The moonlight revealed a ragged group of what appeared to be bandits. The hooded man who stood at the front of the men squinted his eyes as he looked over the prisoners. His eyes were an intense storm that raged above his full beard.

For a moment I feared he would kill us all.

“I’m surprised the harpy left them,” he said before offering his hand to me. “My name is Bulla Felix, I will take you to safety. Come, we must flee before they send a scouting party to retrieve you. You will not want to be captured by him.”

The man hoisted me to my feet and I nearly doubled over in pain stumbling out of the prisoners’ cart. It felt like someone had shot a cannon at my groin and left me to die.

Thinking about my emasculation brought up my health and stamina in red text:

Health: 22/50

Stamina: 12/50

It looked like I had regenerated a couple of points for both in the last twenty seconds or so. That was going to take at least half an hour to fully recover.

Though the shame of losing my manhood would be impossible to recover.

While Bulla retrieved the last boy from the cart and began leading us through the dark streets of Rome along with his crew, another red text emerged in my sight.

New Quest: To Be A Man

“Max! It seems even the System finds itself in a quandary, pondering whether you’re still a man after that whole unfortunate business with Diocletian and the harpy. So here's a quest to see who you truly are. Should you accept, you'll reclaim what was once taken from you—the essence of your manhood restored by the gods themselves!

Do you possess the mettle, the sheer audacity, to reclaim what was so cruelly stripped from you by Diocletian? Accept this venture, and lo! The Pilum of Ares awaits, a shiny beacon of manliness reclaimed. But beware, for with 'yes,' you dive headfirst into the murky waters of rebellion against Emperor Elegapulus, leaving behind the safe haven of your former shackles. The Emperor only holds sway over the Western Empire with his sea dragon Cetus, and the first step in bringing him down is slaying the serpent. Shall you seize your fate or slink back to the shadows of mediocrity as you did in your previous world?

“Are you a man?

“Yes or No?"

Quest Reward(s):

* The Pilum of Ares, a god-tier artifact of legendary might.

* Your manhood, restored by the gods themselves.

I read the text again and again.

“Are you a man?

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Yes or No?"

Whatever this System was seemed to already know the answer, but it just wanted to drive the knife in where it hurt the most. It was a mocking creation that chose the most unprepared person ever to survive in this nightmare reality of Ancient Rome. I was just another NPC in the background for most people back in the other world, off to the side and forgotten, going absolutely nowhere and a shadow of what a man should be.

And yet I was supposed to be a man to survive in this world where even the strongest men of Rome died? Why even try?

My eyes hovered closer to the No choice when the memory of Elagabalus emerged.

“A shame, really, the System could have chosen a man instead.”

The thought of the perverse Emperor’s words sparked a fire of rage that was unknown to me. All my life I unconsciously agreed with the Emperor’s words of my masculinity, but to actually hear him say it and then remove the last vestige of my manhood was the breaking point.

It was time to stop being weak and passive. It was time to be a man.

“I accept,” I said, my mind hovering over the “Yes” choice.

Quest Accepted!

"The die is cast, Max! With unwavering resolve, you've chosen the path of masculine defiance, a choice fraught with peril and promise in equal measure. Your next task? Why, none other than to forge an alliance with Bulla Felix, that illustrious bandit king, and to ascend the ladder of power and strength. You will need his support to take on Cetus. Onward to glory!

Quest Steps:

* Befriend Bulla Felix, the enigmatic bandit lord, and secure his allegiance. Perform quests for him to gain his trust in order to fight Cetus.

* Rise in power and stature, for only the strong shall challenge the might of Cetus (Level 100)

Level 100? How am I going to rise in power when it’s going to take me three times the amount to level up in strength?

The road ahead was overwhelming, to say the least, but it was far superior to the path of submission I had taken all of my life before. I would endure the challenge no matter how excruciating it would be.

“Are you alright kid?” Bulla whispered as he walked up next to me. One of the bandits had graciously let me lie prone on his horse, and I turned in agony to acknowledge Bulla. It was impossible for me to stand. We were somewhere in the middle of the maze of Rome.

“I am, thank you,” I whispered back. “The hapry only bit my chains, which is why it fled. But we would have gone back to the Emperor had you not rescued us. I do not want to imagine what you saved me from.”

“It’s an honor,” he said, giving a grim smile. “You nor any of these slaves deserve that fate. It is worse than Tartarus.”

“Why did you do it?” I said, scrambling to remember anything about Bulla Felix. As far as I could remember, Roman bandits were notorious for robberies, murder, and worse. “Why save a handful of slaves at the risk of your own life?”

Before he could respond, a ferocious howl of dogs erupted in the night, startling Bulla with pure fear. He held his hand high for his group to wait. Dread was in his eyes as we stood still in the darkness. When the dogs had ceased, he lowered his hand and we began to move again.

Bulla was silent for a moment before he responded, his voice darker than it was before as we moved silently in the shadows. “Because Rome has fallen. It was just as fallen when I was alive before, and now even more so with fools like Elagabalus. Great men used to rule us, our merit and honor our keys to glory, our faith in the gods propelling us to greatness.

“But now it is the lowest of us, the bandits and the slaves, who show more honor than the Emperor and Cesars. They only have us at their mercy with their monsters. So I take from our rulers their money and their men and I make a better use for them. The money I take belongs to the people it is stolen from, and the men such as you I give to a higher purpose than that of a slave. For a man, after all, must strive with ambition towards a noble goal beyond himself, and binding himself with loyalty, strength, and courage if he is to reach it. If our leaders will not do this for Rome, then so I will instead.”

That’s when the memory of Bulla Felix finally clicked in my mind. He was the Roman version of Robin Hood, who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. If I was going to survive in this world and take down Cetus, then the System was right: I needed to befriend a real man like Bulla Felix.

“You’re not from this world, are you?” he said as he studied me.

I shook my head, surprised by his wisdom.

He nodded in contemplation. “We will discuss more of this once we return to camp in three days and what your role will be in this new world.”

With that, he moved to the front of the group to guide it and left me alone to my thoughts.

And for the first time in my uneventful life, I felt hope for the future.