"And boom, the character dies, with no hint of his body left. Sigh. So, what do you think? Are you willing to read the novel now?"
A middle-aged man spoke, sitting in the center of the room with a hardcover novel in his hand.
Meanwhile, on the bed opposite him, Jacob was there with a laptop on his lap as he was typing.
Without looking at his friend, he replied,
"Listen, I understand your love for novels and all that, but my girlfriend will be here any second now, and I don’t want her asking for the project only for her to find out I haven’t even started."
His friend frowned. "Bumper, why are you even with her anyway? I get that she is rich and all that, but you don’t even like her."
"You’re right, I don’t. But I take my work seriously," he turned to look at the man. "Besides, it’s not like I have a choice; if I chose to leave her, her father would have me killed."
"Damn, looks like you have it rough then. Anyway, I’ll catch you later; I have something else to take care of."
"Alright, sure."
With that, his friend walked out of the room without uttering a single word.
As soon as he was gone, Jacob turned his attention back to the laptop, his fingers tapping fast on the keys.
He was only a college student when the daughter of a rich entrepreneur approached him and told him to go out with her.
Normally, he had been struggling to find a job for a long time, so when she suggested giving him a job, he jumped on it without a second thought.
However, that soon turned out to be the worst mistake he could make. Not only was this girl obsessive, but she was also mentally deranged, so much so that she would start acting out if Jacob didn’t give her even the simplest of attention.
At the end of the day, he was forced to remain by her side, whether he wanted to or not, which included taking care of the family business as well.
’Honestly, give me a break.’
As he stared at the screen, his eyes began to wobble a bit, almost like he was seeing something else on display before him.
[You have been opted as a vessel for reincarnation.]
Shocked, he jerked back, pushing the laptop away.
’What?’
Cleaning his eyes, he stared at the laptop and noticed the glowing runes he saw not too long ago were no longer there.
Sigh.
’I must be tired; I have been working all day, and now it’s pretty late. I should get some rest.’
Just as he was about to head to bed, a portal opened on the ground beneath him, and before he knew it, he was sucked in.
His screams faded until the portal closed.
The next second, Jacob found himself in the middle of an empty domain, surrounded by nothing but dark clouds.
Right in front of him was a statue.
It took the shape of a large dragon, circling a tall staff with glowing markings all around its scales.
’What the? Where am I?!’
Turning his eyes to the side, he could see another figure, though their figure was blurry, making it hard to see what they were wearing or their face for that matter.
"Hmmm!"
Jacob tried to call out to the person to ask whether they understood what was going on. But rather than words leaving his mouth, mumbles came out.
This left him shocked, as he soon realized, no matter how hard he tried, he could not say a single thing.
Before long, the eyes of the snake glowed, its eyes fixed on the two individuals before it.
"I have heard your request, and I am here to grant it."
So it said.
’Request? What the hell is it talking about?’
"In accordance with the rules of the world, I have found you a great replacement, one that would do that which you could not do, one that would save your world as you have requested. In exchange, your price is death," the dragon announced.
’Eh? Death? Who is dying?’
Jacob looked at the figure once more and noticed he wasn’t even looking at the dragon; his head was lowered in defeat.
’What the hell, man? Am I the only one shocked by what is happening right now?’
"Very well, we shall proceed with the rules of the world. Jacob Orian will now be transmogrified. And you, Dorian Aurelian, will be dead."
’What the—Hold on—’
Before Jacob could complete his thoughts, he felt his body sink to the ground, getting completely swallowed by the land and white clouds underneath.
All he could see was his body falling from the sky. He screamed and wiggled in the air as much as he could, but there was nothing he could do other than wait as his body plummeted to the ground.
And then—
Baam!
His mind went blank.
A new world awaited his new life.