Brak! Nover slammed his book hard onto the table. Nover had just finished reading a novel titled One Path, One Hope, feeling nauseated and disgusted.
"Is there no novel where the MC doesn't harem with 8 women, and a system!" he grumbled angrily. The tired yellow light hung from the ceiling of the cramped, dark apartment, illuminating the small room.
The wall clock kept ticking, showing 8:30 PM.
Nover glanced at the clock. "Ah, it's already half past eight!" He stood up from his chair and walked toward his bed, gently dropping himself onto it. Buk! The mattress groaned, Kreek!, supporting his falling body.
Nover looked at the ceiling of his apartment.
"Ah... Why must there be the harem genre? Even the women are okay with polygamy!?" he thought. "If I were born in that novel, I'd want to be the strongest!" he grumbled angrily.
"Ah, I'm sick of romance concepts, I want to be power without being tied to love or liking!"
The gentle, dark wind of the room enveloped Nover. Slowly, his eyes began to close.
When he woke up, he unconsciously found himself sitting in a garden. "Huh!?... Where am I?" Nover looked around, confused, glancing left and right.
"Is this a dream?..." He tried pinching his cheek. "Argh! This is real, not a dream!"
"Why am I here?" he asked himself.
Suddenly, a system appeared in front of him.
"Hello master, let me introduce myself, I'm your system..."
Nover didn't care. He just indulged in why he was here. "Why am I here, huh!?" he shouted at the system.
"You were chosen to defeat the ancient great dragon with my assistance..." the system replied enthusiastically. "I don't care, I just want to go home!" Nover rejected. "Oh no.
Master cannot go home without defeating the great dragon!" Nover grew more annoyed hearing the system's words. "What!? Are you joking? My goals in my original world aren't fulfilled yet!" he shouted loudly.
"Master, don't worry, 1000 years here equals 1 day in your place..." Hearing the system's explanation, Nover calmed down slightly. With a suspicious grin,
"Oh, system. Where are the settings!" Nover asked the system.
"At the top right corner, master... But for what?" the system asked. With an evil smile, Nover replied, "I want to erase you!"
"W-wait—" The system disappeared.
"I'm already disgusted with the concept of systems! So I will choose a different path. Hahahaha!" he laughed loudly. "Hmm, so the body I occupy now belongs to a student named Arjuna!? This body isn't special, from lineage even its privates!?" he thought. With an evil smile, Nover murmured, "Ok, now I am Arjuna!"
Arjuna thought about the novel's storyline. "Hmm, so I am a second-year student, in the same class as the MC of this novel and the evil student!" He/She began to smile
"Although this body isn't special, I will make it special. If I'm not wrong, it's winter, so the academy is on a 4-month break. That means I have 4 months to train this body!?" he thought aloud.
The cool, gentle wind blew some leaves and flowers from the trees. Some people laughed, releasing fire, lightning, and wind elements. Arjuna walked away from the place. "It's time to get ready!" he thought.
The next day, Arjuna arrived at a waterfall that wasn't too high or low, while noting his body stats. "Ehm... My height 177 cm, weight 65, black hair, and black eyes, yes." He placed his training schedule book: 420 push-ups, 220 pull-ups, 120 squats, and finishing with controlling water and wind mana.
On the 10th day of training, Arjuna felt his body was extremely sore and tired. "Ha... ha... Should I just give up!?..." Yet he remembered the path was still long. "No... Change or fail."
On the 15th day, his body felt numb and he vomited. His body felt like it was about to break.
However, Arjuna continued pushing his body beyond limits. "Argh! Exceed your limit!" Arjuna shouted to himself. After physical training, he had to sit on a rock under the waterfall. When his body was hit by the waterfall, a wave of coldness struck him.
"Too cold," he said stiffly.
Yet, Arjuna didn't care. He closed his eyes and channeled the water vortex and wind currents. Calmly, he sat, optimizing his mana expenditure, because his mana was limited. For hours, he sat under the cold waterfall.
Arjuna then got up to eat. He took a stick, sharpened its tip, and threw it toward the lake.
Blush! The spear hit a fish.
"Hahahah, got it!" he shouted with delight.
Arjuna lifted the fish stuck on his spear tip and brought it ashore. He looked for firewood and ate the fish. While eating, Arjuna remembered something. "From the main story, I will fight Reiwa, the MC theme, whose power is insanely strong. Even his destruction mode can defeat special disaster monsters!
I know I'll lose," but Arjuna's eyes shone with determination. "I want to become the strongest!!" His shout echoed through the forest, making birds fly away.
Three months passed. Arjuna was honing his techniques, namely the water vortex and wind flow. The water vortex, as an attack using water elements, changes like a current, focusing on defense, and reflecting opponent's attacks.
Meanwhile, wind flow is a technique using wind elements, focusing more on damage. Its wind currents can cut through objects neatly and precisely. Both techniques don't use much mana but are effective for 1 vs 1.
Arjuna swung his hand at a tree.
Krak! Several trees split into several parts neatly. "Haha, I like this technique the most!" he shouted excitedly. Quickly, he turned to a large rock. "Ah, it just got bigger." His smile widened, and he ran quickly toward the large rock. "Haha, can this punch destroy this rock!!"
TTAK! The rock split into small, neat pieces. "This is getting more fun!!" His smile turned wild.
"With this, I can destroy the story where the MC is good and harem with love! And I will destroy the villains who think they suffer the most!"
Meanwhile, at midnight, in a corner of the city, the original MC of this novel, named Randi, was walking through small alleys and found a secret room. "Ah, now I've found the place," thought Randi.
Randi wore a cloak that could hide his aura and mana, sneaking inside. Carefully, Randi entered and disappeared into the shadows of the dark room. After Randi entered, footsteps were heard entering the dark alleys.
That person was Arjuna, who got lost trying to return to the inn. "Where am I? Did I get lost!" he thought, frustrated. But he glanced at the dark roar beneath the gutter.
"Hmm, should I just go in? Ah. Better go in than stay curious...!" Arjuna entered.
Inside, where it all began.