1 :)

I'm no hero from a novel.

Nor am I a villain from a comic.

A normal, ambitionless nobody. That's me.

Of course, it's difficult to become a unique somebody well known to the masses. They don't necessarily have to be someone who saved or destroyed the world either. They could just be very rich. Or very good-looking.

But well, what I'm talking about here now is not that kind of hero and villain. It's the small heroes and villains in our lives. At one point in our life, we would have become a hero in one's eye and a villain in another. This is the type of hero and villain I'm talking about.

As I've said, I'm an ordinary nobody. Never have I become someone who deserved to be called either title in all the years I've lived.

A lazy son of a gun whose only wish is to be able to do nothing but read for the rest of their life.

Procrastination is my sword and laziness is my strength.

So why am I thinking so hard about heroes and villains you ask?

Well, let me catch you up.

I died.

As you all know, in a typical isekai anime, I would now either meet a goddess which would tell me that their world is on the verge of destruction and I'm a hero summoned by her to save that world, or I would be immediately transported into another world without any explanation whatsoever, forced to figure things out by myself, which would eventually lead to me getting revered as a hero.

And, why am I so confident to compare my situation to a typical isekai anime? First of all, I'm the main character of this novel. And second of all, I died, yet I'm still conscious even after my death.

Are you sure you died? Is what you readers are wondering now right?

Of course, I'm sure. It was so painful, even thinking about it now makes me want to curse and swear at the author.

Still doubting me? Then let me take you back to a few hours prior to clear your doubts. Not trying to prove anything here, just trying to gain the trust of you lovely, cute readers reading my story. I have no other motives whatsoever.

—

"...and make sure to watch the road while crossing. It's a bad habit to use your phone even while crossing the road."

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

As always, Noel was emersed in his reading. Tuning out his mother's nagging, he slowly scrolled down the chapter, the words on the screen reflecting clearly in his eyes.

"You got everything?"

"Yes mum, I got the shopping list, bag, and cash. Can I go now?"

"Yes, you can. I don't know why, but I've been feeling anxious for a while now. It must be just me mindlessly worrying."

Even with his mother's ominous words, Noel was still deeply engaged in his reading. It seemed as if nothing in the world could pull Noel's attention away from the world of fiction.

"Uh-huh, I'm going now 'kay?"

"Sigh, what am I going to do about this boy? Alright, stay safe."

Without another word, Noel left his house, his eyes still glued tightly to the screen of his phone.

Step by step, Noel took the familiar path leading to the nearby supermarket. He didn't even need to look to know where he was going as his feet were already all too used to the path that they alone were enough to lead him to his destination.

It was a pity that, not once on his journey, did Noel ever look up from his phone.

The beautiful sunset on the horizon painting the sky a shade of orange. The budding flowers representing the start of spring. And the gentle breeze brushing past Noel.

The gorgeous scenery that Noel did not once ever try to enjoy. Really, what a pity. If not, he would have seen that sometimes, reality does not lose out to fiction. That sometimes, reality is equal to or even better than fiction.

A peaceful evening, an ordinary day.

Who could have expected what happened next?

While he was crossing the road, Noel did not notice the already red light of the traffic light signaling for him to stop walking.

What happened after was predictable. He was hit by a truck.

It was painful, yet his death was not instantaneous. Noel suffered minutes after he was hit. Minutes after almost all his bones were crushed, and blood was spilled from the cuts formed on his body.

His body looked more like a lump of meat rather than that of a human's body.

While he lay there on the road, eyes blurry, on his last breath, Noel's last thought was: Ah, mom's going to kill me when she finds out.

—

And…end of flashback.

Simple wasn't it? My death.

Plain and simple, dull even. Just like my life.

However, did you see it? Truck-kun graced me with its presence, killing me off in the process.

And now I'm alone in a white space of nothingness, very much 'alive'.

What do I mean you ask? It means I'm going to become a hero. A goddess or whatever is going to show up next and bless me with a new chance at life being a hero.

I've never been a hero before. Neither have I been a villain before.

Even though I've read about them many times, in essence, I'm still an unworthy nobody. Also, it's too much responsibility. I have traits closer to one of the seven deadly sins, sloth, than any hero.

So, here's the dilemma

How do I reject someone who dearly needs my help?

But if I reject that someone, I would lose my second chance at life.

I like living. I can only read when I'm alive.

It's not as if there is a library in the underworld.

So, the question here now is, how can I reject someone who dearly needs my help while also benefiting from it?

[ Welcome, system 1308, to your system space. You have been chosen to become one of the few rare systems serving Goddess Imuel. Rejoice. ]

Huh? What is this?

System? As in the cheats that most main characters have in order to be able to conquer the world?

Me? A system?

Huh!? What!?

[ This is a book containing all the instructions on being a system. After reading and memorizing it, you'll be given a host to contract with. Remember, you're being watched, so do your tasks properly and diligently. Thank you for your service.

-Sincerely, the system administrative. ]

Wait, wait, wait.

This was not supposed to happen.

I didn't sign up for this.

How about becoming a hero? The promised isekai anime plot!

I refuse. I refuse to enter some sort of slave contract. I refuse to serve someone.

Nope, nuh-uh, I'm not going to do whatever you, person behind the text, and your goddess wants me to do.

I looked around me.

Everything was white.

An endless white void filled with nothingness, and in the center of that, was where I was.

But, I was determined to leave.

If I leave, maybe I'll wake up from this dream. Maybe, I'll wake up in a hospital bed, with my mom crying beside me. And then, I would reassure her that I'm fine, that I'm alive. She would be shocked, worried, relieved. She would thank god for letting me live and pray that I recover well.

Nurses and doctors would also probably be shocked at how I could still come out of a coma after an accident as bad as the one I had. They would check up on me, and after a while, they would deem me healthy in mind.

Mom would sigh in relief and hug me, saying that it was hard on me. She would scold me for not taking her advice, that I deserved to get hit, but I could see the tears streaming down her face, so I would listen to her naggings without any complaint.

"I love you." I would say to my mom because I have never uttered that word to her ever in my life, and thought that I should say it at least once while I'm still alive.

Mom would probably cry again at my words. She would reply with, "I love you too," before breaking down as it had been hard for her raising me alone all these years and me, the only family she had, almost dying made her all the more emotional.

What if I had listened to her? Instead of walking while using my phone, I could've just looked at the road while walking.

I could've only just put down the phone while crossing the road. It's not that hard. Only a minute or two at best. It's not as if the words on the screen were going to fly away. I could read them whenever.

If only I had listened to her, then I would still be alive.

The world is filled with what-ifs and maybes. They are unresolved regrets due to the actions we took that we wished we had done differently and the better conclusion that we wished to have gotten.

Everything was white.

Everywhere I went, it was all white.

Am I moving forward or am I moving backward?

Have I passed by this area before? Or is this a new one that I have yet to explore?

These questions filled my mind as I continued trekking my path. And yet no matter how long I walked, there was no end to the white nothingness.

An unchanging white and an unchanging text box, taunting me to give up on my path.

The feeling of isolation.

I feel as if I'm going to go mad, so to resolve this feeling, I took the system instruction manual and read it.

I no longer feel as lonely. Maybe that was their goal all along.

I read the manual as thick as a dictionary.

Although it was written in a language I didn't know, I understood the words immediately. It was as if a translator was imprinted in my brain in order to understand all the language in the universe.

Actually, it's not 'as if'. Written on page 439 of the system manual…

Shit, I'm actually falling for it.

****.

Shitty cunning ***holes. ****ing ****s. Playing with my feelings as you pleased. Ugh, ****.

[ Congratulations on finishing and memorizing the system manual. Now, a test will be issued to you. Failure will result in termination of existence. The test score will determine the waiting time needed to get a host. The higher the score, the shorter the time. The time limit is 6 hours.

-Sincerely, the system administrative

Start the test?

{ Yes } { No } ]

Hahahahaha, whatever the system administrative is, I promise, if I ever find anyone part of it one day, I'll ****ing obliterate you. Goddess Imuel too.

And so, I began the test.

Of course, I passed with flying colours. It was a full score in fact. It seemed that my memory had become better after becoming a system.

[ Congratulations on getting a full score! An additional reward will be given to you in the form of a beginner host care package. Rejoice.

-Sincerely, the system administrative. ]

I was speechless.

I was angry.

I wanted to break something, preferably the person behind the system administrative's neck.

—

~Somewhere far away~

A handsome, strict-looking man wearing gold-rimmed glasses shuddered for no reason.

The reason he gave was that his neck felt cold all of a sudden.

—

My reward did not benefit me but my host.

Hahahahaha.

I'm not laughing, not at all.

Ha.

So, the system code of conduct also applies to this? Interesting.

A system lives for its hosts. What's mine is theirs. Okay, alright.

Hahahaha.

I'm not laughing, really. I'm just breathing really weirdly.

Well, we can't be too quick to judge just yet. We need to be…calm.

I need to be calm.

The hosts are most likely innocent.

Just like how I was chosen to become a system, the hosts might also be randomly chosen as well.

We need to look at our hosts with a neutral mind. Calm…

Like hell that's possible! If it's that easy I would've already ascended and became a saint a long time ago.

No, no, no. Stop. We need to be calm…

Breathe in, breathe out. Calm…

[ Ding! Your host is ready. Do you wish to invite him here?

{ Yes } ]

—

As long as Azaiah knew, he had always been on top of the food chain. He was the noblest of the noblest, the best of the best.

Whatever he did, he was the best at it. Sports, Studies, making money. He had always been on top of the hierarchy.

Azaiah was what one would call, a son of the heavens.

But, one thing he lacked in his successful life, was a partner.

A loving partner, no matter the gender, who would love him wholeheartedly without any schemes or betrayal involved. Someone who he too could love back, trust, and spend the rest of his life with.

Him being the best meant that the requirements he had were considered stricter than most.

So, even after reaching his thirties, Azaiah remained a single old virgin who had never touched or been touched by someone else.

And thus, when a mysterious hologram suddenly appeared in his eyes, stating that it could grant any wish he had as long as he agreed to its conditions, Azaiah did not hesitate to agree to the hologram's contract.