Life is sometimes unfair, as we all know.
I was travelling home on the metro after leaving my office—an office that was nothing more than a black company, one that believed engineering graduates were slaves meant to work more than sixty-seven hours a week. Because of this, many employees quit within their first few months.Except me.
As a low-scoring graduate, I had no place in the job market. Knowing this, the company manager deliberately piled extra work onto me. I couldn't attend any family functions or gatherings—not even when I lost my last remaining family member. The constant pressure and stress slowly destroyed my health, eventually giving rise to illness.
Even then, my manager kept calling me to come to the office while I was sick. He even threatened to fire me. That daily onslaught finally broke me, and I submitted my resignation.
After that, the manager started pestering me to return. This time, however, I had made my decision—I would not back out. He tried bribing me with promises of a higher salary. When that failed, he began blackmailing me, threatening to blacklist me from other companies.
Still, I chose to quit this modern slave life and decided to return to farming.
In the end, the same manager continued causing problems with my employee provident fund and other procedures. I only received all my rightful payments with the help of a lawyer friend, who filed a case against the company for misusing labor laws. The case led to the company's bankruptcy, and many people lost their jobs. Several employees tried to withdraw the case, but I refused. I didn't want anyone else to suffer the same fate as I did.
While travelling back on the metro, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my chest. At first it was small, but it quickly became unbearable. My vision darkened, as if the entire world was sinking into blackness—until everything truly went black.
When I opened my eyes again, I saw a blue-skinned man drinking tea and eating rusks in a garden. Nearby, a man in a white suit sat calmly, reading a novel. He noticed me, closed the book, and placed it on the table. After taking a sip of tea, he gently set the cup down and looked at me.
I asked, "Who are you?"
He replied, "I am the manager of the solar system. I oversee this galaxy."
"Hain? You mean you're an alien?"
"Hm. On Earth, I believe you call me God. This 'alien' thing is new, though. Anyway, I must inform you that you died due to a mistake. Your lifeline was not meant to end yet. As compensation, we have decided to send you to another world. Do you have any wishes?"
"Wait. You're saying I died because of your mistake, I have no way to return, and now you're sending me to another world? Is this some kind of novel or anime?"
"Yeah, you got it. That's why I apologized and am giving you power to build your life in another world."
"Hey, are you on some kind of weed? You're not even properly accepting your mistake. I want to meet your manager."
"I am the manager. Didn't I tell you from the beginning?"
"You? Then I want to meet your senior. Where is your boss?"
"Sorry, my boss is busy. As you know, they have a lot of work. Maybe next time."
"You fucking cunt. I want to go back to my original world. I finally got my money back and just wanted to live a peaceful life in a village, farming without any tension—but before I could do that, you took everything from me."
"Oh? You want a comfortable life? You should've said so earlier. I'll give you an AI to help with daily tasks and make you reborn as a prince who lives far from human civilization, possesses infinite mana, and lives alone. That should solve everything. Bye."
"Wait, I didn't co—"
And that was how I was reborn as the 19th Prince of the Naswer Kingdom, the third youngest son—born to a maid. To hide his shame, the king sent his youngest son to the most desolate region at the southern tip of the kingdom: the Parched Land. After his mother's death, at the age of seven, he was made its regent with only ten silver-rank knights, one gold-rank butler, and two maids.