Jin Hao hated these gatherings. He couldn't stand the overwhelming luxury, the forced smiles, or the casual power that surrounded everyone in the room. He stood in a corner of the Lei Family's grand banquet hall, feeling like a ghost at the feast. He nursed a cup of cheap spiritual wine, which tasted like sour grapes and broken dreams.
He had been in this world for five years. In the web novels he read back on Earth, this was enough time for someone to transform from a bullied orphan into a powerful figure with a group of beautiful harem. For him, five years had been nothing but a series of humiliations.
He had transmigrated into the body of the "useless" youngest son of a fallen branch of the once glorious Jin Family. His father, who had great ambition but little talent, had used every last resource to bring him to the main branch in Clearwater City. This wasn't for cultivation, his talent was pathetic, a fact that filled him with shame, but to learn business. Essentially, he was meant to be an accountant. It was the ultimate insult.
His life had become a dull cycle of sneers from his more talented cousins, bullying from the family guards, and neglect from the elders. His cultivation practice, which he carried out secretly each night with a desperate hope, was a joke. He was stuck at the Third Layer of Qi Condensation, a level most children in the main family surpassed before they lost their baby teeth. No matter how hard he meditated, the spiritual energy he absorbed just disappeared, leaving him weak and exhausted. It felt like a curse. The world itself rejected him.
He took a bitter sip of wine, scanning the room with envy. He saw the heirs of powerful families, dressed in expensive silks, glowing with the strength of the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core realms. Their confident smiles and laughter consumed him with hatred.
But most of all, he hated Arya Chen.
Arya was the embodiment of everything wrong in underdog tales. He was unbelievably handsome, immensely powerful, and possessed talents that defied logic. He was like the sun, while everyone else, especially him, felt like shadows. Right now, Arya stood at the head of the hall with the beautiful Meira Su, the "golden couple," receiving congratulations from the most influential figures in the domain. Jin Hao's fists tightened, knuckles whitening. It was sickening.
He was about to drown his sorrows in another cup of cheap wine when the doors to the hall opened again. A new group had arrived. At its head was a girl who made his breath catch in his throat.
She moved with the grace of a fairy, her pale green dress flowing around her like a whisper of spring. Her face was exceptionally beautiful, and her smile promised a world of happiness. She was the most stunning woman he had ever seen, in this life or the last.
It struck him like lightning. This was it. The fateful encounter. The beautiful figure that every protagonist was destined to meet. In that moment, all the pain and humiliation of the past five years seemed to have a purpose. It had all led to this moment, to meeting her.
His heart was instantly caught.
Then, as if his world was collapsing, this goddess, his destined love, walked over and started chatting with Arya Chen. She smiled at him, a smile even sweeter and more charming. Arya smiled back.
A wave of jealousy surged through Jin Hao. It burned in his veins. Naturally, the one perfect thing in this wretched world belonged to him. Arya, the man who had everything, would take her as well.
He studied their interaction with bitter relief, noticing Arya seemed polite but indifferent, his focus clearly on Meira Su beside him. He doesn't see her worth, Jin Hao thought with a surge of possessive hope. He doesn't deserve her.
He watched Arya lead Meira to the dance floor. Even as the "golden couple" became the center of attention, Jin Hao's eyes were glued to Su Lian. He caught a glimpse of something dark and cold in her gaze watching them, a flicker of envy that mirrored his own. In that moment, he felt a deep connection to her. They were alike, he thought. Both outsiders, overshadowed by Arya and Meira's brilliance.
He stayed for the remainder of the banquet, his gaze never straying far from her, hoping for another chance, another glance, another smile. But that moment never came. She was always surrounded, a butterfly fluttering among the powerful figures in the domain.
Finally, as the banquet came to an end, the guests began to leave. Jin Hao tried to approach his family's group, hoping to hitch a ride in their lavish carriage.
"Walk back," his cousin, Jin Wei, sneered, pushing him aside. "The carriage is for real family members. Someone like you can use his own two feet. We don't want you stinking up the place."
The other family members laughed, turning their backs as they climbed into the carriage. Humiliation washed over him.
He was left alone in the courtyard as the last grand carriage disappeared. The world of light and laughter faded away, and once again, he found himself an outcast in the dark.
He started the long walk back to the Jin Family's guest compound. The streets of Clearwater City were empty and silent in the late hour, the moonlight casting long shadows that seemed to mock his solitude. His fists clenched as he walked, his mind swirling with resentment and fury. The image of Su Lian's perfect face burned in his mind, a beautiful treasure in a world that had given him nothing.
On that empty road, surrounded by the shadows of his failures, he finally broke. Leaning against the damp brick wall of an alley, his body trembled with powerless rage.
"Why?" he hissed at the empty alley. "Why him? Why does he get everything? The power, the status, the woman… What did I ever do to deserve this? I'm a transmigrator! I'm meant to be the protagonist!"
He slammed his fist against the wall, pain shooting through his arm, but nothing compared to the ache in his heart. Five years of being a nobody, of being the universe's punching bag, had finally broken him. Tears of pure self-pity began to well in his eyes.
In that moment of absolute despair, a sound echoed in his mind.
[Ding!]
He froze. He recognized that sound. It was the classic Ding! from countless webnovels.
A translucent blue screen floated in front of his eyes, its text shining with a clean light.
[Transmigrator Soul detected. System deployment initiated.]
[Do you wish to bind?]
[ACCEPT] / [DECLINE]
He blinked. Then he blinked again, a slow grin of triumphant joy spreading across his face. He understood what this was. He had been waiting five long, difficult years for this moment. His golden finger. His destiny.
"YES! ACCEPT! I ACCEPT!" he shouted, pressing his mental finger against the glowing [ACCEPT] button with all the desperate force in his soul.
The screen blazed brilliantly.
[Binding complete. Welcome, Host Jin Hao!]
For ten full seconds, he stared, his mind struggling to grasp the reality of what he saw. Then, the despair, rage, and self-pity vanished, replaced by an overwhelming surge of joy.
He threw his head back and laughed, a wild sound that echoed through the empty alley.
"FINALLY!" he shouted at the indifferent night sky. "IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!"
He pointed a finger at the system's interface. "You're late! So late! Do you have any idea what I've gone through for the past five years? Do you know how much I've suffered? I've been bullied, beaten, and humiliated! I've eaten scraps and worn rags! I was supposed to be slapping faces and collecting beauties, yet here I am, getting my face slapped! This is a terrible mishandling of a protagonist's starting experience!"