I jolted awake, my heart pounding as I stared at the unfamiliar ceiling above me.
It wasn't my room.
The air felt different, thicker somehow, and the bed beneath me was far softer than what I was used to.
I blinked, rubbing my eyes.
Wait… where the heck am I?
I shot up, glancing around wildly.
My breath came out ragged as panic began to settle in.
This wasn't my room—heck, this wasn't anywhere I recognized.
The furniture, the strange décor… even the air smelled different.
I ran my hand through my hair, trying to make sense of the situation.
I was alive—at least, I thought I was.
But how? And why did everything seem so... off?
Swallowing hard, I noticed a mirror beside the bed, reflecting a figure I barely recognized.
My chest tightened as I approached it slowly, feeling like I was in some weird dream.
The face staring back at me wasn't mine.
I stumbled back in shock.
The person in the mirror was tall, far taller than me, with sharp, chiseled features and eyes that practically glowed with confidence.
His hair was messy but in a cool, effortless way, and—wait a minute—this guy was handsome.
Really handsome.
This can't be me… there's no way I look like this!
I reached up and touched my face, watching the reflection copy my every move.
But these hands, this face... it wasn't mine.
I wasn't this good-looking, not even close.
My breath hitched as a sudden thought flickered in my mind, a nagging familiarity.
I had seen this face before.
Wait.
No.
Could it be? No, no way…
Just as the realization started to dawn on me, I felt my stomach twist with dread.
This was the face of a character.
A character from a novel I had read. But not just any character—an extra.
A third-rate extra from "Rise of the Strongest Protagonist."
My least favorite novel...
Look, I did read novels sometimes.
Besides manga, I'd pick one up now and then, but I was never really into them like I was with manga. They were just something to read when I ran out of new manga chapters.
But that doesn't matter right now.
What matters is that I'm scared out of my mind.
My whole body is shaking like crazy—hands, legs, everything. I can't stop trembling.
Why am I freaking out so bad?
Three reasons. Three really bad reasons.
First: I never finished this novel. I only read like three or five chapters before I quit. So I have no idea what happens next, who dies, who lives, or anything about the story. I'm totally clueless here.
Second: If I remember right—and I really hope I don't—the character I'm stuck in dies in chapter three. He gets killed by some villain. Chapter three! That's probably just a few days away. Maybe even less.
And third—this is the worst part—I'm the main character's best friend.
I know what you're thinking: "That's not so bad! Being the MC's friend means you're safe, right?"
Nope. Not even close.
It's actually way worse.
Here's why: this isn't just some random novel. This stupid book is a spin-off of my favorite manga ever, "Parallel World Vigilante."
You might wonder why that's bad. Let me tell you.
The manga artist said on social media that the hero from the original "Vigilante" manga shows up at the end of this novel. And they don't just say hi and leave. No, they actually fight with this novel's main character.
Now, I've read that manga like ten times, so I know exactly how strong the Vigilante hero is. The guy is basically impossible to beat—like a walking disaster who doesn't care about the rules of reality.
So yeah, I'm done for. Totally done for.
Fuck...
This body? This world?
Why?
Why did I have to get sent to another world?
And why this one, from my least favorite novel?
The one I stopped reading after just a few chapters?
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
The frustration was killing me inside. It felt like my chest was going to burst from all the anger and panic.
I looked down at myself again, still not believing it.
My chest was bare, and I could see abs that definitely weren't mine before.
Well, they were mine now, but they weren't there this morning.
These muscles I'd never had moved under my skin whenever I moved.
Okay, yeah, I looked amazing. Like someone from a magazine.
But that wasn't important!
Right now, I needed to figure out what to do about—
*Pop!*
A sudden sound made me jump. Out of nowhere, a glowing blue screen appeared in front of me. It just floated there in the air like it was totally normal.
**[Ding! A suitable candidate has been chosen! Awakening the "System."]**
I blinked hard, trying to understand what I was seeing.
What the hell?
Hold on. Wait a minute. Is this what I think it is?
A golden finger? Like in those online novels I used to read?
The screen flickered and new words showed up.
**[Yes, Host! I am your companion who will help—]**
"Yeah, okay, stop!" I interrupted before it could finish talking. "I get it, you're a system, whatever. But answer this first: Is there any way for me to go back to my own world?"
I didn't want to be here. Not at all.
My old life wasn't perfect, but it was mine. It was real. It was home.
And the people I cared about were there. My parents were there. Shia was there.
God, what would they think when they found out I died?
My mom would probably cry forever.
My dad would somehow blame himself, even though it wasn't his fault.
And Shia...
I never even got to tell her how I felt.
They'd all be heartbroken, and I couldn't do anything about it from here.
I couldn't let that happen. I wouldn't.
Then suddenly, another screen popped up in front of me.
**[Yes, Host, there is a way!]**
The second I read those words, I felt hope rush through my whole body.
"What? There is?" I almost yelled at the floating screen. "Tell me! How do I get back? Tell me now!"
The system answered right away.
**[Host, please wait a moment!]**
Okay...
Fine. I could wait a few seconds if it meant I could go home.
Then, without any warning, a different screen appeared in front of me. This one was bigger and had more information.
---
**Name:** Michael Frostburne
**Race:** Human
**Current Rank:** 0
**Current Level:** 0
**Title:** 0
**Progression to No Rank:** 0% (0/00 levels)
**Progression to Level 1:** 0% (0/00 essences)
**Potential:** 0
**Attributes:**
[Power]: 0
[Speed]: 0
[Spirit]: 0
[Recovery]: 0
Free Attribute Points: (0/1)
**Human Racial Abilities:**
- Notifications
- Quest
- Inventory
- Skills (Empty)
---
Hmm?
I looked at the screen carefully, reading everything again and again. Something was really wrong here.
This was my status window?
I guess it made sense. It looked just like something from a video game, with all the stats and abilities listed clearly.
But that wasn't the problem.
The problem was all those zeros.
"System," I said slowly, trying not to sound worried. "Why does everything in my status window say zero? Why can't I see my rank? And why are all my attributes zero? Even my potential is zero. Shouldn't I at least be as strong as a regular person in this world?"
I mean, I didn't read much of the novel, but this character couldn't be completely weak, right?
Actually, now that I thought about it, the novel didn't really say much about him. There was almost no information about how strong he was, his background, or anything except his name.
Michael Frostburne.
It was kind of funny. We both had the same first name. Just different last names.
But still, even if he was just a small character in the story, he couldn't be this weak. Right?
The system's reply came quickly.
**[Host, the character whose body you inhabit is truly this weak! He was born weak and destined to die weak! His potential and all his attributes have been zero since birth!]**
What?
The words hit me like a punch to the gut. I stood there, completely stunned.
"You've got to be kidding me," I whispered, my voice barely working.
I looked down at my hands, then at my muscular body. How was this even possible? The guy looked like he could bench press a car, but his stats said he couldn't even lift a pencil.
Did this character piss off the author in a previous life or something? Because this was just cruel.
"How could someone be..." I started to say, but the words died in my throat.
I walked over to the bed and sank down onto it, my legs suddenly feeling weak. Which was ironic, considering my stats were already at zero.
"Hhuu..."
A long sigh escaped my lips.
No wonder this guy got killed by a villain in the first few chapters. He never stood a chance.
Damn. He wasn't just destined to be an extra. He was created specifically to be cannon fodder. A stepping stone for the villain to look more threatening.
And now I was stuck in his body.
Fuck!
My luck was terrible. Actually, scratch that. It was worse than his. At least he didn't know he was going to die. I did, and I still couldn't do anything about it.
Getting thrown into a dangerous world was bad enough. But getting thrown into the body of someone who was literally designed to die? That was a whole different level of screwed up.
After sitting there feeling sorry for myself for a few minutes, I forced myself to look at the status window again. Maybe there was something I'd missed. Some hidden ability or secret power that could help me.
Wait, what was that?
While scanning through the holographic screen more carefully, I noticed something interesting under the Human Racial Abilities section.
Quest?
Were those like leveling quests from video games? Maybe I could get stronger through those?
Worth a shot.
I reached out and tapped on the Quest option with my finger.
Immediately, a loading screen appeared in front of me, complete with a spinning circle.
Even in another world, I couldn't escape loading screens. Great.
---
[1%... 20%... 45%... 67%... 90%... 99%]
---
I watched the loading bar move forward. Then it just stopped.
---
[99%]
---
It was stuck.
"You've got to be kidding me."
I tapped my fingers on my leg and stared at the frozen screen. Even in this magical world, I still had to deal with loading screens that wouldn't finish.
My patience was running out. This was stupid.
I was stuck in someone else's body, in a world where I'd probably die soon, and now the one thing that could help me wasn't working.
"Come on," I said. "Just load already!"
Right when I was about to completely lose it, the number changed.
---
[100%]
---
"Finally!"
A new blue screen appeared in front of me.
---
[1st Quest:- Have Milf sex with the mother of the villain!]
[2nd Quest:- Fuck the Mother and Sister of the Protagonist!]
[3rd Quest:- Netori your enemy by having sex with his Wife/Lover/Girlfriend!]
[4th Quest:- Cuckold the heroine's Boyfriend!]
---
"Wait! What the... Are you serious right now? System?"