,' I asked as I examined an old woman standing above me.

'This angle, this feeling on my back, and the fact I can't control my tongue…have I become a baby?!' I finally pieced together what I was experiencing.

"Congratulations on a healthy young boy! Nurses, heal the Lady quickly."

The old woman placed me in the arms of a beautiful woman who looked to be in her mid-30s, she was lying on the bed covered with sweat, but the moment she held me in her arms she smiled brightly as if she wasn't tired at all.

"Let's begin!"

Three young women in white robes pointed their palms at the woman who held me on the bed and spoke strange words.

"Lagnak segund vanagek sigrund!!"

Suddenly, bright green symbols and circles appeared above the woman who held me and a green light covered her.

'Is this magic?!' I almost shouted as the sense I called common shattered.

I felt a strange energy entering my body and making me feel comfortable, like the feeling of a thick coat on a winter night. The woman holding me's complexion became more lively as her breathing calmed down and she became more stable. Her cheeks even had a change in color as if life itself had been imbued into her body.

"Call the lord!" said the woman as she lowered the side of her dress and let out one of her breasts. An action she did with a strange elegance and grace. Her origins were clear even when she was doing a naturally inelegant thing.

'Wait! No way! Stop!' I shouted in my mind as she closed in on me. Slowly she placed her nipple into my mouth and my infant body started suckling without my control.

"Drink my baby, and let me look at your cute face!"

'Stop! This is assault!' I shouted within my mind. I was after all no pervert that would enjoy such things but a saintly man.

Ignoring my attempts at maintaining my honor, my body suckled and suckled.

Suddenly, the door to the room was pushed open by a large man with long silver-hair and a tall stature. Elegance, pride, and nobility filled the room when he entered as if just his aura was enough to cover that of a beggar. His clothes were a luxurious blue-colored suit adorned with gold and silver. No matter the standard, his status was clearly special.

"My son! Let me look at you!"

The woman smiled.

"Dear, let him drink some milk first." said the woman playfully.

'No, take me away!' I wanted to shout.

"But my love, I can't bear to wait!" replied the man.

The man gently removed me from her chest and held me up in the air to look at me.

"Oh my son, you already look strong, your eyes are bright red like your mother's and your hair is like mine. Grow up quickly so Dad can teach you our noble swordsmanship!" he said with an expression of excitement.

'Don't I get a say here?' I asked in my mind.

Suddenly two girls and a boy entered, each of them about 10 to 7 years old.

"Father, let me see him!"

The oldest boy pulled on his father's arm.

"Wait your turn, he needs to rest first."

The woman on the bed suddenly asked a question as she fixed her dress and covered herself with the blanket.

"Dear, what are we going to name him?" she asked with a tone of anticipation.

"His name…" contemplated the man.

A man in black clothes suddenly appeared from seemingly nowhere and chuckled.

"It's a joyous occasion for an heir to be born at the same time as his shadow!" said the man as he bowed to the man holding me.

The man asked with a smile.

"What did you decide to name him?"

"Cedric was the name we went with. Don't worry my lord I'll train him to be even better than me!" said the white-haired man with joy covering his face. Just from his expression, one could tell he rarely expressed emotion.

In my mind, I had established the man holding me as the father of the house—what house? I didn't know yet.

"I'm sure you will." replied the father holding me. He continued, "Let me think, blood-red eyes, pale skin, and a strong aura! I will name you Alistair. I like it, from today onwards you will be, Alistair Cassian Fellsword! Son of Johnathan Gray Fellsword and Evelyn!" announced the man I understood was my father.

'But my name is John!' I wanted to complain.

I felt a strange emotion I did not know existed, and tears almost followed, for the first time in my life, I felt like I could rely on someone. Maybe such a feeling was common to those born a normal birth but to me, a street orphan…

'I have a father and mother…? This must truly be some sort of heaven,'

As everyone in the room cheered for the name, a rectangular panel of translucent blue glass floated in front of my eyes on it a white writing.

'What is this? Is this another type of magic?' I wondered.

I looked around but no one seemed to notice it as they laughed.

'What does it say?'

[Reader's phase 1 system fully integrated!]

[All phase 1 system functions live.]

[Host: Alistair Cassian Fellsword/John Avery is currently an infant. Functions will be temporarily limited.]

'Is this a game? Did I end up reincarnated like those fantasy novels? Or are those nurses doing this like the magi-'

Suddenly, I realized something as information suddenly snapped together.

'Wait. Fellsword? that's a family in my favorite…novel! I've been reborn into a novel?!" My mind rushed to conclude.