(A/N: This is just a prologue, as the title says, so it's not important to the story, but I would suggest reading it… or not.

Who cares what the author says? Though if you do decide to read it, read it till the end)

—

Saturday 28th November 2009

11:58 PM

Dear Diary,

Today was my 13th birthday.

I expected my mother's warm and cheerful voice to wake me up in the morning but what woke me up was that nightmare instead.

Yes, I'm having that same nightmare again.

However, no matter how I think about it, today, it felt different.

I still dreamt the same thing, but today it felt more… realistic.

Like I was there myself. Like I was seeing it all through my own eyes.

I know how this sounds.

It sounds like I'm losing my mind, and that's why I didn't tell mom and dad.

I thought I would be the happiest person under the sun today, but the bitter taste that was left in my mouth due to that dream ruined it all.

Anyway, I read somewhere that if you write down your nightmare, then you won't have it again.

And because today I remember it clearly, I'll try to write it down.

`So my nightmare starts with visions of a boy. He has only one arm.

I can only see his back. He stands on a battlefield with his head down in sorrow.

He couldn't protect anyone.

His lover, his friend, and the people who counted on him all lay around him dead.

He falls to his knees and starts whimpering.

He picks up a sword beside him from one of his dead comrade's bodies.

Placing the blade on his neck, he mutters but one thing.

"I'm sorry," he says and slashes his neck.

His lifeless body drops to the ground, and my vision shifts.

Next, I see a girl.

Again, I can only see her back.

She stands on a mountain cliff, looking at the azure moon above.

Her waist-long black hair floats in the autumn breeze as she looks up at the sky.

"I'm sorry," she mumbles in a weeping tone.

Unable to bear the trauma of her past, she starts to cry.

But there's no one to console her.

No, there's no one left to console her.

She couldn't save her loved ones.

No matter how many times she tries, she can't save anyone.

Dropping her head in defeat, she takes a step and jumps off the cliff. Ending her pitiful life.

With that, my vision shifts once again.

This time I can see another boy. Again, just his back.

But this vision is different from the others.

The boy I'm seeing now is standing in between what looks like the boundary of two different worlds.

With a two-headed spear in his hand, the boy turns and looks directly at me.

But due to the light in his background, I can't see his face clearly, just a silhouette.

He then murmurs some gibberish that I can barely make sense of.

"This is the point where our worlds collide. Remember this." He says before continuing, "I'm sorry."

With that said, he places his spear on his heart and impales himself.

Slowly bleeding to his death.

My vision turns black from here.

Trapped in darkness, no matter how much I try to wake up, I just can't.

All I could hear from here on out is the voice of an old woman reciting something.

"When the darkness will fall and even the shadows will hide.

The reality will twist, the time will bend out of joint, and moonless shall be the nights.

No one will be the wiser when all the prayers start to decline.

Running in an endless spiral, three children will only survive.

One who sought strength but lost everything to his thirst to thrive.

And another who chose to rewrite, this one knows no bound of time.

Along with a boy who only wished for peace and a different life.

So fear not when your fall arrives and fret not when comes your demise.

For victory will be ours and restored will be the dawn when these three will unite.

Or not… and to tell the tale, no one will be left alive."

After hearing that poem or whatever it is, I would float around in darkness endlessly.

An annoying laugh would fall into my ears from time to time.

A laugh irritating enough to make me wanna choke the person who's laughing like that to death.

I would try to wake up, but I never could.

I would just float in that darkness, aimlessly accompanied by nothing but the sound of that laughter.

My solitude only ends after either someone shakes me or I fall from my bed.

Sigh, I hope these nightmares will end soon.

And I sure don't wanna experience one as realistic as today's ever again.

Also, I don't know why but I felt sad when I saw that boy with the spear…

I mean, I felt sad for all of them.

That's rare. I rarely feel anything, but I felt sad over an absurd dream.

I don't know. Maybe it's just my exhaustion talking.

Anyway, I'm off to bed. Fingers crossed.

-Noah Lambert

Ever since I was little, I always found the notion of fate stupid.

I mean, if someone really is writing my destiny, then does that mean I had no free will, to begin with?

If all the actions I took were part of someone's plan, then was I just a puppet dancing on someone else's strings?

No, I reject this notion.

Only I am responsible for the good, bad, and every other part of my life!

I was born free! And no one can tell me otherwise!

Ahem, anyway. That must've been weird, right?

Let's start over.

Hello, I'm Noah Lambert.

I'm an online content editor for a platform called web-novel. I'm a perfectly normal person with an utterly messed up sleep schedule.

And currently, I was being held at gunpoint at the entrance of my own apartment by a maniac author.

What's my crime, you ask?

I rejected his work for an annual competition prize.

Now don't get me wrong. Although I did vote in favor of him not winning the prize, there were ten other editors besides me.

Yet, for some reason, this guy only came after me.

Well, luckily, I've already sent SOS from my cell phone, so the police will be arriving here any moment now.

But unfortunately, I don't think this guy is in the right mindset. I don't know how long I have until he completely snaps and loses his mind.

"Tell me why?!" He yelled with a red face full of anger.

"...Ain't nothin' but a heartache?"

Slap–!

An open palm landed on the side of my face after my answer.

I couldn't blame the guy. He was clearly on edge, yet I had the audacity to joke around.

No regrets though. That was very funny. Hehe.

"Tell me why?!"

"Ain't nothin' but a mistake~!"

Okay, guys, I couldn't help myself!

It's a catchy song, and this guy set himself up! Twice!

Slap–!

The slap was even harder this time. I could even feel a little blood in my mouth.

"Don't joke around, you fucker! Tell me, why didn't I win?!" He barked at the top of his lungs. His gun was still pointed at me.

He was the type of guy your girlfriend would tell you not to worry about, and you really got nothing to worry about because you know you're undoubtedly better than him.

He was the type of guy you would walk past on the street and completely forget about a minute later.

He was the type of guy who would go completely unnoticed at parties because of his unimpressionable personality.

This guy was as average as they come. The most average Joe out of them all! And oh, the irony! Even his name was Joe!

"Oye! Tell me, why didn't I win?!" Joe yelled again. His gun hand trembled slightly, which skyrocketed my anxiety level.

Seeing that, I raised my hand as a sign of submission and put an amicable smile on my face.

"Joe, listen, I don't know, okay? I don't know why you didn't win. There were ten other editors besides me who voted against you."

"Tsk!" Hearing my answer, Joe clicked his tongue aggressively. "Fine then. Tell me why you didn't vote for me?"

I don't know why he cared about my vote so much, but he was getting angry with every passing second.

Maybe it's better if I tell him my opinion on his story and be done with this.

That will not only help me stall some time until the police arrive, but it'll also form an emotional connection between us.

Psychology bitches!

I nodded slightly and said, "Now, before I tell you this, remember it's just my opinion, and my opinion doesn't matter as long as you believe in yourself."

After a brief pause, Joe nodded his head at my words, seemingly approachable and calmer than before.

Letting out a relieved sigh, I started speaking again.

"The reason I voted against you is that although your writing quality was excellent, your plot wasn't so good."

I started mixing lies with truth. His writing quality was horrendous, and his plot was packed with clichès.

But I deliberately picked my words in such a way that wouldn't hurt his pride and let me convey my point to him.

So why didn't I completely lie to him and tell him the things he wanted to hear? Because I still didn't have a good read on him.

What if he catches me lying to him? It would only make the situation even worse.

Besides, I knew what I was doing.

I learned to lie almost as soon as I started to speak.

"But no need to worry. If you allow me to be your personal editor, then with your brilliant writing and my guidance, you will win next year's competition for sure!"

Again, I lied through my teeth. This time there was barely any truth mixed in with it.

No way a lazy bum like him, who wrote all the clichès a man could write in one single novel, would be able to win against those big-shot genius authors.

He didn't possess the creative vision or imaginative thinking needed to become a good storyteller.

"So let's calm down, Joe. Calm down and put the gun away, yeah?" I said in a reassuring tone. "I will help you write your next story."

Joe was completely still by now. Maybe I managed to get through to him. Hah, reading him was easy!

He was just an insecure fellow looking for some acknowledgment. A few words of encouragement and he settled down like a kid!

"What did you say?" Joe uttered right at that moment when I thought I had finally managed to calm him down a bit.

"...Eh?" Confused, I frowned. "Wh-What?"

"I asked, what the **** did you say about my plot not being good?" He repeated his question with a bit of annoyance.

****. His silence was the calm before the storm! I didn't cool him down. I set him off! I wasn't talking to a person but a ticking time bomb!

"I-I didn't mean anything negative by that, Joe. N-Now that I think about it, your plot wasn't even that bad! A little fixing here and there and it would be perfect!"

Slam–!

Following my answer, Joe slammed his free hand on the wall nearest to him in rage.

His other hand was still holding the gun at me when he said, "Shut up, Noah! It doesn't need any fixing! That story is perfect!"

Oh my ******* god!

He was one of those authors!

The kind of author who thinks their work is a masterpiece when in reality, a nine-year-old could write a better story than them!

I hate them the most! Those kinds of authors disgust me!

However, I couldn't let my feelings get to me. I needed to use my head.

"You get it?! Do you hear me?! It's a masterpiece! It doesn't need fixing! It's beautiful as it is!" Joe kept wailing.

Arghh! He was getting on my nerves!

Seeing him acting like a delusional author made my editor persona burst out…

"It was not a masterpiece! It was nowhere near a masterpiece! It was shit! I cringed so hard reading a few chapters that you have no idea!

"Your characters were bland and they didn't feel alive! Your plot was predictable and your MC was typical!

"Nothing about your story stood out! If it was anything, then it was a clichè! I never got to read the ending but I bet it was a clichè too!"

Letting out all my frustration, I cooled down a bit. But only after I collected my thoughts did I see the look on Joe's face.

Was it anger or sadness? I don't know. But he had definitely lost all reasoning at this point. He had a look of frenzy in his eyes.

"How could you say that?" Joe said in a shivering voice. "How could you, of all people, say that?"

Seeing him acting so unstable, I raised my hands a little higher, showing total submission.

"Wha-What do you mean? I'm just telling you my opinion. But hey man, this is not the end of the world. Participate next year and win-"

Before I could finish my sentence, however, Joe snapped at me. "Shut up! Just shut up!"

Sigh, the guy had completely lost his mind. There was nothing I could do now besides waiting for the police to show up.

So I did what I was told.

I shut up… and pissed my pants a little.

"You think I care about some stupid competition?! No, I don't!" He barked.

'Then why are you here,' is what I wanted to respond with, but I restrained myself.

"I wanted to let the world see this story! I wanted to share something that I found enjoyable!

"Sure, it was a little clichè at first, but it became better! And yes, the end was tragic, but the journey was beautiful!

"The characters didn't feel alive, you say?! Well, they were! They were alive! And they showed me one of the best stories in eons!" Joe continued to bark.

What was he even talking about now?

Does this guy have the infamous 8th-grade syndrome?

"J-Joe, what are you talking about?" Anxiously, I asked.

"Shut up!" As a man possessed, Joe cried out. "I said they were alive! Perhaps it's you who has forgotten what it's like to be alive! But maybe if you go back, you'll remember!"

The ****? Go back where? What the hell was this guy on about?

Click–!

As soon as he said those words, Joe pulled the gun's hammer back with his thumb and placed the barrel against my forehead.

Beads of sweat formed on my forehead, and a chill ran down my spine. My stomach churned in horror as my instincts screamed at me to run away.

"J-J-Joe! This isn't worth going to jail for, man! Publish your story again and I will be your personal editor! I will make sure the world sees your masterpiece! Just put the gun down, okay?"

I wanted to run.

Seeing the maddened look in his eyes, I was sure. He would shoot me any moment now….

Over what? A stupid story? Was I really going to get killed because I didn't like some silly story?!

"It's too late," with a tone as calm as a still river, Joe declared. "You've completely forgotten yourself, so I'll make you remember."

This guy has lost it!

This guy was insane!

Why the **** police take their sweet time getting to SOS locations in situations like these?!

"Casting Time Reversal and Parallel Timeline Rebirth will take a toll on my body. I may lose half of my life essence but I'll make you remember. I'll make you remember what it's like being alive!" Joe announced.

I couldn't be any more confused. What the **** was he saying?! Did he really have 8th-grade syndrome or something?!

Right then, Joe displayed the eeriest grin I had ever seen and said, "I'll let you show me a better story. And this time, try not to die before reaching the end."

"Stop!" My eyes widened and my hands moved to grab the gun as I saw Joe pulling back the trigger.

Bam–!

But I was too late…

What reverberated throughout the room then was a very, very sharp and loud sound of gunfire.

I thought that a gunshot wound to the head would give me instant death. However, it took longer than I had expected for me to lose consciousness.

I fell, but I didn't feel anything. I had already lost all of my senses.

I wondered if that's how the person feels when their brain shuts down.

The last thing I saw before darkness invaded my vision was the creepy smile of my killer.

____

Joe looked at the dead body in front of him, but the eerie grin on his face from before was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, he looked… sad?

"Finish the story you started," He mumbled to himself while looking at the fallen boy in front of him. "And put an end to all of this."

-"Open up!"

Right then, a voice came from across the door of the apartment. It was most probably the police. They were arriving now.

-"Open up, or we will break in!"

"Huh? Don't they know how to deal with a hostage situation? ******* amateurs." Joe cussed out loud as he closed his eyes.

His body then started radiating a blinding white light.

And within seconds, he dissipated into light particles, fading into nothingness as if he was never present in that room, to begin with.

-"Break it!"

At that command, a few men in uniform tackled down the wooden door– breaking it and rushing inside.

However, all they found inside the apartment was the dead body of a young web-novel editor.

He had dark hair and matching eyes with a well-built body. He was seemingly in his early twenties.

The cause of death was a bullet wound to the head.

But the funny thing was, they never found a bullet inside his head during the autopsy. Neither did they find any gunshot residue on the dead body.

It was my dead body.

I was Noah Lambert, and I was an online platform editor. I was a perfectly normal person with an utterly messed up sleep schedule.

And I'm not the protagonist of the story that we all are going to embark upon.

Ding–!

Awakening me from my slumber was the loud mechanical bell chime in my ears.

'Who's ringing bells in my room?!' That was the first thought that came to my mind.

Lethargically getting myself up, I rubbed my hazy eyes. The stiffness of my body made me think as if I had been sleeping for days.

Messaging my aching forehead, I lazily but carefully scouted my surroundings through my bleary eyes.

I found myself in a one-bedroom apartment… But it was way bigger than mine?

Not to mention the clean and tidy interior. This was certainly not my apartment.

Confused, I looked around as I got up from the bed I had been lying on earlier.

Memories of what happened at the entrance of my apartment came flooding into my head, leaving me with a frown.

"... Huh? Shouldn't I be dead?" I thought out loud as I remembered being shot by a certain maniac author.

Damn that guy! Who shoots a person just because they don't happen to like your shitty story?!

Rubbing my eyes to make sure I wasn't just sleeping, I blinked several times before pinching my cheek.

"Mmm! It doesn't look like I'm dreaming…."

At first, I thought that someone must've rescued me at the last minute and I must be in a hospital or something.

Or better yet, maybe I was having one of those before-death visions and would die any moment now.

But as each second passed, it became clear to me that I was certainly not dreaming.

It felt all too real to be a dream. My senses were working properly, and I could even smell.

The scent of lavender room freshener lingering in the apartment was clearly picked up by my nose.

Fun fact: You can't smell in dreams.

But just to double-check, I grabbed the nearest book from a small bookshelf beside my bed.

You can't read in dreams, either.

Opening a random page, I was about to read its contents out loud before I heard another mechanical bell sound.

Ding–!

Startled, I started looking around me to find the source of the sound.

But before I could find anything, a blue translucent screen appeared in my vision out of nowhere with another bell chime.

Ding–!

\=\=\=Status\=\=\=

Name→ Lucas Morningstar [Face Image]

Race→ Human

Strength→ 20

Defense→ 8

Speed→ 39

Stamina→ 32

Accuracy→ 76

Charm→ 439

Intelligence→ 187

Mana Capacity→ 500/500

Rank→ Iron 2

Potential→ Gold 3

Profession→ Spearman Lvl. 1 || Archer Lvl. 1

Techniques→ None

Affinity→ Fire » Lightning || Light

Spells→ Fireball ⟨Low⟩ || Zap Touch ⟨Low⟩

Blessing→ Mana Burst

\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=

"...What?" After a second of pause, I voiced my disbelief.

A multitude of questions bombarded my mind as I stood there blankly.

It felt like a distasteful joke.

Putting a hand to my mouth in disbelief, I let all kinds of wild scenarios run through my mind.

Maybe I was hallucinating. Maybe I was dead and this wasn't even real. Maybe all this was a prank!

However, none of those scenarios were reasonable enough.

I had to make sure of what I was assuming. I needed confirmation. Thinking about that, I remembered the book I was holding in my hands.

Abruptly,  I closed the book and looked at its cover. And sure enough, I was left stunned

The words [Global Military Academy: Course 1] were printed on the book's cover.

That, along with the 'status' screen I just saw, was enough evidence for me but I still decided to look for a mirror.

When I turned my head to look behind, I found a desk at the front end of the room. On top of that desk was a mirror.

A fancy silver-bordered mirror.

After walking up to the mirror with slow, shaky steps, I looked at my reflection.

And as soon as my gaze fell on my reflection in the mirror, I couldn't help but gasp in shock.

"Ahh?"

I had pale skin, as white as snow, that brought out my merlot-red eyes. My dark black hair was replaced by the lightest shade of white, and my small, slightly chubby figure was now tall and well-built.

"White hair?!" I blurted out with a frown. "I'm an albino?!"

I wore a black shirt with white buttons paired and a plain black jogger.

The sleeves of my shirt were folded back and the buttons were left open until my collarbone was visible.

"What a weird combo," I couldn't help but comment on my own clothes.

Yes, it was an odd choice for clothing, but this face that I had could make anything I wore look good.

I'm not exaggerating. If I were to wear leaves, I would still look like a model with this face!

The boy in the mirror was nothing short of an anime protagonist that gets all the girls.

The captivating charm that my face carried made me look as if I was standing at the epitome of beauty.

Mhmm, I looked like a pretty boy... but I knew that couldn't be further from the truth.

How did I know that? Because I recognized the boy I was looking at in the mirror.

"This is a joke… right?"

I knew what I was thinking was indeed happening to me.

It may sound weird to hear, but this was the reality that has been presented to me.

I've been reborn.

To be precise…

I've been reborn inside a web novel.

But that wasn't it! I didn't become the protagonist! Nor did I become an extra!

I had become a villain!

Not even the main villain, no! The stepping stone for the protagonist and his allies!

But why?!

Why did I have to be reborn in 'this' novel out of all the gazillion other web novels out there?

I couldn't help but recall the face of that maniac author. The maniac author who killed me…

After all, this was his novel…

Does he have something to do with all this? Did he drug me? I could be on drugs! Thoughts like that entered my mind but I soon shook them off.

"What am I even thinking?!"

All the proofs were in front of me. I had no choice but to accept the reality.

"Huuu!" Shaking my head, I took a deep breath to calm myself down.

I know I just woke up but this felt like a dream.

How could this even be happening to me? This is the most clichè situation I have ever been put into all my life.

Turning back around, I took a few steps and sat at the edge of the bed.

My knees felt weak and my heart slammed against my chest like crazy, almost as if I was getting high on adrenaline.

My breathing fastened as the gravity of the situation finally started to sink in.

"Ehe hehehe~"

A soft giggle escaped my trembling lips the next moment.

…Yes, I was laughing.

I was smiling and laughing. For the first time in so long, I was laughing!

I was feeling excited!

I didn't remember the last time my heart slammed against my chest so hard.

So what if I was in a trashy web novel? I was still in a fantasy world, nonetheless!

I didn't care about anything else. My life was so bland anyway.

It's not that I didn't have anything. On the contrary, I had everything I could possibly ask for.

My looks weren't the best, but I was still decent looking. I was pretty smart too and had a job.

I had a loving girlfriend, a bunch of loyal friends, and three caring siblings. I even had the best parents in the whole world.

They all loved me. It was a perfect life. It was an ideal life.

But for whatever reason, I never truly felt satisfied. I never felt anything genuine.

I could never truly love any of them. Not my girlfriend, siblings, friends, or not even my parents.

I never actually felt connected to any of them.

I always felt like there was a certain distance between us.

I always felt like they didn't really know the real me. How could they? I didn't even really know myself either.

I always felt like there was this feeling of emptiness in my heart that couldn't seem to go away no matter what I may do.

I felt like I didn't belong there with them. I didn't belong in that world.

I only loved them because I had to. As if I was only doing my duty.

Now you may call me scum for that but I can't help it. I was born like that.

I was born broken.

I felt like I was just playing my part in a play. Like I was just a cog in a machine.

It was a boring life. It was a dead life. A repetitive life with nothing eventful ever going on.

I was living in a circle.

Thinking back on it, I may have started feeling that way when that nightmare started appearing.

But whatever the reason may be, I was happy that I escaped that tedious life.

"Arghh…"

However, I soon stopped giggling like a madman when I remembered the plot of the web novel I was in.

Even though I was inside a fantasy world, the plot of this story was literally hell for its character.

I only read it till volume 7, but the characters were dropping dead like flies nearing the end of it.

"I don't want such a fate!" I said in denial.

And not to mention my character!

I was in the body of Lucas Morningstar.

He was a minor villain in the 1st volume and was promoted to a major villain in the first half of the 2nd volume.

"Tsk," Clicking my tongue, I closed my eyes to calm my mind.

"No, no, no! I need to do something and I need to do it fast!"

My worry was reasonable.

If I remember correctly, which I do because I have a near-perfect memory, Lucas Morningstar belonged to one of the ruling families— the elite house of Morningstars, also known as the House Of The Wolves.

He was one of the second-born twins of General Reynold Morningstar.

He wasn't exactly strong, but due to his backing he thought he could do whatever he wanted.

His beliefs weren't exactly wrong either.

He had committed several small crimes in the past and all of them were suppressed by his father.

It was not because Reynold loved his trash son or something. No, on the contrary, he hated Lucas.

He simply did all that to preserve the name of his family.

In short, Lucas was just a disgrace to the Morningstar family.

Anyway, as I was saying, Lucas Morningstar started out as a minor villain in the 1st volume.

Before coming to the Global City, he was excommunicated by his father but he still didn't lose his haughtiness.

He was a vicious person and a scum of a man.

Once, he was hitting a girl. So Nero Dekrauf, the protagonist of the story, confronted him.

Lucas being the young master he was, challenged Nero to a duel.

Needless to say, he got his *** kicked within a few seconds.

Nero saved the girl, and she, of course, fell head over heels for the protagonist.

A cliche plot! Right?! Tell me about it!

Shaking my head in ridicule, I started thinking of a way to escape my crisis.

Well, the solution was pretty clear.

I don't need to hit a girl and stray clear from the protagonist until the first volume of the story ends.

After that, I'll do something to avoid the destruction that'll start in the 7th volume. The volume when the final war will begin.