Prologue
Authors Note: Okay so this is the official prologue as I changed Chapter 1: The Transmigrated One to not be the prologue anymore so that readers can actually understand Axel a bit more about his life before his transmigration. So please read this before heading off to the first chapter.
From Zowji, ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧
___________________
[Australia, Sydney ???: Publishers Office.]
{Axel's POV}
"Mr. Axel," she said, her voice as cold as the chrome accents on her uniform, "I'm afraid we're declining your offer."
My heart stuttered. "But... I don't understand. Why?"
She tapped her pen against the manuscript. "It's not the writing, per se. But our marketing team believes the story... lacks commercial viability."
What? Seriously... I don't get that, I had finished the ending of my story and expected that this was much more than capable of selling to a wide range audience.
Did I kill too many characters off or was it that the ending wasn't good enough?
"Is there anything I can do?" I pleaded, the rejection gnawing at my confidence.
She gave me a thin smile. "Perhaps consider a lighter theme, Mr Axel. Something more... hopeful."
Hopeful. The word echoed in the silence as I left the office, clutching my manuscript like a shield against the sting of doubt.
Is that so? 'hopeful' She says but it was important to kill all those characters for the plot! for my character Jan!
Yes, he did lose everything at the start of the novel... But I thought it would be best if he ended with almost nothing at the very end.
As the author, I kind of wanted it to be like that. where a character who had everything at the beginning will eventually lose it all because he was incompetent and arrogant, yet benevolent and kind.
What would I do?
[5 months later...]
[Blacktown Apartment 1-A]
Ramen fumes hung heavy in my cramped apartment, stinging my eyes and clinging to my clothes like depression.
Slumped in my chair, another bowl of instant noodles pushed to the side. It was all I could afford after months of self-sabotage, drowning my anxieties in carbs and hopelessness.
"What am I missing?" I muttered, staring at the half-eaten noodles. My story sat untouched on the computer table, the rejection letter paper-clipped to the front mockingly.
I tried every attempt to lighten the theme and add some sunshine and rainbows, But it felt like I was betraying myself in some sort of way...
For months I had spent researching solutions, reading countless novels and re-writing my drafts.
But I felt like I was missing something.
Then, one blurry, noodle-induced afternoon, I stumbled upon a website...
[Webnovel.com]
[Have an interesting story? become a writer today! and have the potential of becoming the number 1 author on our platform!]
[Sign up now!]
My eyes glazed over the website's tagline, But it wasn't just the words it was the sheer number of aspiring authors that had signed up on this website.
This advertisement I had found online all seemingly charmed by that simple promise.
I don't know what I felt when I read those lines but... My seemingly dead emotions had came alive. "This could be it," I muttered, a surge of hope emerged with years of ingrained scepticism. No more gatekeepers, no more rejection letters. It was all in my control now.
With a trembling hand, I clicked the signup button, instantly picturing my novel topping the charts. "Number one," I whispered, the words tasting unfamiliar yet delicious on my tongue.
it felt like a passport to a new world, one where my story could find its audience, its freedom.
***
[Location: ???]
I can't lose... Not again...
On a desolate plane, bathed in the dying light of a shattered blood moon, Jan stood, fists clenched on his sword.
Taking deep breaths, Exhausted and frustrated he maintained his composure as the bringer of evil the very being that destroyed his world stood before him.
Faced with his incarnate in the body of a familiar person, he was looking at his rival whom he had once known caught in the greed of power and belittlement.
The world watched in hope as the hero who completed the 5 towers, destroyed the Incarnations of Evil, Patiently waiting for the opponent that was feared back in the world that he used to live in.
[The Divine Revenant Of End | Destroyer Of Worlds: Aurelius Nero]
In the form of a mortal being, he took the body of his former rival Louise who remains asleep as a vessel for Nero.
With heavily plated armour adorned with spikes covering his entire body and his face concealed by a helmet glowing with the eyes of pure evil stood only 15 feet away from the hero of the world.
"It is the same soul of old." The Destroyer spoke. "You have gotten your second chance." "And now... Will you be strong enough to beat me in this life?" the Destroyer boomed, his voice echoing across the wasteland.
Jan gripped his sword tightly. His hopes and dreams were on the line against an entity that had killed billions if not trillions, of people across multiple worlds he had been summoned to.
The world remained silent for a moment.
Jan swallowed, the weight of responsibility pressing down on him.
Could he defeat the very being who had destroyed his previous world? This time, there was no escape, no second chance. It was him or oblivion.
THUMP...THUMP...THUMP...
Nero strode closer, the ground trembling with each earth-shattering step. His hand grasped the World Ender's Hammer, its dark energy crackling ominously.
Jan raised his weapon, the Sword of Hope, its azure glow a beacon of defiance against the Destroyer.
SHING!
Their gazes met, a silent battle of wills raging between them. The world held its breath. Then, with the clash of their weapons, the battle for the fate of two worlds began.
***
{Axel's POV}
I re-read the final scene on my PC, Jan standing against The Divine Revenant Of End, the fate of the world hanging in the balance.
Something wasn't clicking. It wasn't just the predictable hero/villain showdown; it felt hollow, lacking the emotional punch I craved.
Thanks to the feedback of the community I was able to improve the ending as of now but there are still a few elements missing so that only meant there was still more room to improve for the story.
If I could make some changes to the story, I would have Jan's girlfriend Valencia insist on helping him fight instead of Jan going straight to the final battle.
Jan would try to stop her from joining the fight as he doesn't want to lose anyone else close to him. However, a fight breaks out, and instead of accidentally killing her due to overusing his strength, he puts her to sleep and heads off to battle.
But that's not my typical writing style... I think she should die because she's no longer useful in the story.
I guess it's okay to keep a few characters I did change some deaths and instead left characters losing something deeply close to them.
DING!
[You've Got a message:]
[Ryan.C.L: <8:49 PM> Yo Axel, I just finished reading the manuscript for your story... Dude, how many characters did you kill? I stopped counting after you killed off Aurelia.]
[You: <8:50 PM> Don't worry I'm fixing some parts of my novel still. Also, I'm scrapping the manuscript.] - Ryan. C.L. liked the message.
[Ryan.C.L: <8:53 PM> So you changing the entire thing?]
[You: <8: 55 PM> Nah I'm done with going to publishers, I'm gonna try this website called webnovel.]
[Ryan.C.L: <8:57 PM> Oh cool. Let me know how it goes I got uni work to do broski. Catch you later.]
Haah... Well at least he cares about how the novel went, maybe I should start from the beginning afterall?
