A book opened before me,

its title printed in bold gold letters: My Interstellar Admirers Won't Stop Fighting! The story inside followed a boy named Xu Lian, whose life was marked by betrayal and misfortune.

In short, one fateful day, as he walked home, a speeding truck ended his life.

But when Xu Lian woke up, he found himself thrust into an instance. A mere D-class instance, though even the veterans inside struggled to survive. In the end, Xu Lian was the only one to make it through, passing the instance and sparking the interest of others.

In this vast void there was nothing but this book Infront of me, so I kept turning the pages; entranced in the novel.

My breath caught in my throat. There was a character with the exact same name as mine—Di Haowei—an extra bought and used as a meat shield in the instance.

That's where the coincidences should have ended.

However his backstory was the eerily similar to my own life,

Di Haowei: He returned home, only to be forced to eat his own father. His mother then tried to kill him before committing suicide. Haowei survived—barely—until people barged in and took him away, turning him into a mind-controlled slave to be sold.

Was this a joke? A bitter laugh bubbled up inside me.

Excluding the second part, every detail mirrored exactly what had happened before my untimely death.

Even if I was destined to die, I'd rather be some mastermind villain who had died at the protagonists hand then a forgettable extra who's backstory had been used to further accentuate how cruel the world was.

With a snap, I shut the book. Even if I was stuck here for eternity, I vowed never to touch this cursed book again.

[RETRIEVING SOUL]

A system notification appeared behind Haowei but he hadn't noticed.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Suddenly long tendrils appeared from nowhere and enveloped every single inch of his body,

Panic clearly came over him, as he clutched the book that he vowed to never touch again tightly.

.

.

Di Haowei's eyes suddenly snapped open, tears clung to his eyelashes, A headache washed over him, dizzying and painful.

He saw the familiar ceiling again and felt the crusted blood on his pants. He was alive—his skin no longer translucent.

that's when a crisp knocking sound was heard, his instincts told him something just wasn't right,

no one ever came to visit them,

at that moment he remembered the lines in the accursed book,

they knocked on the door three times.

A chill crawled up his arm. He didn't have much time.

His eyes darted around, searching for an escape. The window.

The second knock came.

Ignoring the pain, Haowei forced himself up, rushing to the window. Sunlight streamed through the curtains, casting soft, scattered beams across the dusty floor.

there was no time to hesitate, it didn't matter who was behind that door, he was in no position to fight back.

His hand gripped the latch. The third and final knock came—a sharp, deliberate sound that sliced through the silence.

His hand trembled. Instinct screamed at him to move—to run.

Without hesitating, he shoved the window open and scrambled outside his room onto the roof, at the same time his front door slammed open, he could hear them shouting intelligible words

He swiftly crawled across the mouldy shingles, then quickly hid behind the air conditioner, just big enough to cover hide his body behind,

A mere second later, his bedroom door slammed open, making the whole house tremble in the process. Two people entered—he could tell by their footsteps.

His body went rigid, palms sweating up; the novel really didn't lie to him, he could tell based off their tones; they weren't here for a friendly chat.

''What a mess'' Edwin sighed, smudging his finger into the blood, a faint blue aura appeared around his finger.

"The blood's his."

"Chances of him being alive?"

"Zero." Edwin's voice was final. "No point chasing a dead man."

Muying muttered in annoyance. "What should we do then?"

Haowei's body tensed, praying silently: Please, just leave.

Muying leaned his head outside the window, letting the cold breeze hit his face. His expression shifted from sour to neutral, almost blissful. Haowei, on the other hand, was terrified, pressing himself further into the wall.

"You know," Muying said, "for all the filth in this place... even moments like this can be beautiful."

Stop talking nonsense, Haowei wanted to retort, but he stayed silent in fear of being caught.

Muying pulled his head back in, listening to Edwin's words "This family isn't the only one with a debt."

A door shortly slammed shut, followed by shuffling sounds. Their footsteps gradually faded away. Haowei knew faintly it was safe to go inside, but something held him back. What if they were still there?

That one thought kept him from going inside, silently sitting in that one spot, the heat of the sun blazing down onto him.