Chapter Text
Akito scrolled down further and further, grinding his jaw tight as he read more and more.
"This... This is ass!-" Akito cried, hiding under his blankets deep into the night once more.
His computer was on low battery as Akito reached for the charger with great struggle, his eyes unable to tear away from the screen before him.
"Tell me there's another chapter- I can't believe Toya lives on like this!" Akito's computer died seconds later, forcing Akito to pull up his phone, which was also halfway dead.
Toya sat at the top of the world, staring down at the very earth that once tried taking his life or being a 'disgusting demon' — for being something Toya himself didn't know he was.
All of them were cowering in fear at his feet. But Toya felt nothing, every gaze, every whisper, meant nothing. The new palace and wealth he had gained meant nothing.
Toya had gotten his revenge on the entire world. His Shizun, his peers. No one was safe. Not even the girls who only whispered about him. So why did Toya still feel so unseen, so alone? So... Dead inside?
Toya now knew how it felt to have the whole world, but only with no one to stand next to him, with no one to care for him. If Toya died, people would party and celebrate his death. If Toya lived on, people would curse and pray for his downfall.
Toya had never truly won. He had lost it all the moment he was born. The moment he stepped foot into his Shizun's teaching. The moment he was pushed into the abyss by his entire sect.
From the start to the end, he never truly had anyone by his side. Even with his most loyal subjects, Rui and Mafuyu, by his side.
Toya knew they were only here because it was the winning side. If Toya didn't bring them to the brink of death and back, then they would've killed him without mercy. If Toya wasn't as strong as he was, they would've stepped and killed on him already.
Was the world always going to hate him? Or did he, at some point in life, have something in store for himself?
Was Toya going to stay alone forever? Or would someone, somehow, love him for who he is?
Even so, Toya was too far gone now. Too late to turn back, too late to hope for something that could never be.
"I'LL KILL THIS SHITTY AUTHOR!" Akito screamed, throwing his phone onto his pillow after he saw the authors note at the end.
"SHINONOME, GO TO BED!" Akitos mother yelled from down the hall.
Akito had been into this novel since the very start, having caught a glimpse of Toya's official art commissioned by the author itself. So why did the strongest, handsomest MC character with OP skills and maxed out technique known to man have to live like this!?
Akito grabbed his phone and scrolled to the comment section. Once again, it was empty, as Akito was always the first to pick up his phone once an update hit.
"SHITTY AUTHOR, ALL YOU ARE GOOD FOR IS DISAPPOINTMENT. IF YOU'RE LIFE IS SO BAD WHY DON'T YOU GO BACK TO SCHOOL AND FIX THIS LANDMINE YOU LEFT BEHIND WHILE WRITING. SHITTY ENDING AND BAD CHARACTERS
Akito typed furiously, his nametag 'Fuckassnovelhater' appearing again and again as he wrote multiple comments.
Reaching for his bag of chips he had just bought from the corner store, he couldn't find it, and he poked his head out from under his blanket, spotting the bag near his door instead of his nightstand. Akito cursed.
"This is all because of that stupid author... Makin me leave my bag of chips..." Akito lifted himself up, about to walk before his ankle cracked to the side, making Akito tumble over and hit his head on the edge of the nightstand.
Akito awoke to a plain bright void, blinking away his sleepiness as he heard a robotic voice that sounded like an Alexa.
"Welcome, user, to the saving system!-"
"Where the hell am I!?" Akito yelled, immediately trying to stand up, only to notice he was floating, in a virtual background, one that Hatsune Miku had probably danced in before, making him spin around in the air like a fish flopping on land.
"You are in the system. Would user like to enable gravity?"
"Is that even a question!?-" Akito screamed as he hit the floor with a thud. Angrily clenching his fists he lifted his head, feeling his short ginger hair in his eyes burning with hatred.
"Why am I here?"
"User used special activation code and movements: 'stupid author'; And proceeded to spam hate comments."
Akito reached his hands out. The bright light was too much for his eyes, and it forced him to close them, since he couldn't even look any further than his upper arms when he reached out.
"Welcome to the system! This system operates with the hope of fixing this user's endless complaints and curses towards their favorite novel. The system hopes to provide you with the best experience and storyline possible: Filling in plotholes and fixing the MC's ending."
Akito's head began throbbing in the spot he accidentally hit on his nightstand. His hand flew up to touch the spot, and seeing blood Akito blinked a few times before seeing large trees and endless stairs before him.
"Hello?- hello? Can you hear me?" A voice echoed for a while before the ringing in Akito's ears stopped and Akito sat up on the hard stone floor under him.
"Where... Where am I?" Akito asked once more, expecting the system to answer him, only to see a group of far too realistic cosplayers with long hair and ancient clothing, stuff that Akito had only seen art of from books and OC'S. Stuff that was only in museums and cultural events now.
"Check his pulse, he seems to have forgotten where he is!"
"Would our new Shizun be angry at the fact this student can't even go up a single step!?"
"I'd like to see how long he lasts." An older student snickered.
Akito felt his wrist being grabbed by some random guy who was feeling for his veins.
"Everything is alright. I don't feel anything is off."
"Thank goodness they sent the head students to guide us up the peaks!"
"Thank goodness Yī Róu Peak students are here!"
Akito stood up slowly, feeling a weight he carried on his back. In his mind the Alexa voice went off again.
"User has now fully entered the novel. You are at the very beginning of Toya's entrance to Màn Shāo Peak."
"Holy fuck — I'm in a novel!? Does that mean I have cool powers!?"
"You have the power of 'The System's Guide'. Everything else, you must accomplish by yourself."
"Can I ask for a refund?"
"No."
"Fuck me in the ass."
"Get up. No one is carrying you to the top of this moutain." An older boy said, shoving Akito forward before shoving past him.
Of course everyone followed after him, seeing as it was a tall and older guy. He seemed to be the strongest here!
Akito watched as everyone left him behind. Then, Akito spotted him.
Long and bicolored hair, the right side a dark blue, the left a light blue. Sharp grey eyes and a mole under the corner of his left eye, staring at him from behind with a deadpan face that screamed handsome and beautiful all at once.
Akitos mouth opened, wanting to say something, only for Toya to step forward and hand Akito his fallen book.
"You dropped this—"
"Hey let's be friends."
Akito and Toya both spoke at once. Toyas eyes went wide, staring at the ginger before him, before returning to being deadpan
"I've never had—"
"There's a first for everything."
"Who even are you?—"
"Your new best bud."
"And if I disagree?"
"You can't."
"Thank you, then." Toya whispered, and Akito grinned, Immediately reaching out to the Alexa in his head.
"Hey, Alexa?"
"User, please do not call the system by that name. Please use 'system'."
"Are there any boundaries or cool side quests I have to follow?"
"Quest in progress: find MC and start new changes by becoming his friend."
"Quest… Completed: Reward +20 B-points."
"You and I will get along just fine." Akito said to Toya.
"I have no choice."
"Eh, you'll like me in the end."
Akito grabbed Toyas hand, tugging him towards the stairs to catch up to the group. Akito was truly in the novel. Akito could change his favorite character's ending. Fix everything, and for once, Akito didn't feel like he was worth nothing. Akito didn't feel like dying. Akito didn't feel like the real world sucked.
Akito had quit soccer long ago, and he had been failing his classes and everything in the real world. But in this one, Akito could be the top student. He knew basically everything about this world.
Akito could help Toya. Akito could be the one Toya could always count on.
Akito will save Toya.
"User, good things never last."
"User can't hear you, Alexa!"