"Ughhh, you've got to be kidding me."
I groaned in frustration. I inwardly cursed the reason why I had decided to become an online content editor for the nth time today.
"This shit is making me lose it."
And the reason I was this frustrated was none other then a novel I was currently working on.
What's wrong with it you ask?
Everything!
Everything was wrong with it.
For one, the writing quality was horrendous, the main characters while somewhat okay, weren't well fleshed out, and the plot? Oh don't get me started on that one.
The plot was packed with fuckin' plot holes, the usual academy trope, and last but not least, an overpowered harem protagonist with insane luck.
How do all the girls even fall for one man I wonder? Have they all got shit for brains?
"Ahhh, I'm tired of this shit." I let out a long breath as I pushed my laptop aside.
After a little while unwinding from my frustrations, I decided to go grab a couple of stuffs from the convenience store down the road.
I put on my jacket and headed out. My apartment was on the top floor of the block, so it took me quite a few minutes to get down.
"There just had to be no fuckin' elevator in a twelve storey building." I grumbled.
A while later, I walked through the doors of the only 24/7 convenience store in the area.
Surfing a little, it didn't take me long to I pick out the stuff I needed. After I was done, I went back to the counter to checkout when,
—Bam
My heart nearly jumped out of my ribcage as the sound that every sane man dreaded echoed throughout the store— a gunshot.
With the sound came the cashier dropping on the ground in a pool of blood.
I was momentarily frozen not due to fear... well not entirely, but mainly due to shock. Someone had just been murdered in cold blood right before my eyes.
"Hey you, transfer all the money from the cash register into this!" A duffel bag was stuffed into my frozen arms.
"Huh?!" I turned to see a haggard man who looked like he hadn't had shower in forever, pointing a gun at my temple.
"Didn't you hear me?!" he barked—eyes filled with frenzy.
'Ughhh this is going to be such a pain.' You see, I don't like being told what to do.
Also, I could see it in his eyes, there was no way he was letting me go. Which meant I would have to take him down. I might not look like much, but I was a black be...
—Bam Bam
"Get on with it or I'll fuckin' blow out your brains!" He fired two warning shots right next to my ears which nearly blew my eardrums.
'Why even shoot the cashier if you were gonna have someone take out the money for you?' I inwardly groaned.
I don't know, some people are just braindead.
I slowed my breath, and for a heartbeat, it felt as if the surroundings were frozen. Then with a sharp twist of my neck and shoulder, my hands shot up, slapping the gun aside.
—Bam
A shot cracked against the counter– missing me by mere inches.
'Damn that was way too close!' Terror gripped my heart. But the man, though stunned, was already regaining his bearings.
"Not a chance." The duffel bag he gave me went on his head.
He swung his arms wildly in an attempt to throw me off, but I refused to let go of the bag.
"Ahhhh, this fuckin' piece of shit." I groaned as the magazine of the gun smacked against my temple– dazing me for a brief moment.
I held the bag even tighter, and smacked his head against the counter.
–Bang
"You.."
–Bang
"Fucking..."
–Bang
"Piece..."
–Bang
"Of..."
–Bang
"Shit!"
–Bang
It took the sixth smack before he finally slumped onto the floor.
"Hah! Hah!" I gasped for breath like a fish that had been denied water for several hours.
"Thud" I couldn't resist kicking the bastard.
Just then, "Chuck!"
"Chuck!" An equally haggard man strapped with an automatic rifle shouted as he got into the store. His eyes roamed for a bit before settling on the downed man before me.
"Bloody hell." I cursed in realization.
"What did you do to chuck?!" he yelled pointng the rifle at me.
"Uhhhh.... Chuck's taking a bit of a nap at the moment?" I offered, but turns out, I wasn't as convincing as I thought, because the next moment;
Ratatatatatatatatatatatata–!
Contrary to what I was expecting, I felt no pain whatsoever, just my consciousness fading, and then..... darkness.
******
I regained consciousnesses to find myself in a familiar and at the same time unfamiliar room.
Throwing my legs off the bedside, I rubbed my hazy eyes to make sure I wasn't dreaming, and carefully took in my surroundings.
It was a one bedroom apartment, and it's entire decor looked.... I don't know... weird. This certainly wasn't my apartment.
'Wait a minute... aren't I supposed to be dead?' I thought as I certainly remember being turned into a sieve.
"Maybe I was rushed to the hospital." I tried to reason, but nah, there was no way I was surviving over a dozen bullet wounds.
"Or is it that I'm having the 'your entire life flashing before your eyes' vision?" I thought out loud.
But with each passing second, I realized it wasn't possible. Everything felt real, as real as it could get.
'Maybe I should go back to sleep.' I thought. And by the time I woke up everything would be back to normal.
But before I could get my legs back on the bed,
—Ding!
A translucent screen appeared before before me out of nowhere startling the hell out of me.
====Status====
Name: Damon Darkfell
Race: Human
Age: 18
Title : Third prince of the Darkfell empire.
Rank : kappa-
Strength : kappa-
Agility : kappa
Stamina : kappa-
Aether capacity : kappa
Luck : Delta-
Charm : Alpha
Skills: Aether reinforcement (Advanced), Darkfell royal swordsmanship(Expert), Mirage steps (Advanced).
Unique physique : Mirror physique (Kappa rank.)
– initial ability: Invisible Reflection [Your reflection can be invisible.]
*******
"....What?" My jaw hung in pure disbelief for a few seconds.
For those few seconds, my brain wasn't braining. My entire thought process was frozen entirely.
Then came the wild, wild thoughts. Yeah, this was a dream, a hallucination.
Or better yet, someone was pranking me, trying to make an experiment out of me.
However, I knew it wasn't plausible enough.
I had a certain theory, but I was scared to admit it. "Ahhh Fuck it." I had to make sure of what I was assuming. I needed confirmation.
My eyes flicked to the status screen before me. That alongside the name 'Darkfell' I just saw was more than enough to prove my hypothesis.
"Ughhh, such a pain." I groaned as I stood up and headed for the mirror placed on a desk in the corner of the room.
A dazed look appeared on my face as I stared at my reflection.
It wasn't the me I knew. Opposed to my generic brown hair and eyes coupled with an average face, the reflection before my eyes was perhaps the most handsome being I've ever seen.
I had near unhealthy pale skin, my formerly dark brown hair was now a wavy jet black that framed my striking grey eyes, and my body's frame was obviously trained– a huge contrast to my formerly mid-set figure.
Don't get me wrong, I wasn't by any means fat, but I also wasn't the slightest bit athletic.
I was wearing a dark long-sleeved shirt and pristine white trousers.
In short, the guy looking back at me was nothing short of sculpted with inhuman precision. The strong, chiseled features of my face were accentuated by a well-defined jawline and a perfectly proportioned nose.
"A damn attractive face for someone with an edgy-ass name!" I muttered.
And now that I've proven my theory, it brings us to the conclusion.
My breathing fastened as the gravity of the situation finally started to sink in.
I've been reborn.
In that damn novel no less.
'Shadows Of Ascension.' The source of my frustrations.
And I'm not the protagonist, not even a side character.
I was an extra, in a world that'll go to shit in a few years.
I was in the body of Damon Darkfell.
An extra that died not even halfway into the 1st volume.
"I'll have to prevent that." Can't go dying a second time now can I?
"Ehehehe!" I couldn't help but chuckle.
"I'm a bloody prince! An exiled one, but a prince nonetheless." My body trembled in excitement.
If you think I would be all depressed about my last life, well you're wrong.
I hated my last life, hated my job, and didn't have a girlfriend or any close friend to boot. My family? Distant. And besides there was no use crying over spilled milk.
So what if I was in a dangerous fantasy world? At least I could have powers unlike before when I just read about others possessing them.
Damon Darkfell belonged to the ruling family of the Darkfell Empire– the Darkfell royal family.
He was the third born prince of the Darkfell Emperor.
As you can guess, its the normal cliche trope, he's a disgrace to the family name, sidelined by his entire family, so he took out his frustration on others.
Damon took the arrogant young master role. And due to his backing, he could do whatever he wanted. He became infamous in the empire, commiting several small crimes, even torturing some poor souls–especially commoners.
A few weeks before the start of the first arc, Damon was disowned by his father– the Darkfell Emperor.
Shaking my head in ridicule, I started thinking of a way to escape my crisis.
But glancing once more at my abysmal stats, I couldn't help wince. Especially the trashy unique physique part. My reflection can be invisible, so what? I can't do jack shit with it.
The only way I could stray away from my predetermined fate was to simply get stronger.
"Ughhhh this is gonna be such a pain." I groaned.
But my brain was already planning. I knew what to begin with. Well, the solution was pretty clear. For starters I have to do what every extra does.
A smirk slowly crept up my face. "I have to go get myself a good ol' cheat. And I know just the right one."
***********
A/N: Well, here we go. If you like my story, support it with power stones, and leave a review. I'm open to suggestions.