Inside a dark room, the only source of light was the computer screen. A man in his late twenties was scrolling through a Webnovel he had been reading for a while.
The man had dark circles under his eyes. They were so dark that it seemed like light simply failed to reflect back. His eyes were bloodshot from the lack of sleep. But despite that, instead of sleeping, he was reading Webnovels.
The reason he didn't sleep was because he couldn't. He was too nervous to sleep. Tomorrow was a special day. The first time in history where humanity established a connection with another habitable planet through Quantum Teleportation.
They have already established a base on K2-18b in the K2-18 solar system located in the Leo Constellation. The first transmission arrived through the Quantum Teleportation and more manpower is needed to actually do anything more. And he was one of them who will be sent there. As the head of the whole project. Responsible for creating a Fusion Reactor, solving the energy problem, and overseeing the development of the whole planet.
Just thinking about it made him bitter.
"Argh. Why do I have to work like this? Aren't I humanity's greatest asset? Shouldn't they treat me like a king instead of a slave!? Damn! Life is so unfair!"
He felt like crying so he chugged down the beer he was drinking and focused on the novel.
Blair Ascension.
That was the name of this novel. The plot was generic. The protagonist Alan Blair goes to the academy with his two best friends. They come from a humble background. But the Academy wasn't like what they had thought, it was like a mini-society. There are many Academies in the academy city. Academy wars happen. Students must earn and pay for their own tuition by either working part-time or going hunting.
Teachers and adults in the Academy city are just there to maintain the system and order. Everything else, you need to get on your own.
The characters and their dynamics in this novel are borderline cliché. A dense, but kind-hearted optimistic protagonist. Accompanied by his friends and more friends he made along the way.
Getting underestimated at first, then slowly climbing up the social ladders, people discovering his talents, blah, blah, blah. The generic stuff.
But what he likes is the world building. It's like a breath of fresh air in this trope. Instead of demons vs the whole world, the world this novel is based on is where every race coexists.
Even demons.
To summarise this world, this is a fantasy world that has been modernised. With modern values and understanding. The world slowly found peace with one another.
Another thing he likes is the power system. The author took some real world concepts, some magical concepts, slapped them together and it somehow works.
The World itself is very mystical and adventurous.
Then where is the tension?
It's like Earth's racists vs the non-racists. The racist groups want their race to dominate the world while the non-racist groups just want to live their lives.
Of course, there are groups with their own unique agenda. But to summarise the whole conflict, it's that, racist vs non-racist.
After finishing the latest chapter, chapter 1378, he couldn't help but let out a chuckle of disbelief. The protagonist Alan Blair had two childhood friends, Elina Parker and Quash Ogmore.
Elina liked Alan. Quash liked Elina. But unlike most best friends who hide their feelings and smile like a monk, Quash actually confessed but got rejected with some nonsense that no one believed because they knew she liked Alan. But he didn't think much of it and moved on. Continued life with them.
Alan was the Tungsten of romantic feelings. Heavy, dense, and impenetrable. So even now, Alan and Elina are still friends.
But that's not the point. Quash, just like his name, is now completely shut down as of this chapter. In other words, dead.
He died while protecting Elina. Which was fine, friends do that kinda thing all the time. But what did Elina do? She used this chance to get together with Alan. In the name of comfort.
'Like bruh. Your friend who had loved you for time immemorial just died, at least let his corpse rot a bit.'
He shook his head. Not thinking much about it. But his belief of women being trouble became even more cemented. A woman will either be the cause that will destroy you or be the cause that will drive you towards success. And more often than people like to admit, the former happens. But people don't talk about it because it breaks the beautiful bubble of illusion.
And when the latter happens?
"...Have I ever seen any man get successful with a woman's support...?"
He tried to think but none came to mind other than the fact that the only ones who did get successful because of women were rejected men.
[A/N: Whatever the character thinks of the opposite sex is not the Author's thoughts. No misogyny intended. Some people just think like this. 👍]
"LOL."
He couldn't help but chuckle at his train of thoughts. What the world does, has nothing to do with him. The world can go fuck itself for all he cares.
Quash in the novel chose to walk on the path of a Knight because Elina liked Knights. Despite not being that good at it. Not even exploring his own potential. But later he realised that it's not like she liked Knights, she liked Alan who was a Knight. If he were a mage, she would have liked mages.
That realisation had hurt Quash but it was too late to regret. He couldn't change his path at that point.
And here he was, getting killed while never actually getting to live his life, never to shine. He was always associated with the name Alan.
Alan's Best Friend.
That's the best he got.
He scrolled through the comments of the chapter. The novel was pretty popular. Mostly among the people who liked the world building like him. And they seemed to share the same sentiment as him.
He tilted his head to take another sip but noticed that the beer can was empty. He sighed. Thought that it was enough Internet for today. But before going to sleep, he decided to comment like usual.
[Don'tMindMe_Itmust'veBeenTheWind: Tftc]
He was about to shut down his computer when a reply came through. It was from the author.
'Was this bastard waiting to ambush me?'
He thought with a chuckle. But still opened it and read the reply.
[Cliché_Master: Hello there my most loyal reader. It's been a long journey and I'm glad that you've been with me from the start. Even in the time where the story wasn't that exciting. Your simple comments were what kept me going. So I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. But I would also like to know about your opinion in the recent developments of the story. And above all, what do you like the most now? I know you like the world building, but did it change recently?]
He read the reply, and as the author said, he was one of the, if not the only reader that has been reading this novel from day one. He liked this author. Dude was humble, open for suggestions. Although he never suggested anything story related, just structural adjustments. He believes that a reader can never know better than the author who is writing the story.
Just his simple suggestion can mess up the author's whole planning because he will then want to please him. And that is not something he wants. That is not what creative freedom is. According to him that is. He doesn't know about others, nor does he care.
[Don'tMindMe_Itmust'veBeenTheWind: No. It didn't change, instead, I like the world even more. Your writing has become more immersing and each new chapter makes me want to live in that world and explore it. Very immersive and very beautiful. Thank you author for your hard work 👍]
A reply immediately came.
"...Is this dude some kind of God? How did he read and type so fast?"
But he still read the reply and couldn't help but burst out laughing.
[Cliché_Master: Do you want to live inside it?]
[Don'tMindMe_Itmust'veBeenTheWind: Pfff-hahaha. Oh no buddy. Don't give me that shit. I've read way too many tropes of that genre to know what is going to happen if I say yes. Lol.]
[Cliché_Master: Yeah. Lol. Very true. But thanks again man. I appreciate your support.]
[Don'tMindMe_Itmust'veBeenTheWind: Alright bro. Imma dip now. Tomorrow, I'm going to be sent to another planet.]
[Cliché_Master: Oh? You're one of the crew members of that Super-Earth project? What the fuck are you doing this late at night? Shouldn't you be sleeping? What if you're late? They will leave without you! You will miss such a chance to go to a new planet! Damn I'm jealous. I shouldn't have bunked my physics class.]
[Don'tMindMe_Itmust'veBeenTheWind: lol. Sucks to be you. But where can they go without me? Even if I'm late, they will wait.]
[Cliché_Master: Damn. You think you're the Head of that project or something?]
[Don'tMindMe_Itmust'veBeenTheWind: lol. I don't think. I am. But anyway. I'm getting sleepy. So goodnight 👍]
[Cliché_Master: Alright bro. Gn. Make sure to read more there and attach some pics for us to see. So we can get an intimate view rather than the polished TV ones.]
[Don'tMindMe_Itmust'veBeenTheWind: 👍]
After that, he turned off his computer and stood up. But he suddenly felt dizzy and his mind blanked out from standing abruptly, his vision lost colors, his body wasn't responding very well. He tried to get a hold of his chair but it had wheels and it slipped when he tried to sit down again.
*Bang~!*
He lost his balance and the back of his head hit the bed frame. The edge of the frame hit the connecting point of many nerves to the brain. And before he could think anything else, his mind blanked out and he lost consciousness.