"They say that in this world, stopping is the only way to truly lose."
September 2027.
Alex had been thinking about that quote for months now, and every time it came back to him, he ended up at the same conclusion.
'To be honest… It's complete bullshit.'
'Again and again, I kept walking down paths I thought would lead to endless joy, but every single time it ended the same way, with me stuck in a small apartment and broken out of my mind.'
He clicked his tongue, leaning back slightly as if the thought itself annoyed him.
'People really believe this stuff?'
His mind drifted for a second before landing on something more real.
'Take someone like Simone Biles, for example. She kept pushing forward, chasing greatness, and then she stopped because of her mental health.'
Alex exhaled quietly, staring at nothing in particular.
'If stopping really meant losing, then why did stopping save her instead?'
That alone was enough to kill whatever motivation he had. After that, trying too hard just felt pointless, and he slowly leaned into doing less and less.
Being lazy didn't even feel that bad to him. People like Alex were just background characters anyway, the type that would pass responsibility onto someone else, not because they couldn't handle it, but because they didn't want the attention that came with it.
He knew, from experience, having acted both introverted and extroverted at different points in his life, sometimes even at the same time, that he didn't really fit into either category.
Right now, though, his attention shifted back to the novel he had been reading for months, and he seriously started to consider dropping it.
'Why do these characters always act like this?'
It annoyed him how they kept forcing themselves into the spotlight, acting righteous and important when there was no real need for it.
In his mind, that kind of behavior only made things worse, since it gave enemies the perfect chance to observe them, study them, and eventually take advantage of everything they revealed.
'Most of these novels follow the same pattern anyway, same setting, same overpowered main character.'
He didn't mind action scenes, since being exposed during a fight made sense, but outside of that, it just felt unnecessary.
'But seriously… why am I reading a whole scene about some random guy laughing in the background?'
He rolled his eyes, already losing patience as he stared at the screen.
That character wasn't even important, just an extra meant to push the main character forward, yet he was acting like he actually mattered.
'You're not the main character, so why are you acting like that?'
Of course, there was no way for him to actually say that, unless something ridiculous happened, like him being transmigrated into the novel itself.
His eyes lingered on the title displayed on the screen.
[A Hero's Will To Survive.]
'What kind of title is that?'
He genuinely didn't understand it, especially not after reading this far.
'What "will" are they even talking about? The main character hasn't struggled once, no near-death moments, no pressure, nothing.'
All the protagonist did was win, over and over again, without ever facing real consequences, which made the title feel completely meaningless.
'This author really baited me.'
Even so, Alex had already spent nearly fifty dollars on it, so he kept reading purely because he didn't want that money to go to waste.
With a quiet sigh, he leaned back into his old leather chair. The worn-out surface creaked softly beneath him, familiar and reliable, and despite its age, it still did its job. Slowly, the tension in his shoulders eased as he sank deeper into it, letting the comfort dull his frustration just enough to keep going.
"Everything just feels so relaxing," he muttered, letting his phone rest on the desk as his arms went limp.
But being relaxed wasn't part of his daily routine.
Slam.
The door burst open so suddenly that it echoed through the room, but Alex barely reacted, already knowing exactly who it was.
'Of course.'
"I'm done with you!" she shouted, her voice filled with frustration. "Two years wasted, I'm leaving, and I don't want to hear anything from you!"
Alex calmly reached over and closed a few tabs on his computer before glancing back at her, his expression barely changing.
"Oh, alright," he said, his tone relaxed. "Just don't forget your stuff."
"Huh?" she blinked, clearly caught off guard. "That's it? No reaction?"
He stared at her for a moment before looking away again, a small sense of irritation creeping in.
'That expression again… why does it bother me so much?'
Everything was playing out exactly how he expected, which only made it feel more dull than anything else.
If anything, he was more surprised that she had stayed this long, since he had always thought she would leave much sooner.
'You should've left earlier.'
She stayed because of who he used to be, not who he was now, still clinging to that energetic version of him that no longer existed.
"I said, do you not care?!" she yelled, her voice rising even more.
Alex frowned slightly.
'Jeez… why are you yelling?'
"You seriously don't care about a two-year relationship?" she continued, slamming her hand against the door frame.
The loud noise echoed, but it didn't really get much of a reaction out of him.
He let out a slow sigh, already feeling too tired to deal with this.
It wasn't that he didn't care at all, but arguing like this felt pointless, and more than that, it felt like a waste of energy.
'And honestly… You should've left sooner anyway.'
'I'm not the same person you fell for, so what's the point of dragging this out?'
He finally spoke, his voice calm and steady.
"I don't. I don't give a fuck."
There was no hesitation in his answer.
"Just leave."
She froze for a brief moment, her expression tightening before she turned around and walked out.
"You forgot your stuff!" Alex called after her, though it didn't sound like he cared much.
Bang.
The door slammed shut, leaving the room completely silent.
Alex blinked once before leaning back into his chair again.
'I did try to tell her.'
At that point, whatever happened next wasn't his problem.
His gaze shifted toward the scattered clothes around the room, the mess she left behind making him smirk slightly.
His eyes landed on a certain piece, and he paused for a second.
"…Fancy underwear."
He picked it up, looked at it briefly, then casually tossed it into a nearby storage room without much thought.
"Rule number one," he muttered under his breath, "don't leave your stuff at your ex's place."
A chuckle escaped him.
"Someone might make money off it."
With nothing better to do, Alex sat back down and reopened the novel, deciding to give it one last chance.
[A Hero's Will To Survive.]
'If this chapter is bad, I'm done.'
At this point, it wasn't even about the money anymore; he just didn't want to keep reading something that felt like a chore.
[Chapter 386: The Reckoning.]
He raised an eyebrow slightly.
'That actually sounds interesting.'
Like always, he checked the comments first, even though he knew it was a bad habit.
He couldn't help it.
Whenever he got spoiled, he always blamed the app, convincing himself that comments shouldn't even be visible until after finishing a chapter.
'Seriously, why are they even here this early?'
It didn't make much sense, but it was enough for him.
Still, something felt different this time.
The reactions were way too strong, and nothing from the earlier chapters hinted at anything major happening.
One of them even gifted a Magic Castle!
Wink, wink.
'Did the author finally do something right?'
He started reading, his attention sharpening almost immediately.
At first, everything felt normal, following the same flow as before, but then something changed.
His eyes widened slightly.
"Oh… what?"
"His allegations were…"
Alex paused before reading it over again.
"Manipulating his romance interest…"
"Using his magic 'Dildo' while inside the academy halls…"
Must've felt good doing that.
"Absorbing a Demonic Core for increased strength…"
"Selling Academy secrets towards Demons…"
"Selling out information from his own royal estate in return for more strength…"
And worst of all…
"Attempted murder on the main character."
The character Alex thought was just a side character was suddenly being treated like a villain, dragged in front of royalty, and silenced before he could even explain himself.
Alex leaned forward without realizing it, his interest finally sparked.
'Wait… this is actually good.'
His heart started beating faster as he kept reading, scrolling down more quickly with each passing second.
"Oh shit…"
A grin slowly formed on his face.
"The author actually got me this time."
For once, he was genuinely hooked, his eyes glued to the screen as he kept going.
"You can't end here…"
And yet, it did.
[The End of Chapter 386.]
"…You've got to be kidding me."
He immediately scrolled down, hoping for more, but nothing was waiting for him.
Still, instead of frustration, he felt something closer to excitement.
That chapter was actually good, different from everything before it.
'But why?'
Why did that character turn into a villain, and how did anyone even figure it out?
None of it made sense, and that was exactly what made it interesting.
Then suddenly, something felt wrong.
[F̴i̸g̶u̴r̸e̷ ̵I̴t̶ ̸O̷u̴t̶]
'What?'
[F̷͎̈́̓i̴̬̐͝g̷͇͗ǘ̸̹r̵̲͊e̷̘͝ ̷̠̄I̶̯͊t̸̩͠ ̶̼͘O̷͙͂u̸͍̐t̷̼̎]
His body stiffened without warning, and his phone slipped from his hand as his back pressed hard against the chair.
[N̸̠͘ó̴̙v̷̼͛e̴̦̍l̵̗͆'̸̠̏s̴͎̾ ̸̲͋N̴͓̈́à̸͙m̵̼͝ė̴̜:̶̯͑ ̷̠́T̶̝̈́ḧ̸̲́e̵̬͐ ̸̗̎H̵̥̑é̶̖r̸̤̿ö̴̙́'̶̬́s̴̠̓ ̷͖̈́W̵̥̋i̸͖̎l̴̰͝l̷̲̽]
'What the hell…?'
A strange sensation ran down his spine, sharp and cold, making his entire body start shaking.
It felt like something was pulling him, not physically, but from somewhere deeper, something he couldn't explain.
[W̴h̶y̴ ̶D̴i̷d̶ ̴C̴a̶s̷s̶i̴e̴n̷ ̶A̴r̷t̴f̶o̷l̴d̷ ̶S̴u̶f̷f̶e̷r̴ ̴T̷h̶i̶s̷ ̴C̴o̷n̴s̶e̴q̷u̴e̶n̷c̴e̷?]
[W̸̘͛a̶̲̍s̸̹͘ ̶̗̈́T̷̼͐ẖ̵̽i̸̤̾s̸͖̿ ̷̙̽D̸̤̍e̷̡̓ș̸͝e̶̺͂r̸̜̈́v̶̲̀ȅ̴̝d̶͎̈́?]
[F!nd 0ut Wh¥]
His vision blurred as memories he never remembered having started flashing through his mind.
Then everything went dark.
And in that moment, Alex realized something was seriously wrong.
"Those memories," Alex whispered, "Belong to Cassien Artfold."
Alex blinked quickly, "And now I've become that character."