The alarm clock rings at 6:30 AM in Enzo Lecri's small room in Quezon City. Like the previous days, he ignores it. He pulls the blanket over his head. The sound of the electric fan still spins in the hot room.
"Enzo! Wake up! You're late for work again!" shouts Aling Rosa, his mother, from the kitchen. Her voice carries a mix of exhaustion and frustration - the same emotions Enzo has been hearing for three years.
Enzo sits up, frowning. Look at his appearance - hair that looks like it was played with by a typhoon, eyes as dark as a panda's, and a t-shirt with instant noodle stains that he can't even remember when he had worn.
This has been his life for three years since he dropped out of third-year Engineering at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
"Mom, I'm resting today. I won't be working," he answers as he stretches and glances at the anime character posters plastered on his room wall.
"What?! Rest? If you keep this up, your boss will sack you from the call center!" Aling Rosa yells from another room. "Son, you're 23 years old. When are you going to grow up?"
What his mother is saying is true.
Enzo works as a customer service representative at a BPO company in Ortigas, but his performance is lower than the temperature of the office air conditioner. Always late, always sleepy at work, and sometimes even falls asleep while talking to angry customers from America.
Enzo stands up and walks to the small bathroom shared by three families in the apartment building.
While washing his face with cold water, he looks at himself in the broken mirror with tape in the middle.
"Damn, you're really pathetic, Enzo," he whispers to himself, looking at his reflection that seems to have two faces due to the crack in the mirror. "You're 23 years old and haven't accomplished anything in life. All you know is internet and novels."
Enzo isn't really ugly - he's just average-looking with a sharp nose and brown eyes, but his biggest problem is his lack of motivation.
Since his father died of a heart attack three years ago, he seems to have lost direction in life.
The once diligent student who topped his class has become a shut-in who does nothing but browse the internet.
The weight of his father's absence hits him every morning like this. Before the accident, Enzo had dreams - he wanted to become an engineer, maybe work abroad, make his parents proud. Now those dreams feel as cracked as the mirror he stares into.
After breakfast of instant noodles (again) and overly sweet coffee, Enzo returns to his room and opens the old laptop they bought when he was still in high school.
Although he isn't going to work, he still has something he finds entertaining - reading web novels on free reading sites.
Enzo is particularly fond of cultivation and murim novels.
Stories about martial artists training to become stronger, mystical powers, and adventures full of action. For him, those worlds are more exciting than his boring life in real world.
In those stories, even the weakest characters can become gods through determination and lucky encounters.
"Oh wow, there's a new chapter of 'Heavenly Demon Sect Master'!" he says excitedly while clicking on his bookmark. His eyes suddenly brighten - the first genuine smile he's had all week.
While reading, he shakes his head at what is happening in the story. There are always protagonists who are extremely lucky, getting powerful techniques without effort, and always having beautiful women falling all over them.
"Damn this protagonist. Just extremely lucky, but no brains. If I were in his position, I'd be more strategic," he comments while scrolling down to the comments section. "Not just pure bravado, then getting surprised when there's a stronger opponent."
He types a comment: "Chapter 234 review - MC is still too impulsive. If he used the Shadow Step technique combined with the Five Elements Palm, he could've finished the fight in 3 moves instead of dragging it out. Author-nim, please make MC smarter. -ELecri97"
This is Enzo's daily routine - reading novels, commenting on forums, arguing with other readers about plot development, and dreaming that he himself is in the world of the characters he is reading.
Over the years, he has consumed thousands of chapters, analyzing fighting techniques, cultivation methods, and strategic thinking that most protagonists seem to lack.
"I wish I was the main character in these stories instead," he dreams while looking at the posters on his wall. "Not these entitled protagonists who don't even deserve the powers they get."
Truthfully, Enzo knows more about martial arts theories, cultivation techniques, and battle strategies than the main characters he is reading about - all because of the thousands of hours he spends reading and analyzing novels.
He has memorized hundreds of cultivation methods, weapon techniques, and tactical approaches. In his mind, he has fought countless battles and solved numerous cultivation bottlenecks.
If only real life worked like those stories.
Friday night, December 23. Christmas is tomorrow, but Enzo isn't in the mood to celebrate.
He sits in his computer chair with a broken backrest, playing online games while having a browser open with ten web novel tabs. The familiar glow of the screen illuminates his tired face in the dark room.
From the kitchen, Aling Rosa can be heard preparing a simple Noche Buena - she has bought a small ham from the grocery, some sliced bread, and soft drinks.
Not like their previous Christmases when his father was still alive, when their table was full of food and laughter.
"Enzo, come eat. Dinner is ready," calls Aling Rosa with exhaustion in her voice.
"Just a moment, Ma. I'm about to level up here," he replies while focused on his MMORPG character grinding for experience points.
Even in games, he seeks the satisfaction of growth that real life denies him.
His mother just shakes her head. She has tried several times to talk to Enzo about his future, but her son seems to have no plans. Sometimes, she sees him crying at night when he thinks she is asleep, but she doesn't know how to approach him. The death of her husband broke not just her heart, but seemingly her son's spirit as well.
Around 2:00 AM in the early morning, Enzo finishes playing.
The house is quiet now, his mother long asleep.
He browses a few more chapters of a new murim novel he found called "The Chronicles of the Heavenly Fist." The story is about a weak disciple who suddenly becomes powerful due to an ancient cultivation technique.
"Interesting premise for this story," he thinks while scrolling. "The protagonist is Wei Lin, a weak disciple of Hua Peak Sect who becomes overpowered due to a mysterious breathing technique. Classic underdog story, but with a twist."
The character of Wei Lin resonates with him somehow. Another person dismissed by everyone, considered worthless, struggling at the bottom of the hierarchy. But unlike Enzo, Wei Lin has a path to power, a way to prove everyone wrong.
While reading chapter 15, where the author describes the Inner Peace Breathing Method in intricate detail, Enzo suddenly feels a strange pain in his chest. He can't breathe properly, and it feels like something heavy is pressing on his heart.
"What the hell?" he gasps, clutching his chest. The pain is sharp, different from anything he's felt before.
He tries to stand up, but his knees are weak. The laptop screen is blurring in his vision, but he can still see the description of the breathing technique he is reading. The words seem to glow on the screen, pulsing with an otherworldly light.
"Breathe in the essence of heaven and earth... let the qi flow through your meridians... feel the power awaken within..."
The description seems to call to him, the instructions becoming clearer even as his vision fades. Without understanding why, Enzo finds himself following the breathing pattern described in the novel.
Suddenly he falls from his chair, his hand reaching out to the laptop screen that is still displaying the murim novel. It feels like some strange energy is entering his body from the screen, but he can't understand what is happening. The golden light from the screen grows brighter, enveloping him completely.
"Ma... Ma, help me..." are the last words that come from his mouth before he completely loses consciousness, while the laptop screen flickers with a strange golden light that seems to pull his very soul into the story he was reading.
The room falls silent except for the humming of the electric fan, and on the screen, the chapter about Wei Lin's first breakthrough continues to glow with an impossible light.