Chapter 1

Hi! Before you start reading, if you did not see the warning in the synopsis, and the tag, this story will contain homosexuality. You are free to discontinue reading if you are not comfortable with or open about the subject. Regardless, thank you for giving your interest in my novel, I greatly appreciate you whether you do proceed to read or not. Have a good day!~

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*Knock, knock, knock*

Soft knocks broke the silence of Nolan's room. The boy in question is sprawling on his large bed, with nothing but a boxer, a blank look on his face, and a nest of a hair. His unkempt figure does not hide his striking looks, with plump lips that would look heavenly if lifted up with a smile, thin eyes that would disappear when he laughs, coupled with long, on-fleek lashes, and thick eyebrows, plus, his high nose just seem so attractive in this position. He may not have the most chiseled, trained body, his lean 6'0 body is temptation's incarnate, especially in his almost-nude state.

"Come in," He says.

The door swings open gently, and comes in a woman in her 40s who looks absolutely stunning. She looks domineering in her 5'11 height, paired with her voluptuous body, and gorgeous face, which makes her look like she had not aged when she hit her 20s. She was wearing an equally stunning long-sleeved black velvet dress which further accentuates her figure, and her raven black wavy hair that reaches her hips was just the perfect cherry on top. This goddess of a woman is Nolan's mother, Catalina, and it is not a wonder how Nolan ended up looking like the Adonis that he is.

Catalina leans on the wooden door of her son's room, and looks at him worriedly.

"Nolan, honey, are you absolutely sure you do not want to go with us?" She asks, brows furrowed in worry and a hint of sadness. Nolan does not answer her query so she added with a smile, "It will be fun! There are a lot of good food, amazing sights, and a different atmosphere there."

They were supposed to go to Barcelona for their annual overseas family vacation at the same time, important business trip, along with Romeo, Nolan's father, however, the boy chose not to go with them this time, acting strange, like he suddenly did these past few years. Much to the couple's confusion and distress, their only child seemed to have had his soul sucked out of his body.

He was their goodest, energetic boy, who was all smiles and giggles, however, one day, out of nowhere, he just changed. Gone was the boy who runs after butterflies in their backyard while giggling, and what hit them the most is when he just stopped talking, and only hums, or nods or shakes his head whenever they open up a conversation with him. Most of the times he seems to not care enough to talk and just ignore them.

Nolan, as if he did not hear his mother, just stares blankly at his ceiling. At this point, his bedroom ceiling may as well be tired of this repetitive interaction. The silence went on for a few more seconds until a sigh coming from Catalina broke it.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you," Catalina says with tears bordering her eyes. This response, or the lack thereof, is not new or rare between them. But that didn't mean that she was numb to the pain of seeing her son like this. At some point, she just stopped thinking of the possible reasons why her son became like this, and just chose to be close and love him unconditionally hoping for the day that her boy opens up to them once again. She adds, "I just want to let you know that your dad and I are leaving now. We will be there for at least a couple of months."

"Catalina, how is he?" A deep, authoritative voice sounded behind Catalina, along with heavy footsteps.

Soon, a man standing at a staggering 6'5 and a bulky build appears beside the woman. Wearing a black three-piece business suit, the man looked like a proper criminal overlord who owns a multi-billion business empire... which is not totally false. They do own a multi-Million company, and he is very sweet and kind, especially to his only son. He looks and stature are as deadly as his wife, and his son. This man is Romeo, Nolan's father. On his face is an equally worried expression.

Romeo sighs at the sight of his son. Nolan was unmoving, like he is in his own world, and in that world, no one else existed, nor mattered, which greatly hurt the man. He sits on the bed where Nolan was sprawled upon. Romeo brushes his son's hair out of his eyes and ruffles it gently like he always does, and like his son had always enjoyed.

Like Catalina, he had given up trying to find a reason and a solution to their boy's aloof behavior.

"I hope you'll be able to join us next time," He says, still brushing Nolan's hair. Romeo was more than willing and happy to be doing this all day, however, their moment was broken by a message notification from Catalina's phone. Shortly after, she calls her husband's attention.

"We have to go, love. We'll be late for the grand opening in Barcelona."

Romeo hums, leans down and planted a kiss on his son's forehead, "We have to go. We love you, son." The man stands up from the bed and leaves a final look at his son before turning to leave the room with his wife. Soon, the door gently closes.

***

It is midnight, many hours had passed since the couple had left the house and the country for their trip. Nolan is still sprawled on his bed, his initial position is still his current one. The boy did not get up nor changed his lying position. He skipped lunch and dinner, he ignored the knocks at his door by the maids that were calling and bringing him his meal. He truly seemed like a statue.

'It is boring. It is tiring to be bored. It is boring to be tired when bored.'

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Nolan left his position and sat up on his bed. He stretches his long arms and roams his eyes around his room, eventually settling on the view of the night sky and the moon that is in perfect position out of his bedroom window.

'Ah, another day had passed? I didn't notice.'

How could he notice? He was in his mind all day long, he didn't even seem to have noticed that his parents had been in his room, talking to him before they left for Spain because of how deep into his head he was.

He stood up and went to his bedside table to grab his phone. He unlocks it and turns on the Wi-Fi which he always turned off whenever he stops using his phone. A lot of notifications began flooding his notification bar, like a destroyed dam. And among those, only one managed to catch his attention.

'Oh? System in the Apocalyptic Era has updated? Nice.' He once again lied in his bed to read the latest chapters of his favorite novel. Luckily, the author was feeling generous and updated 5 chapters in just a single day.

Minutes later, Nolan sits up suddenly with an angry look in his face. "What the fuck?!" He shouts while furiously tapping on his phone's screen.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH THIS FUCKING PROTAGONIST?! He lets off the Devil Boss just because the fucker told him that his System was lying and is using him?! And this fucking imbecile believed him?! Hello?! IS LOGIC NOT LOGIC-ING FOR YOU?! YOU CHOSE TO BELIEVE THE FUCKING DEVIL THAN THE THING THAT HELPED YOU FOR THE PAST, like THOUSAND CHAPTERS?!" He raged and threw his phone beside him on the bed and covers his eyes with his arm.

'God, that motherfucker is dumb. If I was in his place, I would've definitely stabbed the living shit out of that bitch. Worst of all, he unassimilated with his own system? Is that even possible? What a stupid idiot!'

'Ugh! As much as this is infuriating, I wish to be like him! Not stupid, gosh no, what's with the shit personality, if that happened? I wish I could have a system, and maybe make my life more interesting. I would even accept the apocalypse just to have it! Damn!'

[Ding! Congratulations, host! You have successfully assimilated with the Copy and Paste System!]

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That's a wrap for the Chapter 1! I hope you enjoyed reading!

Also, that 'goodest' is intentional. I figured it would make it sound cuter and more fit when told to a child, in this case, by Catalina and Romeo to a kid Nolan, which is what I wanted to convey.

Anyways, thank you so much for reading!