After the opening ceremony was done all students were led to their respective classes. As for me, it was class 1-B.
When I was on my way, Anya came up and tried to start a conversation, saying things like the dorms are fine and the atmosphere here feels good. I wasn't interested, or you can I had my mind somewhere else, so I only replied with a simple "Yeah" or "Good for you".
She also noticed my disinterest and left before asking me if I'm fine to which, I obviously said, "Yes I'm fine".
I felt guilty for brushing her off in this way but I can't help it. My mind was preoccupied with some other things. Though I kept my composure I was not fine by any means.
A few minutes later I reached my classroom. Above the entrance door was a metal plate on which [CLASS 1-B] was engraved. I stepped inside and looked around.
The classroom was split into descending rows—built in a staircase-type design. The desk was a long one that was used for an entire row but the seats were separate for each student. On the front wall was a blackboard with a podium in front of it.
Students were already taking their seats so the classroom was almost full. I glanced at the available seats, gave it some thought, then went and sat on one in the last row.
The instructor showed no sign of coming right now, maybe there was still some time left before the classes start. Seeing this, I covered my face with my hands and tried to rest a little.
'...Sigh.'
My mind was so messed up that I wasn't even able to think straight. I can't help it really, if I'm really inside "his" novel then it's a very big problem.
"Him", the webnovel author I used to hate in my previous life. And I not just hated him, there were many authors I didn't like but he took the top spot on the list; he was the author I hated the most.
There were reasons for it. I met him online on biscord, that time he was also a new author just like me.
His name—no, his username was loli_pop and over time the relationship we developed could be described as friends.
We used to read each others' novels and point out the mistakes, whether it is in writing or plot. Though there was a catch, his novel was the very definition of cliché.
It's not like mine was any better, I also had some clichéd scenes but he was in a whole other dimension.
The basic storyline was a rip-off of a Japanese light novel, the characters were generic, the dialogues felt forced, the MC was horny as fuck and of course, he was surrounded by hot chicks who wanted his seed.
I tried my best to make it as less cliché as I could, at one point I even made him remove an entire scene. But that is what created the rift between us.
He started getting irritated as I pointed out his mistakes one after another. The reason was that now due to my corrections, the storyline of his novel was straying away from what he had in mind.
He doesn't want that and was unhappy. As a result, he began ignoring my advice and doing whatever he felt was right. At this time he started getting on my nerves.
I mean, I pointed out his mistakes and was helping him to improve and he was just ignoring all of it. Helping others is in itself a thing I don't usually do and when he responded this way, it just made it worse.
In the end, we stopped talking and helping each other out. No one said anything but what happened was better left unsaid. Though even now I didn't start hating him, he was someone who irritated me.
The thing which brewed the hate inside me occurred a month after we stopped talking. His novel got contracted.
Yes, that full of cliché novel with characters as flat as board and a trashy MC with no personality got a contract. And why you ask?
Because he had half-naked, girls with big breasts on the cover of his novel. His novel was R18 hence it also contained sex scenes, and it was enough to catch the attention of young readers.
On the other hand, I, who was trying hard to create a good storyline and characters that had some depth in them… got no contract. The reason was simple enough, my novel neither contained sex scenes nor had milfs on the cover.
I can't describe how pissed off I was by this.
Fuck you, horny readers!
When his novel was featured he gained more audience, the numbers increased and so did the money he received. Maybe it was just jealousy at this point but now I didn't want to talk to or even see this person.
We both started our novels almost at the same time but his clichéd novel got contract and mine was left in the dust. He got popular in no time.
Hmm, now that I think about it, the argument right before I died—when some popular authors were messing with me—or badmouthing me. The first one to speak was loli_pop.
'So he even indirectly caused my death, huh. Well, no use to get angry on it now…it's too late.'
The thing which scared me, what I am afraid of right now, is that I'm reincarnated inside his—loli_pop's—novel. The very same clichéd novel.
And I have changed something in the original storyline. If I remember correctly then Anya is one of the girls who will be in the MC—no, in Leon's harem.
Her marriage situation was a plot point by which Anya and Leon should have met.
He would've saved her from Walric, using his protagonist perks and some plot armor, and then, Anya would have started developing feelings for him. Then their relationship will move forward in this academy.
Now that is impossible since I meddled in between and saved Anya, as a result, she and Leon never met. Honestly, there's no way I could have prevented it.
The whole marriage part was described as a flashback in three or four paragraphs. I didn't have the amount of info by which I can tell that I'm inside a fucking novel.
But let's put this aside for a minute, I'll figure out a way to fix this problem later on. Though for that I have to be alive, and fortunately, I'm walking on a death route right now.
In this novel, I—or you can say Zero, was a side character and a while later—maybe a month or so from now—he will die for the sake of the plot.
His death will cause Anya to fall into despair since he died before her eyes and she wasn't able to save him. Then when she will be crying in her room, Leon will come to comfort her and they will have...well, sex.
'Don't know why I feel angry thinking about it now.'
Also, by the grace of gods, this Zero who died just so the MC can have sex is me by the way.
If everything went as it did in the novel then I was going to die for sure. That is if I don't come up with something to prevent myself from dying.
'What the hell should I do? I'm confident that I can figure something out but I am worried about whether should I do it or not. Maybe—'
THUCK!
Waking me up from my thoughts was a loud noise. I looked in its direction and saw our instructor has arrived.
'My problems are only going to pile up I guess,' I sighed internally.
Our instructor was the same guy who was the examiner in the third entrance exam. I don't know his name yet but I do know that he is aware of my true powers.
'Troublesome' was what I thought upon seeing him stand behind the podium.