Chapter 0002:

Days had passed after Loki's sudden demise and regrettable reincarnation, but still... No matter how fervently he prayed each night for things to change, they never did.

'Truly, the Lord has forsaken me,' he thought with an irritable expression.

For the past few days, he had come to know the maiden observing him like a hawk—his personal maiden, Ella. She had spaghetti-long hair and a honey-toned complexion like sweet Marshmellows.

'Im not liking her am I? But I do love Marshmellows'

After his and Diva birth, Loki had scarcely seen his father—the most ruthless and feared man in the southern region.

'I honestly don't know why you keep staring at me.'

The maiden smiled, as if reading Loki's thoughts. She lightly pinched his cheek and gave a reply that startled him.

"Silly boy... It's my job to watch you," said Ella with a jovial expression.

'Well... Since my prayers haven't reached God's ears, there's only one plan now: try to live as comfortably as possible with the few years I've got left,' Loki mused.

Accompanying his thoughts, a yawn followed, causing him to glance at the wall clock ticking 2:30... Knowing his little body had not bypassed the 3 o'clock automatic sleep timer.

"Someone's feeling sleepy already... I'll fetch your bottle, okay?" Ella assured as she stood up.

Before leaving Loki in the room, she called out to a guard adorned in black clothing with a sword beside him, like every other guard Loki had seen.

Portraying the facade of a killer, Ella threatened to kill the guard if even the slightest, most unnoticeable scratch was found on Loki. "Then you're dead. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," said the guard before Ella left the room.

As she departed, Loki smirked but couldn't suppress another yawn. 'You're the one with the sword, yet she's the one threatening you... Laughable.'

Having nothing to occupy his time before Ella returned, Loki kept glancing around his gigantic room. At least in this world, he wasn't born poor or living in the slums with no family.

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Initially, he had planned to obtain all the rare items to grow stronger than the protagonist. Scratch that.

'The protagonist is the strongest. You can only be at his level or... Pfft, unless you've got a mutual benefit arrangement...'

But given the circumstances that nothing could cure his disease, which had yet to be discovered by his parents, Loki decided to abandon hopes of gaining power.

'There's a flaw. The moment everyone finds out is on my tenth birthday... A type of slow and painful death from the inside... Like learning English from scratch...'

He let out a sigh of exhaustion, catching the guard's attention. The guard stared at Loki, confirming nothing was wrong.

'I wonder who sent me here anyway.'

Altering his train of thought, or rather, providing an answer to his question, the blue holographic screen materialized in front of him unannounced.

-{Preparations Of The Villain has arrived}

-{Author's Note: You have been reincarnated into a novel}

-{Please open the inbox messages for more information}

-{Open}-------------------{Decline}

'Sigh.'

'The glitch thing again.'

This was the second time Loki had seen this. It appeared with the same ding-ding notification sound as before, but this time he wasn't focused on the breast, giving him a window to observe what was written on the blue holographic screen.

'Author's note? The glitch is really big... There's nothing to lose in checking out the message.'

He was about an inch away from clicking open; however, he stopped his little finger mid-air while staring.

'What if I regret opening the message? I'd rather not have any other disturbing news aside from me dying a painful death.'

'Sigh.'

'What could be worse than dying?'

Click. Open.

He clicked, and nothing happened. He clicked three more times, and still, nothing written on the screen changed. He sighed and inwardly spoke.

'Open.'

With his thought, the system obeyed. After a ding sound, three unread messages appeared on his view.

-[Author's Message [Unread] 01: You must be a reader. If you're reading this, it means the system has found you. Surprise... You've really died in the real world. And if things worked out, you're probably Aiden's stepbrother, which is Loki... The thing is, you're gonna die... But no longer at the age of 25... You're dying earlier than that... Won't tell ya... hahaha.]

Loki stared at the screen with a deadpan expression. It was becoming apparent that this entire mess was planned, and the mad author wasn't feeling remorseful but glad. Loki wasn't pleased with any of it.

-[02 Message From The Author: You see... I honestly don't know which of my readers the system picked at random, but I hope you're smart... 'Cause you'll need brains to tackle your situation... Hahahaha... There is but one cure to your disease... Hehehe, this part is where I test your brain... Below you'll see a list of familiar characters... Two of course, pick one of them you can kill and there's two things... Either you go home or your disease gets cured... Your choice, all I know is you get a wish... Good luck and oh, entertain me...]

For the first time in his new life, Loki felt rage. He clenched his tiny palm so tight that veins formed on the surface.

The system blinked, and two names popped up.

'Only a settled mind can think straight...'

Loki relaxed and unfurled his fist. He sighed and glanced at the names, instantly getting goosebumps and a chill that sent fear down his spine.

The chosen characters before him weren't just hard to kill—they were impossible to kill. It wasn't a suicide mission; it was a "die the moment you think of trying" mission.

-[ Hector (Main Character)]

-[ Jessica (Female Main Character)]

-[Hector or Jessica or Both?.... Please Select]

Who were these guys? Basically godlike creators. Hector, the main character, was no joke.

'Mutual benefits... He knows I'll die if I go for the weakest... Jessica, she's stronger than even Aiden. But Hector... He's not good news.'

Loki assessed the situation, closing his eyes and crossing his little legs in a monk-like fashion. His eyes remained shut as he began thinking.

'Hector is nothing without Diva... and Diva is nothing without Hector as well. Let me enlighten you: when Hector finds a rare object, he gives it to Jessica. In return, when Jessica practices the technique or consumes the item, she gets stronger, but Hector—'

Loki opened his eyes and added.

'He gets a thousand times stronger... The mutual twin... Tough decision. Either way, if I go for the protagonist's chicken, I'll definitely get killed. If I go for him instead, the same situation... But going for Jessica means I get to fight both...'

Recalling the author's words, Loki gritted his teeth. 'Entertain you? Beginning to wonder who entertain who between the author and reader...'

Loki scoffed, having heard the guards dismissed and Ella with his feeding bottle, he opened his eyes with a smile exposing his gum.