1 Sometimes You Win... Sometimes You Lose.
A young adult was sitting at the corner table in this rustic coffee shop while his eyes were glued to the tablet in front of him.
Because he had been fired and had no luck finding a new job in time for Golden Week, he spent the entire time reading novels on his favourite site, the novel web, and enjoying their wide variety of great and many horrible novels.
He grimaced as he counted the last few coins in his hand, frustration etched on his face. "Stupid, I know! But this iceberg beauty heroine. She's got the protagonist obsessed with her, and I can't help but get hooked!"
This dumb Author wrote the MC so annoying. He's only nineteen years old, making him super handsome, super strong, and can fire guns like a military veteran.
Yet he killed a character with my name because he molested the iceberg beauty and made her blush!
Imagine finding a fun novel to read with a decent premise, and the grammar is almost perfect no need to translate the text or meaning in your head as if reading Machine Translation.
But it's good, and I can't drop it!
The fights and anticipation of whether they will get infected are too absorbing! So I keep reading!
Hoping that the MC might fail and the Heroines will cause all kinds of mayhem as the MC doesn't let them fight even though they are all S-Class Evolved!
"Excuse me, customer? You have been here a while... would you like to purchase a refill and something to eat?"
The lovely waitress asked him as she began cleaning up his mess of blueberry muffin wrappers and two almost empty stale coffee cups.
I came into this store to read because of her soft black hair tied into a ponytail, long curled bangs, and those azure blue eyes.
The male noticed that she was struggling with a few plates and cups from other tables, so he placed his tablet down and arranged his rubbish so she wouldn't need to struggle with his order.
He checked the time on the wall and decided that a nice takeout would be better tonight as it was his birthday. "I think I'll head home today."
I only need a few more stamps on my store for a free coffee. So let's save it for another day so I can enjoy a lovely day of reading and enjoying life.
This place wasn't his regular, and it was just by chance he saw the waitress who looked like the iceberg beauty Su Muyue from the fan art of the novel that the Author paid a lot of money to produce.
He didn't linger and quickly left as the evening was the time his right hand would shine!
Or so he thought...
Bang!
The moment he went to cross the road, it was already turning red, and suddenly, a beautiful woman wearing a helmet shot past and collided with him on a pink motorbike, causing the young man to land on his neck with a loud crack as the world went dark.
It was the waitress he had met before who hit him as her bike skidded across the floor and began to roll before crashing into another car.
'Something, I can't feel anything in my body. The world suddenly began to spin, and now, It's so dark...'
Seth felt himself floating in the air, like lost on the surface of a river, dragged around a winding bend with the current before he was flicked and thrown before a sense of weightlessness greeted his body...
Am I sleeping in the coffee store?
It's too surreal, right...
Suddenly, a brilliant light enveloped him, causing Seth to cover his eyes—the world was expansive, from the horizon to the sky, filled with a divine luminance that caused him to feel a strange sense of awe and reverence.
A sudden feeling of warmth and acceptance overwhelmed his body and mind like this place affirmed that no matter how he lived, he was okay; his actions were not sinful or wrong.
Where am I? Seth thought to himself...
[Who are you talking to, Seth Darkwood?]
[This is the seventh time you've reviewed the same story and repeated this reaction to your death!]
"I repeated the same thing?"
He wanted to scream and shout, desperately yearning to wake up on a hospital bed, safe and sound. However, the haunting image of him alone in a dark room with only the rhythmic bleeping of a machine filled his mind.
[Face reality, you are dead; stop reading that book... Rather, how do you still have it?]
"I don't want to go back."
His thoughts lingered in the silence before a metallic voice, with a hint of divinity, interrupted his focus.
[Can you face reality now?]
[I have over ten thousand people to deal with in the next two hours!]
Seth's gaze roamed, absorbing the surreal transformation.
The cosy coffee shop and the bustling city had dissolved, replaced by an expanse of blinding white—a horizon that seemed to stretch into eternity, with pristine white walls and polished marble floors.
His eyes widened, scanning the unfamiliar surroundings. "So, this is it? I'm really..."
[Yes! You landed badly and broke your neck, drowning in your blood while soiling your pants...]
The words hung in the air, a heavy revelation that sent shivers down Seth's spine.
A shame... that I never got to sleep with that girl, but maybe that's part of why I died so pathetically... my vices and lack of effort to improve.
[She was the one that tried to resuscitate you...]
Conflicting emotions churned in Seth's mind—a regretful cocktail of self-pity and disappointment. "A total loser," he muttered, the weight of his demise pressing down on him.
His hands fumbled for the phone, a desperate reach into his past. Loneliness defined his life, and now, it seemed, his death was the same.
[What are you doing?]
"I don't know... everything feels so sudden. I just feel like there was nothing special about my life... All I did was sleep with women, work a dead-end job and read. Is that all there is to my life..."
He felt he could have done better—even now, his sad hobby was the first thing on his mind; how did the novel end?
Maybe it's sad, but I loved reading more than sleeping with women. It filled the void of growing up with no family having no one waiting for me at home. I could pretend the parents of the MC were mine, Seth thought to himself. A feeling of disappointment for his actions throughout life.
[The book is Surviving the Apocalypse with my S Rank wives...]
The strange beings' eyes flashed before the mechanical voice sounded.
[The novel was dropped because people stopped reading after the Author let the MC abandon Su Muyue for a new heroine...]
"..."
Why?
That makes no sense!? Su Muyue was there from chapter one when the protagonist couldn't even hold a bat and fight. If she hadn't awakened to save him with her incredible ice abilities...
The MC would have died a hundred times over!
The divine being, unmoved and unyielding, continued to tap the desk, an impatient rhythm underscoring Seth's seemingly foolish reactions.
[Well, it's only a novel—don't get so upset. I am sure you'll have plenty of fun in your next life.]
[Do you have any requests?]
He looked at the divine being and had to ask the staple question, but the dark feelings in his chest were heavy—despite pushing them down, the feelings still existed.
"Can I be reincarnated into a different world, or maybe even a novel world I've read?"
[Sure...]
"I see..."
"Will I slowly settle into the role I am given, or have some purpose."
"I don't want to live an aimless life again, or at least. I want to be surrounded by people that love me."
[If that is your wish, I am more than happy to oblige—whatever role you are given, slowly, you will adapt to fulfil that role.]
[Don't expect to suddenly become a hero or villain when all you are is a glorified playboy.]
[But the system will stop you from suffering PTSD, Extreme Stress and mental duress when needed.]
Snap!
The deity snapped his fingers as the entire room burst with a brilliant light that started to swirl around Seth's body—his eyes closed in excitement before he was sucked into the sky and vanished in a flicker of light.
***
Meanwhile...
In a modern metropolis with a population of 30 million humans, a young man named Seth, his silver hair cascading down to his neck, stood atop a towering building.
As he overlooked the bustling cityscape with its myriad of cars and illuminated skyscrapers, he conversed on his smartphone, discussing something important.
"How did the negotiations go? Did you manage to secure the contract?"
"Haha, Boss, don't worry—we got everything we hoped for and managed to meet our deadline thanks to the investment!"
"What about Muyue? Did she accept the proposal?"
"..."
"Sir... you should give it up... Su Muyue has always rejected your advances and told you clearly that she has no interest in dating celebrities or businessmen."
"I know, but... I just can't stop thinking about her. She's so cold, yet I feel warm when speaking to her; it's like she wants to push me away and pull me closer."
"Boss, it sounds like you're obsessed..."
The young man hung up the phone and sighed as he put the device back in his pocket and turned to look at the beautiful city below him.
Su Muyue... I can't explain it, but every time I see her, my heart beats faster than when performing on stage, filming or doing business.
Is this love?
Why do I feel so obsessed with her when I've never felt like this towards any other woman?
As he stood on the roof of his private skyscraper building, the young man suddenly frowned as a strange feeling swept through his mind as a sudden burst of wind blew his silver hair and suit jacket upwards.
What's going on?
Suddenly, an intense burst of light, brighter than a thousand suns, descended from the heavens, crashing violently onto the rooftop. The force sent Seth's body careening off the side, and he tumbled through the air, a brief and chaotic descent of two floors before colliding with his private garden.
The moment the blinding light connected with his body, a strange transformation started its motions.
Who Seth was, and the essence of his thoughts seemed to shift instantly. Seth, who enjoyed novels, coffee, mixed martial arts and sex, suddenly changed into something new as a new person's thoughts, memories, and experiences poured into his mind.
As the two fused, they became a brand new existence.
"Urgh, what the hell, where am I?"
Pain throbbed and exploded through Seth's body as he attempted to rise, only to falter and collapse to the ground.
The sharp stabs in his spine, chest, and legs served as a brutal reminder of the impact. As he surveyed his surroundings, the vastness of the garden, stretching beyond the dimensions of an Olympic swimming pool, unfolded before him.
Wasn't I speaking to some old guy, and was I wearing such an expensive suit...
[Transmigratrion Successful]
[Apocalypse Survival System Installing]
"Oh, have I been reborn? Transmigrated!?"
"Which protagonist did I become, though?"
The sad truth would become clear to him the moment the staff came to find his body in the dirt, unable to move and in the same situation as when he died in his past life.
He discovered, to his dismay, that he had assumed the role of the novel's antagonist, a character doomed to meet his demise in the second chapter.
The cruel twist of fate awaited him, marking his demise after a reprehensible act—molesting the iceberg heroine, Su Muyue.
