Rocco Di Malvento

In his previous life, Rocco had been a frail boy.

Born with an incurable disease, his life expectancy was only fifteen years.

True to that prognosis, he passed away before graduating from middle school.

His family grieved deeply for him.

Until his final moments, Rocco could hear his parents' sobs, which gave him solace in knowing he was loved until the very end.

However, he still felt bitter about how short his life had been.

Despite everything, Rocco's life wasn't devoid of happiness.

Although most of it was spent in a hospital room, he found joy in his hobby: reading.

He immersed himself in countless books to combat his loneliness.

Among them, stories about male friendships, or buddies, held a special place in his heart.

Perhaps this preference stemmed from his longing to fill the void left by the absence of friends.

However, there was one such story that stood out above the rest.

That story wasn't just about friendship, though—it belonged to a genre beyond that.

The BL novel <<The Whispers of Steel and Starlight>> was a groundbreaking story set in another world with a mafia theme.

While fantasy works dominated the popular genre in the rankings, this novel radiated a unique aura.

As an avid reader, Rocco couldn't resist to picking it up.

He had started it thinking it was a story of male camaraderie but, unsurprisingly, had fallen completely under its spell.

The cool and reserved Sylas and the charmingly devious Laxus were the heirs of two rival mafia families.

Their dangerous love story unfolded in what could only be described as an other world version of "Romeo and Juliet."

In his final moments, Rocco was thinking about that very novel.

His last words, "Laxus and Sylas are the best…" were hardly appropriate as farewell words to his parents.

Looking back, he wished he'd expressed gratitude to them, but his overwhelming love for the two main characters took precedence.

Knowing how much he adored that book, Rocco imagined his parents later chuckling fondly and saying, "He really was a silly boy until the end."

He hoped that was true.

Having seemingly left his short life behind without regrets, Rocco was startled to find himself reincarnated into another person.

No, he wasn't delusional—he had truly been reborn with memories of his past life intact.

As a former Korean boy, he had a basic understanding of reincarnation, but wasn't it customary for gods to at least erase one's previous memories first?

That seemed like the bare minimum for someone who get reincarnated.

At first, Rocco was exasperated by this twist of fate.

Yet now, he was deeply grateful for the memories of his past life.

You ask why?

Because Rocco had been reincarnated as a character in his favorite novel—the younger brother of the reserved protagonist, Sylas.

That's right.

He was now the second son of a terrifying mafia family in the another world.

Talk about hard mode.

Rocco's new life began in the Kingdom of Fiorante.

The kingdom's underworld was dominated by two major mafia families, known as the "Two Great Families."